"Do you have any theories? Did he describe the attacker?" Alastair asked.
"It's definitely the same thing I saw," I answered. "The bite is so weird looking."
"It is?"
"It's circular with puncture wounds."
"Hmm," he mumbled.
"Did he tell you what it was?" Ashley asked.
I shook my head. "He doesn't know what they are either."
"Could it be an entirely new species?" she pondered out loud.
"Living in the drainage system?" I asked. "I would think they would have been seen by someone else before now."
"How often are people working down there?"
"I'm not sure, but I have to think that at some point there's always someone down there between all of the packs."
"Then how did they get into our territory?" Alastair asked.
"That is the million-dollar question."
"Could the Goddess be punishing us for something?"
I looked at him like had two heads. "No, she wouldn't do that. Never."
"How do you know? Maybe she is upset with us?"
"Artemis wouldn't do that to us."
"Maybe?" he repeated.
Ashley and I looked at each other briefly.
"Maybe," I said. That was a conversation I was not ready to have with a guy I met an hour ago.
I took the medallion back and stared at the strange etching on it.
Is it the seal for another pack? A rogue pack?
I stared out the front doors for what felt like an eternity until I saw the black SUV's and coroner van from Moon Mist pull up in front of the doors.
Thank Goddess he's here.
I left the building, everyone gasping behind me, and met my dad at the first SUV.
"Dad!"
He wrapped his arms around me and hugged tight. "Ellie."
"Dad, I saw it. I saw the thing. One of the water department guys was attacked. He's inside."
"He's alive?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"He needs to be quarantined immediately."
"What? Why?"
"We have no idea what those things are and Harry had a really bad reaction."
"What? What happened?" I asked quietly.
"He became extremely violent and began attacking everyone. He wouldn't respond to any commands and we eventually had to restrain him."
"Do you know why?"
Dad shook his head. "We're not sure if it's just a reaction to medication, if there's something wrong after the bite or something else."
"That's something," I said.
"It is. So for now we're keeping him restrained and quarantined."
"Right. That's smart."
"Where's the body?"
I pointed down the alleyway.
"Dad?"
"What, honey?"
"I think we figured out how they're moving around without being seen."
"Really?"
"The drainage system. They connect all of the packs."
"What?"
"Yeah. Come inside. We have a map that shows the entire drainage system. Every pack is connected."
"No. That can't be right."
"It is."
He followed me inside to where Alastair was.
"Beta Alastair, this is my father, Beta Kenrick of the Moon Mist pack."
"Beta Alastair," my father said, extending his hand.
"Beta Kenrick," Alastair grasped his hand and shook. "I understand you've been investigating this situation?"
"I have been. This is the first time they've been spotted though." Dad looked around the crowded area. "Ellie said there's a map of the drainage system?"
"There is. We can go to my office to look at it."
Dad nodded and we followed Alastair to a large office with books everywhere.
"Sorry about the mess."
"My office looks the same," dad chuckled.
"Uh, this table should work."
"Anywhere special you want these, hun?" Ashley asked.
Dad raised an eyebrow and looked at me. I shook my head and grabbed a handful of the books.
"No, just anywhere out of the way." Alastair pulled out the map and started laying it out. "Okay, so this area is Silver Peak. Our drainage system is the blue lines."
He traced his finger to a large black line.
"What is that?" dad asked.
"The black line is the main drainage system that connects all of the packs. Here is Moon Mist. Misty Pines. Deer Creek. And..."
"Winter Lake."
"Could they be there?" I asked. "How open are their drains?"
"All of the drains are supposed to be blocked off with iron gates."
"I don't think the gates are working," Ashely mumbled.
"I don't think so either."
"Does anyone here have a clue as to what these things are?" dad questioned.
Alastair was about to answer but was interrupted by screams.
"What the fu..."
He opened his office door and saw a mass of people running down the hallway. "What's going on?"
"Hey! You! What's happening."
Nobody answered. They ran and screamed. Their screams couldn't drown out the guttural sound of the creature's scream.
"They're inside?" Ashley asked in a whispered panic.
"There is no way. The pipes that connect the buildings to the drainage system are not big enough to anything besides maybe a rat to get through. There is no way." Alastair closed the door. "I need to go out there and see what's happening."
"I'll go with you," dad said. "Girls, stay here."
"Dad, I'm not letting you out of here."
"Ellie, stay put."
"Dad. No."
"What are you going to do? You just turned 18. You have no idea how to control your wolf yet. You don't know how to fight. You need to stay here."
"But dad..."
"No buts, young lady. I said stay put."
I folded my arms in front of my chest and pouted. "Fine."
They closed the door behind them and pushed through the throng of people. I cracked open the door as soon as they closed it.
"Ellie, your dad said to stay put."
"Dad says a lot of things."
"I think this might be one of those times you should listen."
"When have I ever listened?" I glanced back at her.
"Never," she grumbled.
"Exactly," I whispered, creeping out the door after all the people passed by us.
"What happened?" dad shouted. "Who is that?"
"That is, or was, Charlie. He's the water department guy who was bitten by those things."
"Something happened to Charlie," I whispered.
"What?" Ashley asked.
"I dunno. Let's go see."
I peaked around a corner as dad and Alastair fought against what used to be Charlie. He climbed up the side of a wall, his claws insanely long while screaming at them. His mouth was nothing but the razor-sharp teeth that I had seen in the other creature.
"Oh my Goddess, he turned into one of them!"
"What?"
"He turned into one of those creatures, kind of. He's super hairy though. Like his wolf is coming out, but he has those teeth."
"What?"
"Come look!" I whisper-shouted at Ashley.
Charlie launched himself off the wall at Alastair, pinning him to the ground. Ashley tensed up and prepared to run out. I grabbed her arm to stop her.
"He's my mate, Ellie."
"Don't just run out there. What if it bites you?"
She pursed her lips while I looked around for a weapon of some sort.
Alastair yelled out in frustration as he tried to fight off Charlie. My dad attacked from the back, putting him into a choke hold, trying to pull him off Alastair. Charlie let out a scream as he fought them both.
I grabbed one of the posts used in lines and crept up on the trio.
"Dad, duck!" I shouted, swinging the pole with all of my might.
Dad turned to look at me and ducked just as the makeshift weapon made contact with Charlie's head. He went limp and slumped to the ground, making the worst noises I'd ever heard.
"I told you to stay in the room!" dad scolded.
"Yeah, and you both would have been bitten. You're welcome." I dropped the pole and stepped back. "What happened to him?"
"The bite affected his very DNA. He turned into one of those things."
"What? How is that even possible?" I questioned, stooping next to Charlie's unconscious body. "What do we do with him? Is this what happened to Harry?"
"The only place we can hold him with how violent he is is the jail cells. I don't think transporting him is possible at this point," Alastair answered.
"I think you're right," dad agreed. "I'm going to get a few blood samples before he wakes up though. I want to compare it to the other samples we have. This is nearly identical to what happened to Harry."
Alastair left to find officers to help him drag Charlie into a cell while dad ran out to the SUV for his lab case.
"This is crazy," Ashley said. "Why did they just leave him here? What if he wakes up?"
"I hit him really hard. I don't think he's going to."
I pushed him onto his back using my shoe and stooped over him again. I picked up his arm and turned it over to see the wound, it was red and swollen.
"Stop touching him! What if it gets in you or something?"
"I think you have to be bitten to turn. The medics were touching him and I touched him earlier. I'm fine."
She took a few steps back and started pacing around the room.
"Ellie, what are you doing?"
"Dad, look at the wound."
He put on a pair of gloves and picked the arm up himself, poking at the wound. A clear liquid oozed out.
"Now that is strange. Give me one of the vials out of my kit. I'm getting a sample of this."
"What do you think it is?"
He scooped some of the liquid into the small bottle and sniffed it.
"Ew," Ashley cried out.
I looked at her and rolled my eyes. "We have to figure out what it is."
"It smells sweet."
"Sweet?"
"Yeah, very sweet...mixed with old blood."
"Sweet with old blood?"
"Yes, as if he's been dead for a long time."
"Um, he's not dead though?" I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath.
"No, he is not." Dad tied a tourniquet around Charlie's arm and pushed a needle into one of his veins, drawing out 5 vials of blood. "This should be enough."
Alastair returned and had his officers drag Charlie to the back where the jail cells were.