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“They were alive,” Damian’s voice breaks through my thoughts, his tone barely above a whisper, heavy with sorrow. “They tried to get out,” he adds, his words punctuated by Maverick’s heavy footsteps as he steps into the container behind us.
The weight of the tragic scene before us is suffocating. The knowledge that these women and children were alive at some point, their cries for help falling on deaf ears, is a burden that crushes me deeply.
Maverick’s deep voice echoes in the container as he confirms what I already feared. “Yes, they managed to open one door. Some bodies washed up, but the rest were trapped. The pressure would have held the doors closed. Had the storm not been so brutal, we may not have found them.”
I struggle to keep my composure as I step back out and look. around at the lifeless bodies surrounding me. Most of them are human, but seven she–wolves are among them. My heart aches for these innocent victims, robbed of their lives in such a cruel manner.
My eyes fall upon a little girl, the tarp having lifted from the wind, she no more than six years old, lying still on the ground. Her small hand grips tightly onto a ragged teddy bear, a final attempt to find comfort in such terror. My heart breaks for her and all the other children who suffered in this nightmare.
Tears burn my eyes as I turn away from the gruesome scene. It’s too much to bear.
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“Who could do something like this?” I ask aloud, my voice. thick with emotion.
Maverick’s jaw clenches with anger as he looks around at the carnage. “I don’t know,” he replies through gritted teeth. “But we need to find out.”
Clyde steps forward and looks closely at one of the bodies near us. “These are mostly humans,” he notes. “But there are also some werewolves among them.”
My mind races with questions and possibilities. Is this some sort of twisted trafficking operation? Are vampires behind it, or is our own kind involved? And why do they need both humans and werewolves?
Damian speaks up, his voice filled with grief. “This explains why the human governments were
The council will have trouble explaining this.” I nod when the sound of footsteps crunching on sand reaches my ears as someone approaches, and I turn to see Rhett striding toward us, a look of disdain on his face. Clyde steps forward. “I called you, Rhett. We need your input on this.”
Rhett looks at the container, covering his nose against the stench. “Not one of mine,” he snaps. “And I’m not into shipping illegal cargo. You’re looking at the wrong Alpha.” His dismissive tone sends a wave of anger through me.
But then, out of nowhere, Bianca wanders over. The moment she sees the scene before her, she pales and immediately turns to vomit at the sight. I feel a mixture of disgust and frustration.
“Great, God knows where it washed up,” Damian murmurs,
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and Bianca straightens, her face ashen.
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“Didn’t Jefferson lose a few containers a few weeks back?” she suggests, glancing nervously at the container.
We all turn to look at her, surprise evident on our faces. Clyde steps forward, his brow furrowing in thought. “Jefferson?” he asks.
“Yeah, he was angry because he lost four containers of one shipment,” Bianca confirms, her voice shaky.
I look at Clyde, who nods slowly, the realization dawning on all of us. “I will head out and look into it,” he says, his tone serious.
“I’ll go with you,” Rhett offers, his expression shifting to one of determination. “I can help you look at shipment logs.”
Maverick interjects, “Maybe we should leave it to the authorities to handle.”
“We are the authorities,” Clyde snaps back, his voice firm. “If Jefferson is behind this, it’s up to us to deal with him.”
As the tension rises, I can’t shake the feeling that this situation is spiraling out of control. We stand in the shadow of something far more sinister than just a washed–up container. I can feel it in my bones.
Eventually, we decide to head back to the castle. On the way home, I pull out my phone and ring Clyde for information on Jefferson.
“We couldn’t speak with him,” Clyde informs me. “He’s
incapacitated, apparently fell ill at work. We’ll have to wait for
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him to wake up. I left a message with his Luna, and Rhett’s pack offered to help go through Jefferson’s manifests.”
“Great,” I reply, frustration lacing my words. “Let’s hope we can uncover the truth before it’s too late and it starts a war
with the humans.”
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