"Well, some believe whole-heartedly. Some are still skeptical", she answered. Alexander nodded in understanding. "Can I ask you a personal question?", he inquired, looking over her soft features. "Maybe", she answered, with a sly smirk.
"My father would never tell me why you lived with humans. Why aren't you in a pack or coven?", he asked. Avalyn sighed heavily, as she rubbed her fingers across her forehead. "It's complicated", she whispered.
"I have time", he said, watching her closely. "I used to belong to a pack. I was born to two werewolves. Which is why at five years old when I started to show signs of magic, it was such a surprise", Avalyn began. Alexander sat patiently, listening to his mate's story.
"My father believed that my mother was unfaithful. Understandably so, he nor she had magic of their own. But my mother always had this crescent moon on her shoulder, and my father he always had a sun on his shoulder. I always thought it was tattoos. That was until they died recently. My parents didn't understand their own family lineage. They had magic in their blood lines that skipped a generation, only their generation. Every generation before them had magic", Avalyn explained.
"So, your mother never cheated on your father?", Alexander asked, fully invested in this story. "No", she answered. "What did you mean by you thought it was tattoos until recently?", he inquired. Avalyn smiled softly. "It was their magic. It passed down to me when they died. Except, in me. I can feel all the power, I just can't control it at my own will", she explained, looking down at her hands.
"None of this explains why you are living with humans though", Alexander said, tilting his head back slightly. "It took a very long time for my parents to do research on their own family history. In that time, my father treated me horribly. He stripped me of my Alpha title and banished me to the basement with the slaves. When I turned fifteen and was supposed to shift but didn't, my father was livid. He beat me within an inch of my life and left me on the basement floor to die", Avalyn took a deep breath, trying not to let her emotions intervene.
Alexander's eyes were flashing between, silver, black and gray. His beasts fighting for control, as they listened to the story. "I ran after that. I looked for solitude in many places before I landed with the humans", Avalyn uttered.
"So, you are a were-witch?", Alexander asked. "I don't know about that. I've never shifted before. So, I would assume not", Avalyn answered. "My Lycan can sense your wolf, he just can't talk to her", Alexander said, catching Avalyn by surprise. "You can sense her?", she asked in a small voice.
"Malen'kiy volk (little wolf), I am the Lycan King, I can sense your wolf presence when you are born", he uttered softly. Avalyn's heart skipped a beat. "What I can't sense, is your magic. Why is that?", he asked, tilting his head to the side, and cocking an eyebrow at her.
Avalyn's hand instinctively went to the necklace around her neck. She gently placed her hand over the necklace pendant that lay on her bare chest. Alexander's eyes followed her movement. "I can't control the magic that had recently been gifted to me, yet. So, I have to wear a pendant that blocks all of my magic", Avalyn answered, lowly.
This struck Alexander deeply. She lives without both sides of herself on a daily basis. How empty that must feel for her. "We should look into the vampire killings first", Avalyn suggested, changing the subject. Alexander nodded his head in agreement.
Avalyn pulled the pictures up on her phone of the crime scenes to show Alexander what she saw. They leaned closer together, their legs brushing one another's as they did so. Avalyn inhaled sharply, as she tried to mask her nervousness.
"It looks like whoever it is, is remorseful of their actions, they try to clean and cover the body afterwards. But if you look closely at the unique pattern in the tears around the base of the neck", Avalyn began, and she zoomed in on the tears. "Their heads were ripped off with teeth", Alexander finished for her, as he reached up and moved the picture around.
His finger brushed her, causing sparks to shoot up both of their arms. "Correct", Avalyn uttered, holding her breath. His scent was flooding her senses and making it hard to concentrate. "I would like to go back to the crime scene with you and try to get a scent on this guy", Alexander explained. "After that, we will go back to my pack so that I can try and find out who your guy is", he said, looking over her face.
Avalyn nodded her head. "I can make that happen", she said. "I know", he grinned, nodding his head. "Let me let my team down stairs know what is going on. You can ride with us back over there", Avalyn explained. "That's fine", Alexander agreed.
Avalyn shot Finnick a quick text explaining to him the situation. Avalyn's only conviction about this, is how Trey may try and treat the King. Alexander grabbed his jacket and walked towards the door of his office. Avalyn followed his lead, until he guided her out of the door first.
"What has you so nervous?", Alexander asked her. "I just have anxiety", Avalyn chuckled nervously. Alexander frowned slightly, if she had her wolf and her powers, she wouldn't feel that way.
Jessica watched as they left, with no explanation. Her jealousy flared at the fact that Mr. Black never even acknowledged her existence as they left. Like she didn't even exist. In all her years of working here, Mr. Black never had any woman come to the office before. And, she had never been ignored for anyone before either. This bothered her greatly. Who was this, Avalyn Grant?
The ride in the elevator down to the ground floor was silent. Avalyn used this opportunity to also message Hitch and let him know her new game plan. Alexander looked over her shoulder, unconsciously watching what she was doing. Avalyn led Alexander to the shady spot that she had parked the SUV in.
Trey and Finnick were in the front seat. Alexander felt a weird energy coming from the front seat. One he didn't like. Once, Avalyn and Alexander were settled, Trey put the vehicle in gear and headed back towards the crime scene.
"Finnick, Trey, this is Alexander Black. Mr. Black, this is SSA Finnick Daniels, and Trey Falon. "It is nice to meet you both", Alexander nodded. "So, tell me again why we are letting a civilian on to the crime scene?", Trey snapped from the front seat.
Alexander understood the feelings he was reading off of him now. He is beginning to wonder if Avalyn and this Trey character are together. "I never told you why to begin with", Avalyn retorted, as she reached between the seats and grabbed a file from the center console.
Avalyn looked over at Alexander and playfully rolled her eyes while shaking her head. "I'm giving you the opportunity, now", Trey gritted out. "Which is crazy, because I never needed it. I am under no obligation to inform you of the reasonings behind my decisions. You, however, are obligated to oblige to my orders. Or have you forgotten?", Avalyn could feel herself getting worked up.
She absolutely hated it when Trey would question her every move, before he even attempted to see any logic behind the methods. He had a way of making Avalyn go from zero to death row.
"Ava", Finnick whispered, turning around in his seat. He looked as if he had seen a ghost as he handed his phone over to her. Avalyn took the phone to see what was going on. Finnick has been having issues with a guy that he had been seeing. Finnick confided in Avalyn what was going on, knowing that she would protect him if it came down to that.
"Daddy issues", Trey laughed, trying to make Finnick feel small. "You are a daddy's issue", Avalyn clapped back, ready to knock the fire out of Trey. The messages on Finnick's phone made her stomach twist.
'You are a useless bastard. Nobody will miss you when I end you.' This was only the first message Avalyn saw. She scrolled through countless messages all with the same gist as the first one.
Finnick was looking down in his lap, ashamed of having to have Avalyn intervene. He just couldn't take it anymore. He has been losing sleep over this, and he knows if anyone can make it stop, it's Avalyn.
Alexander couldn't stop himself from being nosey. The things that were being said to this young man sitting in front of him, was absolutely diabolical. Alexander doesn't sense any bad energy from this kid, so he doesn't understand why someone would speak to him in such a way.
"Why isn't this number blocked, Finn?", Avalyn asked her scared friend. "I just didn't want him to show up at my apartment for doing so", he admitted in a mutter. "Well, guess where you won't be for the next few days", Avalyn grinned.
She blocked the crude man's number, and handed Finnick his phone back. Avalyn rubbed her hands along her neck as she looked around to get an idea of how close they were. She decided now was a good time to put her vest back on since they were only a few minutes away from the scene.
Alexander was captivated by Avalyn, watching her gracefully. She struggled slightly as she was pulling on her bullet proof vest. Alexander reached over and pulled it up her shoulders. Avalyn inhaled sharply as his fingers grazed her neck.
"Thank you", she whispered, flashing a soft smile at him. "Anytime", he nodded. Avalyn finished strapping her vest as they stepped out of the vehicle. "Back so soon?", the detective on sight, teased. "We are just making sure we aren't missing anything", Avalyn explained, gently.
The detective nodded as he looked at Alexander suspiciously. "Does he have clearance to go back there?", the detective inquired, tilting his head to the side, confused. "He does today", Avalyn shouted back, as she lifted the tape for Alexander to go under.