Isaac's Found I.

The hesitant look on Vince and Casey's faces said all Kristensen needed to know.

She was skeptical about dealing with Ocean, yet he seemed to have been more reliable than the two people in front of her.

"What is it?" Kristensen asked patiently, "he couldn't have pointed out either Caston Maddison or Ryder Voss, could he?" she steeled herself for that possibility as well.

"What nonsense are you saying?" Vince chided, looking at Kristensen as though she'd committed a sin for even thinking about that possibility.

Alright, her mistake. Kristensen raised her hands to admit defeat. But, "If it's not either of your alpha houses, why are you struggling with what Ocean said?"

She needed to understand.

"Omar Voss." Casey said the name first, and Vince echoed him a moment later.

Kristensen threw Trudy a puzzled look, and she shook her head in bewilderment, too. Then, both of them were clueless...

"He's the only administrator with ties to both our alpha houses yet isn't prosecuted for it." Vince said, his voice pained. It went without saying that Omar Voss was a character the two of them wanted to confront.

Only that?

They seemed to understand Kristensen's skepticism and went full on about why it had to be.

"He's a tyrant." Said Vince.

"He's a crook." Said Casey.

"He acts like he's the alpha of my house."

"He has his hands on all shady businesses in Cyan."

And so on. Trudy and Kristensen looked at the two of them - speechless. Only that?

They seriously doubted the intelligence of Vince and Casey. So what if Omar Voss had a bad character? Their reasoning was too careless, right?

Kristensen barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. How did two idiots like them become alpha house representatives? They were too careless.

"Who else is there?" Trudy asked with a sigh. She felt the need to verify things for herself.

"We need to tread carefully," Casey insisted, his voice heavy with concern. "If Ocean's right, and Omar is behind all this, then we're facing an enemy unlike any we've encountered before."

Kristensen felt as though she'd entered a drama house after Casey finished speaking. She wondered, was he in the same world as they were, or did he make up things in his head?

"Stop, stop, stop." said Kristensen, her patience barely holding her from shouting, "like Trudy said, is there another candidate?" When he saw Vince about to go on explaining again, she added through her teeth, "humor me, who else has the same degree of suspicion?"

Vince clamped his mouth, hesitating and exchanged a glance with Casey. They seemed reluctant to let Omar Voss go.

"Another..." Casey finally spoke, reluctantly. "Colton Maddison, but it's impossible. It simply can't be him." he added firmly. Vince nodded his head to assert.

When he said the name Tate and Winnie, who had been mute all along, pecked their heads, they tried to do it discreetly but didn't escape the eyes of Trudy and Kristensen.

They acted as though they didn't notice the change and looked at Casey to continue. Why couldn't it be Colton Maddison?

"He's, he's Caston's brother." said Casey.

Brother, from the same mother, brother? Trudy and Kristensen thought the possibility of him trying to catch up to his brother was likely high. It was human nature to want to be their own person instead of someone's shadow. Why couldn't Colton have that ambition?

Casey seemed to see through their thoughts and declined firmly, "he's a monk. He left behind petty desires a long time ago. Ask anyone in Cyan, Colton isn't greedy for power at all."

Vince nodded his head in agreemen, his jaw clenched in determination. "The only person I can stand from their house. He's principled."

It... it baffled Kristensen and Trudy so much that they simply gave up on asking further questions. So be it they thought, they would find out the truth for themselves when they reached Cyan. It was clear they wouldn't get anything from prejudiced Vince and Casey.

They were beyond help.

"Fine. Let's call it a night, then. I'll go see Isaac's body tomorrow to see if I can't find anything that might help." Kristensen stood up to leave after she finished her piece.

Trudy stood up as well, "I'll go with you."

Trudy's offer to accompany Kristensen was met with a grateful nod. The two of them shared a silent understanding, knowing that facing whatever awaited them required solidarity.

There were two many things at hand, and they were grappling at straws, along with the last picture they saw in the mural. It wasn't clear yet if the two wolves facing each other had already passed or it was going to continue - something to be wary of in the future.

They made their way through The Camp under the starlit night, each immersed in their own thoughts.

Kristensen couldn't help but feel relieved that Isaac was dead. To her, he was a tangible enemy, unlike the masked figure who'd pulled her into the ritual. Isaac had beaten her bloody, and she'd felt those punches. It was one thing to cross of the list, and if he had the alpha's symbol in him, it would be two things to cross of the list.

"Do you think we'll be enemies?" Kristensen asked, breaking the silence when they reached their dormitory building.

It hadn't bothered her as much when she saw it - the image in the mural - but looking at Vince and Casey's tunnel vision, she felt the need to ask.

"What?" Trudy said as she looked at Kristensen in the eye for the first since their fight. Enemies?

"I didn't apologize for attacking you, I'm sorry." She said lightly.

Trudy didn't respond for a while and looked up at the sky, her eyes contemplating. "I'm grateful for that fight." she confessed. "It let me know about the gap between alphas as well. You don't have to apologize."

Kristensen raised her brow but remained silent. She chuckled as the memory of two wolves going at it in her head.

"We were awesome, though, right?" Kristensen said jokingly, "and you landed heavy punches. Remind me never to piss you off."

They shared a laugh.

The silence afterward was shrouded with uncertainty. They could hardly believe the situation they found themselves in.

"It doesn't seem like we're going to enjoy being wolves in the near future." Kristensen murmured.

Not that she knew what being a wolf was like but she figured not everyone found themselves embroiled in pack's sacrifice, alpha's symbol, masked figures, a mural that seemed to predict the future and an annoying golden eyed alpha.

Trudy chuckled, bumping her shoulder to Kristensen's, "want to bet Mel would exchange your life for her if she could have Ocean at her tail?"

"Fuck off. It's not like that." Kristensen said.

Trudy side stepped Kristensen's tap on the shoulder, laughing. "Kris and Ocean sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." She ran off singing, Kristensen chasing after her.

They arrived inside their house and found Mel sitting alone in the lounge, her face not right and stopped laughing at once. Trudy and Kristensen shared a glanced and stepped in, each taking a seat.

Something else happened?

"Where have the two off you been?" Mel asked, her voice accusatory.

Something else definitely happened.

"What's wrong?" Kristensen asked.

"Arson found Isaac's body. She's at Drew's place as we speak." Mel said, her eyes blank.

Ten seconds passed without any reaction from Kristensen and Trudy. They understood the words she said, but out together, they didn't understand.

Who found what?

Trudy inched forth in her seat, and in a confused voice, asked, "What did you say?"

They were going to view Isaac's corpse tomorrow at Ocean's place. How did it become something else in a short span of time and Arson?

"Where have you been? You disappeared for days and aren't aware of the mess that's happening." Mel said, her tone blaming, "apparently, we're all leaving the day after tomorrow. It's one thing for Leah to die, but Isaac, too? This place can't be kept."

Trudy and Kristensen exchanged a glance, bewilderment apparent in their eyes.

"It's a long story, but where did Arson find him, and how?" Kristensen asked.

Not only that, when Vince and Casey found out about it, wouldn't they conclude that Isaac was somehow involved with Arson and think Ocean was protecting her but Kristensen left that part unsaid, only Trudy who knew the inside story caught her train of thought.

Moreover, was he?

Kristensen felt a prick in her heart at that thought and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

She continued, "she just found him. Why would Drew hold her back?" her tone suspiciously begrudging.

Trudy chuckled and coughed to stifle the laughter when Mel threw her glare.

"Something funny?" Mel snapped.

"You're worried for nothing. Maybe Drew is trying to help Arson overcome the trauma. Arson is... well, delicate." Trudy hurriedly comforted.

Kristensen rolled her eyes. Of all people, Drew, comforting? She highly suspected the whole thing was a scheme by her because the alpha house representatives had said Arson was the next her. Comfort? She doubted it.

But that didn't explain why Mel was waiting for them with her accusatory tone.

"Since you're here, let's go together. We'll find out what's going on."

Their eyes widened when they heard Mel. Go, go where? Trudy and Kristensen only looked at her with more confusion. What good would their presence do?

And they were tired, they'd fought, they'd worried their hairs off, they were looking for a mysterious alpha killing people as sacrifices and she asked them to accompany her to look for Arson instead of resting?

They didn't want to... they really didn't.

"Well?" Mel urged when she saw them remain seated.

"Can't we, can't we go tomorrow?" Trudy asked cautiously, and Mel threw her a reproachful look. She added reluctantly, "Tomorrow first light?"

Anyway, Arson joined House of Caston already, and they wouldn't let anything happen to her... anything too damaging.

"You too?" Mel turned to Kristensen.

Kristensen's eyes darted around the room as she spoke, "She'll be fine. Tomorrow or now, there won't be that much difference."

"Some friends you are." Mel threw at them, walking out in a huff.

They waited until she was out of sight before they breathed a sigh of relief.

But was it really as simple as Mel said? Arson happened to find Isaac's dead body after Ocean announced to them he was dead and asked when they'd set off?

How could there be so many coincidences in the world?

"What do you think?" Trudy asked Kristensen, suspicion apparent in her voice.

Kristensen's chuckled mirthlessly, "There's not much to think about. Drew is that vindictive. In the whole wide world, she has to be the only one... special, special, and special. She was probably reaching Arson a lesson."

It wasn't her wishful thinking, it was just that she knew Ms. Drew Ly too well. She was a perfectionist threw and threw.

"How do you know?" Trudy asked skeptically.

Kristensen rose from her seat and stretched her arms. It really had been a long few days, the tiredness of the past events was catching up to her. "She was my boss in Alba. Alright, goodnight."

She left.

Trudy watched her in shock, both her eyes and mouth both wide opened. Boss?

Forget it, forget it. There's a corpse viewing tomorrow...