This chapter is a little shorter.
Also I am working on the new chapter for Do you Believe in Angels.
It's just been a crazy few weeks.
I'll post as often as I can!
Thanks :)
Downstairs, the Salvatore's basement, was a wide room, that we were all now gathered in.
Besides an enormous reinforced cage, it contained every hidden secret, every in depth detail of the history of our existence.
As the head of our species, the Pack was intrusted with the safekeeping of those records.
Before I'd left, I'd spent hours down here, reading, reviewing, cataloging.
It was nice to see that my system had remained undisturbed.
Damon had also spent a good amount of time here, in the past.
Though usually it was because he was interrogating, or torturing, a Mutt in the cage, not for research purposes.
The file containing the recent information on the current Mutts had already been brought out and laid open on the table.
"Any one of these guys could be the one behind these killings," Stefan noted.
"But how do we determine which one?" Tyler wondered aloud.
"Easy," I answered, and their eyes shifted to me, "Which of the Mutts is the most pissed at Damon right now?"
"Besides you?" Mason shot with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes, "What about Klaus? Damon killed his brother Finn a few years ago."
"He came at Alaric," Damon growled.
"No one's judging," Stefan insisted, keeping the peace, "He's a likely candidate, but Alaric would have recognized his scent. Besides, if that's his motive, we'd have to assume Elijah and Kol are suspects as well."
I shifted uncomfortably.
Kol was a spoiled brat, but of all the Mutts, Elijah was the only one I held any respect for. And he wasn't behind this.
"No," I shook my head, "Kol, maybe, but Elijah isn't stupid enough to kill this close to Pack land."
"Well some Mutt is," Damon crossed his arms, "And any of them have motive."
"Kol, or even Marcellus, could kill easily enough, but they aren't amateurs. They know the repercussions," Stefan added, "I don't believe they'd risk the retribution."
I looked at the pictures in the file, each only a few years old.
"There's Kai Parker," I noted, "Or Markos, though neither of them ever stirred up much trouble."
"Maybe it's not a Mutt," Tyler reasoned.
We all looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked.
"There are other packs out there," Tyler noted, "Smaller, allied with us, and keep their noses clean. But if one of the sons has recently come of age, maybe he didn't want to listen to daddy's rules, and came to challenge them."
"Possible," I allowed, "But unlikely. The other packs know better than to let their children challenge The Pack. They would have warned us."
"Still not a bad thing to look into," Stefan clapped Tyler's shoulder, before looking at me, "You want to dig up the bloodline charts? No one else seems to be able to find a damn thing down here."
I nodded.
A few hours, and much speculation later, we'd decided to stop researching.
There was nothing more we could do downstairs anyway, so we all went up top, to grab some food and prepare for the night ahead.
Mason and Tyler joined their father and Alaric in the study, to tell them our theories, while I followed the Salvatore's up the stairs.
Somehow, we all ended up in Damon's room. "So where have you been keeping busy?" I teased Stefan, as Damon walked off to his bathroom.
The younger Salvatore was never too far from the Pack, but he did like to travel.
"Been spending a few weeks up with a pack in Monterey," he told me, "Mostly hunting and sparring with some of the guys."
"Yet, I still kicked your ass earlier," I noted.
He smirked, "Then tell me what you've been doing in New York?"
"What, for sport?"
He shrugged, "We'll start there."
I blushed a little, "Running, mostly, the gym...and tennis."
He scoffed.
"What? It's a good workout!" I defended.
He shook his head, then, faster than I expected, picked me up and threw me onto the bed.
He jumped next to me then, and sprawled out.
It's lucky Damon's mattress was so enormous.
"Looking forward to tonight?" Stefan asked, running his fingers from my belly in lazy strokes, each one climbing higher.
He was almost as bad as Mason when it came to the flirting.
I slapped his hand back down to my stomach.
"We aren't supposed to have fun," I told him, "This is a serious matter, and it requires a serious attitude."
A spout of laughter sounded from the bathroom.
Damon came out, wiping his hands on a towel.
"You can almost say that with a straight face, kitten. I'm impressed."
I rolled my eyes and said nothing.
He thudded down beside me, making the bedsprings groan as it took the weight of all three of us.
"Come on," he nudged me, "Admit it. You're looking forward to it."
I shrugged.
"Liar," he smirked, "You are. I mean, it's an officially sanctioned Mutt hunt! And even if it wasn't, how often do we get to run in town?"
Damon's eyes glinted with excitement.
He reached down to stroke the inside of my forearm and I shivered.
Nervous anticipation twirled in my stomach.
Turning his head to the side, he looked out the window at the upcoming night.
His fingertips tickled against the inside of my elbow, almost absentmindedly.
My gaze swept over his face, taking in the line of his jaw, the tendons on his neck, the dark shadow on his unshaven skin, and the curve of his lips.
Heat started in the pit of my stomach and radiated down, the way it always did when I let my guard slip around this man.
He turned his head back to face me.
His pupils were dilated and I could smell his excitement.
"It's almost time."
"We still have to wait for Enzo," Stefan reminded him, and I gave a start.
In all honesty, I'd almost forgotten that Stefan was even laying on the other side of me.
That's what I get for giving Damon so much of my attention.
I shook my head, and sat up.
"Right, well, I'm going to go downstairs and see if Ric knows what time he's supposed to arrive."
Neither of them protested, so I left the room.
However, I paused further down the hallway, not quite ready to join the others yet.
I stared out the window at the top of the staircase.
It overlooked the side of the house, and the woods that lay beyond.
The moon's light reflected off the leaves, illuminating the scene.
My heart gave a small ache for the life I'd left behind here.
My Pack, my family...the freedom.
Everything I'd given up in an effort to be normal.
I sighed, bringing my hand up to touch the glass as I looked up at the moon.
How many nights had I fallen asleep out in that forest?
Woken up to half a dozen naked male bodies circled around me, not the worst part of being a werewolf.
Our arms and legs would be entangled, offhand jibes thrown at one another, each of the guys special to me in their own way, and I never felt out of place among them.
That sense of belonging was something I knew I'd never truly find in New York.
But I had to at least try.
The sound of the front door opening called my thoughts back to the present.
A smile broke out across my face as a voice called out, "Anyone home?"
Enzo had finally arrived!
I rushed down the stairs, finding him at the base, in the foyer.
"Enzo!" I cried.
He turned, just in time to catch me as a flew into his arms.
He squeezed me tightly, "Hello there, Gorgeous."
I pulled away, "You finally made it!"
"Yes, the bloody idiots lost my bags in customs, then I had to do a round about and pay a fee for- well, it doesn't matter. I'm here now."
I smiled, hugging him again.
The others had entered the foyer now, and I released him so he could greet them.
There was a quick round of scuffs, shoulder brushes, mock punches, and gropes of laughter before they were finished.
It was a wonder we weren't all bruised all the time.
Alaric allowed the rough introductions with a patient smile.
Finally, Enzo stuck out a hand to him, and they shook.
"Good to see you again," Ric offered.
"Good to be home," Enzo grinned, "Though getting to keep this one company on occasion was well worth it."
He ruffled my hair playfully.
Alaric chuckled," Well, now that we are all here, we can discuss tonight's agenda. Let's move into the library."
Everyone followed obediently, filing out of the foyer.
A hand caught my waist as I turned to follow.
I looked up, to see Damon smirking.
"What?"
A full blown grin.
"We get to hunt."
I couldn't help but smile back.
Hunt.
Such a beautiful word.
Hope ya'll enjoyed!