Believe by Glynis Rankin (best short books to read txt) 📕

He threw the envelope back at Steve, put the badge on his wallet, the ID on his shirt and the nine millimeter with the silencer in his waistband.

Big Boi nodded once to Steve before leaving the morgue.

While Wilburn escorted Sara and the young lab tech to some undisclosed area in the building. Tyrell walked back to the viewing room next door. What happened to you to make you so angry Sara?

 Wash stood with his back to the two way mirror talking on the phone when Tyrell entered. He heard only some of the conversation he was having with the person on the other line.

 “This is all over the news! The Mayor's calling the Chief who’s sending it down the chain. This is a priority, they want everything done!” The person on the other line shouted.

“Yes, sir, but the FBI?”

“They'll be there within the hour! Give them your full cooperation.”

“Yes Sir.” The sound of a click came before Wash finished his sentences.

He hung up too.  “On top of everything else I’ve got to deal with; now I’ve got to make Brass look good too by working with the FBI. I've got a headache.”

“I didn’t know you were under so much pressure.” Tyrell watched the detective lean against the thick glass.

 “Yeah.” Wash closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Every murdered victim is important to their family members, no matter where in the city it happened. But the Mayor wants me to work my ass off to solve this case in a day! ”

He sighed before opening his eyes. Wash stared, as if telling Tyrell he's ready to get back to work.  “A Werewolf Doc; man I never thought the girl was crazy, foolish perhaps, but never crazy.”

“She’s clearly in shock.”

“What, really?” Wash snorted as if finding that humorous.

“Didn't you see her eyes darting around the room? She's having a hard time focusing. Her skin was clammy and she's confused. Plus, she looks dehydrated. Sara needs medical attention!    No telling what went on in that house before you got there. You did have a paramedic look at her before you brought her here, didn't you?”

Tyrell's aware of the failings within the foster care system¬--how it wasn’t the best environment the state government had to offer lost and unwanted children.   He’d worked within the system long enough to know how it ignored some of the worst home conditions the state had to offer a child and how those children suffered because of it, both mentally and physically.

Wash drew his eyes away to look at something on his tablet. “Yes, I did,” he sounded offended. “ And they didn’t see any signs of shock or any injuries.”

It annoyed him that Wash wasn't taken this serious. “Well, there are clear signs now. Let me take her to the hospital.”

Wash raised his eyes to the girl’s advocate. “Can’t do that Doc.”

 “Why not, you can have Wilburn stand guard if you think she might leave.”  Tyrell knew he had to help Sara, even if it meant violating her rights.

“What I think is that she saw something.” Wash walked passed Tyrell and out the room to his desk.

                                                            **

The large detective room's abuzz with cops doing the job even at this early hour. “We got splatter marks on her clothes, that's saying she was in the room at the time of the murders?”

Tyrell followed him through the labyrinth of bodies. “No wonders she’s confused about seeing a werewolf, can you imagine how something like that affects her mind?”

A few of the detectives stopped what they were doing to stare in their direction. When Wash frowned at them, they turned their heads. “Keep it down Doc!” he whispered, “I don’t need that attention drawn here.”

Tyrell nodded. They walked over to Wash's desk.

“I send her to the hospital on a crazy tip; I lose my witness for good.” Wash sat behind his cluttered desk while Tyrell took the empty chair beside it.

  “Sara’s not crazy. She’s confused and that’s all the more reason for letting me take her to the emergency room so we can rule out what’s causing her to be confused.”

Wash moved around a few items, but it didn't help the heap of paper. “You’re a doctor, can’t you tell if she’s in shock or not?”

Tyrell moved his leg out to way of a disgrutled officer walking down the narrow aisle.“I’m not a medical doctor Wash. I know the symptoms of shock, but I can’t diagnose her. She needs to be seen by a physician in a controlled environment not in a police station.”

“Tell you what; we’ll see how cooperative she is when she gets back." He threw some files in a draw."If she’s still loony toons, then we’ll take her to get checked out.”

Tyell placed an elbow on the desk. “I think we should take her now, before this gets worst.”

Wash opened his mouth to respond when a ping drew both their attention to the computer on his desk.  He hit a few keys and read the incoming messages with raised his brow. “Don’t know how I missed this?"

Tyell tried to read the screeen. "Missed what?"

"Doctor Rode’s report on the Elton's. I guess it came through while I watched your interview with Sara.”

“The Medical Examiner, anything you can share?” Tyrell leaned across to the desk.

Wash looked up from the computer screen, deepening his frown. “The bit marks on the victims were inconstant with any known species of dog.”

Tyell sat back. “If it wasn’t a dog, then what bit them?”

Wash stared at him stun. “The closest they could come to, is the bit mark of a wolf.”  

                                                  ***

Xavier stared into the dark, thick underbrush, his heart thumping hard against his chest.  He decided not to transform, instead he let his nose led him through the thick bushes. He hiked fast, ducking under low line limbs and through thick, tall, grass until he could pick up his pace.   He didn’t need a light; his wolf’s vision allowed him to see in the dark.

Once clear of the shrubberies, Xavier ran towards the intoxicating scent, her scent. It blended into a mosaic of aromas, pushing him forward through the dim. He heard the sirens long before he reached an alcove. Werewolves were supposed to avoid the police, but curiosity and that wonderful scent got the better of him.

Night fell, but Xavier stayed within the shadows of the overgrown nook staring at the chaos. The police had cornered off an entire block. No one got in or out without them stopping to search.  A helicopter flew overhead, its lights slicing through the darkness, while news crews’ set up along the yellow police tape. A large crowd gathered to watch the activity surrounding a house peppered with police cruisers, emergency vehicles, officers, and police dogs.

Was she in there? He still smelled the scent of blood and fear, but something was different, it had changed. She was no longer a part of the muck that clouded his senses. Instead, he recognized her pleasing odor underneath the layers of death and despair. In it was her personal uniqueness and charisma. Xavier inhaled her distinctive aroma, and it awakened him.

The smell of her conferred a great deal, much more than catching a mere sight alone.  Xavier wasn’t a reclusive, but he had the tendency to avoid people and crowds. Over the centuries, there’ve been many human women that shared his bed, yet none that made him feel this sense of knowing.

He’s gone a long time without finding a mate, that one person to make him feel complete. If he’s honest, he’s envied Rocco and the others who have mates.

For a lone wolf in the city, there were many obstacles that stood in the way of him finding a mate.  The obvious problem was demand. There are far fewer women werewolves than men.  Many died before the transformation or weren’t strong enough to handle the viciousness of their wolf.

But she’s strong, he thought, inhaling her again.

Just the smell of her made everything feel right.  

Text:
Editing: Patrick Sean Lee
Publication Date: 10-12-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Thank You To my Family, who tolerated my rantings and for encouraging my foolishness about all things werewolf. Thank you Patrick Sean Lee for your encouragement, support understanding and helping to see this through with me. I'm forever grateful. Thank you Tanya Black for your friendship, insight, patience and knowledge. A friend indeed. All Rights Reserved © Glynis Rankin, 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system - except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper - without permission in writing from the publisher. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.