The campsite incident

Author's note for the chapter: this is from Aldus's point of view

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I was glad to see that Serina came to wish me goodbye. She was standing on the top stair of the main entry with her fingers intertwined at her waist level.

Before getting into the car, I threw Serina a glance and I noticed that she is uneasy.

Shouldn't she be happy that Lazarus is leaving? He is already in the back seat. Or is she sad about me leaving?

I wished to comfort her, but honestly… I have no idea how to do that. Maybe… a pat on the head? I do that to her occasionally because it works with dogs and horses but if I do it too often, it will lose its desired effect.

"Tomorrow evening, over dinner, I want to hear everything you did in my absence.", I told her, and I saw that she smiled a little.

Satisfied with the outcome of my little pep-talk, I got in the back seat of the car and observed Lazarus who was stiff as if he was afraid to move.

"Drive…", I told my driver and we headed out.

My eyes didn't leave Lazarus and I saw that he relaxed as we got further away from my house. Or is it further away from Serina?

"Is your attraction to my daughter that strong?", I asked with a smile that revealed my canines.

I saw that Lazarus broke into a sweat at my words. Probably because he felt my rising bloodlust.

"You don't understand…", his voice was raspy.

"Why don't you explain it to me?"

"It's… I'm battling my beast who suddenly developed a split-personality. It's like I don't know myself anymore or my beast."

"Oh?" I made a gesture with my hand, indicating to Lazarus to continue talking.

He licked his lips and took a deep breath before words started pouring out of him: "My beast was telling me to woo Seraphina, to devour her, to cherish her, to get my hands on her in any way possible. It was driving me insane. I needed a distraction and I grabbed one of your maids, but Seraphina saw me, and she raised her voice in condemnation. I was frozen. I craved for her approval so strongly that I was unable to move."

I found Lazarus's words interesting beyond belief. Serina raised her voice at Lazarus, and it made him unable to move? Is this one of her powers manifesting? But I can't act too interested with this in front of Lazarus because I might reveal how special Serina is.

"Hmm…" I hummed and nodded as if what happened was expected. "And now? How do you feel now?"

I noticed that Lazarus's expression changed from the one in agony to the one in ecstasy. He closed his eyes and smiled. What is wrong with him?

It took him a while to respond.

"I… miss her. She is like the most potent drug. I crave for another dose and I don't care if it will kill me."

Lazarus's words were beyond intriguing. But more than his words, it was his elation. It seems that Serina has some enchanting effect.

I remember seeing Lazarus's idiotic expression in the gym. How dares he stand in front of me and look all love-stricken at my daughter with a raging hard-on!? Did he think I wouldn't notice?

But back to Serina. Is her enchantment only for Lazarus? That would be a waste of talent. Or can she affect werewolves? How about other shapeshifters? Or men overall? No, it can't be all men, after all, I am unaffected but then… not many things can affect me. Over the centuries I developed immunity to many things, it's like resistance to poison. Or is it possible that she affects men and women? Animals? Ah, it seems I need to do more tests!

I will definitely take Serina to the fair and take notes! I was jittery on the inside while thinking about the possibilities.

Lazarus stared at me seriously. "What is she, Aldus?"

I smirked. "I told you. She is my daughter."

Lazarus was about to say something when I picked up a scent. "Why do I feel that Serina is here?"

Lazarus looked at me guiltily and reached for his briefcase.

"Sorry, but…", he stopped talking and pulled a white towel from his briefcase and Serina's scent became stronger.

I lifted an eyebrow, demanding an explanation and he gave me one.

"This is from the gym. Something to remember her by. It will help me get used to her scent so that I can control myself when I see her… next time…"

I saw him holding onto the towel like it's a precious treasure and I was speechless.

I wanted to ask him if he whacked himself off while inhaling her scent, but I knew that if he says 'no', I will not believe him, and if he says 'yes' I might rip his head off. So, I decided not to ask anything. Lazarus is disgusting.

Two hours later, the car stopped, and we met with two men who work for Lazarus.

They were nervously looking at Lazarus and me while telling us that there was another incident.

"Lead the way.", Lazarus said, and we continued on foot, through the meadow, toward the forest.

After about half an hour of hiking into the forest, we reached a clearing that was used as a campsite.

The sight in front of me was not pleasant.

Three tents had rips on them, obviously done by claws... remnants of a campfire that was fresh but extinguished for at least several hours... pots and utensils scattered, broken camping chair, pieces of fabric and blood. A lot of blood. No bodies but I picked up six distinctive human scents, not counting our two guides.

"Did you touch anything?", I asked the two humans.

"We found a leg and two arms, and some viscera. That was collected.", one of the men responded.

I wanted to know more. "Where?"

The man pointed at the tent and at several spots around the campfire, where the bloodstains were strongest.

Lazarus instructed his men to stand on the side so that the two of us can talk without being overheard.

"Caleb went too far this time.", Lazarus growled when his men were out of the earshot.

"Is he still working alone?", I asked Lazarus.

Lazarus confirmed. "No one wants to team up with him."

"Then… it was not Caleb."

Lazarus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You said that there were five incidents over the last month. This one makes it the sixth one. Even for Caleb who occasionally loses control, that is a lot. And look at this scene… Six humans. All killed at the campsite. If this was done by one shifter, at least some victims would run into the forest. My estimate that this was done by three or more shifters. And look here…" I gestured at the claw marks on the tree and one on the leg of the chair that didn't snap. "These are different."

Lazarus was visibly uncomfortable. "Did one of the packs decide to rebel?"

"Maybe they are rogues.", I shared my thoughts.

"I thought you took care of them."

"The current packs, how you call them, don't really have a leader so their loyalty is fickle. Without the real Alpha, pack members don't have anyone to keep them in check. This could be several youths who reached puberty and can't control their beasts or maybe older ones who got sick of following orders from a non-leader."

Lazarus rubbed his forehead. "I am glad that I'm not affected by this pack and Alpha nonsense."

My left side of the lips lifted. "You are welcome."

Lazarus rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know. You broke the bond for me. It was accidentally done while you tortured me, but still... I will be forever grateful to you."

"I don't know if you should be grateful…", I responded. "The lack of bond is problematic when you don't have your Alpha, but when he is there, that same bond gives you strength. I told you that what I did might not be permanent. If you encounter a strong Alpha, you will submit to him."

Lazarus gritted his teeth in annoyance. He never liked the idea of submitting to anyone, even though he is not an Alpha.

"What about this?", Lazarus asked while gesturing toward the campsite.

I knew that he wanted to change the topic, but we had to deal with the situation.

"Tell your men to clean it up. It's our fortune that this incident is fresh. We can track the culprits."

I saw that Lazarus shivered at my words. He is aware that whoever did this will pay for their indiscretion, and that punishments delivered by me are not something to look forward to (from first-hand experience).

No matter what anyone thinks about the current system, the law of secrecy is absolute because it allows us to coexist with humans without delving into chaos.

If a creature kills a human, it needs to happen covertly, and they need to clean up after themselves. However, this was six human victims, and they left a mess.

If Lazarus's men didn't find this, the media would go crazy and people would start hunting a feral bear that would either end with some poor creature being killed for no reason or would leave many open questions. No matter what regular humans do, creature-hunters would be alerted.

I took a deep breath and turned to my right. "That way."

Lazarus's expression showed that he is not excited about the upcoming walk through the forest, but he had no option than to follow me.

I moved in the direction where the musky scent of shifters was lingering. I wondered if I will be able to finish this in time and fulfill my promise to Serina by joining her for dinner tomorrow evening. I better hurry.

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