Beta's Second Chance

Bullet

The group drank tea and snacks in the restaurant and enjoyed themselves. Maverick and Rickon were thrilled that their mates decided to move into the pack's apartment complexes. They all discussed when it would be time to move in and how to move the women's belongings. Once everything was settled, they all decided to walk around and talk a bit. While walking around, Rickon couldn't help but be thoughtful about his current drama with his FWB. While being and looking at Jessica, he feared what would happen if she found out about Andrea.

He waited a long time for her, but with the current predicament, everything could go wrong. Rickon didn't want to tell her the truth and hoped to keep Andrea far away, but Andrea could do everything in her power to follow through with her threats.

"Hey Rickon, you look very thoughtful. Are you okay?" asked Jessica, gently touching his arm. 

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I have a lot in my mind, but it's nothing to worry about. I was also thinking about the big move."

Maverick took a glance at Rickon but said nothing. He knew very well that Rickon was thinking about his situation with Andrea. The Beta felt slightly bad for him but knew that Rickon had to take responsibility for his actions and face the consequences no matter what. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone was trying to get through his mind link. "Hey everyone, I need to make a quick phone call to my boss. I'll be right back." He went to an ally where he got some privacy but got out his phone to pretend he was taking a call. Maverick opened his mind link. 

"Maverick, apologies for interrupting your date, but I am contacting you urgently," said Matthias.

"No trouble, Alpha. What's wrong? You sound grim."

Matthias was quiet for a moment; he sighed. "Some pack members found the bodies of dead rogues close to our territory."

"Alright, Rickon and I will be there soon."

"No worries, I am heading out there anyway. Some of our pack members are with the bodies since some are of the police force, so they can keep this a secret. I will text you the directions just in case." 

The mind link ended, and Maverick returned to the group who waited for him. "Hey, everyone, we have to cut things short. An emergency happened that Rickon and I can't ignore."

"Aww, that stinks. Well, you guys are busy men, so that we can let this slide, right Iris?"

Iris smiled. "Yeah, but we also need to start organizing our things, which can take time. We also need to speak with our landlords."

Everyone returned to the car, where Maverick drove the young women back to their apartment. After everyone said their goodbyes, Rickon sat in the front with the Beta. Once they watched their mates safely enter the apartment, Maverick sat back inside his car. "What happened, Maverick?"

"Alpha Matthias contacted me; he said that dead rogues were found near our territory." Maverick looked at his phone and saw Matthias' text message. He knew where it was located and drove off.

"One problem after another. Is my brother at the location?"

"He said that he's heading out there now. We will have to see how dire the situation is." Maverick drove quickly as he dodged many cars to reach their location, arriving in under thirty minutes. They arrived close to the edge of the woods and a nearby lake where few people went. Maverick parked his car by some trees and bushes so it wouldn't be seen; he and Rickon exited their car and walked to where they felt their pack members' aura. The duo saw a couple of their pack members in their human or werewolf form surrounding a particular space; Matthias was also present.

"Alpha, we arrived as fast as we could."

Everyone, including Matthias, saw the Beta and Rickon arriving. The pack members paved the way for the duo. Maverick and Rickon were horrified by the sight. It was a family of rogues that consisted of parents and four of their children. The parents were in their werewolf form; the mother was shot in the head, while the father's neck was slashed. The children were shot in the head, making Maverick sick to the core of who would do such a thing to a family that had done nothing. Matthias and the pack members also felt sick, especially when innocent werewolf cubs were involved, rogues or not. 

The Alpha looked at the children that comprised from teens to children. Matthias then thought about his wife and son and couldn't fathom the thought of them being in a similar situation. Then, another pack member who wore a police uniform went to the Alpha and handed him some folders. "Alpha, I found some things about this family. It seemed they were on the list to move into one of the pack's apartments; they have no criminal history in human society or with other pack members."

Rickon felt his body tremble in anger as he saw the slain family. "Who in the world would harm an innocent family!?"

Maverick knelt beside the mother's corpse and noticed something shiny under her neck, and when he moved parts of her fur, he saw a bullet. "I found a bullet." He looked at it carefully, and when he tried to touch it, it burned his fingers; everyone saw. "That's a silver bullet. Whoever killed this family knew that they were werewolves, which means..."

"That whoever did this was a hunter. I know our pack agreed with other hunter-families that whoever broke our treaties or laws would be punished accordingly. This family did nothing wrong."

Suddenly, there was a quiet-like muffled cry. Everyone looked down and saw the five-year-old boy moving slightly. Maverick and Matthias went to the child. "He's alive! Bless the Moon Goddess, we must get him to the pack's hospital as soon as possible!" Maverick gently held the child in his arms and ran toward his car to take him to the hospital; Rickon and some pack members decided to go.

Matthias stayed behind as he ordered the police pack members to help pave the way for Maverick while ordering that the family's bodies be taken to Priestess Hecate to have their bodies blessed before burial and to see if she could get any visions on who might have killed the family.