He'd hoped this was just another case, he'd prayed that Hannah Lorenz had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time or it had simply been someone targeting her because of her. But the second Lanie had called them down to the morgue in order to tell them their victim had been killed with a silver bullet, all his hopes were crashed under a big shoe. Beckett had teased him about the werewolf theory again, but her eyes had immediately picked up on the change in his body the second she laid her eyes on him, and her mouth immediately closed with a clench in her jaw. After that he could feel her eyes glancing to him more often than not, could feel the constant questions radiating from her body as he tried to act as normal as he could without freaking out. Did someone know about them? If they knew about Hannah, how long would it take for them to figure out he and his family were one of them too?
The boys didn't see his small fear, they teased him about how he wasn't theorizing about Hannah being a werewolf. He probably got better at hiding his feelings once they had started teasing anyway, it had been that first instant shock that had led Beckett to seeing through him. She'd bit the boys off, though, told them they had a case to solve and shouldn't be disrespecting the dead. The boys were sent off to try and find Hannah's parents while Beckett told Castle they would focus on the things they knew to try and build up a timeline. When Castle took a break in order to get them coffee he took the opportunity to send a text message to Marco, the phone which wouldn't be on the record in case Beckett or the boys would check it up. He wrote he had some new developments he needed to share, that it was urgent that they'd speak, and asked if they could meet up somewhere during the night. As he was done with the coffee he felt his phone vibrate and checked it to see the wolf had sent him an address and a time.
"Why a silver bullet? Why go through the trouble of making a bullet out of pure silver instead of just buying a normal one?" Beckett asked as he handed her the coffee, the wrinkle between her eyes as adorable as it had been the first time he witnessed it all those years ago.
Because silver hurt more. He shrugged his shoulders, tried to be as nonchalant as he could. "Maybe you're right, maybe she was a werewolf." Maybe if he indulged the idea, they would let him off the hook.
She gave him a look, her look. "Don't be ridiculous."
With quick thoughts he decided he could actually use this to his advantage, the killer was already crazy for killing anyway. "Okay, she isn't, but let's pretend the killer thought so. What if he got so delusional he would actually start killing people because he think they're werewolves?"
She hummed at that. "Maybe, but where would that leave him? You know any special place we could visit?"
He suddenly felt his heart pick up in speed. "Me? Why me?" What are you saying?
Rolling her eyes, she answered, "Aren't you usually the one with the weird places to go? You remember you took us to that weird place with stuff from 200 years ago?"
Right. "Uh-well-yeah," he struggled to find what words to say so he just closed his mouth for a few seconds, cleared his head. "I can't think of any," he said while shaking his head.
He could see she didn't truly believe him, could see how she kept searching his eyes for the secret she knew he was hiding. He knew he shouldn't look away but he couldn't help it, her gaze was hard on him and he couldn't stand the way it hurt seeing her so disbelieving.
"What aren't you telling me, Castle?"
Her hazels were practically begging him to tell her the truth, and god knew he wanted to, but just before he opened his mouth to tell her he found himself shrugging his shoulders.
"Nothing," he smiled at her before turning his eyes back to their timeline. "What was she doing in that corner? Did she live nearby?" He changed the subject easily, and even though he could see the irritation and worry in her eyes she tried to kill a sigh as she let it go.
And that's kind of how the rest of the day played out, him trying to constantly ignore her questioning eyes as they together tried to put together the timeline and find out what had happened to the girl. When the boys came back they announced they'd indeed found Hannah's parents but they hadn't spoken to their daughter for two years. Castle had a feeling that might've been about the time Hannah met Julie, or even been the time when she turned. According to the boys the two parents seemed devastated about the fact that their daughter was dead, they said they had hoped their little girl would come back to them sooner or later. Castle could tell by the way Espo and Ryan smelled that her parents weren't wolves, which made him wonder if Julie or Marco had been the one to turn the girl and if it had been by her own will or theirs. Most likely it had turned out good in the end though, since Julie and Hannah were soulmates.
"I don't get this case," Beckett groaned when the time got late and she'd already sent the boys home.
Castle eyes his partner gently, her forehead was leaning into her hand as she clenched her eyes shut. She looked so exhausted and he wondered how much was really about the case, how much was about the worry about him he could sense radiating from her.
"Maybe we should take the night to get some rest and look back at it again tomorrow," he suggested and she popped open one eye to glance at him.
"I'm sorry, Castle, you're probably tired. You can go home," she said, a small smile tugging at her lips.
He shook his head. "I'm not going home until you do," he halfway threatened, knew she wouldn't stay longer if it meant he forced himself to stay there too.
As expected she sighed and ran her hand down her face. "Fine, I'll go."
He wanted to grin proudly, but settled with a small smile, as they raised from their chairs and walked out of the precinct.
–––––––––––––––––––––
Even though he would've loved to go home, like he told Beckett he would, he steered his way towards the address Marco had sent him earlier. He was going to suggest the idea his daughter had, but his main objective needed to be to warn the wolf if their secret maybe being out. Because, like his partner had stated, why make a bullet out of silver unless you knew the person you were going to kill was a werewolf. That's what every myth said. 'Werewolves were allergic to silver'. Though, truth was, any bullet to the head would be deadly, didn't matter if it were silver or not. The difference was how it felt, somehow silver felt more, hurt more, but he had really no idea why. Perhaps it did more damage too and it healed slower but just because that's how silver acted didn't mean any other bullet wouldn't have done the same thing. It didn't take long before he found the alley Marco had sent him and it didn't take long before the man himself came into sight.
"Did you find the killer?" he immediately asked and Castle took a small breath, hoped the wolf wouldn't find it offensive he called with other, still important, matter.
"No, but she was killed with a silver bullet. Home-made by the looks of it," he told the wolf who he could see immediately tensed his body, getting ready to fight if something where to happen. "Are you sure no one suspected anything? You didn't see or hear anything out of ordinary?"
Marco shook his head but Castle could tell he was most definitely trying to think his hardest. "She was always careful, just like Julie."
"Do you know if anyone else has been running they're mouths?" Castle asked, hoping he could at least find one clue they could check out. He didn't want to go home empty handed, he needed this case over with so he could move on without Beckett coming on to him.
"If they had, you know I would've put a stop to it," Marco's eyes narrowed on him and he immediately held his hands up in defense.
"Of-of course you would, I just thought it best to ask."
"That all? I should get back to my daughter," Marco said and if Castle could swear he saw the worry in the wolf's eyes. Of course he was worried about his daughter. He knew how it felt.
Castle was then quickly pitching Alexis's idea to the wolf, knowing he would want to get back to his heartbroken girl as fast as possible. Marco growled at the idea of 'only' scaring the bastard who'd done this to his daughter, but after Castle trying to stand up for himself by telling what the consequences could bring for both him and his soulmate, the wolf promised to at least think about it. Castle felt relief filling his body at that, hoped all would sort out so that Beckett wouldn't go after the wolf or find out about any of them. Before Marco left he turned around to the writer who immediately felt himself tense. Maybe he wouldn't consider after all.
"By the way," was that a hint of a smile? "You should tell her. And turn her as soon as you can, I know that's what I regret." The man turned away from the alley, walking away only to leave a startled Castle behind.
Castle didn't know what to say, so he just stayed quiet while watching the back of the wolf disappear into the darkness. What the hell was it with everyone telling him to tell Beckett his secret? He had never, ever, expected Marco Trent to be one of them though. Then again, it wasn't that weird. He had heard how Marco had lost his soulmate, had heard about it when he for a couple weeks actually tried to befriend the wolf. Wendy had been as human as Beckett when Marco had met her, the second he'd understood she was his soulmate he'd told her about everything. Apparently they had agreed to wait on turning her into a wolf, especially since her parents had been very disapproving of her moving out at only seventeen. As soon as they were ready to move in together they'd gotten the surprise of Wendy being pregnant with Julie, which was the biggest reason they'd waited longer. None of them knew what could happen if a pregnant woman turned.
Castle thought back to the way Marco had looked so distraught when he told his tail. They'd decided on her delivering the baby and get a month of rest before they went through with the process, but she didn't get through the first week. There had been an accident, and it had been just a freaking accident, and Wendy hadn't survived it. Castle could tell the only reason Marco hadn't given up then and there was the girl he'd stood with in his arms. Maybe the wolf was right, even if an accident would still hurt a werewolf, it wouldn't necessary kill it. For some reasons they had tougher skin and he'd noticed they healed quicker than humans, which was the biggest reason he never let Beckett see any of the bruises he might get during the cases. But if he didn't tell her the truth, what if she'd catch a case that would kill her as a human when she could've been saved as a wolf? What if she didn't want to be a wolf? He couldn't force her, and he knew of a few soulmate-relationships with one being human and the other a wolf. To be honest, he was just hoping she would believe him. And love him the way he loved her.