17 The Sleuth

♔ Tristen (P.O.V)

"We need to talk to him, but we need to be discreet. I'm sure he's not stupid," I say, dragging my fingers through my untrimmed beard.

Felix scowls displeased as he points in my general direction with his right pointer finger. "First off, Tree, you need to shave that shit off."

"My beard?"

He rolls his eyes at my question. "No, your glorious locks. Yes, your beard dumbass."

Dumbfounded, I stared at him, my mouth wide open. "You want me to shave this?" I motion with both hands to the gloriousness of my beard.

"Oui," he nods, confirming my question.

"Absolutely not happening! It's my best feature," I protest.

"I love you mate, but it looks like you glued a load of cat fur to your face."

Glaring at him, I ask seriously. "What do I get out of it?"

"You'll look better whenever you meet your mate. So maybe she won't reject your scruffy ass," he howls in laughter.

"That's rude, eh," I smack the back of his head jokingly.

"It's not rude if it's true!"

"Alright, you have a point," I groan.

He smiles with a devilish grin. "Of course I do. Now you go shave that hideous thing, then meet me outside. Most of everyone that showed up stayed for the after party, that YOU'RE missing. It's only proper if their new king shows up to his own party. I'm sure you can easily find that alpha fellow we need."

"True."

Felix holds his right hand out sideways, almost in handshake form. "I'll see you out there."

Weird. When have we ever used handshakes?

Eh. Things change and I should get used to that. Even more so now that I'm king.

Expecting a normal handshake, I meet my left hand with his right. Quickly he jerks me up out of my chair and embraces me in a large hug.

His voice is so low I can barely hear him as he begins to say, "I love you brother. Don't let any of this get you down. You're the strongest person I know, and I'll always be here for you. No joke."

A pain shoots through my heart at his words. He's my bestfriend and has been since we were kids. We grew up together knowing our fates, at first it was friendship just because we would have to be around each other all the time. Then it grew into an actual friendship, safe to say he's my brother even though he's not blood.

"I know," I whisper. "Thank you man. It means a fucking lot."

"I mean no one else will put up with your ass!" He pats hard on my back a few times.

"Fuck off," I chuckle as I push him away.

His shit face grin shines brightly as he turns away and begins to leave the room. "One more thing," he states, lifting his hand behind his head he flips me off as he walks out the door.

__

Talking swirls around the air as most people talk among themselves. The crackle from the bonfire mixes with their loud chatter. The breeze from the calm wind chills my now naked face, as it spreads around the burning wood aroma.

A shorter man with black hair, who's at least 5′10, notices me as his eyes grow wide. Covering his excitement, he hands his red solo cup off to the nearest person, a young woman. She wore an elegant black flowing dress that sparkled with her almost white hair. Her dress reflected that of the man's suit it was solid black with an elegant white tie. It's safe to assume they are connected somehow.

Rapidly he approaches me eager for something.

"Hi, King Tristen. It's an honor to be here and witness your fabled strength. It's great to know we have such a capable protector, just like your father," he offers his hand for a handshake, "My name's Raoul Weaver. I'm the alpha of Storm Hunters. That lovely lady over there is my mate and luna of my pack."

Promptly accepting his handshake, I give a firm grip. "Thank you. I plan to follow in my father's footsteps and be the best I can be. Possibly better," I smile with a soft hardy laugh.

Raoul noticeably forces a laugh, his bright green eyes dim as his face quickly becomes serious again afterward. "My associate told me that he invited you to the event he planned on hosting."

His associate? Does he know Flynn, the other alpha? To my knowledge, no one else has talked to me, so it would have to be. Right?

Remus comes out of his silence, "That's not the question you should be asking. His pack name was one of the three on that list."

Remus is right, it was absolutely on that list!

"Who's your associate? I've had a lot of requests to attend events," I easily lie.

"Oh my. That thought never crossed my mind. Flynn White, the alpha of the Rushing River pack." Raoul states calmly.

"Oh!" A sound of recognition slips out of my lips. " He asked me while I was still in wolf form, so I didn't have the opportunity to respond with my answer. Do you know where he is so I can deliver my answer to him personally?"

"I do, I do," he answers giddily. "Unfortunately, he's already left. He hated to leave so soon, but he had to get the event ready. Thankfully, he knew I would still be here and could deliver the answer to him. After all, our packs are near each other."

He's already left Canada and went back to Goddess knows where. To find out where he is, I would have to hunt through all the files. That could take hours or days, possibly time I don't have to figure this situation out.

"I could use some time away from the pack house, so I intended to accept his offer. Could you tell me where his pack is exactly?" I ask carefully.

"Yes, of course. He's always forgetting important details. We live in Lancaster, Kentucky. His pack resides on a wildlife reserve," a nervous laugh escapes his throat.

"That's good. His pack is lucky, no hunters werewolf or not can step foot in their territory without humans interfering. He didn't tell me the time he planned on hosting it either, do you happen to know that as well?"

"They are very fortunate. My pack wasn't as lucky, but we make due. As for when he usually hosts them, he likes to do them either early morning or late at night. It helps hide the noise from humans who may be lurking near the woods. Just a precautionary measure," he smiles softly, not showing his teeth.

"Alright, let me ask you this. When do you plan on leaving to go home?" I question.

Both of their names are on the list that my father left me. Scribbled across that red post-it note, the thought of it makes knots settle in my stomach. If the color of that note is as important as I think it is, my life as the king is bound to be less than peaceful.

So if I tag along with him, I can kill two birds with one stone.

"I'll be catching a flight around six, that'll be enough time to reach home and get to his event as well."

"Would it be alright if I tagged along? Just so I know that I'm getting to the correct place?"

He shifts his feet nervously as he begins blinking rapidly, clearly uncomfortable. "That's fine."

"Awesome. I'll be bringing two people along with me. I'll see you at our flight," I offer a handshake that he accepts. His palms were sweaty and shaky, obviously very nervous.

"Thank you for talking to me, my king." He bows slightly and returns to his mate, grabbing the cup he handed to her and instantly downing the liquid inside.

Reaching out to Felix through our pack bond I tell him about what just happened. "Felix, I just found out the one we were wanting split. Luckily I ran into a 'friend' of his. Whos is also coincidentally the alpha of one of the other names on the list. It seemed a little too good to be true, so I got him to agree to us catching a flight with him to their pack. Looks like we'll be flying to Kentucky."

"True, when do we leave and who all is going"

"At six-o-clock. Just you and Luka. I figured it would be handy to have his sneaky ass along for the ride," I state, shrugging mentally.

Between me and Felix we have brute strength, but no stealth so it wouldn't hurt to bring someone who excelled at it along.

"Smart idea, I'll go inform Luka about what's going on. You relax some, Tree. You deserve it, I'll see you at six."