Chapter 18: Chapter 18

MYRA

Sloan kept Myra’s hand in his, and they followed Declan inside. Upon entering, Myra stopped and gazed in awe.

The security room was large and semicircular, with numerous monitors mounted on the wall.

There were four other shifters in the room. Two were reviewing the security tapes, and the other two were watching live feeds.

Every inch of the house was under surveillance, both inside and out.

Declan stopped by one of the techies and patted his shoulder. “Okay, Kenny. Play the footage.”

The young man pressed a button on the keyboard. At first, there wasn’t much happening. It was just footage of the entryway to the house. Suddenly the screen distorted, then nothing again.

“I don’t get it. What happened?” Sloan scratched his head.

“Play it back, Kenny, frame by frame. And Sloan, pay attention to the time code.”

Once again, the techie tapped on some keys, and the video started playing again in three-second intervals. Myra noted the time jumping from 10:45:56 to 11:15:24.

“There’s thirty minutes unaccounted for,” Sloan said.

“Exactly. This happened only to the cameras leading to and from the dungeons. All the other cameras inside and outside the house were fully functional.”

“But that can’t be,” Myra said, making the men turn to her. “Think about it. How did they get inside the house without being seen by any external camera?”

Sloan draped his arm over her shoulders and kissed her hair. “Good thinking, Angel. Kenny, focus on the main entry camera outside, before the disruption.”

Kenny nodded, and he continued tapping on the keys. They all watched as the images and time code reversed, and there was a moment of blackness, then red.

“There! The ballsy bastards. Play it.”

At the time code 10:39:53, they saw movement in the bushes just out of the camera view. There was a flash of red, and the screen blacked out.

“I’m going to isolate the seconds before the camera went blind and zoom in on the bushes. Now I’ll just brighten the image,” Kenny explained. “Sorry, this is the best I can clear it up.”

Myra gasped and stiffened in Sloan’s arms as the blurry, masked image came into view.

“Myra?” Sloan asked in concern.

Gazing at the blurry image on the screen, Myra’s mind flashed to the night of her attack.

~Looking down a dark alley, Myra switched to her night vision when her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an animal crying.~

~“Such pretty eyes,” someone growled as a masked face emerged from the shadows and an animal pounced at her.~

“Myra?” Sloan’s concerned voice pulled her back to the present.

“That’s the mask from that night,” Myra whispered as she felt fear creep up her spine. Once she had spoken the words, she felt Sloan tense beside her, and his eyes darkened in anger.

She gently placed her hand on his chest, trying to provide him with some comfort. After a couple of deep breaths, she sensed he was calmer.

“Is there anything else you can remember from that night?” Sloan finally asked.

Without thinking, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.

“Ash.”

“What did you say?” he asked in shock.

“Last night, I swore I briefly smelled smoky ash and blood. It was so brief I thought I imagined it. But that night in the alley, I remember the hint of ash.”

“It’s got to be the same rogues who attacked you and have been causing havoc throughout the city. But how is Elizabeth mixed up with them?” Sloan thought out loud.

“Kenny, try to clean up that image some more. Also, it looked like it was a six-creature team that infiltrated the house, so focus on the ambient surroundings.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the techie answered.

Myra felt hollow as the gravity of their situation soaked in.

“Declan, I want the team from last night’s monitor duty in my office by noon.”

“Will do, Alpha. Also, they’re ready to move their bodies to the morgue,” Declan replied, and Tristan appeared in the doorway.

“Sloan, the boys’ parents have just arrived. I set them up in the common room with Leanne,” Tristan said.

Myra looked up at him, and he looked just as somber as Declan and Sloan. All three appeared to have aged some years between last night’s celebrations and this morning’s tragedies.

“Thanks, Tris. Um, Myra…” Sloan turned to her, looking awkward.

Sensing what he was about to say, Myra placed a finger on his lips. “Don’t,” she scolded. “I’ve been omega for less than twelve hours. I’m sticking by your side. Besides, you’re going to need my support.”

“Thanks, Angel.” He sighed, moved her finger, and kissed her right temple. With their fingers linked together, they walked off as a unit to the common room.

***

~What a morning~, Myra thought as she entered their bedroom.

Even though she knew the room had been thoroughly checked—twice—she still listened carefully while her eyes roamed over all the different surfaces in the room.

Nothing seemed out of place, and she noted a pack member had changed their bedding and made up the bed.

She entered the bathroom and stood in front of the vanity mirror, staring at herself. Her baggy, sleep-deprived eyes were now puffy, red, and slightly swollen from crying with the boys’ families.

She could still hear their mothers wailing upon receiving the news of the death of their sons. She’d held both women as they sobbed into her shoulders.

The most Myra could do was rub their backs and silently comfort them.

Their fathers’ grief was different. Adam was his father’s only child, and he wanted to help find out who murdered his boy. Toby’s father stood stock-still, staring out of the common room’s windows, not speaking to anyone.

It was especially difficult for Myra to comfort Toby’s mate, being newly claimed and mated herself.

The poor girl collapsed upon learning about the tragic news and had to be taken to the clinic. The pair had only been together for three weeks.

Once the initial shock of their loss subsided, Myra had coffee and tea brought in for the women and hard liquor for the men. Sloan started discussing the next steps with them.

He’d ensured them that the culprits would be found and justice would be handed down.

He also reassured them that the pack would provide them with full support in their time of need and that all finances would be covered.

They spent most of the morning comforting the family, until Sloan was called away.

Myra saw a physical shift in his mannerisms, and his eyes darkened with frustrated anger. He briefly spoke to Leanne about staying with Myra, then he excused himself.

Sloan in his full alpha role was a total turn-on, but now wasn’t the time.

She walked over to the clawfoot tub and turned on the faucet to fill it. She mixed some vanilla-scented bubble bath into the warm flowing water, then began stripping off the rest of her clothes.

She climbed in and sighed when the warm water caressed her sore muscles. Once fully submerged, she turned off the water and laid her head against the edge of the tub.

She sighed in contentment. Then a thought struck her.

~Who are these foul creatures causing so much chaos?~ she thought sadly. ~They’re leaving destruction and heartbreak in their wake. Note to self: keep track of Toby’s mate.~

Before Myra could formulate another thought, the warm, vanilla water lulled her exhausted body back to sleep.

***

A short while later, Myra felt something brush against her legs and across her back. Startled awake, she opened her eyes and took in Sloan’s gentle gray irises.

“Hi, sleeping beauty,” he whispered into her hair as he held her dripping-wet body against his.

“It’s been an eventful morning.” She yawned as Sloan placed her on the bathmat and took a fluffy towel to dry her skin.

When she was dry, he cupped her face and stared lovingly into her eyes before kissing her deeply.

He let his hands down to her shoulders, causing goosebumps to erupt all over her skin as her core started to throb.

Myra shivered as his hand rounded her back, and she started to move her own hands up his forearms.

“No, no…none of that. Hands to your sides,” Sloan whispered into her skin before kissing the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met—his marking spot.

“What’s wrong?” Myra asked breathlessly, desperate to feel the body that had been tormenting her mind ever since they met.

“There are some rules I need you to learn about my bedroom preferences.”

“Rules?” asked Myra, her heart rate quickening at the thought.

“Oh yes,” said Sloan, his dominance flowing off of him in waves.

“Now, shall we begin?”