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I can’t suppress my laughter anymore, but I pull her into a hug, resting her head under my chin. “You’re so adorable, I swear. Jane and Kat wanted to join to make it a double date, even though I told them it wasn’t a date since I didn’t think you liked me but…” I pull away enough to look her in the face. “Is it safe to assume you might like me?” I quickly glance over Cass’ head to check on Jane and Kat - they’re still in their own little world. I look back down at Cass, still curious on what her response will be.

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I bury my face in Nic's chest, trying to ignore his smell. Goddess I'm such an embarrassment. I have an earful for Wayland when I get home.

Nic pulls away after asking me if I like him. My cheeks pink and I avoid his gaze. ”You're alright. I guess,” I mumble.

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I grin lopsidedly and pull her back into a hug, kissing her head quickly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tease you too much about it… Right now.” I release her from my hold. ”Come on, let’s go put our stuff in the locker before Jane and Kat come ask why you’re a little tomato right now.” I stop myself from wrapping an arm around her again, but this time it’s only to save her the embarrassment.

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[color=#DB7093]”You're making it worse.”[/colour] I inform him. I shove my things into a locker and take a deep breath in. ”Just give me one minute,” I say and dash off to the bathroom.

I splash a bit of water on my face before holding my hands under the running water. It's not the same as a river or a stream but it works. I feel the cold water relax my tense muscles and nerves. I look in the mirror and nod.

”You got this Cass.” I take another deep breath before I head back out to rejoin the group, feeling somewhat normal.

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Jane laughs when I tell her what happened while Cass runs to the bathroom. “I thought you knew she liked you back!” She says in her own defense when Kat and I call her out for not helping the situation.

“Babe, as your lawyer, I recommend you stop digging your own grave.” Kat says, shaking her head. I smile at Cass when I see her on he way back. I shoo the other two to go do their own thing for a bit to help Cass relax a little.

“What do you want to start with?” There was some agility and obstacle courses or a giant pit of foam squares and then of course, just a ton of different trampolines.

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I smile as I approach Nic and he asks what I'd like to start with.

”Oh, um, let's just start with some of the trampolines in the middle. A bit of a warm-up,” I say. I think I'd only been on one maybe two trampolines in my entire life.

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I nod, smiling before I lead the way. I make a show of bending my knees and squatting before I launch myself onto one of the trampolines Cass had suggested. I get a good couple of bounces in and laugh. I beckon for Cass to join me, grinning lopsidedly at how absurd but strangely fun this is.

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I follow Nic to a sort of launch point. I watch him as he jumps from one trampoline to another. It seems easy enough but I'm not certain. I follow what he did. I bend my knees and jump forward. I hit the first trampoline fine but I realize I've made an error. I'm leaning too far forward. When I become airborne again, I squeal and fly face forward onto the next trampoline. I bounce and roll over. I blink up at the ceiling before I start laughing. This sort of embarrassment is nothing compared to earlier and I just keep laughing at how ridiculous I probably looked.

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Nero and I walked into the police station a couple hours later. We are immediately taken to Detective Costa's office where he fills the both of us in on what has happened. Initially he looks at Nero with apprehension. He clearly doesn't want to deal with the imp anymore but I tell Costa Nero will be working with me for a while.

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I make my way quickly over to Cass to make sure she’s okay. When I’m standing above her, I see her laughing and I can’t help but join in. I bend down a little and extend my hand to help her up. “That was magnificent to watch.” I tell her with a grin.

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I wait patiently while Costa and Caden talk, not interjecting too much, but finding it hard not to fidget. At least I don’t go too crazy and keep myself in check. When we get to a lull in the conversation, I finally speak up. “Can we look at the body?” I ask. “If we can see it, we might be better able to pinpoint what kind of monster we’re dealing with.”

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I laugh and snort. I cover my mouth, eyes wide in shock from snorting and I start laughing again. Once I've recovered,I reach out and take Nic's offered hand to help me up.

”I'm glad, because it felt anything but.” I fix my oversized shirt and analyze the other trampolines. ”Clearly I need more practice.” I look down and sort of move up and down on the trampoline. I give a little bounce but it still rocks through my legs and I stumble forward. I throw my hands out so I don't fall. ”In my defense, the trampoline was only made in the 1930s. It hasn't even been 100 years yet.”

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Five young men have gone missing. Their hearts gone and bodies drained of blood. But that's not all. There are strange claw marks on the victim's bodies and on the ground where the bodies are recovered from.

“We've recovered a claw from the latest scene,” Costa says and hands me the evidence bag. I take it from him and peer at it.

”Well I can tell you right now that's not Avery's. I'm fairly certain it isn't werewolf at all.” I say and hand the claw to Nero. If anything, it looks like a small raptor claw. ”And you say four of the men were only reported missing yesterday?”

“That's right. They are all loners and go weeks at a time without talking to anyone. Honestly, some of the people who called in to report them missing were people from work rather than family. One had been missing for nearly three months.”

”So there could be more,” I surmise. Costa nods and I rub my chin, looking at the claw again. ”Have you pulled in any of the other werewolf clans?”

“I've sent word. They are supposed to be sending one person from each house so we can interview them.”

”And Bran?”

“We'll be conferring with him this afternoon. I was hoping Avery would answer on his behalf.”

I shake my head. ”Avery doesn't answer to the Marrok's pack anymore.” I glance out the door where Avery is being interrogated in the next room over.

Nero speaks out, wanting to see the body. Costa frowns but I nod.

”It would be helpful to see the marks in person,” I explain. Costa seems to want to protest but he eventually relents and we follow him downstairs to the morgue.

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I've been questioned all my life. Today is no different, but that didn't mean I was thrilled when Caden found me and told me I was wanted at the station. Werewolf attacks on humans were no joke but I wasn't like that. Caden made sure of it.

Still, I went with them and I'm sitting in the too small, uncomfortable metal chair, answering every single question they threw at me. Some with a bit too much detail but more information is better than none at all.

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I chuckle and grab her hands to help stabilize her. I do tiny jumps in order not to throw her again. “That just means you’ve had more time to master it.” I tease with a wink. “Let’s just try straight up and down jumps.” I suggest.

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I hold onto the claw again, turning it over like a clue will appear on it. I even lick it just to see if there was anything to gauge from it. “Faszinierend…”. I murmur at it as I follow Costa and Caden to the morgue.

“Maybe we can start asking landlords about tenants missing rent or being unresponsive - that might give us a little bit of a head start on possible victims.” I suggest as we walk through the doors of the morgue.

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Finally out of the gate, I do a couple of stretches to help loosen my joints. International flights were always tedious and long. I could have probably used my dad’s connections to get a private jet or something, but I didn’t like to ask for much help.

Well, Caden excluded, but that’s because he was a valuable asset. Hello love, I just landed in Chicago. Is there any chance I may be able to borrow a room at your mansion? And maybe a ride from the airport? I hit send before making me way to baggage claims to retrieve my things.

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”Mmm, yes well, I had my hands on other things at the time. Okay, let's try this again.” I said, feeling more confident for the second test.

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Nero's comment makes Costa bristle for a moment. “Yes, that would be a good idea.” He relents and keeps walking. I look over at Nero and wink. It was a good suggestion and clearly one Costa hadn't thought of yet.

Costa leads us down into the morgue and I greet the corner. She goes over and opens five drawers. The bodies are of young males from their mid twenties to early thirties. None of them have any real connection to the other. They have different skin colours, hair colour, and body build. It must just be a victim of circumstance. The chest is already closed with sutures but the claw marks are still prevalent. I peer closely at them all.

”It's definitely animalistic. Chaotic.” It was patterned in four sharp claw marks as well, with a deep gouge in places, which must have been a dewclaw of some kind. ”Interesting.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out. A smile spreads across my face and I quickly message Kiki.

You Sly Fox. I am currently indisposed but I'll have a driver retrieve you and bring you to the house.

I send another text to Henry to have him send one of my other drivers to pick up Kimiko since Avery is also indisposed.

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”Much more important things, I’m sure.” I say with a chuckle. “Okay, on the count of three, let’s try a big jump, okay?” We’re doing pretty well with just small bounces, but I want to make sure she can get from one trampoline to another without face planting.

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“Ich muss immer die Arbeit der Schweine für sie erledigen.” I tell Caden with a grin before we’re shown the bodies. I peer closely at the inflicted wounds on each, trying to see if I can make heads or tails of any of it.

Confidently I say, “Well, it’s not a hellhound at least.” The coroner eyes me with a disturbed look when I get closer to the bodies and smell them. “I don’t smell sulfur either, but did you pick up on anything?” I ask Caden, knowing his senses can go a lot further than mine. He’s on his phone, smiling about something. I quell the jealous monster that tries to rear its head and remind myself that I need to get a new phone sooner than later.

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Well, I guess it’s fine that you can’t pick me up yourself. You’ll just have to make it up to me at some point. He doesn’t actually owe me anything - I owe him a lot and staying over is just adding to the tab. I grab my suitcases from the conveyor belt before I head down to the street level of the airport to wait for the car.

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I grin and nod, feeling ready. Nic counts us down before we take a big jump and I laugh as we launch into the air. Holding his hands seems to help me keep my balance though and we land okay. I grinned at Nic.

”Okay, let's keep going. Where did the others go?”

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I chuckle from Nero's comment and have to refrain from kissing their cheek. Nero assess the body and states it isn't a hellhound. I nod in agreement. My phone buzzes again and I respond quickly before shutting it off. I need to focus at the moment.

Dinner?

My body stills as I take in the surroundings around me. I can feel the air circulating in the room, I can smell the old paint on the wall and the stronger scents of chemicals, human bodies, Nero and something other.

”It smells wild, rare…and perfume?”

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Keeping hold of her hands, I look around as we jump a little in place. I laugh when I spot them. Jane and Kat are on a beam over one of the pits full of foam cubes, each armed with some sort of foam sparring staffs and seem to be trying to knock each other off of the beam.

I turn my attention back to Cass. “How good are your sparring skills?” I ask. It might be fun to have a couples showdown.

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”Perfume?” I ask while raising an eyebrow. Wild, rare, and perfume? I tilt my head and tap my chin, trying to think if that rings any bells for me. It doesn’t, but I make a mental note to see if I can find anything when we’re back at Caden’s.

“Well, I’m at a loss for what it could be off the top of my head. Any ideas?” I direct the question to Caden.

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Dinner sounds lovely I grin to myself, It’s been awhile since I had seen Caden and this is my first time stateside, so I’m a little excited for what’s in store outside of the real reason I’m here. But I can dwell on that later. It’s not long before a driver shows up and I’m on my way.

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I follow Nic's line of sight and I grin. Now that looks like something that's more my speed.

”I'm not sure it'll even be fair,” I say and look around to try and figure out how we're going to make it over there.

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”A few. I think we need to go shopping again,” I add. The door to the morgue opens and I look back to see Avery being brought in, followed by an officer.

“No suspects in the morgue!” Costa exclaims. I turn my attention back to Costa and glare.

”He is not a suspect. If anything, he'll be one of your best informants on this case.” I step aside when Avery nears, not taking my eyes off Costa while Avery inspects the bodies.

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I walked slowly into the room and awkwardly slid between Caden and Costa's staredown. I look at Nero and smile a little before I look at the body.

”Not a werewolf. The claw marks are too close together but it is definitely some sort of animal.”

I sent the air like the others did and I sneeze. ”It smells like that cheap drugstore perfume. Awful. It's nearly suffocating.”

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I grin, letting go of Cass’ hands and turning around to bend down. ”Alright, climb aboard the Nic train.” I offer to her, beckoning Cass to let me give her a piggy back ride. I really don’t want to see her face plant again. ”Oh we could totally play chicken!” I say excitedly. It’s been a long time since i last played the game, but this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Maybe we could play it in Caden’s pool against Caden and Nero.

I realize that the idea of hanging out with Nero doesn’t completely disgust me, but I tuck that away to think about later.

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”Shopping?” I ask, a little confused, but we’ve moved on and Avery is here. The tension between Caden and Costa is palpable. When Avery smiles at me, I give a little smile and nod of acknowledgement back.

I mull over everything that’s being said. “Do we think this creature might be using the perfume as a way to mask their scent?” If it wanted to go about undetected in a city full of supernatural beings, that would be one way to do it.

I glance over at Caden and Costa before I prance towards the detective. ”Costa, if you don’t stop being a little bitch, I will bite you.” I say, putting my hands on my hips. Sure, I had to crane my neck a little to look up at Costa, but I could still see him shrink back from me a little. ”If Caden vouches for Avery, then you should listen.” I flash the black demon eyes at Costa to emphasize my point.

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I hesitate and don't immediately jump onto Nic's back. ”Don't be ridiculous! I'll break you,” I said and step onto the little space between two trampolines and walk along it.

I wasn't exactly little. I was shorter than Nic, sure, but I was a well endowed lady with curves. That didn't happen if one wasn't considered overweight. I was healthy mind, but I wasn't where I could be.

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”That's definitely a possibility,” Avery said, agreeing with Nero.

Costa breaks eye contact with me first when Nero invades their personal space. I smirk and look at the body while Nero plays attack dog. I scan the other bodies and take a couple pictures with my phone. I noticed Kiki agreed to dinner and made a note to make a reservation somewhere.

”Okay, let's get out of here. We've got some leads. Costa, we'll be in touch.”

I reach out and take Nero's hand, pulling them away from their favourite toy and walking from the morgue. Avery walks a couple paces behind us.

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I scoff. ”You wouldn’t break me.” I tell her, following her as she carefully made her way towards Jane and Kat. Briefly, I wonder if she’s self conscious about her weight. I enjoy her curves, but if she’s worried, I won’t push it.

”I think you forget that I work out often.” I say to her, reaching out to teasingly muss her hair a little. As a nurse, I see doctors dismiss valid symptoms and complains often to perfectly healthy people often just because they aren’t super thin, but I made a vow long ago to only use weight as as probable cause for ailments when I’ve dismissed all other possibilities.

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I flash a grin at Costa as Caden drags me away before I turn to walk in pace with Caden. ”Sorry, I did try to play nice.” I say, looking up at Caden to watch his expression. I briefly glance behind us at Avery to see if he has anything to add.

This puzzle would be difficult to solve, but I always did like a challenge. I stop suppressing my excitement and happily wiggle as we make our way out of the police station.

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I swat Nic's hands away and opt to put my hair up in a messy bun. ”I'm aware you workout.” My mind drifts to when I had his arm wrapped around my waist. My ears pink but I ignore them, concentrating on my destination.

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”Das hast du perfekt gemacht< I assured them. We walk out of the police station and over to the car. I glance back at Avery who's been rather quiet.

”Are you alright?”

Avery glanced up at me and hesitated to answer.

”Don't worry, Avery. We'll get to the bottom of this, you and the other wolves won't have to worry.”

”I know. It's the point between now and then that concerns me,” he says.

I walk over and squeeze his arms. ”I'll protect you. Now come, let's go to a drug store.”