Pseudo-Hunter Mavis Mason Series Book Two

At a Loss

  Mavis sighed loudly before she turned to look at the sheet-covered body beside her. She was coming up with nothing. Her evidence files so far hadn't been any help and she hadn't found anything else on Isaac's body that could give her any kind of direction either. Isaac's funeral was this afternoon, and someone would be coming soon to dress him. She was running out of time.

  "Having any luck?" Courtni held out a cup of coffee to her.

  "Thanks," Mavis gratefully took the cup and sipped at it.

  She smiled, Courtni put alcohol in this. Mavis turned her attention back to the stack of files on her lap. Again, the injures didn't match this other victim so she turned the page. "I can't find anything that even resembles that." She gestured towards the sheet, flipping to the file in the book.

  Frustrated, Mavis tossed her folder to the floor. It slid across the smooth surface until it collided with the desk. Courtni sighed before she walked over and picked it up. She set it on top of the desk.

  Mavis just wanted to give his parents some peace. She wished she would have had somthing to show his parents before the funeral but she was coming up with nothing.

  Courtni touched Mavis's shoulder. "I know you want to help Isaac's parents, but stressing yourself out is only going to wear you down further."

  "So Halic has you babysitting me now too?"

  She removed her hand and walked to the other side of the room. "No, Alpha Halic didn't ask me to do anything. I've just noticed you've been run down lately. You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others, Mavis. You'll just make everyone worry."

  She did have a point, this wasn't helping. She needed more information and that was somthing she didn't have right now.

  "So what's in this thing?" Courtni was pointing at her folder.

  "It's some case files from when I was a hunter."

  Her eyes lit up for a moment before she turned to stare at the folder on the desk. "Can, I look in it?

  Mavis looked at her a little surprised. "If you want to. There are werewolf victims in there, though."

  "I'd be surprised if there weren't." She picked up the folder and turned to the first file.

  Mavis still felt a little awkward around her. Courtni had helped her bathe while she was recovering and it was always at the back of Mavis's mind, but it didn't seem to faze Courtni at all. She flipped to the next page and then looked up at Mavis. "What did you know about werewolves before you came here?"

  "I can tell you what I didn't know."

  "Okay," she smirked.

  Mavis leaned onto her elbows. "Let's see, I didn't know you could communicate with eachother like you do."

  "Really? You didn't know that? I thought that would have been common knowledge." She honestly looked surprised.

  "No, we had no idea. I'm not surprised though, most hunters don't spend as much time with werewolves as I have." Mavis chuckled. "The usual extent of a hunter's time spent with a werewolf would be as long as they needed to kill it and getting rid of the body if needed."

  "Man, your blunt as all hell. So how did you figure that out? Did the Alphas tell you?"

  Mavis smirked. "I watched them."

  Courtni bursted into a fit of laughter. "That's kind of creepy, Mavis!"

  As her giggling subsided she turned the next page and paused again. Mavis knew what crime scene she was looking at. A witch a melted three people into a pool of body fluid onto the floor. That visual would be in her memory forever. Random eye balls, livers and hearts were mixed into the morbid brooth. People soup. As Elias had called it. She immediately gaged, remembering the gross cobinations of that smell, sweet and coppery, but with an undertone of spoiled meat. Courtni immediately noticed Mavis's discomfort and shut the folder. "You okay?"

  "Yeah, I'll be fine."

  "So, what else didn't you know?" Courtni tried to distract her.

  "I didn't know werewolves had mates, or that they could be mated to humans."

  "None of us knew that."

  Halic entered the morgue, looking between the two of them. "What didn't you know?"

  "That werewolves could he mated to humans." Mavis repeated herself.

  "Yeah, that was a shocker." He said as he sat down in the chair behind the desk. "Okay, Courtni. I know you have work to do, so get out of here." He pointed towards the door.

   Courtni got up from her spot. "Alright Alpha, I'll leave." Just as she was about to walk out she turned towards Mavis. "You should come over to my place sometime. I'm sure you could use a break from all that testosterone." She winked before disappearing behind the shut door.

  "What were you two walking about?" He asked her immediately.

  "She wanted to know what hunters knew about werewolves."

  Halic picked up the folder sitting on the desk and studied the SNHO logo on the front. "May I?" He met her eyes.

  "I don't care."

  He flipped open the first page and paused to read her notes. She watched him as he flipped through the pages, reading everything. When he turned to the fourth case file he looked up at her. "You fought all these things?"

  "I did, and I was good at it too." She smiled proudly.

  "I don't doubt that." He turned the page. "What is this thing?" He held the file up so she could see.

  The clouded eyes of the grayed skinned creature stared up at you through the photo. This one had had its guts torn out of him by her mother last seraded knife. "That's a ghul."

  "What is it?"

  She swallowed as the details of that case came back to her. "It feeds on decayed flesh. So they normally stay in cemeteries. Its common for a grounds keepers to get killed every once in awhile; but this one for some reason killed an eleven-year-old girl name, Brianna." She bit her lip. "It then worse her skin like an outfit and pretend to be her for a whole week before it butchered and feed off her entire family."

  Halic looked horrified. His eyes dropped to the photos once again. "So, did you fight this thing on your own?"

  "No, that would have been pretty stupid. My brother and I took care of it."

  Halic set the folder down before he leaned back into his chair. "Would you tell me about him?"

  She met his eyes. She wouldn't have though he would wanted to hear about another hunter, but yet he was asking. "Elias... He was a very talented hunter. Smart, quick,  he always had a plan up his sleeve." She swallowed.

  "He was the greatest brother I could have ever ask for. Patient, loving, supportive. We did everything together, he was my hunting partner. We always had each other's backs." She had to look away from him as her eyes became glossy. She missed him so much.

  "I wish I could have met him." Halic then surprised her.

  Mavis chuckled. "No, you don't. He would have tried to kill."

  "He could have tired." Halic laughed, before turning serious again. "What happened to him?"

  She swallowed unable to meet his eyes as she told him this. "He sacrificed himself, to save me."

  "Mavis." Halic began, but the doors to the medical wing flew open, drawing their attention. Two young girl's paused when they saw them, their eyes widening with surprise.

  "I'm sorry, we did not know you were in here. We can come back..." The burnet started to tell them but Halic stood up.

  "No, that's okay we are finished."