Bonding With The Enemy (BxB)✔

Chapter 18 - The Shoe

"What happened?!" Beth immediately noticed the bloody tissue sticking out of Jasper's pocket, reeking of the Alpha's injury.

Darren looked away with a smirk, unable to control his expression as the Alpha waved her off.

"It's fine." Jasper lied. "We're here for something more important. What did you find?"

Kenny was glaring daggers in Darren's direction, already suspecting the rogue. Not caring for the guys approval, Darren flicked him off in return.

Miraculously, the Beta did not charge and just continued to glare as they explained what they found.

"This is where Alfred entered the woods." Beth pointed towards a dirt trail leading into the foliage. They had to walk quite a ways from the road in order to make it here. It was very secluded from the rest of Red Point, so it was clear why no one ever stumbled upon this location. "We followed the trail further in and found his camp."

"Is it far?"

"Not really." She admitted. "Honestly, his camp is nowhere near where his body was found."

"Well duh." Darren scolded. "He was murdered. Obviously the killer would hide his body away from the scene of the crime."

"Is that what he said, Mr. Ghost Whisperer?" She put her hands on her hips.

Darren's eyes shot towards Jasper, who sighed dramatically. "I had to tell them about your ability. We're all working together on this. And for the record, no, he didn't. Darren said that his ghost couldn't talk."

"Then what is he even here for?" Kenny argued. "If the ghost can't tell us who killed him then what's the point in talking to it?"

"Him." Darren cut in. "Being a ghost doesn't make you any less of a person than when you were alive."

"Fantastic. Why don't you give your Miss America pageant speech somewhere else, because it's not wanted here."

Darren grit his teeth and seriously considered trying his luck with the much larger Beta, but Jasper stepped between them. "That is enough!" He shouted. "I've had enough of a stressful day without you guys fighting! So either you suck it up and learn to get along or I'm getting new Betas to work with me on this. Got it?!"

Kenny looked shocked at Jaspers outburst, as did Beth, and the two glanced at each other wide eyed before standing down submissively. Jasper then let out a breath. "Good. Now show me where his camp is."

The rogue followed behind the group as the two Betas led the way with Jasper in the middle. The trail was mostly hidden, which made sense. After all, the guy was a hunter, so he'd probably look for a spot that was furthest away from civilization.

They crossed a creek, passed under some enormous redwoods, and trudged through some blackberry bushes before finding the camp. His tent was pitched on top of a hill right under a tree. There was a pond just a little distance away, with a hunter's blind located a little further into the woods. There was also a sack of food hanging from one of the tree branches, as well as what looked like the remains of a deer and some rabbits, though what was left was practically skeletal.

"We already looked around." Kenny stood next to the tent. "We didn't find any useful scents aside from the local wild life."

"But we did find something else." Beth motioned for them to keep following. Just passed the hunter's blind was an open field. She led them towards the edge where the grass was tallest and pointed at a specific patch. At first, they didn't see anything, but upon closer inspection, they noticed a small shoe hidden within.