As soon as they see us, the kids run to him. They hang from his arms and legs, asking him to play with them.

What happens next is then etched in my mind forever. I see Leon smile. He's smiling at them as he rejects their plea. "Next time, guys. Ms. Wilson and her friend are here to ask you some questions about the dark cloud you guys saw. Answer her, okay?"

"Yes, Alpha," they say in unison, making me chuckle.

However, I did not miss him using my last name instead of first. I'm used to people addressing me as Ms. Wilson. That's what most people in my coven call me, out of respect. But werewolves, especially the Alphas and Betas, don't do such formalities. That's why it hurts that he went out of his way to avoid saying my name.

"Who saw it first?" I ask the kids.

A young boy comes forward. "I did," he confidently says.

"What's your name?"

" Pressman," he sharply replies.

Pressman?

"He's my cousin," Leon says.

"Oh," I say, to no one in particular. "Vince, what were you doing in the playground when you saw the dark cloud?"

"I was playing soccer."

"Where did you see it?"

He points at the trees behind.

"Could you be more specific? Where among the trees?"

"Between that and that tree," he says pointing at two adjacent trees.

"What did it look like?"

"It... It looked like smoke.''

"Did that smoke had any shape? Round, oval, anything?" I ask him, even though I'm sure it didn't.

"No," he says.

I look back at the trees. A spread of black smoke. Nara was right. It really isn't much to go on with. I need more information.

"Did you see anyone near the playground while you were playing?" I ask Vince.

"No."

I ask the same questions to the other kids, and get the same answers.

I look back at the trees, hoping to get any clue. Nothing. I look back at Vince. He looks like a bright kid. The type of kid that's quick to notice things.

I ask him, "Vince, did you recently feel or see something weird? Something that scared you?"

For a split second, he looks uncomfortable. But he quickly corrects his face, shakes his head, and says, "No."

I'm not the only one who noticed that.

"Kids," Leon says, "It'll take some time for Vince to answer the questions. Why don't you guys go to Hannah's place and have some cookies?"

They all excitedly leave the ground, running towards the direction we came from.

Leon kneels beside Vince and says, "No one's here who might make fun of you now. Tell me what scared you?"

My heart makes a somersault at the care in his voice. My mate is so caring. I mentally slap myself for thinking that.

The boy looks at me and Nara, hesitantly.

"They are my friends. They won't say anything, I promise," Leon says.

"I, uh, I think I saw it before, too," the boy says.

"The black smoke?" Leon asks.

"Yes. Two weeks ago, I went to the main house's kitchen and thought someone was standing near the window. When I looked closer, it was the black smoke. I got scared and ran back to my room. I hid under the sheets and didn't tell anyone what I saw and did afterward."

Leon kindly smiles. "You did the right thing, running away like that. Good."

The boy seems to feel better about it.

"Vince," I say, "When you thought someone was standing near the window, you thought it was a guy or a girl?"

"A guy," he quickly says.

"Are you sure it was a guy?" Leon asks.

"I didn't see anyone. I just thought it was a guy," Vince replies.

I don't need confirmation from Vince. Usually, children's instincts are right. If Vince thought it was a guy, even when he didn't see anyone, then it was a guy.

"Any other incident like this?" I ask him.

He shakes his head.

"You did good," Leon says, patting his head. "Go join the others."

After Vince leaves, Leon asks me, "Got anything useful?"

I avoid his eyes, but answer him. "It's a guy."

"Vince said he didn't see anyone," Jack says.

"He did. Just not with his eyes. Sometimes we can feel someone's presence near us and guess their gender, age, height, and such with just that. Kids are especially good at it. I'm sure there was a guy near the window."

"How could anyone have broken into our house without us knowing? Even with dark magic, we would've seen something," Leon says.

Once again, avoiding his eyes, I explain it to him. "Adults can't see magic like kids can. You would've looked right through someone under an opacitas spell, that made them invisible. But some kids could still see them. I'm sure someone broke in, someone skilled enough to cross Hannah's barrier. He must've been trying to find out places to attack first. I heard from the other packs that the rogues went straight for the armories and main house first, to cause maximum damage. The rogues must've known where those places were before the attack."

"Someone spied on us, and now they'll send the rogues to where they could cause the most damage?" Leon says.

I nod. "That's my theory so far."

"Who would do that?"

"I don't know. I need more than this to figure out. But for now, we at least have filtered down the suspects."

"They are?"

"An elder wizard who doesn't like werewolves."

"An elder?" Nara asks.

I nod at her. "I saw Hannah's barrier. It's good. Really good. Only an elder could've passed through it without being detected."

"But if it's an elder, then we're in trouble," Nara says, rolling her eyes.

"Why?" Jack says.

"We can't just pull an elder off the street and ask, 'Hey, are you the one sending rogues to attack packs?'" Nara says.

I sigh. "She's right. We'll have to be discreet. It'll take time. The good thing is there aren't as many elder wizards as there are witches, so not too much time."

"Okay," Leon says. "Then you inform your mother of this and ask her to find the wizard. We'll change our security measures so the rogues can't attack us strategically."

Still looking at anywhere but his eyes and doing my best to not let my voice waver, I tell him, "That's good. As for finding the wizard, I'll be on it myself. My job here is done. We'll leave tomorrow."

I need to leave. There's no way I can continue to stay here with him around.

And for a brief moment, I look at him.

First time, I catch an expression on his face towards me: Surprise.

"Tomorrow?" he asks. "But you are supposed to stay here for a month, or till the rogues show up. You said so yourself: We can only know for sure who is behind this when we've caught one of those rogues."

I shake my head. "Hannah can do it. If you manage to catch one, Hannah can examine it. Or, I can come back when it happens. For now, however, I don't have to be here."

"No," Leon says, making me more nervous than I already am. "Whoever it was, they managed to cross Hannah's barrier. I need you to fix it."

"It's already fixed. I reinforced it."

"How do I know he won't be able to cross that, too?"

"He won't. I made s–"

"The only way to be sure of anything is for you to be here. I'm not going to risk the safety of my pack. Part of the deal between my pack and your coven is that you'll give us the protection from the dark magic."

"A-And I will. However, I don't have to be here for the spells t–"

"I don't care how the spells work. You are staying here for the period we agreed on. I'm not going to risk it all just because of your hunches, Cassandra."

Hearing my name from him, I freeze. He takes that as a yes.

"Good," he says. And for a second, I think I saw a faint smirk on his face. "That's settled then."