My heart started to race as I processed what Patrick had said. "What?" I mumbled, somehow hoping that I had misunderstood him.
"His head had been cut off, and his body had been thrown into the dumpster," Patrick described, his fisted hand revealing his whitening knuckles.
"Do you think that the spy planted in my pack did it?" Draven's rage was audibly surfacing in the tone of his voice.
"Who else?" Patrick smirked coldly at him.
"It doesn't add up…" I muttered under my breath, but certainly, I was still too loud for Patrick and Draven not to hear me.
"What doesn't add up?" they asked in unison.
My eyes shifted between their gazes as a nervous grimace flashed across my face. "Last night I saw a woman running out of my room. I chased after her, but I lost her in one of the corridors on the ground floor. When I came back to my room, I saw the note..."
Patrick leaned forward in his chair, locking his eyes on me. "Did you take a closer look at her?"
I glanced at Draven, and I saw him stiffen hearing my words and then uncomfortably shifting in his seat.
"No," I replied to Patrick, "I could only smell that she was a wolf and that she had dark hair. She looked thin and small, but she was very fast."
Patrick nervously ran his fingers through his short hair and let out a frustrated growl. "Ivar was very skillful and strong, so whoever killed him had to be an excellent fighter," he deduced.
Draven frowned. His lips sealed, forming a thin line. I wondered if he was suspecting anyone.
"I find it hard to believe that the woman I saw could have killed a Royal Army specialist," I said, shaking my head.
Patrick sighed, "Too bad you have so little detail on this woman."
I smiled wryly at him, but then a strange thought flashed through my mind. Will once told me that my body collected what it needed and could develop new skills accordingly… What if I could still use the ability I received with Sariel's blood?
"Maybe I've seen something more…" I muttered.
"What are you trying to say?" Draven suddenly joined the conversation.
"Give me a sec," I smirked then took a deep breath.
I breathed out the air and closed my eyes, then I tried to recall everything I had seen while chasing after the woman who had broken into my room. I gasped when my mind played the whole scene inside my mind in slow motion, displaying every detail that had escaped my conscious mind. It wasn't like that time when Sariel made me recall the night from the casino; it was far more intense, and I had full control over it. I felt as if I had finally grasped Sariel's ability, which became mine.
I could see every little crack on the corridor walls where I had passed the night before. I saw the light coming out of my room from the door crack, and I smelt a she-wolf inside. I focused my hearing… She was panting, her breath sharp and nervous. Her heartbeat was fast and irregular. From the soft floor crackles, I could deduce that her moves were a little off-balanced and shaky. She was in a rush. She pushed something or closed something in my room, then slammed the door open and ran out. Was she looking for something? She definitely didn't have to open or close anything to put a note on my pillow…
As I recalled she ran into the corridor and then toward the stairs. My brain played it frame after frame until I registered a brief reflection in the corridor's wall mirror as she ran past it. In the minimum light coming from the opposite window, her complexion seemed dark, as if she was tanned. She had thick, almost black eyebrows and long lashes that placed her almond eyes in a black frame. Her fleshy lips and strongly built jaw were also characteristic. I was certain that someone like her had never been a part of Draven's group. The problem was, there were five other groups filled with people I hardly knew, not to mention the entire Scarlet Valley Pack. No matter who she was, I could be certain of one thing…
"She is not JD's spy," I stated confidently.
"How can you tell?" Draven narrowed his eyes while looking at me.
"Her moves inside my room were a little clumsy. She was also very nervous, which made her look like an amateur. Someone like her couldn't kill a Royal Army soldier," I explained.
Patrick nodded, agreeing with my assumptions, but then added, "But if she wasn't the one who put the note in your room, what was she after? Did you notice anything missing?"
I sighed, spreading my arms in surrender, "No. Everything seemed to be in the exact place it was when I left."
I glanced at Draven, who spent most of the time silently observing Patrick and me and listening to the conversation. His jaw muscles flexed relentlessly as if something was making him feel uncomfortable, but when he saw my eyes on him, he gave me a faint warm smile.
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