Chapter 6
SIX
Declan
The bed beside me was cold when I woke. A piece of paper crinkled beneath my arm as I felt the sheets where my mate should be. Opening the note, I gave a frustrated sigh.
She went off on her own again.
I wanted to go after her, but she wouldn’t welcome my interference.
We needed to come to an understanding. At the very least, she needed to tell me where she was going—and I needed to get her a radio.
Then I could stay in contact with her and make sure she was okay.
The way the ranch was situated between cell towers, almost the entire spread had at least minimal coverage, but there were some areas that required radios for communication.
I had a quick shower and dressed before heading to the barn. I wasn’t expecting all my brothers to be there, but they huddled in front of the stalls, looking serious. Not one of them teased me for disappearing in the middle of the workday. A sure sign something was wrong.
My first thought was Chloe. Panic welled, and I strode over to them. “What’s going on?”
“Someone tampered with Havoc’s gate.” Ethan wasted no time filling me in. “The lock was missing.”
My blood turned to ice. “Any chance one of us forgot to put it back on?”
Gabriel shook his head. “The only time we open the gate is if we need to move him. We haven’t done that in weeks. We were trying to figure out the last time we saw him in his pen.”
“I saw him this morning on my way to find Chloe. If the lock were missing then, Havoc would have come after me.” My suspicions about the issues we’d been experiencing the last month came together.
I could no longer view it as a coincidence, and if it was intentional, that meant someone was causing trouble on our ranch.
Guilt flashed through me that I hadn’t followed up when Chloe told me the gate was left open.
If I had, Chloe wouldn’t be out there alone. Unprotected.
“I need to find Chloe.”
“Did she go off on her own again?” Mason’s brow furrowed. “All the ATVs are here. And no horses are missing. She couldn’t have gone far.”
“Whoever did this is gone for now.” Luke crossed his arms. “I picked up a faint scent near the pen and followed it out to the road where it ended. There were tire tracks driving away.”
“I won’t take that chance.” My bear rippled beneath my skin. “My mate is alone on the ranch, and someone wants to cause us harm. She could be a target.”
“She’s your mate?” Ethan cursed, standing up straighter. “We’ll help you find her.”
My brothers nodded, their faces grim. We headed outside to pick up her trail.
Luke, our best tracker, shifted into his wolf form and led the way.
The rest of us followed on horseback, giving him room to do his thing.
When we reached the west pasture, he stopped, ears perking up as he sniffed in a widening circular pattern.
Luke shifted back, jogging over to us, his lips tight. “Her trail ends here. But I also smell the same scent I smelled near Havoc’s pen.”
I vaulted off my horse, rushing to the spot he showed.
My heart pounded, and chills raced over my skin.
The faint scent of chocolate and citrus teased me and had me looking for her, but there was nothing in the distance except the water tank and trough.
My brothers were spreading out, trying to catch a hint of where they went.
The dirt showed signs of a struggle, but there was no blood, easing my tension, though only slightly.
Chloe wouldn’t have gone without fighting, something that struck both pride and fear in me.
My mate was tough and smart. She would be okay.
She had to be okay. I rubbed my chest, unable to soothe the ache that had settled there.
Austin jogged over. “I found tracks from an ATV, but the ground here isn’t great for leaving trails. Unless Luke can pick up their scent, we can only guess what direction they headed.”
Luke shook his head. “I’ve got nothing.”
I bit off the words that almost flew out of me.
It wasn’t Luke’s fault. If he couldn’t pick up the trail, no one could.
But I wanted to insist he try harder and find a scent to follow, even though I knew it didn’t exist. My bear was fighting for control, insisting we find our mate.
But I needed to keep a level head. Make a plan.
Something my animal half was making it hard to do.
“We’ll split up.” Mason’s quiet voice came out commanding, and I saw the soldier he used to be.
His gaze surveyed the landscape, pointing each of us in a different direction.
“Declan, the ATV tracks led that way when they disappeared. That’s where you go.
We have the radios if anyone finds anything. ”
He gave me a hard stare. “No running in without backup.”
I said nothing, but if he thought I wouldn’t immediately go to Chloe’s rescue if I found her, he didn’t fully grasp what it was to have a mate. Before Chloe, I might have said the same thing, but now that I’d met her, I’d allow nothing to get between us.
Chloe
I rubbed the back of my head, feeling the bump left by the rock. There was no blood, but I suspected I had a concussion. I was dizzy, and I struggled to concentrate on finding a solution to the problem I’d found myself in.
When I saw the tall, thin man at the water tank in the pasture, I’d immediately been suspicious.
Declan and his brothers worked the ranch alone.
I hid behind a rock cluster and pulled out my camera, zooming in to take photos of the stranger dumping something in the tank.
His face was shaded with a faded blue ball cap, and when he turned, I caught sight of his profile.
I’d seen this man before—at the diner, when I first arrived.
My mind spun with thoughts of what he could be doing. I assumed it was poison. I might have read too many novels, but I couldn’t think of an innocent reason for him to be at the water tank without Declan or his brothers.
I almost didn’t hear the footsteps approaching behind me, but I twisted just in time to evade a second man who tried to grab me. My crouched position put me at a disadvantage. As did my size compared to him. I didn’t hesitate to use my camera as a weapon. It could be replaced. I couldn’t.
First, I flipped on the flash and snapped a photo, the light temporarily blinding him. Then I swung it at him, clipping him on the forehead. He shoved me back in response, and I tripped, my head slamming against the rock I’d hidden behind, filling my mouth with a bitter taste.
After that, I struggled to fight. My vision had blurred, and I couldn’t get my balance. The man yanked me to my feet, arms wrapped around my body, and called out to the stranger at the tank. The two of them tied me to the back of an ATV.
The ride was rough and made me nauseous. They brought me to a dilapidated cabin and shoved me in the bedroom I was in now.
I looked around. There was a cot in the corner and a dresser against the wall. A tiny, rectangular window, just large enough I might fit through, was high on the opposite wall. I tried to jump and catch hold of the windowsill, but my dizziness had me stumbling.
Voices rose in the other room. I froze, at first believing they’d heard the thud of my feet, but it was soon apparent they were arguing. I rushed to press my ear against the door, trying to hear their words.
“This wasn’t the plan.” There was an edge of panic in the voice. Furniture scraped, as if he’d stood suddenly, pushing a chair back.
“Plans change.” The second voice was rougher, lower in pitch. “The boss said no witnesses.”
“Sabotaging a ranch is one thing. I didn’t sign up to hurt nobody.”
“You signed up to do the job. Letting that woman go won’t get it done.”
I backed away from the door, my heart pounding. I needed a way out of this bedroom, or a way to fight them, before they decided how and if to kill me. If only I’d woken Declan and taken him with me. For the first time, I cursed my independent streak.
My gaze fell back on the window. If I could somehow move the dresser without them hearing, maybe I could reach it.
I tested the dresser, but I couldn’t lift it, even after taking the drawers out and stacking them to the side. If I tried to slide the piece of furniture, I worried it would make a noise and alert them.
“Think, Chloe, think.” My head was still foggy. I took stock of the room again, forcing myself to name everything I saw. “Dresser, drawers, bed, blanket, door…blanket.”
I scrambled to the bed and pulled the blanket off.
Lifting the dresser one corner at a time, I worked the blanket underneath it.
By the time I was done, sweat dripped and my head pounded, but the dresser slid silently across the floor.
As soon as it was under the window, I climbed on top of it and pushed against the window. But it wouldn’t budge.
Tears spilled over. My life didn’t flash before my eyes, but I saw Declan, and what we could have been together.
We were opposites, but that wasn’t a bad thing.
He would have helped me settle, and I would have helped him find joy in everyday life.
Now, I wouldn’t have the chance to know if we could have made it work.
I gave in to the tears and rested my forehead against the dirty glass of the window. If only I could go back in time. I would grab hold of Declan and never let go.
How long I cried, I didn’t know, but the sound of a cell phone ringing caught my attention. I sniffled, lifting my head. If there was a signal, my camera would have backed up to the cloud. If they investigated my death, at least they’d have the photos I took of the two men.
I stilled, eyes narrowing at my fatalistic view. It wasn’t like me to give up. I’d found myself in tough situations before, and I’d always survived. It had never involved people wanting to kill me, but that just meant I needed more determination, not less.
I shoved the window again, trying to see why it wouldn’t move. Maybe I could pry it open. If not, I’d fight back. I refused to let my story end today.