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Chapter 7: A True Mate

We both look at each other in shock and then bolt towards the sound. I follow Derek as he veers around the left side of the house and through a grove of trees. Suddenly, as we break through the trees, I realize where we are, having just been there a short time ago. I look at Derek accusingly.

“That girl was killed right near your house? Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask.

“There was a lot going on, and I didn’t think it made any difference,” he replied dismissively. I feel a little hurt that he kept it from me, even if it’s unwarranted given the length of time we have known each other. Sometimes I feel like I have known him my whole life, but that doesn’t mean he feels that way about me.

We walk a little further to see a group of pack members gathered around the body of the girl. One woman in particular is on her knees, sobbing over her and clutching her heart. She must be the one who screamed. Derek signals one of the men over to us.

“Hey, John. Why is Janine so upset? How did she know the girl?” Derek gestures towards the crying woman.

“You didn’t know? That’s her niece. Her sister married a wolf from another pack and went to live with him and joined his pack, so it caused some friction in the family for a while. But recently the sisters made up and Janine’s niece Annie came to visit for a bit. She thought Annie, being a teenager, was just sleeping in this morning. When she went to check on her and realized her bed was never slept in, she got nervous and started asking around. Apparently, she went to the Beta to help her with the search and he let it slip that a girl's body had been found,” John said.

“He LET IT SLIP?” Derek shouted, and everyone went quiet except for Janine, too overcome with grief to notice. He looked very angry, his wolf was just under the surface. His deep brown eyes were flashing gold and a low, warning growl was emanating from his body.

If it wasn’t such a serious situation, I would take the time to notice how sexy he looked when his inner beast came out. Everyone was holding their breath to see what he was going to do next.

“Where is he now?” Derek asked John, gritting his teeth and still barely containing his anger.

“I think he is back at his house but I’m not sure. He called me and asked me to bring Janine to see the girl. I thought you knew, he made it seem like you did. I’m sorry, Alpha, I never would have done that if I knew you didn’t give your approval,” John replied, looking nervous.

“I know, John. I am not angry at you, I am angry at Raphael. He had no right to make a decision like this without speaking to me. Don’t worry, I will address it with him as soon as I handle this. We need to get Annie transported back to her family, now that we know who that is. I need you to get some other pack members together and take care of it for me. I spoke to Sam earlier and he said he was going to take some pictures and gather evidence so we can try and find some clues to who did this. I can’t let this kind of thing go unpunished in my pack,” Derek said, determination in his voice.

“Of course, anything you need,” John replies.

“We are having a council meeting in a few hours, did Raphael inform you?” Derek asks him.

“Yes, he let me know, and all of us are prepared to meet here, if that is still ok?” John said hesitantly, stepping lightly around Derek now.

“At least he did one thing right,” Derek muttered, and then as an afterthought, “Yes, that’s fine John, I will see you in a while.” John nods at him and walks away, starting to disperse the crowd and give instructions. Derek looks lost in thought and I put a hand on his arm. He jumps a little, as if he forgot I was there.

“Can I do anything?” I ask him.

“Actually yes, help me get Janine in the house, John will take care of Annie, but we need to get Janine calmed down and see if she knows anything about why this happened,” he replies. We walk over to Janine and I kneel down next to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

“Janine?” I say quietly. She looks up at me and I can feel her pain in my soul.

“She’s dead,” she says, still in shock.

“I know. But we need to get her home, Janine, where she belongs,” I say. Her eyes widen with fear.

“Oh my god! My sister is going to hate me for letting this happen. What am I going to tell her? Why did this happen? Why?” she starts crying again, and I take her hand in mine and force her to look at me.

“We don’t know why. But we are going to find out. I promise you, the Alpha has made this his top priority. He is going to find out who did this and he will make them pay. You believe that, don’t you?” I say this to her with absolute certainty in my voice. She looks up at Derek behind me, finally seeing him.

“I’m sorry Alpha, I don’t want you to think I doubt you,” she says to him respectfully.

“I don’t think that Janine, but Lily is right. I am going to do everything in my power to get justice for Annie. I will not rest until we get this bastard,” he tells her, venom in his voice. He holds out his hand out to her and lifts her up, leading her into the house with me following behind.

We get Janine inside to the kitchen and Derek makes her some tea as I prod her gently with questions about Annie, who she has been hanging around with, and why she might have been out last night. She doesn’t have any useful information and unfortunately we are back to square one. Derek is compassionate and understanding to her, and it warms me. Janine’s husband comes and picks her up, leaving Derek and I alone in the kitchen.

“Thank you,” he says to me softly.

“Oh, I didn’t do anything really,” I reply. He is looking at me intensely again and my body temperature rises. I am standing next to the island and he starts to come closer to me and I back up until I hit the counter and I am trapped.

“No, you did. You helped me a lot. You showed strength and empathy and kindness, all the characteristics of a true mate,” he says to me, and I swear I didn’t hear him correctly.

“What did you just say?” I ask him, dumbfounded.

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