The autumn lead into winter and Grey finally felt I was ready to go through with the mating ceremony and take my place as Alpha female of the Red Cloud Pack.
The elders and Sky Dancer agreed with Grey and had taken the time to get to know me and to teach me their ways, rules and culture.
I had put together a decent sized collection of art in my second series of works attributed to the Red Cloud reservation. There was so much to see and photograph and the landscape changed with the magic of the seasons. I had managed to get several members of the pack to sit for me as I painted them. My paintings and photos were like a window into the secret lives of these incredible people. The inspiration I drew from this place was infinite and I didn't think I would ever tire of this subject matter.
I had been receiving plenty of mail from admirers of my work and I enjoyed reading their positive feedback and requests for more of my creations.
I had met with a few galleries about setting up my next exhibition and ended up accepting an offer from a very exclusive gallery located some fifty miles from the reservation. The type of clientele they had was sure to put me on the map with fine art buyers from around the world. This was great news regarding my financial future and would ensure a steady flow of income, no doubt.
Grey and myself were heading off to my apartment to check up on the place and to go and get new art supplies. Elaine had gone on an extended trip through Thailand and India. She would be gone for at least three more months.
I preferred buying my supplies from an art store, rather than purchasing them online. I liked to handle the items and check the quality of my canvases and paints personally.
We arrived at my apartment sometime after lunch and I went to unlock the door while Grey grabbed our bags. As I tried to open the door, something was preventing it from opening properly. I called for Grey to help me and he finally got it open. There was a heap of items on the floor that someone had pushed through the letter slot which had obstructed the doorway.
I stood there in shock as my eyes went over the pile of filth on the floor. There was even bondage gear, used sex toys and headless dolls wearing slutty underwear amongst the other items and dead flowers spread out in the hallway. It was definitely intended for me because Elaine had never registered this place as her mailing address. She her mail delivered to her parent's house because she moved around so much.
Grey pulled me back and held me behind him as he dialed a number on his phone.
"Black Claw how quickly can you get to Elizabeth's apartment? We have a problem brother, she has a psycho pervert who's been stalking her place. He's been posting all manner of sick shit through her mail slot."
Grey checked us into a hotel two blocks from my place and we waited there for Black Claw and Sky Dancer to arrive.
"Why can't we just call the police Grey? They are trained to deal with this sort of thing."
He sat down beside me and stroked my arm gently.
"Sweetheart if we call the police they are going to want information that isn't safe for us to give them. They will quickly figure out that you do not live in that apartment because of the age of some of the items that pervert has placed there. He's been posting things through that mail slot for weeks. If I could come up with an approximate timeline just from the level of decay of those dozens of flower bouquets, then so can they. We can't have the cops snooping around Red Cloud looking for answers. We have incredible tracking abilities Elizabeth. We have an acute sense of smell too and he has left his stink on everything he's put in there. We will find this creep, I promise you."
I placed my hand on his shoulder and smiled nervously at him. "I'm grateful that you and Black Claw are willing to help but I don't want you guys getting hurt or getting caught by someone who might see you while you hunt him. What do you intend to do with this scumbag when you catch him?"
He chuckled but there was a menacing look in his eye. "Believe me we won't be the ones getting hurt beautiful. I'm not going to go into too much detail but he will never get the chance to do this again. This shit stain will be extremely sorry he ever messed with my mate." He drew me into his arms and I laid my head on his chest.
"Elizabeth, Sky is going to stay with you while Black Claw and myself go after this guy. Please do not go out alone, we don't know if he was scoping the apartment when we arrived and possibly followed us here. If you need anything then Sky can go out and get it for you. She may be small but she packs a punch, there's no way he's a match for her."
The two wolves arrived an hour later and Grey and Black Claw wasted no time. They headed out to the apartment to sniff for clues to help them track my stalker.
Sky came up to me and hugged me. "It'll be ok Elizabeth, that mental case is no match for those two wolves and I doubt it will take them long to track him down. That's the thing about a werewolf pack, we protect our own with everything at our disposal. He won't get away with this."
I smiled at her and gave her another hug. I was grateful she was with me. I had really began to rely on her support recently and we had become as close as sisters.
"I wish I was like you right now." I smiled sadly. "I feel rather useless, hiding away in this room like some coward. If I was like you I could go along and hunt down this pig."
Sky looked at me strangely. "Elizabeth there actually may be a way. I've never seen it myself, mind you, but there are legends of humans who were changed when they got bitten by rogue werewolves. The only problem is it presents a huge risk. The texts I read clearly stated that many of the human victims didn't survive the transformation. If Grey hasn't mentioned this to you, that's probably the main reason why. He's not willing to let you take the chance. There's no way Grey would let you, intentionally, risk your life."
I looked at her, stunned. "Sky why are you only telling me this now?"
She sat down and looked me dead in the eyes. "Elizabeth I never would have mentioned anything but this situation changes everything. You would better be able to protect yourself from creeps like this if you were truly one of us. I'm not in anyway saying you should take the risk, I just wanted to make sure you were aware that the possibility exists. The more publicity you get, the more likely you are to be exposed to these freaks."
She got up and looked out the window. "Elizabeth how would you feel about switching to a pseudonym with regards to your art? You could register that name with a P.o Box to receive all your correspondence."
"It's a bit late for that now Sky. I have already built a name for myself in the art world and it wouldn't be hard for someone to trace my real identity even if I were to start painting under a pseudonym." I sighed as I went to stand next to her.
"If I had known I'd be targeted like this when I started my career, then that would have been a consideration. I don't like being on the receiving end of this but my greatest concern is for the safety of the pack. I would hate for these types of depraved people to track me down to Red Cloud and put us all at risk. I'm hoping this will be an isolated incident. I will however be putting my apartment up for sale, it is too risky to keep it. I will buy another property but I won't list that address for my correspondence. I will get a P.o Box for anything art related, like you suggested."
The men returned later that afternoon. Grey looked agitated and Black Claw was chomping at the bit to get back out there.
Grey came to me and wrapped me in his arms.
"We got a scent trail sweetheart and we followed it till the river. We can't track scent in the water. He must have had a boat. The good thing is he probably doesn't live around here."
Black Claw was pacing the room, he was in hunting mode and because he wasn't emotionally involved with me, the hunt was all he could think about.
"We need to check out the other part of town across the river Grey. We can't let the scent go cold. There's no way we can know when next he may come back here.
I want to get that sick son of a bitch as soon as possible."
He turned and looked at me. "Elizabeth I took a good look at the trash that guy left in your apartment. He's as depraved as they get and the longer he's out there the more harm he will cause. I doubt you are the only person he's set his sights on."
He turned to Grey. "We could use Sky's help here too. She's a skilled tracker, one of the best we have."
I looked at the three wolves. "I think Black Claw is right. I'm safe, he doesn't know I'm here, otherwise he wouldn't have left the area. Sky would do more good if she's out there with you searching. I won't leave the room. I will order room service if I get hungry. I'm going to called some realtors offices and find out what they need from me so they can market my apartment. I also need to get a cleaning company to go and deal with that mess and I need to rent a storage unit for the rest of my and Elaine's possessions. I need to email her and let her know I'm selling the place, I should hopefully have another property she can move into before she gets back. I will have plenty to keep me busy while you're all gone."
Grey cast a worried look in my direction.
"I'm not comfortable leaving you alone and vulnerable Elizabeth. We have no idea if he's aware you are here. He could have just gone off to fetch another screwed up gift for you."
I smiled at him. "Grey you are worrying needlessly. If it makes you feel better, alert the front desk that I have a stalker and tell them not to let anyone up to this floor other than yourselves, the other checked in guests and the hotel staff. The elevator is manned, they can prevent anybody from exiting on this floor.
The room is booked under your name anyway. There isn't a very good chance he could find me here, even if he knew we checked into this hotel. It's got 150 rooms, there's no way he'd know which one I was in."
Grey reluctantly agreed and the three of them went off to continue the search.
I locked the door behind them and went to start on my to do list. This was so not the quiet getaway I was hoping for.
I had accomplished a fair bit during the following three hours and I had organized everything I could for the moment. I had several meetings lined up with the realtors next week. I didn't want them to come and take photos of the apartment until it was cleared out and all trace of the stalker was removed. I had gone over the room service menu and ordered something to eat and drink. I hadn't eaten since this morning and my stomach had started rumbling in protest.
I heard a knock on the door and the person outside announced that he was delivering my meal.
I opened the door and he wheeled in the cart. I went to get a few dollars out my purse to tip him when he grabbed me from behind and held a cloth to my nose. Everything faded before me as I lost consciousness.
As I woke up, I was immediately aware that I had a throbbing headache. My throat was dry and I tried to wipe my eyes but I found that my hands and feet were tied. I looked around me. I was in a small room with no windows and the only light was seeping in from under the door. I struggled with the ropes, trying to get them loose. Panic started to rise inside myself as it dawned on me that the creep stalking me now had me at his mercy.
