~~

Reece

~~

Following the call with Dietrich, I decided to call David and check up on the investigation. He answered the call almost immediately.

"Yes Alpha?" He said when he answered.

"Hey David, how are things going with the investigation? Have you met with Otsana yet?"

"I've got all the information that I can from the local police, I was just about to go see the FBI agents."

"Alright, I planned on meeting with them and you anyway so I will swing by to pick you up at the station. Wait for me."

"Yes, Sir."

I quickly collected David from the station and the three of us made our way to the rental house I had set up for the FBI agents, I figured that would be easier on them than a hotel room. The house was close to the edge of town heading back toward the compound. Both Otsana and her partner Jackson McIan were staying there.

We pulled up to the small ranch style house on the edge of town and started toward the door. I had told them that I was coming so they were expecting me. Agent McIan opened the door before we had even finished climbing the porch.

"Mr. Gray, good evening." Agent McIan called out to me. "I hope you don't find this rude, but can you explain to me why it's so important you and your cronies are part of my investigation?" He was definitely suspicious of me, especially since I had not met him before.

"May we discuss this inside, Agent McIan?" I smiled at him to show that I was not a threat, however he seemed to visibly darken at my words and was immediately on guard. His dark brown eyes and light blond hair should have made him look innocent, but they were paired with a gym buff's body, a permanent natural tan, and a seriously disapproving look on his otherwise good looking face. He almost looked like he belonged in my pack instead of in the FBI, but the smell coming off of him was all human.

"I would like to refuse, but as Otsana is in charge of this investigation I can't very well say no."

"That, and I do own this house." I smiled a little more broadly."

"Of course you do. Because why not, you seem to own everything else." He actually laughed at that one.

"Jack, enough with the tough guy routine, these are important members of our investigative team." Otsana yelled from inside.

"I don't see why we need a group of PIs, especially one that's just a billionaire playboy playing games."

"Is that how the world sees me?" I asked the two men with me.

"Absolutely not, Sir."

"Definitely." They answered, Noah was not holding any punches and David seemed nervous. Huh, I didn't think I was seen as a playboy, I hadn't been seen dating anyone.

"I'm a billionaire yes, but I am so much more than that. Can't we just talk for a little while Agent McIan, I'm sure you will come to trust me more."

"Whatever." He said stepping aside and letting us in.

"Forgive him, he's just acting like a big brother to me." Otsana joked as we walked inside. "Even though he's younger than-." She stopped mid sentence staring at David, her face full of shock and awe. David, likewise, had a shocked, dare I say dumbfounded, look on his face.

"What's the matter Rawlynne?" Agent McIan asked her with a hint of worry. "Do you recognize one of them as a criminal?"

"None of us are criminals." Noah spat at the man.

"I know what's happening here." I told them all.

"How can it be?" Otsana breathed in disbelief.

"I can't believe it." David sighed. "After all these years, I've finally found you."

"You two know each other?" Agent McIan asked his partner, but still she didn't answer him.

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure they've never met before." I assured the man.

"Then how could they have been looking for each other?" He was thoroughly confused.

"That is a little hard to explain at the moment." Noah seemed uncomfortable.

While the three of us stood there in the living room of the small house, watching the two awestruck people in front of us a sort of drama was unfolding. I watched as David started walking towards Otsana, but with every step he took she backed up one.

"Why are you backing away from me?" David sounded hurt.

"This is the wrong time. I'm not ready." Otsana pleaded. "I've got career goals, plans for my future that I thought I would follow. This wasn't part of it."

"But we can't fight fate." David seemed to coo at her in a calming voice.

Otsana backed against the wall, unable to move back further she just stared at the man approaching her. She could have turned and fled in a different direction but she was mesmerized.

"What is going on here?" Agent McIan asked me.

"You're watching destiny unfold before you." I answered him.

"Destiny?" He scoffed but still he watched on.

"What's your name?" David asked the woman he was staring down like a wild animal that might run away or bite him if he wasn't careful.

"No." Otsana shook her head.

"Her name is Rawlynne Otsana, David, didn't you hear us talking earlier." I smiled at the man in front of me.

"Rawlynne." He smiled as he said her name. "I'm sorry, I stopped hearing anything for a little bit earlier. My dreams have all come true after all."

"Stop saying that." Otsana yelled at him as he inched closer still.

"Rawlynne." He said her name again like it was the sweetest sound he had ever heard.

"Don't. Don't say my name." Otsana shivered both times David had said her name.

"But it's so beautiful." He cooed again. "And you smell so wonderful. Like soft subtle flowers and sweet decadent fruits. The smell, and sight, of you is making my mouth water." David's eyes visibly darkened with desire.

"Stop, don't say anymore." Otsana's voice was weak.

"That's fine by me, there's something else I'd rather do anyway." With that David took the last step to place himself in front of Otsana. With no resistance from her he wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her to him. His other hand he settled on the back of her head. Before any of us could do or say anything, he had settled his mouth on hers.

"Stop!" Agent McIan came to his senses and yelled at the couple kissing like lovers right before his eyes. "This is unacceptable and frankly inappropriate. Rawlynne, you don't even know this man, why are you letting him kiss you like that?" He yelled at her.

"She can't help it McIan, it's destiny."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He looked even more perplexed.

"It's hard for me to explain, but for them just now, it was love at first sight."

"Love at first sight doesn't exist."

Otsana had finally managed to push David away, but his protesting growl told me he wasn't very happy about it.

"Oh, it exists alright." Otsana was breathing heavily when she spoke to Agent McIan.

"What's going on here?" He asked her as David tried to pull her back to him.

"David, control yourself." I snapped at him. "We have business to discuss." He turned to look at me with an angry, hurt expression before he bowed his head.

"Yes, you're right, Sir." He finally let his hands drop but he stayed standing next to his new mate.

The five of us settled on the couches and chairs in the living room, David made sure he was sitting next to the woman he had had his hands all over. Agent McIan was still glaring at him with an angry look. Perhaps he loved the woman too.

"Will someone explain all of this to me?" He demanded, breaking the tense silence in the room. He was acting big and intimidating but it didn't go well with the pale blue armchair that matched the very girly living room around us, filled with pastel colors and pretty furniture. I hated it.

"It's hard to explain, as I said." Noah told him.

"We need to tell him the truth, Noah. We would have to anyway, with the turn things have taken."

"Alpha, no!" David seemed shocked by my words.

"Alpha?" Agent McIan picked up on that right away. "Why did you call him alpha?"

"Oh, well, I, you see, he's-." David was blithering like a fool at his slip up.

"Because I am his alpha." I told the man. "Agent McIan, you are about to enter a world that you have never known before. But it is a world that has always been there, just unseen by you."

"What are you saying." He was quickly losing his patience, he was apparently no good with being so out of control.

"Jack, let me explain a little."

'Wait, Otsana, let me start." I stopped her.

"Alright." She nodded at me.

"Jack, may I call you Jack?" I asked him presumptuously already using the name. He nodded and I continued. "Now, Jack, the reason I am here, that we're all here and intruding on your investigation is that three of the missing boys are from my pack."

"Pack?" Jack looked skeptical at the word but I ignored him and continued.

"During my private investigation I believe I have narrowed down the suspect list to who is responsible. That is not saying he took the children personally but had his people do it for him."

"And who is this person?" Jack asked me, again I ignored him.

"The problem is, we do not know exactly where this man is hiding. I had called a contact of mine in Europe to send someone to help us all. Unfortunately that man was not up to the challenge of living in modern day society and has unfortunately met a very abrupt ending."

"Ending?" He quirked his eyebrow at me.

"Rest assured, he was at least a few hundred years old and had lived a full life."

"You expect me to believe that Reece?" Jack asked me, opting to use my first name as I was using his.

"You'll believe it soon enough." I smiled at him. "You see, the man in question was a vampire." Jack interrupted me with a loud, barking laugh.

"Yeah, sure, a vampire." He continued laughing. "Can we move past the fairy tales and get to the real story?" He asked me.

"I'm afraid this is not a fairy tale, Jack. This is all real. The Emissary that came to me this morning was indeed a vampire, but he has since perished. I killed him myself."

"Are you a vampire hunter now?" He chuckled.

"No Jack," I smiled at him with my canine teeth slightly extended on both the top and bottom. "I'm a werewolf." Jack exploded into laughter at that.

"Right, a werewolf. Beware the full moons buddy." He wiped tears from his eyes that were caused from the uncontrollable laughter.

"He's telling the truth." Noah told him. Jack looked between me and Noah and saw the teeth and the changes in our pupils that marked a partial change.

"What the hell?" He jumped to his feet and backed against the wall, much like Otsana had. "What are you people? Stay away from me." He had genuine fear in his eyes now.

"I need you to understand that we are not monsters, Jack. People like me live and work in the world, all around you. We're here, among the humans. We do not cause problems. If someone does, we tend to take care of that person immediately."

"But you're monsters." He seemed frightened.

"Jack." Otsana said standing up. "They're not monsters." She walked over to the man at the wall and put a hand on his shoulder. "After all, if they're monsters then so am I." She told him, causing him to look at her instead of me.

"Rawlynne, you...you...you're one of them?" He stumbled on his words momentarily before he could talk.

"Yes, Jack I am. And I am not a monster am I?" She asked him, her canines elongated and her eyes shining.

"No." He shook his head. "No you're not." He was calming a little, just a little. "But, when?" He asked her,

"What do you mean when?" She laughed at him.

"When did you become a werewolf?"

"I was born one." She told him with a smile. "Werewolf doesn't mean what hollywood has told you. We don't change during a full moon, but whenever we want. The moon is like a symbol of power to us. We are not monsters or freaks. We are just people, like you, only a little special." She was soothing him.

"You weren't bitten?" She shook her head to answer him. "So, I can't be turned out of spite or on accident?"

"No Jack, though I have heard that there are ways to become one if a human truly wants to, but I don't know the specifics of that."

"I need to sit down." He allowed her to guide him to the couch where he collapsed, seemingly spent from all the revelations.

We spent the rest of the night telling him and Otsana what had happened that morning and about the impending visit from a high profile vampire. We managed to convince Jack that my pack and I were not enemies. All seemed to be well.

When I returned home, I was exhausted. I went to my room to find my mate reading a book. She was tired and seemed sick which surprised me. She complained of an upset stomach and feeling dizzy, but apparently food poisoning was not a possibility. There were few illnesses that could affect us wolves, so at first I was confused.

That is, until I lifted her to carry her to the bed. That was when I noticed that her scent was different. I still smelled the ozone and apple pie, but there was now an underlying scent of cinnamon and oranges.

The new scent was faint, but noticeable. And I knew right away what it meant. I had to fight to keep myself under control. I laid her gently on the bed and took off her slippers and jeans. I pulled the blanket up around her and then climbed up next to her.

"What exactly are you feeling?" I asked her to confirm, I couldn't afford to be wrong here.

"Well, since my meeting ended, I have basically been feeling sick to my stomach. That and bouts of dizziness are all I've been feeling. I know it's nothing that I ate though because I didn't have anything different than Lila all day. I even felt too sick to eat dinner. Goddess, aren't I just worthless?" She seemed upset.

"No." I told her firmly but she looked at me curiously.

"Huh? You think me being sick isn't weak and worthless?"

"Not at all, because you're not sick." I smiled.

"What do you mean I'm not sick?"

I leaned forward and pressed my face against her stomach and proceeded to take a long deep breath, inhaling her intoxicating scent while she stared at me like I was crazy. When I lifted my head I had the biggest grin ever, I had been right.

"What? What is it Reece?" She looked worried but I just smiled at her. "Do you know what's wrong with me?" I smiled more broadly and nodded my head.

"Come on Reece, say something. Seriously, what's gotten into you."

"Me? You shouldn't be asking what's gotten into me. What you should be asking is what's gotten into you Little Bunny."

"Alright, fine, be cryptic. I'm too sick and tired to figure it out right now."

"But it's so simple honey." I said sweetly

"Fine, I'll play along. What's gotten into me Reece?"

"I have." I grinned as she blushed bright red.

"That's hardly news." She snapped. "But that has nothing to do with this right now."

"Oh, it does actually." I purred. "It explains everything."

"What."

"You see, Little Bunny, I'm what's gotten into you, me and my pup." I watched her eyes fill with shock at my words.

"I-I-I'm p-pregnant." She stuttered with little force to her words.

"Yup." I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tight. "I love you Trinity."

"I'm pregnant." She said again with the faintest hint of joy.

I'm going to be a father. I thought to myself. It was the best possible way I could think to end my tiring day.