"The witch covens in Anchorage and Valdez were already on edge because of the third witch's body three months ago. Now a fourth one showed up, everyone is terrified. Rumors are starting to make it to the whole north American continent and some people refuse to leave their homes. It reminds them of The Salem Hunt." Ava's assistant Tom, spoke on the other line of the phone.
"Ava, I am worried about this. The cases are piling up, and someone is deliberately hiding evidence from us." Tom added. "If this continues, humans will surely start taking notice too."
"That's inevitable." Ava answered before she took a big bite out of her burger. In fact, she had been asked to work secretly in order to avoid the eyes of the groups that were working against Trillium. The thing is, she knew it wouldn't stay like that forever.
She eyed the papers in front of her. She had been up all night reading the case files about the murders not just in Alaska but the neighboring Canada.
In a year, four murders occurred, all women, all witches of various ages and only in Alaska. One was in Anchorage, the second one was in Clark Point, third was in Buckland and now in Valdez.
On the contrary she found nothing in Canada. If someone died there, the covens must have been doing their best to cover it up.
They wouldn't want another Salem hunt. They wouldn't want another war with the shifters.
"Also, Mr. Sutton asked me to schedule a meeting with the current head of the shifters in Anchorage. He said they would be able to help. It's about time that we take this case to them."
Ava nodded. "They are already aware. They are just waiting for us to make a move."
"Hmmm. The man will meet you at eight in the evening."
"Eight?"
"Yes. The man seemed busy, he is one of the directors of GD Pharma, an international— "
"I know who they are, Tom. But why eight?" Was it because they wanted to keep the meeting a secret?
"He wanted to meet today. I heard he is pretty dangerous. You should be careful."
Almost immediately, her eyebrows lifted. "Dangerous?"
"Yeah… some high ranking shifter. We don't know what kind of shifter he is, the information is very limited on this one. I tried to find out more but everything is just…"
"Redacted?" she asked.
"Yes."
So, it was a Royalty. She thought inwardly. "Alright, send me the address."
"Mr. Sutton said don't antagonize them. He won't be able to protect you if you offend this person."
"Yeah, thanks Tom, I know the drill." She ended the call and finished her burger.
Royals can be very troublesome. Especially the powerful and older ones.
Until now, most witches couldn't estimate how powerful the Royals were. They are also very secretive about their ranks and abilities. The older witches said that they were did this because they didn't want a dark witch to curse them.
Some witches mentioned they were scared to expose their identity because they have lived longer than the white house.
Either way, a Royal shifter is just bad news.
After reading the file, she closed it. She didn't even bother to wonder why they couldn't find any pictures of a certain Mr. Graydon. All of the influential shifters never let their pictures on the internet either. As much as possible, they wanted to avoid the eyes of the public.
She eyed the name and frowned. A royal can be a very tough opponent.
They are not just stronger than normal shifters, they are usually more influential and have really deep connections with the politicians in the area.
That's just how shifters work.
…
After spending the rest of her day eating take outs, she took a long bath and chose something decent for the meeting. A pair of black leather pants immediately caught her attention. She paired it with ankle boots, an equally black shearling jacket and another black leather bag.
She then put on some mascara and a little blush. The make up looked minimal on her pale skin however, it emphasized her forest green eyes. To finish everything, she let her wavy brown hair down.
After making sure that she looked presentable, she drove towards the address that Tom sent. It was a quarter before eight when she arrived at the building. Staring at the large sign of GD Pharmaceuticals, Ava sighed. At eight, the neon lights surrounding the sign looked bright and flamboyant.
Walking towards the building a man wearing a brown suit approached her.
"Miss Ava Woods?"
"Yes?"
"Marko Calida, I'm Mr. Graydon's executive secretary." The man gave her a curt nod. Marko Calida looked to be in his early thirties, his brown suit wasn't able to hide his muscular frame. He was about six feet and had piercing blue eyes that could easily intimidate anyone. Just from the slow static around him, Ava already knew that this Marko Calida isn't human.
Another shifter.
It wasn't a surprise. After all, shifters tend to stay within their packs. They work with other shifters and some of them don't like to interact with humans.
"Please follow me." Marko's words interrupted her stupor. She nodded and followed the man towards an elevator that was adorned with golden carvings of moon and stars. The area was practically empty and she could hear nothing but their footsteps as they walked into the elevator.
"Mr. Graydon wanted to know what wine you would prefer to drink?"
"Wine?"
"Yes, he prefers wine to coffee."
She wasn't here to drink with the man, though. Still, she answered, "Anything will do."
He nodded and rested his arm on his sides, radiating a different kind of calmness. Ava couldn't help but nod inwardly. Not many shifters could be this calm around a witch. Especially not after they knew that she was an officer of Trillium.
She followed him out of the elevator and into a hallway surrounded by glass.
"This floor is Mr. Graydon's alone. Please …there is no need to knock. He is waiting for you inside."
She nodded and pushed the glass door open. However, the calmness that she had in place vanished when the strong smell of chocolates and almonds welcomed her.
Her hand tightened against the frame of the glass doors. Half of her hoped it wouldn't break from her grip the other half wondered if she could use it if the man tried to attack her.
In the end, she managed a smile.
The panic inside her belly subsided. It wasn't the first time that she had offended a shifter. And she was certain, this wouldn't be the last time either.
"So, we meet again." The voice was enough to make her knees weak. She cursed inwardly as she scrutinized the man standing a few feet away from her.
Matthew Graydon.
He still looked immaculate, not one imperfection, something that is only possible with photoshop.
His perfectly carved features were emphasized by the low lighting inside the office. A sexy smile adorned his face.
"It seems so," she responded, annoyed at her attraction to this man. Then she approached him, her boots thudded against the carpeted floor. Without waiting for another second, she held out her hand. This time, it was her who wanted to shake his hand.
It was a gesture of peace.
Or so she hoped.
"Let me introduce myself. I am…"
Her words were interrupted when Matthew took hold of her fingers, and brought the hand to his lips. He bowed slightly, kissing the back of her palm. She couldn't help but absorb the sudden pleasure emanating from his touch.
"I know Miss Witch." His gray eyes were full of mirth as he kissed the back of her palm for the second time. Weirdly, this didn't upset her. Instead, she found it enticing. She gulped and ignored the alarming attraction that seemed to pull her towards him.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ava Woods. I have been waiting." Matthew smiled. "Shall we get started?"
She nodded.
His eyes drifted towards her clothes then he said, "It pains me that our first dinner together would be because someone was murdered."
"Dinner?" She didn't come here for dinner. "Are you screwing with me?" she asked.
With a hint of a smile, he responded, "Not yet, Ava. Not yet."