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Chapter 4: Crime of Passion

I slowly lift my hands to Derek’s chest, which I have been wanting to do since this morning. His muscles are like steel underneath my touch and I can feel how warm his skin is through his shirt. It’s like there is a fire burning inside him, and my body is drawn to the flames. I arch my back, my mouth now just inches away from his.

It feels like I’m in a trance, I can’t look away from him, I can’t move. I’m frozen in a moment so fragile it could break any second. He is staring at my mouth and I involuntarily lick my lips. His pupils dilate and he leans even closer-

Caw.

Caw. Caw.

The sound of the crows jolts us back to reality, breaking the spell we were under. Derek backs away carefully and shakes his head, and I release the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.

“In light of this new information, you can’t stay at the Beta’s house anymore, it’s too risky. You will come to my home and work for me now,” he finally says after a minute or two.

Given what almost happened just now, I know this is not a good idea. He is way too distracting. I can’t be swayed from my true purpose.

“But….won’t he want to know why? It might be suspicious that you are suddenly taking one of his maids away,” my argument sounds weak even to me.

“I keep having to remind you, I am the Alpha, and what I say goes. He will do what I want and I want you in my house, not his.”

“What will I do for you?” I ask him, but I am not sure I want to hear the answer.

“Whatever I want,” he says, with a very smug look on his face.

“I am going to need some more details than that if I am going to agree to this arrangement.”

“Come on, we will discuss your duties later. We need to do what we came here for.”

His statement sobers me and I follow him silently.

We walk towards the sound of the crows, still screeching their ominous warning, make our way around the fallen tree and come upon a gruesome scene. Derek steps in front of me quickly, obviously in an attempt to try and shield my view of her.

“Listen, why don’t you go wait by the bike? You don’t have to do this.” It’s cute that he wants to protect me, but he has no idea that the things I have seen in my past are far worse than what lays behind him.

“I’m fine, Derek. I have seen a dead body before,” I look him in the eyes and whatever he sees there convinces him I can handle it. He probably assumes I am talking about my fake parents.

He steps aside and we get a little closer to inspect the girl. She has long curly hair, dark I think but it's so matted with blood it's hard to tell and her body has teeth and claw marks from head to toe. She clearly died from the wound in her chest, the largest and deepest gash down the front of her body. It’s clear another wolf did this to her. I feel a chill down my spine and I shiver, even though the summer air is thick with humidity.

Thank god it’s not Trina, I thought, but who the hell is it? And who would do something like this?

I only know of one type of creature that would inflict this kind of pain and death on a fellow wolf. But could they have found me here? I know I ran for miles through the woods, so there is a good chance they haven’t and they obviously would have gotten to me sooner if they tracked my scent and would have killed me instead of her.

Derek looks at me hesitantly, probably wondering if I am going to break down over the loss of my friend.

“It’s not her,” I say quietly. He looks very relieved to hear this news, but also confused.

“Then who is it? I know pretty much everyone in this pack and I don’t recognize her,” Derek says.

“I’m wondering the same thing.” I crouch down a little closer to her, almost gagging at the smell. The heat of the morning has not been kind, but I gather my wits and try to look for some kind of clue as to who she was.

“Look at her fingernails. She obviously fought her attacker, and whoever did this was definitely a wolf based on the claw marks, and very angry. He could have just killed her, but it looks to me like he enjoyed hurting her.”

“Crime of passion?” He looks at me like he actually wants to know what I think.

Well this is a nice change of pace, the all-knowing Alpha asking for input from a lowly pack member.

“Maybe. All I know is, only someone sick could have done this to their own kind.”

“Agreed. We obviously know how she was killed, but the more important question is why? Why would anyone attack another wolf like this?”

“That is something we will have to try and find out. I assume you don’t want to involve the police in pack business, so the investigation falls to us.” He looks at me strangely.

“Us?” he questions. I feel stupid for assuming he would let me help, and it hurts my feelings more than I want to admit. I look away from him, not wanting him to see it in my eyes.

“Sorry, silly of me to assume you would want help from someone like me,” I reply with a bitterness to my tone. He steps closer to me and lifts my head up so he can look directly at me.

“Why wouldn’t I want help from someone who is obviously very observant and intelligent, not to mention beautiful?” There isn’t a trace of sarcasm in his voice, and his compliments catch me off guard. My cheeks flush and I am tongue tied. Nobody has ever called me any of those things before. Being near to him and hearing him say those words is a potent feeling. The need for his approval comes from a place deep inside me, from the little girl that used to dream of one day finding a mate to share her life with.

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