Wild Forest Pack
Chapter 7, gathering evidence

If Alpha Adolfo killed my parents, he will pay. According to the werewolf law, I could challenge him and if I won, I could take over his pack. Technically, only an alpha can challenge another alpha, but since he killed my dad, then the alpha’s children (if he has any) can challenge. There’s supposedly a werewolf council, but never in my lifetime I’ve ever seen them so maybe they live on the west coast. I know I must have proof before confronting him. Just barging up and saying “hey you killed my parents” they’re probably going to laugh in my face. I’ve been staring at these pieces of evidence for years and I start to get cross-eyed from staring at them for too long. So, I’m taking a break from staring at them…

“Lyna! Lyna!” I’m in my house and I hear Lyall calling for me. I wasn’t expecting him to come over, but it’s always a pleasant surprise when he does.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“You know how you said to check into the evidence again, well I looked into the gun and every gun you purchase at a gun store is registered there or at a courthouse depending on the state. Anyway, the hunting rifle is a nice Winchester Featherlight (a classic hunting rifle) that was used to murder your parents is registered to alpha Adolfo! The bullets (which are a .270 also common) had his fingerprints on it probably as he was loading it or before he put the poison on it.”

“This is good Lyall! Thank you so much! This is exactly what we need to rightfully arrest him! My gosh, I have been dreaming of this for years! Oh, I could kiss you for replaceing out this info!” The look on Lyall’s face was almost priceless. I laughed as I kissed him on the cheek, probably not what he was hoping for, but I didn’t think I was into him like that.

“Well, if this is all I had to do for a kiss maybe I should’ve looked into this a long time ago.” He laughed at me too.

“I honestly thought we did years ago, but if it’s a hunting rifle why would he leave it behind? Wouldn’t that be something he’d need to hunt for food with?”

“Yeah, when we originally got the bullets out of your parents’ bodies, Bader said that it looked like it went through your mom and landed in your dad since it was still inside of him. She probably protected him from the shot…”

“Oh, mom… that would be something she’d do…” I thought of my parents often… she was always protective of me and dad… as any wife, mom, and luna should. She would’ve been an outstanding teacher to show me how to be a good luna… now I gotta learn on my own. “How did you get the weapon? Was it at the crime scene?”

“Not exactly…Raff and I kinda went snooping at the Crescent pack territory and took it for testing…”

“LYALL! You can get in serious trouble for that!” Of course, I was going to chastise him!

“Well, we had to make sure it was the right weapon! I was only thinking about who killed my alpha and luna!” I had to give it to him… he had guts… guess that’s why dad made him beta.

“You’re crazy for taking it, but at least we got some answers, but still bad to take it!”

“Yes, I know it was bad, but now we got our answers so let’s arrest this s.o.b and make him pay for his crime!”

“Great idea in theory but how do we replace him?”

“He should be with his pack, but since he thinks our territory is his, he could be on the outskirts of our land. I’ll check with Raff and Reika to see if they saw anything.”

“Thanks, let me know what they say. I’ll see if I can replace him as well and if not, I need to take my frustrations out in the gym… need a punching bag after hearing that news.”

“I’ll join you later if you need a sparring partner.”

“Thanks, I’ll probably need one. I have a bad feeling I may need to challenge Adolfo… and he’s a big guy, and I’m puny!”

“You can’t help that you’re small, you’re fun-sized!” I let out an annoyed sigh. I’ve heard that my whole life…

“Yeah yeah yeah… if I have to challenge him, I’m doomed… how can a squirt like me face off against a big guy like him?!”

“I’m not sure squirt…”

“NOT HELPING! This is serious Lyall! By challenging him I must fight him by myself! If by some miracle I win I take over his pack they’d have to accept me as their alpha…” Whoa, that’s something I never thought about… me an alpha and not a luna!? Have there even been female alphas before?? I know there must be some councilmen or women out there just must replace them. “Wait a minute Lyall… I’m small that can work to my advantage! Adolfo is easy 6ft 4 and I’m more than half of him! Being small I can move around quicker while he’s still trying to swing a punch at me, I can dodge it quicker!”

“Now we’re talking! Let’s get to training and see if we can use your size against someone close to his height. Maybe Raff can help us, he’s close to Adolfo’s height so you can practice with him. You get warmed up and we’ll join you soon.” This isn’t my first training session. I have been training for as long as I could remember. It started with dad and Lyall when I was younger doing easy stuff like small punches and kicks. As I got older, they added more and more difficulty. Now that I’m an adult I can handle the harder stuff but facing off an alpha was not on my bucket list.

We continued training until Lyall, and Raff thought I was ready to face off Adolfo. Even when they thought I was ready, I sure wasn’t… I must be crazy… while I was training with the guys while Calla and Reika were trying to replace councilmen or women to oversee the challenge. It was getting close to winter and getting harder to replace them. They could finally replace all 5 council members, took some digging but found them hidden in the mountains. They were kept well hidden probably for safety reasons or just wanted to be left alone. They all met in front of the community center just as a meeting place until we decided where to have introductions. One older lady, like grandma old, was clearly the lady in charge. She seemed like a sweet old lady, probably at most 5ft, silverish/white hair in a braid down to below her chest, greenish-gray eyes, a light brown sweater that had darker brown leaves and sticks on it, an orangish-brown shirt, and I’m guessing a Native American-esque necklace that had different colored beads and beads that had an imprint of leaves and a wolf bead on the front. The other four council members were definitely learning from her to get their rank up like hers, but I’m guessing they got a while, but hey if they’re even on the council they got to be good at something, right?

The young lady was older than me, but probably not by much maybe 5 or 10 years, good for her! This neat red and pink floral tattoo went all the way down her right arm and some onto her waist and a red wolf’s paw print under her belly button. Interesting place to put tattoos, but hey what do I know I only have my pack tattoo on my forearm and that’s because I had to not be a fan of tats but I do like my pack one. Anyway, I’m getting sentimental, she has jet black, straight hair in a ponytail, probably 5ft 8, golden-yellow eyes, a spaghetti strap black crop top, guess to show off the tats, a brown belt and coat, black jeans, and Native American-esque earrings that had a white gem on some white gold and a white feather. Must be a thing to have Native American jewelry, not a bad thing I kind of like it.

The guys on the other hand seemed rougher than my guys in my pack, but I guess that will come in handy with training. One seems to have face markings on his cheek’s kind of odd, but I guess they’re used for something. Tuscan red eyes freaked me out and almost thought he was a vampire. Luckily for him, he didn’t smell like one otherwise I probably would’ve killed him which then I’d get in more trouble for that…also jet black straight, shoulder-length hair, a thin, black goatee around his mouth, a black V-neck long-sleeve shirt, a black and white coat with gray fur around his neck to keep him warm. The other guy must’ve just recently shifted since his clothes are shredded… and what’s left well at least he’s back is a warm sort of… he was wearing what’s left of a black long-sleeve shirt which showed off his very well-toned chest and abs, and his council tattoos were black wolf scratch marks on his waist and went onto his hips and back. His dark jeans seemed still torn apart, but it was only up to his knees I walk up to him shyly offering some help.

“Hi, I’m Lyna I’m the alpha and luna’s, daughter. Would you like some new clothes?”

“Hi, I’m Luan, and yes some new clothes would be great.”

“Follow me to the alpha house and I’ll let you have some of my father’s old clothes.”

“Oh, thanks that’s very kind of you.”

“Well, you’re my guests I like to show my guests hospitality until told otherwise.”

“Wise thinking. Where are the alpha and luna?” I lower my head and break away my eye contact as he asked his question about my parents…

“I’ll show you…” I lead Luan to their graves, and I let out some tears and I can see he has a shocked look on his face.

“What happened to them!?”

“A fellow alpha murdered them, alpha Adolfo Wolfrik of the Crescent Pack… yes I know the rules say that if another alpha kills another, then he takes over the pack of the deceased alpha, but he did not kill him in a challenge, he got a hunting rifle, laced the bullets with wolfsbane and murdered my parents… I’ve been left an orphan…” Luan pulled me into a hug and just let me have a moment.

“It’s ok I’ve had my fair share of crying over them… I’ve been grieving for over four years and I want the alpha who killed my parents to get justice. That’s why you’re here I want to know if I can take over my pack as an alpha female until I get a mate and he takes over.” He looked confused and wondering if that was even possible.

“I suppose it’s possible, you may have to challenge him to be able to keep your pack, but I would have to see what Mona has to say.”

“I’m guessing that would be the grandma of the council.”

“Hey, she may be older, but she is spry for a werewolf. She has been teaching us her ways to run the council, and she is a prominent leader and teacher.”

“I’m glad, maybe she can help me. Who are the others? Oh, before I forget I’ll let you have some new clothes” I quickly run to my house to grab some of dad’s clothes that were still left in his drawers in their room. Still felt weird to go into their room and not see them there… I grabbed a clean long-sleeved dark blue shirt and some dark jeans. Almost what he was originally wearing before they got shredded by the shift back to human form.

“Thanks for the clothes. Well, we’ll head back, and I’ll introduce everyone.”

“Great, I’ll call the others to let them know what’s going on.” I mindlink the others to let them know the council was here and to meet everyone by the ritual area to formally meet everyone.

“Welcome council members to Wild Forest Pack. My name is Lyna Channing I am the former alpha and luna’s daughter. Sadly, our alpha and luna were murdered by a fellow alpha, but more on that later. This is my Beta, Lyall Teowulf, my Gamma Raff Gundulf and his mate Reika, and my fellow followers Amaruq Duko and his mate Calla, Raoul Lycus, Renouf Lyulph, and Ulva Tamaska. I welcome you to our home council members.”

“Thank you, young one. I am Elder Mona Amaris, and my three councilmen and lone councilwoman are the next generation of the new council. I am trying to teach them what I know before it is time for me to retire. My councilmen are Artem Koray, Luan Badru, and Nox Vikesh, my lone councilwoman is Jaci Chandra. You have been looking for us for a long time, what seems to be the problem, young Lyna?” I take a deep breath before answering Elder Mona’s question, but I am a nervous wreck…

“What happened to our beloved alpha and luna… a fellow alpha murdered them, Alpha Adolfo Wolfrik of the Crescent Pack… yes I know that the rules say that if another alpha kills another, then he takes over the pack of the deceased alpha, but he did not kill him in a challenge, he got a Winchester Featherlight .270 (a human hunting rifle), laced the bullets with wolfsbane and murdered my parents… I’ve been left an orphan… and it left my pack without a leader.” I could hear gasps and see sad and shocked faces on the council’s faces…

“Why were we not notified about this!?” Elder Mona seemed more shocked than angry, so I was relieved about that.

“I’m sorry, Elder Mona I wasn’t sure if this was something to report until we had some evidence first. Which we have some. The rifle was registered in Alpha Adolfo’s name, the bullets had his prints on them (presumably before putting the poison on it) and my Beta and Gamma found said rifle at the pack’s territory on the alpha’s house. For now, until told otherwise, I oversee this pack.”

“That is alright young one… and for now you will keep your pack.” Surprisingly, Elder Mona hugged me. That wasn’t something I expected. “Now as for Alpha Adolfo… bring the pack here and let me hear what happened from him,” I growled at the suggestion of having that s.o.b on my land… my home… “I know you don’t like the idea, but we have to do an investigation now. Make sure he actually did it, we can put him in a werewolf jail of some sort if he did do it, and then you can challenge him to take over his pack.”

“Fine…but you shackle him! I do not want that mutt on my land any longer than he has to be.”

“Of course, Alpha Lyna.” That did have a nice ring to it… I hope I get to keep it.