Bark at the Moon Ch. 03

Kara's brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait, a...witch? I thought witches were women." She said. "Shouldn't you be a...wizard, or something:?"

Santiago shrugged. "Wouldn't call a female vampire anything different, and I wouldn't dare call a female were a bitch." He smirked. "Well, except for your sister, Owen."

A growl bubbled in Owen's throat, the one that Kara had quickly come to associate last night with his were side. "Watch how you talk about my family, Santiago." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, Santiago, you hear about the body we pulled yesterday?"

At his shake of the head, Owen continued. "Real nasty work. Our killer carved a pentagram on her back, and a bunch of symbols. He opened up a drawer in his desk, and pulled out the file, and the picture of Felicia Brewer's back. "Think you can ID some of those symbols?"

"At a glance?" Zach scanned the picture. "The center symbol is the one that's interesting. It's demonic, definitely." He took the picture, and sat down in the chair behind Owen's desk, drawing another growl, which Santiago simply ignored. "I think that, using the outer symbols, and the other five in the star, our killer is trying to draw power or appease whatever demon uses this symbol."

Owen swallowed. "That is definitely not good."

"Wait, a demon." Kara looked between the two of them. "Like, are we talking about Exorcist shit here?"

"Think more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Charmed demons. Monsters that get summoned from another dimension, take corporeal form, and kill, pillage, and terrorize." Santiago said. "And if this demon wants a human sacrifice for its rituals, to appease it, we're talking about one with either a lot of power, or a really big ego." He shook his head. "Fuck me, I don't like this."

The phone on the desk rang, breaking the moment. Owen snatched up the phone. "Yes?" He paused a moment. "Captain. Yes, sir. I'll be right up. Do you want...Understood." He hung up. "That was the Captain. He wants me upstairs." He looked to Santiago. "Zach, take her to see Caitlyn."

"Caitlyn?" He chuckled. "Oh, she's going to like you, Archer."

"Why's that?" Kara asked, curious now.

Zach chuckled. "Because I've never met a tough gal the old hag O'Dwyer didn't like."

***

Owen left Santiago to take Kara to Caitlyn. He smirked, wondering what Kara would think of the older witch. He, however, had something much older, and much more dangerous, to attend to. He took the stairs up to the fourth floor, where the larger offices were. The Captain ran everything from that office. He wasn't always in. He liked being in the field, with the other MCU officers. Kara had yet to meet the other half-dozen detectives in the unit, but she would in due time. When she met the Captain, though, was entirely up to the Captain.

He walked through the long row of glass-walled offices. He passed Captain Creegan's office, and waved to him. The director of Sex Crimes waved back half-heartedly. He was on the phone, as he usually was.

He passed one of the Assistant District Attorneys, probably there to visit one of the other Captains concerning a case. They weren't usually there for the Captain.

He stopped at the office, and knocked three times. That was the first rule. You knocked three times for the Captain.

"Enter." was the answer. The voice was cool, commanding. He'd never heard the Captain raise a voice in anger. He was one of the smoothest operators Owen had ever met.

Owen opened the door, and walked in. The Captain was sitting behind his desk. He wasn't like any of the other department heads. The Captain looked only in his early thirties. Hell, he looked younger than Owen by a good few years. His dark hair was trimmed professionally, and he wore a suit that probably cost what Owen made in two months. His features were dark, handsome. Owen knew just how much of a womanizer the Captain was. He score more than Owen, Santiago, and the rest of the detectives in MCU combined. And with two werewolves, and a vampire on staff, that was no lean feat.

"Owen," He said, and with one hand gestured to one of the chairs. "Sit down, man."

Owen nodded. "What's up, Nick?" Only people who met the Captain in person could call him by his name. That was the second rule. Owen didn't know if he had a last name. Just Nick.

"How's Kara Archer working out?"

"Rather good, sir." He nodded. "She's smart, and a good cop."

"And you slept with her." Nick grinned. "Don't even lie. You're wearing the same shirt as yesterday, and I know you drove together this morning."

Owen cussed under his breath. "Fuck me. How you do that, I won't ever figure out." The Captain's habits of information-gathering were ridiculous. He knew just about everything about his detectives.

"It's not for you to know, Owen. But, it is good. Don't make it a one-night stand."

He shook his head. "There's something about her, Nick. I can't explain it."

"She's one of your kind. Their parents were both alphas. They've got serious punch in them, it just hasn't been tapped."

"That's why you tapped Kara for this unit." He frowned. "But she doesn't know."

"No," The Captain shook his head. "There's a trigger for her abilities, one we haven't figured out. But you're going to protect her."

"Damn straight I am." He growled, his voice almost violent. "I won't let anyone touch her."

"Good man," Nick smirked. "But Kara brings me to another matter." He said. "She has a brother."

"Yea, some journalist for the Shield." He remarked. "What about him? He inherited too, I'm guessing."

Nick nodded. "Yea, and this brother of hers has landed in a spot of trouble. My contact in the Phantoms reported back with this little tidbit. He was trying to do a piece on Bliss, and ended up nabbed by...guess who?" The glint in the Captain's eye told Owen all he needed to know.

"It's Iris, isn't it?"

Nick smiled. "Your sister's at it again, Owen. Jason Archer is not a man I want hurt. I want his sister to work for our team, and that means keeping her brother safe."

"Yes, sir," Owen said. "Where'd she take him?"

"A small, abandoned house. I'll leave it to your discretion what to do with your sister, but Jason Archer is to be retrieved." Nick's dark eyes met Owen's. "Am I understood?"

Owen only nodded.

He got the address from Nick, and went down to his car. Kara had already left with Santiago, which saved him the trouble of explaining to her that her brother had been kidnapped by a semi-insane werebitch who just happened to be his sister.

That, of course, begged the question of what Iris's game was. She did something, every once in a while. Petty crime, mostly. She was an unstable member of the were community, though, but no alpha would declare her an outlaw. Sex was one of Iris's favorite weapons to use in manipulation.

No male had taken her for a mate, mostly by her own wishes. He wondered if any man would take her. Killing her made more sense. She was a danger to society, and the race.

He drove on down to the address, and opened up the glove box in the car. He took out a small box of ammunition. It was the specialty ammo, which was only issued to MCU. Sure, a vampire or a were went down to a few bullets, but silver was more efficient, and stemmed their regenerative capabilities. He loaded the silver rounds into a magazine, and loaded the magazine.

Owen got out of the car, and headed up to the front door. He could smell several things from the house. It was dirty, run down. Hints of mold touched his nose. But underneath that, he could smell sweat, blood, and sex. Owen was more and more worried now at what he might find.

He walked, quickly, to the front door. He summoned the strength of his beast, and kicked the front door in with little effort.

Owen moved into the house, and saw in the living room, what he'd come here for. Jason archer was lying, naked, on the living room carpet. His blond hair was messy with sweat, and he had a look of pain on his features. He was curled into a ball, though even like that Owen could see the resemblance to his partner. The same blond hair, the same, strikingly dark blue eyes, and tanned skin. He had wounds across his back and what he could see of his neck. At least three of those, he knew, where the telltale punctures of were fangs. The question, though, was whether Iris had mated him, or just marked him.

He sniffed the air, and found the scent of pot coming from the kitchen. He turned, and saw Iris sitting in a chair in the kitchen. "Hey, big brother," She grinned widely. "I'd get up, but I really wouldn't for you. Besides, I just had an alpha male fuck me."

She was dressed in her jeans, bra, and an unbuttoned shirt. Owen took a step forward, gun in his hand. "What did you do?"

"Brought out the beast in him." She smirked. "You'd be amazed what the right potions can do. I didn't know the right trigger, so I pumped him with this shit, and wowie." She grinned. "Haven't had a ride like that in ages."

Owen racked the slide of the pistol, and pointed the gun at her. "Did you mate him?" He growled.

"No, unfortunately." She said. "But I always like to mark what is mine." Iris's voice purred, like a sated animal. It was all she was, Owen told himself. The beast sat too closely to Iris, and she let it rule her.

"He isn't yours." He said. "An alpha submits to no woman. If he is an alpha, like you said..."

She laughed. "Maybe. My employer told me about him. Son of two of the most powerful weres in the last half-century. He's got to be an alpha. Especially with the way he took me."

"Who's your employer?" Owen growled. "Tell me, Iris."

"Um, no." She stood up, slowly. "I'm out. You can take Jason. I'm done with him, for now." She said. "You won't find out who my employer is, and we both know you won't shoot me. So, I'm leaving, and I'll be seeing you around. Okay?"

Owen growled. She knew him too well. He couldn't kill his own blood, he knew that. Not even if his own blood was a psychotic bitch. He watched as she walked out, back into the living room, and crouched next to Jason. She stroked his hair, and whispered something into his ear.

***

Jason came to, eventually, in a moving car. He blinked his eyes open. He was driving through a bad part of town, or maybe out of it. The car smelled of coffee, fast food, and...Kara's perfume.

He looked around, to the driver's seat. Sitting there was a big dark-haired man. "Who the fuck are you?" Jason croaked.

A little chuckle escaped the man's lips. "I'm Owen. I'm your sister's partner. I work in the Major Case Unit."

"Owen." He murmured. Jason remembered his file, when he'd snuck a look at it. "Why are you here, and not my sister?"

"Your sister's working a case. I was asked to bring you out of the mess you'd gotten yourself into." Owen didn't look from the road.

"Does...does she know?" Jason found himself asking, his voice quiet.

"No, I haven't told her. The Captain wanted you safe. You're family of one of our cops."

"Even if I am a two-bit journalist from a paper that makes its subscriptions by pandering to a paranoid fanbase that hates the government?"

Owen chuckled. "I know you're not a bad type."

"Well, thanks," He grunted, and Jason sunk further into the seat. "So, what's your deal? She was a werewolf." He could smell something about the man. He smelled, just slightly, like Iris. When could he smell so well, he wondered. The beast inside of him rumbled that was another change he would learn to deal with.

"Yea, and I'm her brother." Owen growled. "I'm a werewolf too."

"Oh." Jason nodded. "And now, I guess I am too." He whispered. "What can I expect?"

"You're going to go through a lot of changes. That drug that she gave you, it's a potion. Which means we'll have to take you to a witch or something to figure out how else it might effect you. But there are some things you'll know immediately. You're going to experience an increased libido, some physical...changes., and some psychological."

Jason looked inquisitively to Owen. "Define...changes."

"Best we wait until we stop and get some food in you to explain." He said. He pulled up to a McDonald's. "Listen, Jason, Iris said something to you before she left, did you hear it?"

He thought back, and knew what it was. However, he spoke carefully. "What she said...she was damn serious about it. Owen, you have to promise, whatever you can do to stop her, you have to."

Owen's eyes centered in on Jason's. "What did she say, Jason?"

"Kara's next."

***

Thanks for reading, as always! I'm sorry for the slow posting, but life gets in the way, as I have moved recently. Please, leave a comment, a review, and a nice word or two! I love hearing from you!