Prey for the Beast Part 2
Treize was the first to get over the shock of finding out that Duo Maxwell was a Hunter. Looking at the deceptively frail-looking youth, Treize asked to see his mark of rank.
Duo smiled, he was impressed with Treize. He was smart enough to ask all the right questions. Reaching up, he released his concealing cloak and allowed the silky garment to flow down his body and reveal his bared shoulder.
Treize again smelled arousal in the air as his elite took in the view. Duo was dressed in low-riding, skintight, black gundanium fiber pants that left little to the imagination. His top was a cropped muscle T-shirt that was made of the same material. As far as Treize knew, only Hunters knew the secret to making gundanium fibers into cloth for uniforms. Even Treize had to admit the hunter looked delectable in that outfit.
Duo hid a smirk as he watched the reactions to his outfit. Finally, Treize's gaze traveled to his bared upper right arm with the mystical brand of his rank emblazoned on his skin. He watched those cornflower blue eyes widen as he took in the rank of 02. Duo was Commander Epyon's hand picked successor.
"I'm honored to receive such a high ranking Hunter," stated Treize. He watched his elite digest that information and then realized that this boy must be deadly indeed to be second to the head of the Hunters. "How can we assist you?"
"I need to see the body of the victim and then the site of the slaughter."
As Duo was lead back to the campus, Heero asked a question he had been dying to know, "How come we didn't smell you?"
Looking into the very handsome face Duo replied, "Hunters can conceal their scent since so many of the nonhumans have sensitive noses. If you pay attention you will notice something else."
Heero concentrated and then realized that he didn't hear Duo walking. It was if the boy were a ghost. Suddenly he wanted to spar with the boy and see what else the enigma was capable of.
Treize lead the group to the basement of the building, where the preserved body had been stored. He watched as Duo entered and gazed on the shredded remains for the first time. He noted that the expressive face suddenly lost all joviality as he began his examination.
Duo carefully went over every inch of the mutilated form; he examined every bite and scratch. There wasn't much left of the boy so it didn't take long. The killer had been clever and had distorted the claw and bite marks to prevent identification by that means, but he hadn't been quite clever enough. Duo found a single spot on the back of the boy's neck that had a clear tooth print.
Working quickly, Duo made a mold of the tooth before giving Treize permission to turn the body over to the boy's family. Then he made a strange request. "I need for one of your smallest males to transform so I can examine his teeth.
Quatre stepped forward and volunteered, because he was one of the smallest males in the pack, but he more than made up for the lack of size with his incredible intelligence.
Duo carefully measured his incisors and made a disturbing discovery... the model of the killer's tooth was smaller, which meant the killer hadn't been a pack member. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to blame a pack member for this.
Treize, Heero, and Wufei accompanied Duo to the site of the murder. All three watched in fascination as Duo chanted and then released a spell that covered the area.
Duo waited to see if the spell would reveal the presence of magic. After a few minutes, the spell revealed a very faint taint of old magic in the area. Duo was very disturbed now. It was time to make his initial report. He invited the elite werewolves to accompany him back to the main hall. He wanted to use Treize's communicator to call in his report.
Duo added a scrambler to Treize's communicator and then contacted Commander Zechs, or Epyon as he was called in the field. "Sir, I have finished with my preliminary investigation and the results are disturbing. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make the murder look like a pack member did it, but the one clear tooth mark in the victim indicates that it was a true animal, probably a real wolf. Magic was used to cover up any clues left in the area so whoever is behind this knows our procedures very well and either has a trained wolf or the ability to control a wild one."
Zechs took a minute to mull over the information before deciding to disclose some information that had been kept under wraps. "Duo, we think this is the work of a serial killer who has a grudge against nonhumans and Hunters. We are now seeing a pattern of related incidents in the nonhuman communities of a series of murders that require we send a Hunter to investigate. The murders began with the death of a human and then several nonhumans before the Hunter is attacked and maimed or killed. He has slowly been making his way to this state where the primary nonhumans and the Hunter school are located."
Duo digested this information before asking his question, "Why hasn't this been mentioned before?"
"Because we weren't sure it was connected before... and we think the killer may be a rogue Hunter."
Duo heard the sharp intakes of breath behind him as this information was revealed. "Do you know who it is?" Duo wasn't surprised by Zechs shaking his head 'no' or by his superior informing him that he would be joining them soon. Zechs intended to be a part of the investigation.
Duo ended the conversation before turning around to face the pack members. Looking into Treize's eyes, Duo was relieved to see that no suspicion of him lurked there. Nodding his head to accept that compliment, he posed his next question. "Zechs will want me to wait before investigating further. Can you arrange for all humans and pack members to travel in groups of two, three, or more until we've caught the killer?"
"It shouldn't be a problem. I'll have the teachers spread the word and announce that it is for safety until the investigation is closed. You look tense Duo, we have an arena if you think a workout would help."
Duo was relieved, a workout was just what he needed, now who should he victimize. Looking at the elite, he realized he wouldn't have to choose when Heero stepped forward with a challenging gaze.
Heero was excited; this was his chance to get the slender youth in his bed. Sauntering forward he named his suggestion for a prize to the victor. "I say the winner gets to claim the loser for whatever he chooses." Heero felt a tightening in his groin as Duo seductively licked his lips and announced that he was on.
~*~
Since everyone wanted to watch this fight, Treize, Une, Relena, and the rest of the elite entered the arena and took their seats as the combatants prepared to face off against one another.
Duo stepped out into the arena and began a series of stretches to limber up and get ready for a workout.
Heero transformed into a very large werewolf and watched the petite youth across the way stretch with obscene thoughts running through his head on what he could do with the flexibility he was observing in Duo.
Duo indicated he was ready by stepping to the center of the ring and taking a defensive stance.
Heero slowly stalked towards his prey, his eyes taking in the relaxed breathing and readiness of his opponent. He bared his teeth and attacked with all his speed, taking a swipe at the Hunter's head and suddenly reversing directions to aim at his belly.
Duo gracefully stepped to the side avoiding the attack before slipping under the swing to lash out with a powerful leg and strike his prey directly in the chest.
Heero fell back slightly but quickly shrugged the blow off. Duo was faster, but he was stronger and he needed to use that knowledge to his advantage. He began to circle Duo, trying to force him into a smaller space where his speed would be limited.
Duo rushed at the big wolf, almost too fast for the eye to follow, and swept at his legs. Heero danced back and braced himself, inadvertently setting himself up for Duo's favorite move. Duo leaped forward and pushed off of Heero's own knee, somersaulting high into the air and landing a solid blow to the underside of Heero's chin as he completed the flip to land delicately on his feet.
Heero saw stars for a moment, before clearing his head. Grinning evilly, he cut loose. It had been too long since he had a worthy opponent that he could spar full out with.
The elite watched in total fascination as Heero and Duo sparred. Both moved with lightning speed and with a skill that few could ever hope to meet. Neither could seem to gain the edge over the other, both seemed evenly matched.
Duo and Heero were both exhausted. They had been fighting full out for two hours and were ready to drop. Afraid of hurting one another due to fatigue, they decided to call the match a tie.
Loud clapping was heard from the now full arena as the two warriors took a bow and started to walk off the field. Just as they reached the edge, Heero suddenly grabbed Duo, dipped him, and then devoured his lips in a passionate kiss. He noted the catcalls as he continued to plunder the sweet depths. One thing was clear in his mind as he slowly released the braided wonder; Duo had been kissing him back just as fiercely.
Heero escorted Duo back to his room, he was hoping to steal a couple of kisses from the beauty when he smelled blood emanating from Duo's room. He shoved Duo behind him as he kicked open the door.
Duo stared in anger and grief at the lithe body on his bed. It was one of the pack and his throat had been slit and then his heart cut out of his chest. The missing heart wasn't far away; it was on Duo's dresser in a crystal dish with a note propped by it.
Heero had growled and had tried to keep Duo from entering the room, but Duo knew the killer was gone. He approached the note and cast a spell on it while Heero summoned the others with a howl. The spell detected no trap, so Duo opened the note and read it out loud.
"This fool wanted to offer you his heart. I took the liberty of making his wish come true. Wasn't that nice of me? I know you Duo Maxwell and it pleases me that you are the Hunter they sent here. We belong together and soon I will come for you, but I need to finish up with these freaks first. Tell Heero that if he touches you, I'll cut off his balls and eat them for breakfast, until later my sweet."
Duo looked into Heero's eyes and saw the rage simmering there. He also felt a chill in the pit of his stomach because whoever the killer was, he was watching them and watching them closely.
TBC...
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