29. ~Ronan~
Chapter 29
~Ronan~
“We’ve got a lot more training to do to compete at state,” I told the guys, specifically Zack who had just recounted our easy wins three days ago.
“Yeah, yeah.” Zack waved me off. “Let me just enjoy the victory a while longer.” He turned to the bartender. “How about another round of those old-fashioneds? Those were fire.”
Diego was at the bar, laughing something Boomer said under his breath while he drummed his sticks on the bar, chatting with Elizabeth while she worked.
The owner of Howler’s, one of Uncle Shane’s buddies, had closed the bar just for our friends and the guys at Blood Moon Body Shop. Rhett had even bought my first drink, finally coming around since he knew—like everybody else—that Celine wasn’t just my girlfriend but my mate.
I had a speech prepared, mostly a thank-you to the guys for joining my team and working their hearts out, but also to Celine for supporting me. But I couldn’t make the speech without my girl here.
“Have you looked at the top teams headed to the state championship?” asked Ty.
We’d moved to one of the tall tables near the dance floor. No one was dancing, but I had a good view of the door from here.
“Of course I have.”
He chuckled. “And do we have a shot?”
“Oh yeah. More than a shot. But we’ll be putting in more time at the gym.”
“Not a problem. I enjoy the workouts.”
We both looked at the door when it opened. Joaquin strode directly to us and said “Congratulations” rather stiffly, which was kind of his usual demeanor, then walked to the bar to join Diego and Boomer. Ty’s gaze followed him.
“Hey, Ronan!” shouted Zack, carrying a large white bakery box from the back room toward us. “When’s your girl getting here? We need to cut the cake.”
“You got a cake?” Ty asked as Bowie sauntered over.
“Of course I did. Check it out.” He set it on the tall table next to us.
When he flipped open the top, Bowie peered over Zack’s shoulder and laughed.
“Righteous, huh?”
The cake was a monstrosity. Covered in red icing, there was a howling gray wolf’s head coming out of the center. Beneath the wolf was a giant number one badge and written in script was The Blood Moon Crew will make you black and blue .
“Wow,” said Ty dryly. “Don’t quit your day job to become a poet. ”
“What’s wrong with my poetry? It rhymes.” We laughed as my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I tuned them out to step away, expecting Celine to be texting that she was on her way or almost here. But it was a video sent from a blocked number. The frozen image on the video with the play symbol on the top sent an icy chill through my blood.
I stepped farther away and clicked play.
“Hey there, Reed,” said Baron in a friendly manner, his eyes glassy with drink. He had his arm around Celine’s shoulders.
Her eyes were closed, and she was slumped against him. She was unconscious. My entire body went cold, my heart rate tripling as my brain tried to make sense of what I was seeing. I was so paralyzed I missed whatever the fuck Baron was saying. I quickly dragged my thumb across the bottom to start the video over.
“Hey there, Reed. Look who we found at one of our favorite bars.” He squeezed her closer, and her head rolled to the side on his shoulder. “Such a great coincidence. She was partying with a friend, but we decided they’d have more fun partying with us.”
The person holding the phone panned the screen to the right where a brunette was passed out on her back on another sofa. That must be her friend Lauren.
In the background of what looked like some sort of small cabin—the walls were all wood with two deer heads mounted on one—I saw Nate and Adam shooting drinks at a card table. That meant Carter was recording with the phone.
The screen panned back to where Baron was lifting Celine’s legs to drape over his lap .
I was going to vomit. No, I was going to kill him.
His smile fell, and I saw the cold asshole I was used to.
“You and your team lost me a lot of fucking money. Lost my father even more.”
He wasn’t just talking about the winner’s pot of money, our take of the door. His father likely bet far too much that his son’s team would win.
“But no worries, Reed. I’m going to let your girl pay me back.” Acid burned a hole in my stomach.
He leaned his face toward her hair and inhaled. “Damn. She smells pretty good,” he said so fucking casually it gutted me.
Carter laughed at that while Celine’s eyelids fluttered. “That’s enough,” Baron told Carter, pushing to a stand. Celine slumped over on her side. “Time to get this party started.” Then the video went blank.
“Ronan?” It was Ty. “What’s wrong?”
I realized then that I was growling—a low, menacing sound vibrating in my chest.
“What’s going on?” Bowie walked closer.
I opened the Life360 app. Her phone was on a highway outside the city near a wooded, swampy area. But it wasn’t moving at all. They probably found it on her and tossed it out the window. But at least that gave me a direction.
My wolf growled again, pacing madly in my mind. We’d find her as soon as we were close enough to catch her scent. That’s all I needed. A small whiff of her within a couple of miles and I could track her. But she could be fifty or a hundred miles from her phone. Still, that was my starting point. I had to get there now .
Ignoring the guys, frowning and wondering what the hell was up, I replayed the video to check for any clues I might have missed. I didn’t care they were watching over my shoulder.
Blocking out Baron and the helpless sight of Celine before I went fucking feral, I focused on the background, noting a rifle cabinet on a wall and fishing rods leaning in a corner. It was a hunting camp.
“What the fuck?” Zack muttered.
My chest was heaving as I turned, tucked my phone in my pocket, and started for the door.
“Wait, Ronan!” Ty was on my heels, grabbing my shoulder.
I spun and snarled. “Get the fuck off me!”
He flinched and put up his palms while I panted through the panic taking hold of me.
“We just want to help, man.”
“That looked like a hunting cabin,” said Bowie.
“Help with what?” asked Diego. He, Boomer, and Joaquin had wandered over. So had Uncle Shane, Rhett, and a few of their friends who worked at the body shop.
I stared at Diego, so distraught I couldn’t even say it. Zack was the one who did.
“Those assholes we fought in the cage have your sister.”
“ My sister?” Diego’s eyes instantly flared wolf-gold, and his canines extended.
“They sent him a video,” added Bowie.
“What’s on the fucking video?” demanded Joaquin.
“We don’t have time!” I roared, my voice dropping several decibels. “I know where her phone is. ”
I checked the app to see if her phone had moved. It hadn’t, and there was no store or house even close to where it was surrounded by woods.
Bowie looked over my shoulder at the phone. “That’s close to Bayou Segnette, the state park. There are several hunting camps near there. My uncle owns one. Lots of werewolves use them for the full moon.”
“Take me there,” I demanded, noting my wolf had taken over my voice completely.
Bowie and I were running out the door and so was everyone else. After piling into trucks and SUVs, we took off with Bowie in the lead.
I was in the front passenger seat while Ty, Zack, and Diego were in back.
“I’m starting directions to her phone,” I told Bowie. “We can find her from there.”
I slammed my phone on his console, my entire body trembling. “Easy, Ronan,” said Ty from the back seat. “Let’s hold it together until we get there.”
He seemed nervous that I was close to shifting, and that wouldn’t go well in the confines of this SUV, especially in the fierce rage that filled me and had my body trembling.
I gripped my knees, grunting when my nails transformed into claws. That was the first physical sign I’d seen of my wolf in decades. And I welcomed him. I needed him. She needed him. I felt like I was going into shock, but I was fully aware of every sight and sound around me. Actually, even more so than usual. Magic hummed under my skin. I felt like . . .
“Fuck,” I muttered in a guttural voice, “I’m about to shift. He’s coming.”
“Hang on.” Diego’s voice had gone deep, too, as he reached forward and planted his hand on my shoulder, his claws curling into my shirt. “Not yet.”
Strangely, his touch grounded me, kept me calm despite the terror and rage trying to split me open and release the wolf. Perhaps it was his shared DNA with Celine, I wasn’t sure. But it worked.
I closed my eyes, trying to control the fury spiraling through me, like a whip lashing my spine, urging me to let go. Breathing through the expanding pressure, I watched the icon on my GPS as we drew closer to her phone.
Then my mind went to her—my sweet Celine. Was she afraid? Were they hurting her right now?
I was going to rip them apart limb from limb. Literally. Deep down, a voice I’d heard only a handful of times whispered, “ Yes .”
“It’s up ahead on the right.” Bowie snapped me to full alertness.
We were on a country road leading into swampy woods. Bowie veered onto the shoulder where my GPS showed we were right next to Celine.
My heart twisted because I knew she wasn’t here. Only her phone they’d tossed out the fucking window as they took her somewhere against her will.
Jumping out before Bowie had come to a full stop, I instantly found it, her scent heavy on the cell phone. It had landed in a weeded area, suffering only a small crack in the corner. But I smelled another scent I knew quite well on the phone—Baron .
A dark, rumbling growl rolled up my throat. A flash of heat swept through my body, flaring to a bright, sharp pain.
It’s happening.
A pop, then another and another as pain seared me, my bones breaking and realigning, my chest and limbs stretching and growing, ripping through my clothes. The transformation was agony for a few seconds until I finally felt him take full control.
Mate. I inhale. She is near. Her sweet scent is on the wind.
“Goddamn.” My packmate speaks. I turn. It is the one who behaves like a pup. “What the fuck, Ronan?”
He is shocked at my size. And afraid.
He should be. All should fear me and submit before me. Their eyes are bright with their wolves as they shift into beasts—my brethren. Yet, I still tower over them all.
I accept their presence for they will help their alpha hunt and draw blood.
Snapping my head toward the woods, I breathe deep. I smell her. She is near. And so are the enemies.