"Then, where is the problem? Our business is legal, we paid taxes to Alpha?" I frowned, sitting down on the couch next to my dad’s chair.

"Yes, our business is legal." My dad grumbled.

That night, I went to bed and had a detailed dream about Alpha.

He thundered through the forest, his four paws kicking up the dirt as he ran. Grass and dirt flew around him, and trees and branches blurred as he ran past. The forest slowed around him, his senses heightened in his wolf form.

The dream continued. It went on like that for a while, just him running through the forest. After a few moments, the dream changed. I was still standing in the forest, but he was gone. The air was filled with the same sickening, sweet smell. The forest was quiet, tranquil.

There were no insects or other creatures in the forest. Usually, at night, the forest is teeming with living creatures. Animals hunted at night, and insects chirped and buzzed. In my forest dream, there was none of that.

Everything was still, causing a strange feeling of anxiety. The feeling of being watched surrounded me, a tingling sensation from gazes sliding across my skin.

"Zara," called a deep voice, slippery as oil.

The bushes shook, and a strange feeling of death hung over the forest. Thick and almost tangible, this strange, shadow-like substance was retreating from all around me. It was black, like smoke, enveloping the earth, coming closer and closer. Plants withered under the touch of the strange smoke, urging it to move faster.

I sat up in bed, sighing in horror as my sleep was interrupted. No wonder I had nightmares at times like this. I was just lucky my nightmares didn’t involve Katie or mysterious wolves’ glassy gaze. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

***

The office without Alpha Kane was monotonous and almost boring. I easily complete my work without any disturbance. Deep down, I already missed Alpha Kane. A day without him felt like a failure and pointless. I quickly realized how much I wanted to see the fire in his eyes as he fought his secret desires.

***

At night, three of us spent time together until it was time to leave, as usual. Sofia, as always, turned left, and Jackson and I turned right.

Carter and Wade were waiting for us when we arrived. The four of us began our usual jog, watching for anything suspicious.

While Nova enjoyed her limited freedom, I scanned the forest for the sickly sweet smell. This time it disappeared, and I thought I had imagined it all. Scents usually fade, but they never go away completely, especially in twenty-four hours.

I was almost certain tonight would be another quiet night until a loud voice rang out in my head.

"South side. Something broke through the perimeter."

A frantic voice came over the mind link, and the four of us rushed forward without asking questions.

"Did you see anything?" I called over the mind link.

"I didn’t see anything." Someone responded, "Too fast."

Our paws pounded the cool earth as we headed for the southern patrol post. There were more wolves there when we finally got there.

"Scent disappears twenty feet from Sterling Empire." Someone cursed in my head.

"You couldn’t catch them?" Wade growled. "You couldn’t catch a common wolf?"

"Whatever it was, it was fast." The reddish-colored wolf shook his head. "We couldn’t even see it coming."

All hell broke loose across the mind link. Everyone was drunk and nervous. Someone had made it to Empire, which meant another problem was waiting to be discovered.

"The forest has gotten darker, too." A quiet voice spoke out in the chaos.

"Darker?" I frowned, turning my head to meet the glowing eyes of another wolf.

The wolf was dark in color, with white and orange spots. His chocolate-brown eyes glittered with hidden intelligence. I had never seen this wolf before, but that was no surprise. I knew a few of the people in our pack, having been obsessed with Marcus for too long to pay attention to anyone else.

"Yeah." The wolf nodded, and a soft female voice echoed in my head. "Like the shadows are bigger."

"Don’t pay any attention to her." The gray wolf snapped back, a low growl escaping from his mouth. "She didn’t do anything to help. She just froze and looked around in horror."

"I saw more than you did," the girl muttered, her chocolate eyes looking in the direction of the threat.

I looked around the trees and bushes.

"It seems... darker, doesn’t it?" Nova frowned.

"I guess so." I shrugged. "Like the moon isn’t as bright."

"Or the shadows are bigger," Nova repeated the words the little wolf had spoken, sending a strange chill down my spine.

"That’s it," I snapped, trying to end the argument. "I said... Enough!"

My voice boomed through the mind link, calming the unruly wolves.

"Someone could be dead already." I barked at everyone, "Arguing won’t change what happened."

"What do we do, Zara?" Jackson frowned, his wolf whining softly.

"You five, continue searching the perimeter. If they try to escape, alert us immediately." I barked at the five wolves, including the little multi-colored one. Although she was much smaller than the others, her eyes glowed with an odd intelligence that begged for help.

"The rest of you, follow me to Sterling Empire." I continued to bark orders, "We’ll search the Sterling Empire for bodies."

My heart was pounding with my commands. Anxiety and adrenaline were through the roof. The last thing I wanted was to find another body, but someone had gotten through our perimeter. A simple vagrant wouldn’t have been that fast, or even done anything like that.

Whatever it was, it had sprinted through the perimeter unnoticed. Either the fastest thing in the world, or somehow invisible.

We searched the Sterling Empire endlessly, never encountering a body. No one was hurt, and no one was wandering the streets at the time. All was quiet.

The five who were still patrolling reported something almost an hour later. Something had run past them, never stopping, racing through the woods. One by one, we transformed into human form, pulling on spare t-shirts and sweatpants.

After informing Alpha Kane and Beta Hunter of today’s events, we all headed home. The next patrol shift arrived early and quickly settled in before we left for the night.