The missing body

"So, how could it happen? Why would someone need to steal the body of a sniffer?" I arched an eyebrow, then crossed hands over my chest and turned to Aiden. He run with his fingers through his lively blond hair, then looked at his watch.

"Let's talk about it later. Time for the announcement," he grabbed my hand and led me almost to the end of the Alpha Stone. We stopped almost at its edge and I squeezed his hand tighter. Actually, I'm a little afraid of the height that I saw, but at the same time it's good I'm so high in here.

{They can't see or smell my fear, as it's just too far.}

"Welcome everyone to the Pack Meeting. You all came here to get some answers to your questions. But, at first, I wanted to ensure you that we keep our Pack territory protected, and those strangers about whom you heard and read, can't do anything to our Pack. We're doing everything to protect the city from them, too. But if you see some strange guys, especially asking about a redhead girl called Letty, where to find her or anything like that, please, report about them immediately. You can report directly to me, or to William, as usual. Also, one more, do not say anything related to the redhead girl, where she can be found, or where you saw her. Nothing."

He made a pause, then pulled me closer to himself, so the crowd finally saw me. However, no one reacted.

"Now, I want you all to meet my mate, Letty Black, the Wolf Princess. Letty is the daughter of the Alpha of the Black Forest Pack, James Black, and his mate, Marriott Black. From now on, Letty will be living with me, in my house, for her own sake. As you all know, because of her origin, Letty became the main target of those strangers. Their so-called Alpha wants to marry her and take in possession the territory of her father's Pack, which is impossible…" Aiden continued saying something, while my mind was stuck on a suddenly crazy idea, so I was unable to hear him talking. I knew it was important, but that idea could be the key to everything.

I squeezed his hand, giving him a hint I need him to distract from his speech and listen to me here and now. That thought can't be lost!

"Wanna say anything?" he asked in halftone, turning his head in my direction.

"That false Aaron could be so-called Alpha of those strangers! And the reason for him attending that beach party was to get closer to me, even mark me?" I looked into Aiden's eyes, seeing his full approval of my recent words. Then, he turned his head to the Pack, looked down at them for a few seconds, and then back at me, "Go and tell that to William. He should be in the Pack House."

I kissed his cheek quickly, then turned around and hurried to the main building in every Pack, hearing Aiden's words in the background.

"As I said, that is impossible as…"

I entered the Pack House and turned around. It was a cozy two-floors wooden building with a few rooms on the first floor, and a staircase leading to the second. I opened my mouth to call for William when I heard voices coming from the nearest room on the right side of the staircase. I hurried there, opened the room, and saw three men talking in the kitchen. Likewise, I know two of them, however, the third one is familiar to me. That guy who's always with a naked torso when I'm near reminded me of a guy with black skin I saw in my room and Aiden't the office. I came closer to them, closing the door behind my back. They immediately stopped talking and looked at me.

"Letty, the meeting already ended? That's fast!" William was the first one to break the silence.

"No, Aiden is still there. I came here to talk to you," I said and looked at Victor, and nodded my head. He nodded back and took a sip from his cup. I could smell some alcohol.

"You can say it here if it's not very private?" William suddenly caught me staring at the guy with dark skin and a naked torso, then grabbed something that looked like a T-shirt from a chair and threw it at him. "Chris, remember to take it on when you're with ladies!"

I giggled at William's protective behavior, then looked at the guy whose name was Chris. He should be the Gamma leader.

"Sure," he just said, then looked at me and bowed his head, "Lady…"

"Just call me Letty, okay?" I asked him and seeing his approval, turned to William, "While Aiden was talking my head was suddenly taken by a thought that fake Aaron could be the so-called Alpha of those strangers. And he could visit that beach party to get closer to me, maybe even mark me?" I made a guess, but instead of a negative reaction I was waiting, like why you think an Alpha would risk himself to get you, William agreed to my words.

"That could be a thought. Do you… Of course, you can't see the difference; you haven't seen the real Aaron…" William looked at Victor, who kept silent till now.

"If you need, I have a picture of Aaron with me. Took it just in case I'll need to prove it's him," Victor took a picture of a man out of his pocket, and held it in my direction.

The guy in the photo had black, thick hair and dark-brown eyes.

"The eyes…" I whispered, observing the photo. The Aaron that got closer to me had light-amber eyes when he was looking at me, and that was way different from the eyes of the man in the photo. Indeed, this photo can't say what eyes color had the real Aaron's wolf, but deep in my soul, I doubt he had light-amber eyes like the one whom I saw. Also, I spotted some differences in their face types, like the one in the photo had a square face type, and the one, I remember, had more like a diamond one. I held the photo back to Victor and looked straight at him.

"Show me your wolf's eyes," I demanded instead of asking, and it made him only chuckle.

"Yes, boss," he said jokingly, then blinked, and I saw how his dark-brown eyes were lightening. For a second I thought they'd really turn to light-amber, but the color completely changes and wasn't even brown or amber!

"Golden?" I asked mostly myself, looking at the golden color of his pupils with a real wonder. I expected everything, but not that.

"Have you got any clues?" we all heard a voice behind us and turned our heads to see no one but Aiden. He put his hands in his pockets and got closer to us, leaving a kiss on my shoulder. I nodded.

"That fake Aaron had light-amber eyes when he was looking at me. All the time," I said to Aiden, and he frowned.

"Have you seen this Aaron before?" I took the photo from Victor's hands again and held the photo to Aiden. He looked closely at the photo for a few seconds, then nodded.

"That's the Aaron I had seen before going to the forbidden territory, and after we got out of there, I saw him too. I dismissed the team after collecting everything they sniffed and gave them a day and a night off," Aiden turned the photo back to Victor and looked at me. "Can you draw the Aaron you and William saw at the party?"

"Sure," I said and turned to William, "I'll draw, and you say if it was him or not, okay?"

"Yes," he bowed his head, and I sat at the table when a piece of paper and a pen appeared in front of me. I looked up to see Chris putting everything I need for the drawing. I smiled at him, whispered "thanks," and started to draw.

While I was drawing, boys were talking and their conversation was heard by me, even if I was concentrating on the memory of fake Aaron and the drawing of him I should be made it for guys.

"What did you sniff in the forest?" asked Victor, drinking some alcohol from his cup.

"They are living on the edge of the forest, at the same place they attacked Letty. Their so-called Pack isn't far away. The settlement in the center of the forbidden forest was made to distract us from the real place. We also sniffed they are less than we thought, from around twenty-five mature wolves. Also, they are planning to attack the camp we are planning to have soon, to get Letty. We're planning to let them make the attack and catch them there. Some sniffers said they heard the Alpha wants to be present in the fight to mark Letty's wolf."

I put the pencil aside too loudly and all the guys looked at me. They probably got everything from my expression and got closer. Aiden put his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry. I have the plan," he said and looked at the picture first, then at William. I could see it as I was looking up at him. William nodded.

"That's the one I saw at the party," he confirmed, and when Victor put the picture of the real Aaron near my drawings we all caught the difference between them. William's face turned pale and his eyes narrowed. He became as pale as death.