Regretted Rejection : Wrath of the Moon
Chapter 35

Bella's interaction with Andrew was a very simple and regular one but in Ryder eyes, it was aflirtatious one. He left the room and returned to his office quarters.

His team was sitting around with their laptops and gadgets trying to monitor illegal activities carriedout by both humans and non humans. Any activities they replace evidence of was then subjugated toheavy scrutiny. If the activity concerned humans and had no trace of non humans connected to itthen they would anonymously tip off the various human government bodies. Of there was even aslightest trace of non humans connected to it then the activity would be handled by the Councilfield agents assigned to the task.

"Boss man!" One of the team members exclaimed loudly. Ryder turned and calmly walked towardshim. The junior team mate was bursting to unload his replaceings. Other team members glanced at himdisapprovingly. His loud exclamation had distracted them.

"What's up Carter?" Ryder asked exercising patience.

"You need to see this Ryder.” Carter claimed trying to modulate his voice level.

He showed Ryder an announcement on the deep web. It looked as if there was a sale of exoticanimals going down in the country. Ryder glanced back at him with a questioning expression."Boss.. Ryder... The exotic animals are were animals. It is were wolves and were panthers. Theorganizers seem to have Asian connection.” Carter replied.

"Why do you think it is were animals and not simply exotic animals? How did you reach theconclusion?" Ryder asked surprised.

"Well..." Carter hesitated a bit. Ryder raised his eyebrow at his obvious discomfort to clarify. Cartertook a deep breath and said, "Because I posed as a buyer and asked them to send details of theexotic animals.”

"You did what?" Ryder looked at him flabbergasted.

"I used a different connection and masked my IP address. I asked them leading questions about theexotic animals saying I am looking for exotic pets. I pretended to be talking about the exotic petslike a human would. They also asked me a few questions regarding my income and daily life. Theyalso asked me what did I think about night creatures. Since I was pretending to be human I gavethem bland answers and said I was looking for dangerous beings not bats or owls. After my answerthey immediately said that I was not what they were looking for in a buyer and they would contactme if they get something suitable for me."

When Ryder still showed a confused expression, Carter clarified further, "Night creatures. It was thekey word. For centuries amongst humans weres and vampires and other mystical beings aredisplayed as devils that prey at night. It was what gave them away.”

"When is this sale going to take place?" Ryder asked.

"It will take place in about a week's time, on coming weekend.” Carter replied.

"What about the Asian connection?" Ryder asked.

"The organizer introduces himself as Xia. It seems an Asian name." Carter replied.

"Xia? How can that be? Didn't we wipe out the criminals working inside the Xia clan? Call Maya backquickly." Ryder instructed Carter and turned around to leave. Carter was a bit disappointed withRyders reaction

"Carter!" Ryder yelled when he reached the door. Along with Carter all the team mates turned tolook at Ryder. "Good job. Select a few people to help pinpoint the mastermind. You will lead thisproject with me.” Ryder said and left the room quickly. Carter too turned to his laptop with a smileon his face.

Ryder went to Dylan with the replaceings. There was very little time for them to get more details on thisillegal sale and mobilize the task force to rescue the were animals.

Dylan was pissed off at the news. He banged the desk with his fist and asked, "How is this possible?Last time we cleaned the Xia clan both you and Bella worked on it and both of you had managed toget enough information on the clan. We had disabled the mastermind hidden deep in the clan sowho is this new person? Did we or did we not manage to get the mastermind last time?"

"Calm down Dylan. Me and my team are focusing fully on getting information on this new person. Ihave asked Maya to be contacted as well. She will be here soon with Xavier." Ryder informed.

"Ask Maya to report to me once she comes and get Bella to work with you.” Dylan stated grimly."Bella? That woman is not needed. My team is more than sufficient to work on this project.” Ryderprotested.

Dylan gave him a long and meaningful look and asked him in a no nonsense tone, "Do you knownwhy you are leading your team?". Ryder stared at him at the sudden change of the topic notknowing how to reply.

Dylan continued in the same tone, "It is because you are better than them in tracking such stuffdown. But Bella is better than you. She is faster than you. Didn't she won the bet against you lasttime?"

"How do you know about that?" Ryder asked surprised.

It doesn't matter how I know and how much I know. What matters is the fact that if Bella wasinterested in working with Council full time, she would be the one leading the team not you. So Isuggest Ryder, get your head out of your arse and focus on the mission. Justify to me and theCouncil that your Team Leader position is well deserved.”

Ryder lost the colour in his face and hung his head in shame. He realised that he had gotsidetracked by his emotions and the main point now would be rescuing the kidnapped wereanimals. Dylan's disappointment showed and it stung Ryder badly. He knew that if Maya came toknow about it she would be disappointed as well.

As he came out of Dylan's office, he decided that he would behave professionally and seek outBella's help on this mission. It was his first mission as a Team Leader and he was determined toprove his worth to the Council, Dylan, Maya and most of all to himself. He became determined todo well and be professional and resolved to help the victims out of the situation safely.

Bella was waiting in Maya's room for her to come back. She expected Maya to be back by eveningand was surprised when she heard a knock on the door. She thought that Maya must have comeback early and opened the door to replace Ryder standing in front of the door.

When she saw that it was Ryder, she immediately thought that he must have come to warn her offfrom following or talking to him and it made her defensive. Bella wanted to slam the door in his faceand started to do so but Ryder put foot in the gap and blocked her from closing the door.

Bella frowned and stepped away from the door. "What do you want?" Bella asked curtly as if shewas annoyed to talk with him.

Placing a hand on her heart she steadied her mind to hear various incriminations of her actions andrejection of her from him once again and was completely thrown when Ryder said, "I need yourhelp."