Karliah and Cassie sat through a long and tedious meeting the next morning, detailing the plan going forward for the investigation into the murder of Brandon. Karliah had insisted that Cassie stay home at first but quickly realised she was fighting a losing battle, it seems no mater how stubborn alphas are known to be, their mates will always find a way to outdo them. Cassie had pouted without pause while hanging from Karliah’s blazer for the entire duration of her lecture on why she was trying to protect Cassie from further trauma and how she didn’t want to make her a target for further gossip and scrutiny. Karliah gave in with a sigh,

“Fine, you win, get your coat on.”

“Hey,” Cassie pulled on her jacket and pushed up onto her toes to kiss Karliah’s cheek. “don’t baby me.”

Karliah rolled her eyes and grumbled, “You act like a baby…”

“Love you too.” Cassie shook her wrists to escape her sleeves and grabbed Karliah’s hand. “I’m just as nervous as you are, I’m just trying not to show it.”

“I know, baby, my wolf can feel it.” She brushed a kiss onto Cassie’s forehead.

They left, hand in hand, and drove to Cassie’s pack house. She still planned to live there until they graduated but the Brandon incident had put a spanner in the works… If anything this made her pack house feel much safer, but the gossip and intrigue surrounding the crime and the investigation that was about to begin would put her back in the very-much-unwanted spotlight that had only just faded thanks to her retreat into her mate’s home after the attack just a few short months earlier. But Sam was there… And he was the most precious person in her life… Well, besides Karliah. Her love for Karliah was carnal, reflex… instinct. Her love for Sam was built from years of tender moments and secrets shared in whispers… layers of love.

~

Markus’ father, the man who was technically ‘her alpha’ while she lived under his roof, sat at the head of the table. Three members of the border patrol guard sat to the left of the head of the justice office, the man responsible for the prison and its captives, all on the far side of the dining table slash temporary meeting table. Cassie hesitated only momentarily as she entered, she was about to lower her eyes and pull herself inwards at the sight of a table occupied solely by dominants, so used as she was to submitting to every dominant she came into contact with. But her wolf suddenly squared up inside of her. No, she thought, I am an alpha female. Regardless of these men and women being dominants, she had a duty to stand beside her mate with her head held high and an expression of elegance and pride. Karliah had drilled the message into her since she was marked: she was every other wolf’s equal, even alphas couldn’t disrespect her. Of course, Karliah made it clear she had thought that about Cassie since the moment they met, but for her it was still a strange concept… She felt excited about the changes that her mate would bring about for not only their pack in the future, but hopefully other packs too. She met Karliah’s strides just about, her legs stretching a little uncomfortably due to being so much shorter, and straightened her back, keeping her mouth set in a firm line and her eyes ahead. Karliah rested her hand on the small of her back and the weight grounded her.

“Good morning,” The three men and two women stood at the sight of them, even Alpha Matthew. Cassie had never so much as looked him in the eyes before but now she let her glance slide over him as she appraised the line-up. I’m getting the hang of this a bit too easily… She thought. “thank you both for coming so quickly, I understand this must be very distressing for you.”

“Thank you, Alpha Matthew.” Karliah pulled out a chair as she spoke and motioned for Cassie to sit. “We are grateful that you are taking this as seriously as we are.” She took the chair beside her and interlocked their fingers on the table.

“I think we should begin by running through what we know so far, then we can put together an action plan and organise how we pull together this instigation…”

~

The whole pack was buzzing with the news of Brandon’s murder. When Cassie and Karliah had arrived for their meeting with the alpha, Sam had been hidden away in the kitchen with Charles, waiting for the women to join them to discuss the incident afterwards. He perched on a stool and nursed a hot chocolate with mini marshmallows sprinkled on top, Charles sat opposite him, watching him with the gentle interest he always did. Sam sipped the sweet drink slowly. He was beyond confident no one would ever pin the murder on him, an omega injuring a fellow omega was unbelievable to any wolf but the idea that an omega could kill was pure comedy. No one would even be ridiculous enough to suggest it. He couldn’t help himself, the foolhardy confidence rushing through his system made him ask the question.

“And who do you think did it?” Sam asked innocently.

“No offence,” Charles folded his arms over his chest, “but if it were me leading this investigation, you would be my number one suspect.” Sam blinked, trying to hide the sliver of pride he felt that Charles considered him capable of being even a smidge dangerous. “And as much as I like you, I don’t understand how they haven’t led you away in handcuffs yet.”

“Why am I your number one suspect?”

“It’s just too obvious,” Charles shook his head in disbelief, “you were the last person to be seen visiting him, you left the prison mere minutes before he was pronounced dead and the knife found at the scene was one from this kitchen - and I know damn well no other wolf in this house peels any potatoes!” His eyes flashed with something that Sam couldn’t translate but he didn’t interrupt, he wasn’t entirely sure where the conversation was going at this point nor did he know where Charles had gotten so much information on the case. “Plus, you have a motive, as the best friend of Cassie you have reason to want revenge on him for what he did.”

“Well, Kar-”

“Karliah got her revenge, trust me, when they dragged his body in I would have thought he was a corpse if I couldn’t hear his heart beating, he looked like someone ran over him with a combine harvester.” Sam remembered all too well, clinging to Cassie as Karliah first subdued him with a quick punch and then went back for seconds once she knew Cassie was safe with a doctor, throwing him down like the fist of fury. Sam never thought he would see Mortal Kombat in real life until that day. “She chose to let him live, the chances of her deciding, weeks later, that she wanted him dead just don’t sound very likely to me.”

“Are you going to go to the head of the justice office and report your findings, then?” Sam teased.

“Why are you not taking this more seriously? Why does no one seem to be looking at this clearly?”

“Look, Charles, you have to understand that in our culture, the mere thought of an omega committing murder is comedy gold.” Sam explained, shrugging. “I could confess, on tape, to the murder and I would not get punished, because no jury of wolves would ever believe that an omega is capable of killing anyone, not even a fellow omega.” Charles’ face was solemn and they sat in silence for a few minutes as he digested this revelation.

“Did you do it?” He finally asked, although he couldn’t look Sam in the eyes.

“Would you think badly of me if I did?”

“No.” The answer popped out quickly, like a reflex. “I could never think badly of you, Sam. God knows I’m no saint, I’ve killed before and I’m not proud of it.”

“Then why do you seem so…”

“I guess I’m just disappointed, I was hoping you would explain why it couldn’t possibly have been you, that you would have some kind of secret evidence or alibi that only the justice office know about so that I wouldn’t have to accept what I figured out from the start. To be honest, I don’t want to believe you’re capable of that either, Sam.”

Sam looked away, popping a pink marshmallow into his mouth to suck on and give him an excuse not to speak.

~

Karliah and Cassie entered the kitchen with heads held high and Sam couldn’t help but imagine them as a pair of lesbian superheroes, striding in with an aura of power and authority. Cassie had clearly learnt a lot from her other half since living with her. The moment the two subs locked eyes though, her face broke out into a relieved, childish grin and suddenly she was his goofy best friend again.

They threw themselves together, wrapping their arms around each other’s bodies and rocking from side to side.

“I missed you!” Cassie squealed.

“You saw each other at school literally two days ago.” Karliah dead-panned. They ignored her, nuzzling into each other.

“I missed you too.” Said Sam. Although they got to see each other at school, that wasn’t enough, especially when Markus wouldn’t allow Sam to go out at weekends and Karliah didn’t have time to be driving Cassie to the pack, staying with her all day and then driving back again - she had work to do.

“Well, you won’t have to miss me any more…”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m moving back into the pack house.” Cassie’s face was frozen with a nervous smile as she waited for his reaction. Sam’s head spun and he pulled away carefully to turn to Karliah.

“I-is everything okay?”

“Well, I’m not happy about it…” Karliah sighed. “But I… I get why she wants to stay by your side… Even if that means she can’t be by mine…” She shrugged, clearly pissed off.

”Cassie…” Sam began, “Karliah is your mate, you have to move in with her… You can’t put me before her…” he tried to sound as soft and diplomatic as possible but her face still fell and his heart dropped with it, straight to his stomach. He really wanted Cassie to come back. But his opinion shouldn’t have any sway on the decisions made between another wolf and their mate “This is… the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me - but I can’t let you jeopardise your relationship with your mate… Plus, you’re going to be alpha female - you need to get to know your pack and take your place as a leader.”

“I agree,” Karliah huffed. “but it has been made clear that Cassie has made up her mind and we are unable to change it.” Cassie began to protest but Charles cut her off,

“I don’t mean to eavesdrop but is there no part-time option?” Karliah scrunched up her mouth as she thought.

“Normally, no. You have one pack and one only, you are completely and utterly loyal to that one pack and you rely on them to take care of you in times of need. However, I feel like with the tender situation of the murder investigation maybe we could twist Alpha Matthew’s arm to broker some kind of deal…” Cassie bounced on her toes excitedly.

“That would be perfect! Great idea, Charles!”

“Nothing is arranged yet, Cassie.” Karliah rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “Don’t celebrate yet!”

Cassie stuck her tongue out but said no more and allowed her mate to run through the highlights of that morning’s meeting. The most important part for Sam though, was hearing that as of yet they had no suspects.

~

Alpha Matthew agreed to allow Cassie to stay in the Scarlett Moon pack house every other day with Karliah picking her up and dropping her off on the way to and from school. Her old home already felt slightly foreign to her after spending a couple of months living in the Lunar Warriors pack house, but she soon fell back into her stride, the only real difference to hers and Sam’s home life being the addition of Charles occasionally accompanying them in the kitchen as they gossiped.

It helped knowing that it was no longer possible for Brandon to get his hands on her.

~

An older member of the pack barged in to the kitchen, his belly hanging over his belt and his beard a dishevelled grey mess. He looked forty which meant he had to be at least sixty. He also looked rather unimpressed.

"I need new pillowcases." He announced. Before Sam could open his mouth Cassie whirled round,

"First door on your left down there, mate." she pointed down the corridor to the laundry room with a tight smile. The man's expression switched from mildly perturbed to furious in barely a second.

"I was speaking to the omega, young lady." He growled. He made sure to put extra stress on the word 'young'. Sam's eyes were flitting back and forth as though he were watching a tennis match between the two.

"The answer is the same either way, old man." She snapped, stressing the word 'old'. He spun a little on the spot to point at Sam threateningly,

"I suggest you get your act together, omega!" he spat out his rank like a piece of rotten food.

"I suggest you get out!" Cassie was getting riled up now, Sam was frozen on the spot though, otherwise he would pull her back, beg her to let it go. "You are perfectly capable of getting your own pillowcases!" Again, he turned to Sam to retort, they always took out their frustration on him. It was something he had wanted to bring up with Cassie before but hadn't had the balls, her heart was in the right place but she just didn't seem to understand that when she caused a scene they still blamed him.

"In my day omega knew their place!" He bellowed.

"In your day racism was cool!" Cassie shouted back, standing directly beneath his nose. Sam felt faint, he would definitely be getting it in the arse for this later... The man 'harrumph'd but otherwise didn't seem to have anything else to say. The pair stared each other down for a couple of seconds while Sam watched, unable to take a breath. The old man folded and unfolded his arms, huffed and stomped out of the room, muttering under his breath. "The future is now, old man!" Cassie called after him (she watched far too many 90s sit-coms).

"Oh god." Sam whispered. "Cassie!"

"Sorry." She did have the decency to look sheepish, pulling her neck inside of her top and biting her lip.