"Remind me again, how you can smell what others can't?" Liam asks, his arm wrapped around my shoulder as we walk out of the hospital.
"I don't know," I reply, peeling the dry skin off my top lip with my teeth. I bite my tongue, dangling my hands at my sides. "It's been like this ever since I was a kid, you know that."
"I know," Liam says. "I was just asking. Curiosity got the better of me, I suppose you could say."
"It always does, Liam," I sigh. "But to answer your question, no, I don't know."
"Do you think it was the seizures?" Liam hums, tapping his chin.
"The seizures?" I repeat, tucking some of my bangs behind my ear. "No, why?"
Liam shrugs. "Seizures work in weird ways," he explains. "Sometimes they can cause defects in the body."
I scoff. "And they caused a defect in my body? Is that what you're saying?"
"I'm not trying to be mean," Liam mumbles. He stuffs his hands into his pockets, frowning. "It's just a suggestion. Don't you ever wonder where your incredible sense of smell came from?"
"I used to," I say, thinking back to the time when I was young. Liam and I had a game we played a lot, I think it was called chase. We'd chase one another with our eyes closed, using only our sense of smell to find one another. I always won, and my victory was nearly always attributed to my peculiar sense of smell. As a wolf, I looked just like anyone else in the pack, but when it came time to hunt, well, let's just say that there was always one constant winner.
"What changed?" Liam asks.
I pause in my tracks, a cold sensation washing over me. The words that come out of my mouth are impeccably soft. They're almost incoherent.
"My parent's murder," I whisper, avoiding Liam's searching eyes. He's stopped, too, his body partially twisted to look at me, and I hear him sharply intake a breath. I wince.
"Oh," he murmurs. "I-I'm sorry."
"Please, don't be," I snap, pinching my eyes shut in an effort to force the tears away. "It was a long time ago, Liam. I was hardly a kid. Don't sweat about it."
"Still..." Liam trails off at my glare. "Okay, fine. I won't say anything else about it."
"Thank you," I mumble. I glance at his idle hand, and I reach over, squeezing his fingers gently.
"Hm?" He looks up at me, frowning.
"Remember when we were kids?" I ask. "Before the whole...murder thing, we used to play this swinging game?"
"What swinging game?"
"This," I say, and I grab hold of Liam's hand tighter, swinging it back and forth, higher and higher each time. Gradually, a smile forms on Liam's lips, and his fingers intertwine with mine. He lifts my hand up higher and higher, right above our heads. I giggle, gasping.
"Liam!" I exclaim. "You'll snap my arm in half!"
"Will I?" Liam questions mischievously, pulling my arm higher above his head. "So sorry about that."
"Liam!" I squeal like a piglet, sliding my hand out of his grasp. Liam chuckles.
"What?!" He demands when I glare at him. "Aw, don't give me that face, Adhi." He pats the top of my head. "It's not your fault you're so short."
"I'll show you short," I growl, and with that, I shift, pouncing on him. Liam's quicker than I am, though, his shift taking over him in a blinding explosion of white light. By the time I'm able to see again, he's already halfway down the grassy pack lands and almost at the door of his house.
"Shit!" I curse loudly, indifferent if anyone hears me or not. I look around the pack, at the houses flanking the main stone road, and suddenly, I get an idea.
Carefully, I race behind the houses, knowing that somewhere behind one of the large, brick building's there's an old shortcut to the Alpha Palace. It was supposed to be used in case of an invasion to get the Alpha, his family, and the other wolves out quickly, but Liam and I loved to use it as a play chute when we'd play spies with one another.
As I slid down the slide, holding my breath even though I didn't have to, I remarked to myself how inappropriate the situation I was in was. I mean, Casey is practically dead! She's lying unconscious on the hospital bed, hooked up to all these different kinds of machines feeding her unknown substances, and what are Liam and I doing? We're playing chase with one another, acting like little pups.
Just like we used to, I think, a small grin forming on my lips as I think back to the games we played as children. Although it was only years ago, it felt like eons since Liam and I had played a game with one another, much less chase, our favorite game.
"Gotcha!" A voice shouts suddenly, grabbing me out of the chute. I gasp, screaming, and Liam's hand comes up to cover my mouth, his thick arm wrapped around my waist.
"Hey!" I snap. "Let go of me!"
"Not a chance, Beta," Liam's breathy voice murmurs in my ear, hot shivers dribbling down my back.
I smirk. "Is that so?"
"Oh, definitely," Liam smirks, but he's not expecting the jab I send to his gut. He yelps, jumping away from me, and victoriously, I break free from his stronghold, turning to him with a whip of my hair.
"How's that for short?" I say, grinning at him and panting. My chest rises and falls with my labored breaths, and Liam grins back at me, clutching his side with one eye closed.
"Yep, that was good...actually, that was great!" He sighs, stretching his arms above his head, wincing when a bone pops. "It's been a while since we've done that, huh?"
"It has," I murmur, smiling gently at him. He returns my smile, and in the sunlight, I realize just how handsome Liam is. His strong, chiseled jaw and wolf-like black eyes. A straight, strong nose and neatly trimmed beard - Liam is handsome, no doubt.
But, he's also married.
I look away, biting my lip. Some of my hair curls on the edges of my cheeks, and I smile slightly at the ticklish feeling.
"What are you smiling at?" Liam's voice is playful, and he reaches for my hand again. I look at him.
"Nothing," I shake my head. Clearing my throat, I pull my hand away gently, noting the frown that makes its way onto his lips when I do so. "We, er, we should probably be getting to work, right? Can't waste any time, can we?"
"No, I suppose you're right," Liam murmurs, looking slightly downcast. He bends his head for a moment, then meets my eyes again, a firm determination set in his gaze. "Let's go."
I nod, and silently, we walk side by side into Liam's house, walking up the marble staircase and down the red-carpeted hallway towards Liam's office, the one and only place I've ever been to in his house that I can explain to someone in depth. I know Liam did some renovations after his father's death, so the house I knew before wasn't the same as after his marriage.
Or maybe Casey changed a few things around here, I thought, watching Liam as he rummaged through his desk drawers, pulling out old scrolls and yellow maps.
"Who's the Alpha we're going to see again?" I ask, swiftly moving to his side to study the maps that he's flattening on the table.
"Alpha Nero," Liam says, his narrowed eyes darting from map after map, his lips pressed into a thin, dangerous line. "He's the only Alpha that lives in the south. If anyone has answers to cyndicie and Casey's problem, it's Nero."
"What about Octavian and Lucius?" I ask. "Or Augustus? Don't they also live in the South?"
"No." Liam shakes his head. "Octavian and Lucius moved North after the Yamuna War. Augustus and his pack merged with Nero."
"Oh," I mouth. "So our only chance is Nero?"
"Yes," Liam nods. "Hopefully he has a clue about Casey's poisoning."
"Hopefully," I murmur. "But since we already know where to go, we just need to decide when, and then we can focus on who poisoned Casey."
"We can leave tomorrow," Liam offers. "Unless you won't be able to do so."
I shake my head. "No, tomorrow's fine. I'll have to pack early, but..." I tap my chin, shrugging. "I'll be fine."
"Okay," Liam smiles, his hand falling on my shoulder. "I owe you big time, Adhi."
"No, you don't," I snap, taking an aggressive approach before Liam can get pushy. "Liam, I'm your Beta and your best friend. Casey's like a sister-in-law to me and my Luna Queen. I'm practically obliged to help you."
"But that's the thing," Liam says, slamming his hands on the table. "I don't want you to feel obligated."
I shrug. "It's my job, Liam. Get used to it."
Liam growls. "Fine," he snaps, shaking his head. "You're too stubborn. I'm not having this conversation with you again."
Internally, I smirk. "I know," I say, tapping the map. "Now, enough of arguing. Who poisoned Casey?"
"That's what I'd like to find out," Liam says. "Did you smell any other scents while we were at Casey's body?"
"Not...exactly," I murmur, trying to think back to my short time with Casey's lifeless body. I tried to remember the scents I smelled - but there were so many it's hard to get a perfect picture on just one. Different doctors, nurses, and other visitors practically drowned Casey's spicy scent.
"Nothing?" Liam asks. "Not even an oddball?"
"Well...maybe," I shrug. "There were a ton of scents, Liam. It's difficult to pick out just one of them."
"Try," Liam encourages.
I sigh, closing my eyes. I try to think back to my time with Casey, sniffing her body and right over her lips and nose, where the cyndicie was the strongest. Different scents swarm my mind, drowning me, and suddenly, I can't breathe. My eyes snap open and I'm clawing at my throat, gasping for air.
"Hey! Hey!" In a flash, Liam is at my side, taking my body in his arms, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. "Adhi, calm down! Relax, Adhi, you're okay!"
"I...I..." I can't form any proper sentences - my words feel like mush. Liam lifts me into his arms and sets me on the chair in front of his desk, smoothing his hand atop my head.
"Shh, relax, Adhi," his voice is soft, soothing, and I try to relax my tense shoulders, letting them drop to my sides. Slowly but surely, my heart rate returns back to normal, thumping gently in my ears. It seems to have given up on its marathon, and I'm grateful for it. I clutch my stomach, groaning. Liam's still stroking my hair.
"Are you okay now?" He asks softly, bending down to be eye-level with me.
I nod, swallowing the bile in my throat. "Yes," I whisper hoarsely. "I - sorry, I'm okay now."
"No need to be sorry," Liam says, removing his hand from my head. He reaches for my clasped hands, prying them away from one another and taking one of them. Squeezing gently, he captures my eyes, worry and regret seeping from his pupils.
"I'm so sorry, Adhi," he murmurs. "I shouldn't have asked you to do that."
"No, you should have," I said, reaching up with my free hand to clutch my head. "God, that was weird...that's never happened before."
"Is it something new?" Liam hands me a glass of water.
"Yeah, I guess it is, now," I say, accepting the cup. Gulping the drink down, I sigh, wiping my mouth with the sleeve of my arm. "It's not any of the pack wolves, though. Apart from the doctors' scents and yours, there was this...firey scent."
"Firey?" Liam repeats. "What do you mean by 'firey'?"
"I mean that it smells like fire," I explain. I stand up, wobbling slightly, but thankfully, staying on my feet. "Like cinders, you know?"
"Yes, I know," Liam hums. "But what could that mean? Does anyone in the pack smell like cinders?"
I shake my head. "No, and I know everyone in the pack."
"Do you?"
"Yes, Liam," I say, slightly irritated. "I'm supposed to. That's part of my job."
"Right," he winks. "It's good that you know what you're supposed to do."
"Sure..." I drawl, raising my eyebrows. Damn, Liam sure seems to be in a good mood today, despite Casey's...er...predicament. A part of me wonders if Liam could have poisoned his own wife, but the more rational part of me shuts the other side down quickly. Of course, Liam would never do that, no matter how much he tries to avoid Casey and no matter how much it looks like he despises her. I know he loves her, though. He has to. Why else would he marry her?
"Alpha!" Nick suddenly bursts into the door, Ben by his side. They're dragging an unconscious, wide-eyed man with wicked, gleaming orange eyes and dangerous features.
"Nick? Ben?" Liam stands up, brushing his jeans. He glances at me, then back at two-thirds of the triplets. "What is it? Who is that?"
"Another rogue, Alpha," Nick says, tossing the rogue's body onto the ground. I take a step away as his head rolls at my feet, his eyes rolling shut.
"Another rogue?!" Liam repeats, astonished. "How many rogue attacks are we getting this season?"
"Plenty, it seems," I snarl, bending down to inspect the rogue. He smells terrible, like garbage. It's disgusting.
"Take him to the cells," Liam orders, his fingers wrapping around my arm and pulling me back roughly. "I'll deal with him and the other one when they wake."
"Yes, Alpha," Ben said, and he and Nick took the body back before I got to get a good look at it properly, dragging him back out of the room and shutting the door behind them.
Once they were gone, I scowl at Liam, ripping my arm out of his grasp.
"Fuck, what's your problem?" I snap.
He glared at me. "We aren't going at this again, okay?" He says firmly, his jaw clenched so tightly that I hear a tooth pop. "Now, we've got to find this person, and we've gotta find them fast." 253Please respect copyright.PENANAtxlQfYKc4C