Page 147 of Conner's Luna

"Motherfucker," I swear softly at the scene. Nikki, Ariana's sister, is strung out on a wooden x-frame. Her hands, broken at both wrists, are tied to the top of the X with zip-ties. Her feet are tied to the bottom with what looks like blood-soaked clothing. Underwear, maybe pantyhose or leggings. Half of her left foot is torn away. She's nude, her throat slit. There are several wounds, straight edges, not claws marks, over her arms and chest. Right in the center of her body, her abdomen is... missing.

"She was pregnant," I say grimly.

"She was," Uncle Devel comes to stand at my shoulder. "You knew her?"

"Her sister, mother, father, and nephew are on ClearHowl land."

"But she didn't leave RedMoon," Uncle Devel mutters, moving closer to the corpse. "Why not?" he asks under his breath. "She shows signs of emaciation. Low levels of iron in her blood."

"Her sister, Ariana, says Nikki refused to move because of the pregnancy. It seemed like she was happy there."

"Alpha Wilkinson is on his way," Sam says. His blue eyes examine the body.

"The fucker lives twenty minutes away. When was he informed about this?" I ask.

Devel smirks. "I called him thirty minutes ago, but he saw us coming in three hours ago."

"Prick."

"Yeah."

I look closer at the body. "This wasn't the same people," I tell my uncle. "She was ripped apart. Tortured. The only thing they took was the pup."

"We thought the same," Sam walks over, arms crossed, dark blue eyes glaring at the body. "She has the same unique scent markers, though. At first, we thought maybe similar tools were used and that explained the scent."

"Then," Uncle Devel adds, "we processed the slivers of material found in her body. It's the same metal levels in the same concentrations. The same drugs will most likely be found, too. Haven't gotten those results back."

I wander outside to Uncle Devel's mobile lab. The dark-colored van looks like some sort of official government vehicle, but inside it's a world-class crime laboratory. My honeygirl would be in heaven with this van. Shit, she'd probably drive it around instead of her little blue car. I'll have to get her one.

I dismiss that idea as I look at the metal shaving found in Nikki's body. I don't want Bailey driving herself around. I'd rather she catch rides with one of us. If she has to drive, I'll get her one of those armored, bullet-proof deals.

"So we think that it was the same people, but this looks personal?" I ask Uncle Devel.

"Problem, Boss," Leilani sashays over. Uncle Devel smiles at his female. "She was drugged with LSD. Not the same drug used on the other females. In fact, this is commonly used as more of a party drug. Essentially, she overdosed."

"A pregnant female was using and no one noticed?" Uncle Devel asks her, then kisses her softly on the mouth.

"Exactly," Leilani says triumphantly.

They're weird. I'm all for PDA, but not at a murder scene. Although, I guess they hang out at murder scenes a lot.

I clear my throat, regaining their attention. "So, she was drugged and ripped apart. Pup is gone. The murder and overkill look personal. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Go follow the footprints," I hear Sean say in a harsh voice from outside the van.

I'm jogging as I enter the house, zeroing in on the bloody mess at Nikki's feet. There are drag marks from the rear door in the kitchen, so her body was dragged in that way. The greatest concentration of blood is at Nikki's feet, of course, but then... There is a trail of footprints leading to the stairs.

Motherfucker. I run upstairs, noting that the footprints are decidedly smaller than my own, and fairly smooth. Not sneakers, then, and possibly... shit... a female killer?

The footprints lead directly to Bailey's old bedroom. The door is open. Two of Uncle Devel's team are inside, still processing the scene.

"War," I croak. "It's fucking war, now. Those motherfuckers."

My vision is hazy as I turn my back on the ugly words scrawled over the wall. The words, written in Nikki's blood, are burned on my retinas as I look at Sean and Sarj.

You're lucky, cunt.

Fuck the other packs and their so-called council. It's time I Mark my female.

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