Bjorn paced their office, slowly tearing a hole in the floor. His bear was growling and roaring in anger, filling his body with pent-up rage and energy that he wanted to spend on--- something!
Spend it on fucking little Goldilocks into next week! That should teach her for running away from him!
He had no idea where the thought came from, but he pushed it aside and continued pacing. Mumbling curses to himself and went over the details over and over again.
Why was he so pissed that he hadn't caught her?
Hell, she wasn't the first convict who'd ever escaped him. There had been many before her and would be many after, Bjorn knew that. He wasn't stupid enough to think otherwise and smart enough to know better. No mission was ever a guarantee and no hunt was the same.
So why did it bother him so much?
He felt the eyes of his fellow shifters watching him like he was a bomb about to go off. And maybe he was. He wasn't sure. Only that he was pissed off that that little female got away with the most obvious stunt in the world!
HONEY? Seriously?!
Growling he turned again, ignoring the worried glances that Magnus and Milla shared. Milla tried to signal for Magnus to get off his ass and do something, but he vehemently shook his head. He knew better than to poke an angry bear! But at Milla's persistent glare, he sighed helplessly and stood, taking a careful step closer to his partner.
"You alright there, buddy?" he asked in what he hoped was a placating tone.
"I'M FINE!" Bjorn roared, baring his teeth at them, and continued pacing. Giving Milla an "I told you so"-look, Magnus went for his seat again. But she wouldn't have any of it. She wanted him to push Bjorn into confessing what was bothering him. But since Magnus wasn't suicidal, he bared his teeth at her in a silent growl and pointed at the huge bear shifter in a "he's not rational right now"-gesture. And the second Milla when to sign something else, he cut her off with a "leave it alone"-motion, his eyes glowing slightly with his wolf's power. Huffing, Milla crossed her arms over her chest and glared right back at him, refusing to back down even though he was her alpha. Perhaps she dared to do so because the alpha treated her more like a baby sister than a packmate and she regarded both marshals as annoying, "I didn't ask for this, but love them to hell and back"-brothers…
"You do realize you two look like idiots, right?" Bjorn grumbled--- and that's when they realized that he'd stopped pacing and was glaring at them now. Like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they both straightened and pretended to be preoccupied with something or other, mumbling lame excuses.
Bjorn just rolled his eyes and finally went to his desk. His bear hadn't calmed down and probably wouldn't for quite some time. A run in the woods would at least help him sleep, but until he had that little blond vixen back in his grasp, he knew nothing was going to soothe his animal. The human, however, had gotten a rein on his anger; especially after seeing the worried glances on Magnus's and Milla's faces. He didn't want to tell them what had happened – because he felt utterly humiliated and stupid about it! – but if he got his shit together, he'd get a second chance to capture her.
He just had to be patient…
"You sure you're ok, man?" Magnus asked again, knowing it was probably stupid, but he'd also never seen his best friend this wound up. "You look a little---"
He never got to finish that. Suddenly the door swung open in an almost dramatic manner, a tall blond strode into their office like she owned the place. Instantly Magnus's wolf bared his teeth and crunched low, ready to attack. And the human muted a curse that was just about to pass his lips.
Please, Lord! NO!
"Hi again, Alpha Dale," the blond said and without pause, walked all the way up to him, not stopping until she was a foot away. Way too close for his taste and up in what he – and probably the rest of humanity as well – considered his personal space.
"Alpha Christine," he bit out, hoping his smile didn't seem too fake. "How are you?"
Alpha Christine Dawson was what any man with eyes in his head would consider stunning. A looker! A 10 out of 10, gorgeous, drop-dead beauty! She was also what any shifter alive – man or female – would call ambitious and aggressively went after anything she wanted.
No matter the consequences…
Now, he didn't mind an alpha female in charge of a pack. Hell, there were several of them all around the globe and as far as he'd heard, did just fine leading their packs. Christine, however, was on a whole other playing field of alpha female. She'd gone after smaller shifter's territories and taken over their lands – with brute force or with legal intervention. Other wolf shifters were wary of her. Because being her ally was a dangerous affair, but being her enemy was deadly.
And unfortunately for most shifters, Christine looked perfect on paper. Did all her taxes, donated to charity, and had a multi-million-dollar company that made her pack one of the most financially successful in the country. Which was why his Elder's counsel pressed hard for him and Christine to mate. His pack got by, mostly by a lumberjack company that his brothers ran further away from town. They got ends to meet, but nothing more than that. A mating between Alpha Christine and himself and his pack would be set for life.
Magnus only worried that it would be his life on the line…
Not only did dominating females seriously turn him off, but he also didn't like how Christine ran her business. It was cold and impersonal, with no regard to anyone other than herself. Magnus had worked hard to maintain peace with the other shifters on his land and he would never be heartless enough to run them out of their homes just because his mate said so. Which made this mating impossible, to begin with.
If only---
"Thank you, alpha, I'm good," she practically purred and let his finger roam down his chest, her long manicured nails sending shivers down his spine.
And not the good kind!
And no, it hadn't skipped Magnus's attention that she was dressed to impress. A black dress thing, that reached just below her thighs, black high heel boots that stopped just above her knee, and a golden fur coat were purposely picked out to make a statement.
I'm the boss!
"Just confirming that we're still on tonight?" she continued, her sultry blue eyes finding his. And he had to fight the urge to back away. Not because he wasn't man enough to take her on, but because he didn't want to let her know how uncomfortable she made him. And yeah, staying might signal that he liked having her close, but what did you do in a lose-lose situation? He'd never back down from anything in his life and he wasn't going to start now. But he was also raised to be a gentleman. And unfortunately, gentlemen didn't tell ladies to "fuck off".
"About that," he said, trying not to wish all of hell on his mother for getting him into this situation. Now he had to cancel on her. "I haven't forgotten, but---"
"Good," she cut him off before he could say another word. "See you at eight? Your place!"
Wait--- WHAT?!
"My place?" he echoed, but she'd already spun on her heels and was heading out of there. The door slammed behind her and the only thing that lingered was her scent. Magnus went over the short conversation one more time and then groaned.
"Fuck!"
Now there really wasn't a way to get out of it without it creating some sort of tension. He just had to turn her away at his door.
He was not looking forward to that…
"Glad to see I'm not the only one suffering," Bjorn muttered, the only thing going through his mind at the moment was how his little vixen had worn that outfit way better than the she-wolf. Pushing those thoughts aside, he turned back to Magnus, who looked ready to have a hernia. "What the fuck was that?"
"My mother's meddling!" Magnus growled and threw himself onto the closest chair. "I was helping her pick out some groceries and Christine showed up. She wanted to go out with me, and I was trying to put her down gently. But then my mother happened!"
"Oh," he said, dragging out the 'o' as that explained everything. Which it sort of did. Mrs. Dale was a force of nature and bear shifter or not – alpha or not! – her version of "the look" was a force not to be reckoned with.
So nobody did…
And it wasn't like Magnus had a problem with the ladies. It was just that recently he wasn't in the mood to chase down tail. He couldn't really explain it either. But coming home to Love every night and spending the night with her, was enough for him. The rest he got done in the shower and with a practiced right hand. Besides, with his kind of work, long-term relationships rarely lasted… well, long! He was gone for days at the time sometimes, all year round and he was on call at all hours of the day. Not a lot of women out there who wanted to put up with that in the long run. No matter how tempting the position of Luna might be…
"She's the alpha of The Norfolk Pack, right?" Milla asked, handing him a cup of coffee, before heading to Bjorn with his.
Magnus nodded. Most of the packs were divided the same way as the state was and had the same name. Their pack was the Essex Pack, and while they shared their territory with other shifters it vastly remained the Essex Pack.
"I heard she's obsessed with power," she continued with a frown. "Has been giving the alphas of the Suffolk and Middlesex packs a hard time too. And the packs south of hers are practically at her mercy."
He wasn't really all that surprised that Milla knew all of that. She was a really good secretary even if this was more of an escape for her than an actual job. And she was smart, picking up on things on a whim, and knew what she was doing behind her desk--- most of the time.
"I know the rumors," Magnus replied and took a sip of his cup. "But since it was my pack Elders who invited all of them here…" He sighed deeply. "I have to be a good host."
"Just don't start playing with fire," Bjorn rumbled from his station, finally picking up his share of the paperwork and started doing his job. "That bitch is trouble."
"You think all females are trouble," Milla pointed out, glad that their all-time favorite grumpy bear was back to his usual gloomy self.
"And I haven't been wrong so far," he snorted and rolled his eyes.
"What I am? Chopped liver?" she scoffed indignantly.
"No," Bjorn replied in a deadpanned tone. "You're trouble."
Milla opened her mouth to argue, but upon thinking it over, a grin spread across her face.
"Oh yeah," she said all too satisfied with herself. "I am!"
And with that, she turned on her heels and headed back to their small office kitchen. Magnus shook his head at his packmates before his attention returned to Bjorn.
"So, it was a female that blew you off and that's why you're pissed this fine evening?" Magnus asked, knowing the best way to get Bjorn to open up was with some reversed psychology. And as expected, Bjorn shot him a glare that – if he was a lesser man – would have had Magnus six feet under.
Bjorn opened his mouth, denying everything at the forefront of his lips--- and then closed it with a groan.
"What do they want now?" he grunted under his breath. Magnus and Milla turned to look at what he'd seen--- and Magnus fought the urge not to jump over and lock the door!
Agent Gage and Agent Anders!
They storm into the building – like they also freaking owned it! – and marched right up to Magnus. Had he been a bigger man, he'd gotten off his ass and met them on his feet. But considering that he was in a pissy mood now, he didn't bother.
Fuck playing nice!
"We have to find this woman," Agent Gage said, stuffing a piece of paper in his face. Magnus stifled another growl but took the picture nevertheless. It was a bad quality security camera picture of a woman he instantly recognized.
It was the woman who escaped, almost six months!
Her dark, mattered hair hung all the way to her waist and her face looked like she hadn't eaten in a week. The picture was a poor quality security camera photo, completed with no colors except white and black. But still, it captured most of her features. She was looking away from the camera, so it was only her profile showing, but even from where he was sitting he realized that with a combe and a hot bath she would be a pretty, young woman.
"She's most likely long gone from here," Magnus said in a neutral tone and was just about to hand it back to the two MBI agents when Bjorn suddenly was there. He grumbled something and grabbed the piece of paper, glaring at it as if it'd suddenly speak to him. And Magnus would have wondered about the wheels turning so hard in his friend's head if it wasn't for the fact that the warlock was glaring at him so intensely it put him off. He just glared right back.
What?!
"You said you never found a trace of her, right?" Agent Gabe said taking his suspicious look from Bjorn and back to Magnus.
"She wasn't in the database, human or otherwise," Magnus replied with a resigned sigh. "We ran her fingerprint and DNA it all came back negative and human. And we tried to track her scent, but it was a dead end."
It had been one of those cases that just buckled their minds. One moment she'd been in their cell and the next his cat – HIS CAT! – had handed her the keys to her cell and she'd just walked right out of there. And what was he supposed to do with that? Place Love under arrest and question her?
Yeah right!
His superiors had been furious and tore him and his entire pack a new one. And hell, even to this day his ears still got a little hot thinking about it. But what was he supposed to do? His cat was smart! He had a way of just knowing what he needed, finding his car keys, his wallet, and the other shoe. She knew how to turn the coffee maker on and if he was watching a game, her favorite thing to do was to suddenly change the channel. Especially right before a touchdown and he swore, she was laughing when he groaned in frustration.
Which was the cutest sound ever…
He'd also realized that his cat liked watching rom-coms and while they never held any of his interest, he liked just relaxing on the couch with his cat on his lap and popcorn. Hell, he was starting to like that way more than the hassle of dating. Which had him wondering if he was slowly turning into the male version of a crazy old cat-lady…
"Do you know what this is?" Agent Anders asked calmly and held up a crystal that gave Magnus a mild headache just looking at it.
"The pendant that Colten used to control his victims," he replied and just barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. What was this? "Bring up the alpha's unsolved cases and rub them in his face"-day?
"This is a mind-stone," Agent Gage dramatically announced--- which only had Magnus and Bjorn sharing unimpressed glances. That wasn't exactly something they hadn't figured out on their own…
"Like in the Avengers?" Milla asked surprise and awe on her face.
"No, you stupid---," Agent Gage scoffed, but a collective growl from both shifters in the room had Gage closing his mouth shut faster than women bailing on him.
That mental image made Bjorn grin.
"This kind of magic has been long forgotten among the common class of witches," Agent Anders said and wisely took over explaining things. "At least the ones who practice legal magic."
Legal magic… because you couldn't call it "black magic" since ALL magic was "black magic". There were of course legends about "white magic" but to this day Magnus had never met a witch who practiced that. Hell, even at the MBI they'd classified it as an urban legend…
"So, Tobias hooked up with someone who practiced illegal magic," Magnus summarized and shrugged nonchalantly. "Not exactly groundbreaking news."
"That's true," Agent Anders agreed and took a step back, leaning against a rack of filing cabinets. "But that's only the tip of the iceberg."
"Not so long ago there was a power surge in this town, right before the first murder happened," Agent Gage took over narrating--- and actually had the full intention of everyone in the room. "We think that someone created a time portal and they summoned a very powerful witch from the past."
"A witch from the past?!" Magnus asked, frowning in confusion. Because that made just about as much sense as---
"Notice her clothes?" Agent Gage continued, handing gesturing for the picture again. Bjorn took a second glance at it, before handing it back to Magnus. Ok, he'd give it to the suits. Her clothes did look like they belonged in another century, but for all he knew, it could be a fetich or something. Not really worth noticing when you were an ordinary marshal…
"Back then some of the most powerful and devious withes were women," Agent Anders explained. "Beautiful, deadly, and dangerous."
"Let me get this straight," Magnus said, his brows furrowing in confusion. "You think that a barely average magician like Colten, created a time portal to summon a witch from the past to help him?"
Yeah, that made as much sense as the dead haunting a graveyard. As in, what would be the point? Everybody there was dead too!
At that Gage pulled another paper out of his file. It was a crime scene photo of the ritual site, where the circle, the cross and the body were clearly displayed. Magnus cursed when he heard Milla gasp behind him. Seriously, couldn't the man warn a person before pulling out something like that? Couldn't he see she was a minor?!
"This is a---"
"A summoning spell," Magnus growled and ripped the picture from him, not wanting Milla exposed to the cruelty of the world more than she already was. "We already know that!"
But that earned him a hard glare from the MBI agent.
"Ok, smartass," he mocked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you know what they're trying to summon?"
"No," Magnus growled low – not in the mood for a pissing-contest. Yeah, the agent was good looking and impressive for a human. He definitely worked out to keep in shape, but that didn't mean that Magnus liked him in the slightest. There was something in his baby-blue eyes that crinkled with some underlining hatred for all shifters and while Magnus didn't know why, he knew he didn't have to put up with that shit…
"Exactly!" Gage snapped, satisfied that he'd gotten Magnus all riled up. "This summoning is so old it doesn't exist in any of the books or records that the MBI has on file."
Ok--- that might just have sent a slight chill down his spine…
"And we think that she's somehow connected to it," Anders continued and pushed off the cabinets, taking the picture back and put it in the folder, probably a little more aware of Milla's age than his partner. "Either she was helping Colten or she was a prisoner, we don't know. But whoever she is and whoever summoned here, we do know that they're trying to summon something else into this world. Something old and we can assume something very, very dangerous."
Yep! Those were chills alright!
"Tried talking to Colten about it?" Magnus asked, forcing himself not to squirm in his seat. Because he didn't want to imagine what kind of horrors a heartless bastard like Colten would call upon to get what he wanted. "I meant they'd tried again so obviously the first attempt failed…"
"We tried," Agent Gage said with a snort, like he though he was an idiot – which he probably did. "But he was released from custody two days ago and is in the wind, so to speak."
"Well, shit," Bjorn grumbled, perfectly summarizing the evening's events.