Chapter Four
Jamie
“Hey, you’re back.” Foxy waved me over to the area where we kept the newcomers to the rescue. “We have a couple of new residents. Wanna check them over with me?”
“Of course. I need to make sure all my new friends are healthy and happy here.” I approached the fence and got hit in the face with the most amazing scent I had ever experienced. Apples and cinnamon with a hint of caramel. I stood still, a foot from the enclosure, and closed my eyes.
Mate.
I opened my eyes and looked around, searching for the source of the magnetic smell. “Did you hire someone new? Do we have someone visiting us today?”
“No.” Foxy shook his head and quirked a brow at my question. “Why?”
“I—” I looked down at the foxes and realized the answer was staring back up at me. While the other foxes were huddled in the corner together, one small fox was standing by the gate, gazing at me and tilting its head to the left. “Uhm, Foxy. Where did you get these foxes?”
“They showed up at the front gate this morning. The cameras were down due to the storm, so we don’t know if someone dropped them off or if they just wandered over here by themselves for safety. Why?”
“Because these aren’t your average foxes.” I took a deeper whiff of the air and confirmed my suspicions. “You have five omega fox shifters here. Including my mate.”
“What?” Foxy had been looking at the foxes in the corner but whipped his head around to stare at me. “These are shifters? How did they get here? Why aren’t they shifting?”
“Those are all very good questions that I’d love the answer to as well.” I entered the enclosure and approached my mate. Kneeling, I placed my hand out, palm up, in offering to be sniffed. My mate leaned his face into my touch, and I felt the connection between us strengthen.
“I’ll call Dr. Malcom to come and help figure out what’s keeping them in shifted form.” Foxy pulled out his cell and dialed, walking out of the enclosure and into the welcome center.
“Hey.” I refocused on my mate after making sure the other shifters were relatively okay. There seemed to be no obvious physical injuries, and the air scented not of pain or anger but confusion and anxiety. “We’ll figure this out.”
I can’t believe the first time I meet my mate, I’m stuck as my fox and the victim of attempted trafficking. I heard my mate’s voice in my head and smiled.
Thank the goddess we could communicate through our mate bond.
Not all mates could share this type of connection at first contact, usually needing to mark each other first, but a few lucky pairings were blessed with it immediately after meeting one another.
We were one of those lucky few. “Is that what happened?” I ran a hand down my mate’s furry side, checking for a tracker or injuries to his body. “How did you get away from them?”
We woke up in a truck, parked on the side of the road.
The lock wasn’t secure properly, I guess.
We were able to push the doors open and escape.
Matthew checked out the front of the truck while the rest of us ran to the tree line.
The driver and his passenger were both asleep.
We didn’t worry about why they decided to park on the side of the road and take a nap; we just thanked the goddess and ran into the forest. Eventually, we found this place and saw that the sign was for a fox rescue.
We figured this would be the best place to get help.
My mate gestured his head toward the other shifters, still huddled together and watching me warily.
None of us can shift back yet, but the other effects from the tranquilizers the men used seem to have worn off.
We all were captured at the rest stop near Franklinsville.
We don’t remember much besides getting hit with the tranquilizer dart and losing consciousness. I’m Charlie, by the way.
“I’m Jamie. We’ll get to know each other later, mate. Right now, let’s get this all worked out. Were you all at the rest stop at the same time? Were you together before that?” I was piecing together the story.
The four of them are friends. They were traveling from their university to a music festival in New York. They are scared and just want to go home. I need to call my friend Isaac. He is probably freaking out since I didn’t meet him at the lockers on time.
“Do you know his number from memory?”
I took out my phone and waited. My mate provided the number for his friend Isaac, and I dialed.
“Hello?” A deep voice answered my call.
“Is this Isaac?” I needed to make sure I had the right guy before I told a stranger this odd story.
“Yes?” Isaac answered. “Who are you?”
“My name is Jamie. I’m Charlie’s mate–”
“Where’s Charlie? Can I speak with him? Why did he leave without telling me? Did he leave the rest area naked? I was just about to call the police. He is such a brat. Is he okay?” Isaac’s questions came out like word-vomit. I didn’t think Isaac took a breath between thoughts.
“Whoa, let’s take it one at a time.” I chuckled and saw Charlie shaking his head.
“Charlie had a little adventure. He’s safe now with me, but he’s stuck in his shifted form.
If you want, I can give you the address here, and you can check him out for yourself.
Or we can call you back when he can speak for himself. ”
“I’ll head on over there now.” Isaac let out a deep breath, finally. “I need to see him for myself.”
“That’s understandable.” I provided him with the address to the rescue and disconnected the call.
“He should be here in about an hour.” I looked over at the other fox shifters and then back at my mate. “Can you speak with them? Do they need me to call anyone for them?”
Surprisingly, yeah, we can communicate. I didn’t worry about how; I just figured it was the goddess looking out for us.
They are all young and scared. They want their parents but worry they will be in trouble for leaving campus and trying to follow a band across the country.
Let me talk to them and see if they want you to make a few calls.
Charlie walked closer to the group, but I stayed where I was, afraid to make their anxiety worse.
“Dr. Malcolm will be here in about thirty minutes.” Foxy returned and handed me a bottle of water. “Are you able to speak with each other? I know some mates and pack members can do that telepathically due to the bonds they share.”
“We can. Thank the goddess. They seemed to have run into trouble up at the Trolls Woods Rest Stop. The men who abducted them seemed to be idiots, though, and luckily, these guys were able to escape whatever plans they had for them. We should call the police; they can go look for the bad guys and make sure no other shifters go missing.” I pulled my phone out again and dialed the local sheriff’s office.
I was told that an officer would arrive within the next ten minutes.
“Do they need anything while we wait?” Foxy worried his bottom lip, and I gripped his shoulder.
“They will be okay, man.” I gestured toward my mate.
“Charlie is calming the younger guys down, and the doctor and sheriff are on the way. Once we get everything sorted with their shifting, we can make sure they get cleaned up, dressed, and fed. Then worry about contacting their parents and finding out who did this.”
“Whoever it is, they’d better be caught,” Foxy grumbled. “We can’t let them get away with this.”
“Don’t worry.” I grunted, my fist clenched at the thought they could get away. “I won’t let them.”