Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
K ile cursed long and hard, his eyes on the tracking device, realizing how demented that truly was. Char’s brothers must have known she would go to Lily and Sadie.
“We need to warn everyone to be on the lookout and ready.” Eric also cursed under his breath. “They could be here already. Fuck!”
“I’ll warn Lance and his men, but we need to focus on protecting the women and kids,” Cole said, then frowned with a growl. “This fucker needs to go down. To shoot an arrow into your sister with a tracking device is fucked up.”
Kile agreed. His anger tripled, knowing the bastard had now put a target on Sadie. He turned to look at her, but she was gone. “Where is Sadie?” He asked, walking quickly into where Char was healing. Gemma looked up with a frown.
“What’s wrong?” She stood watching Kile search the room.
“Was Sadie in here?” Kile heard the panic in his voice and cursed.
“No,” Gemma shook her head, looking worried. “I thought she was with you.”
Kile didn’t answer. Instead, he ran out, then out the front door. “Son of a bitch.”
“She’s not in the house anywhere,” Cole said, running out behind him. “I’ll search this way and look for Lily, also.”
“Dammit!” Kile hissed, eyes scanning the area looking for her. He knew for a fact she went to find Lily. Why in the fuck she didn’t wait for him, he didn’t know, but he was going to give her hell once he found her and find her he would.
“Have you seen Sadie?” he asked people as he passed, but no one had seen her.
His pulse quickened. He stepped away from the laughter and noise, moving toward the edge of the gathering, where the woods loomed just beyond the glow of lights. The darkness seemed to pulse with warning, and his wolf instincts went into overdrive. He inhaled deeply, trying to pick up her scent. There was nothing.
Panic clawed at him, and he forced himself to remain calm. His wolf senses were sharper than most, and he couldn’t afford to let fear cloud them now. He inhaled again, focusing on the faintest trace of her scent lingering in the air. It was faint but unmistakable—a mix of strawberries and something uniquely Sadie.
Her scent was mixed with something else. Someone else.
Kile’s heart dropped into his stomach. A male scent. His wolf stirred, growling low inside him as he moved quickly into the woods, following the trail of smells. His senses sharpened with every step, adrenaline pumping through his veins as the fear for Sadie’s safety threatened to take over.
He moved swiftly, his body tensing as he picked up on the sounds of movement ahead. His wolf was ready to tear apart anyone who had laid a hand on her.
Pushing through the trees, Kile’s vision sharpened as he spotted a small clearing ahead where a truck was parked on a narrow dirt road leading to the main road. He could see a figure struggling—Sadie. She was being dragged into the truck by a man he didn’t recognize, his hands tightly gripping her arms. It wasn’t Colton.
“Let her go!” Kile’s bellow was deadly.
The man quickly looked his way before slamming the door shut as the truck took off. A growl erupted from Kile’s throat, low and dangerous. He barely recognized the sound as his own. He shifted instantly into his wolf form, his massive body launching toward them with terrifying speed.
Bullets zipped past him, each one narrowly missing his massive form as his wolf darted through the trees with terrifying speed. The shots were more annoying than a real threat, but they slowed him down. He growled in irritation, pushing his wolf harder, faster, every muscle in his body straining to close the distance.
He was almost there—close enough to see the truck they had thrown Sadie into. His wolf tensed, leaping into the back, ready to rip them apart, when the driver suddenly braked. The sudden stop caught him off guard, and Kile's body slammed into the back of the truck with brutal force. He felt the impact rattle through him just as the truck screeched forward again.
The momentum tossed him from the back, his body crashing hard against the rough road. Kile tumbled, rolling over the dirt and rocks until he finally skidded to a stop. Pain shot through his body, but his wolf refused to relent. With a furious growl, Kile staggered to his feet, watching as the truck sped off in a cloud of dust.
Anger surged through him, his wolf wanting nothing more than to chase them down and tear them apart. But he forced himself to calm, his mind racing with strategy. Sadie needed him. He would not fail her.
Kile got back on his feet to regroup and go after them. And when he caught the son of a bitch, there would be no escape.
“Holy shit, are you okay?” Cole skidded to a stop just as Kile was now in human form.
“I’m fine,” Kile growled, grabbing the sweatpants Cole held out. “Fuck!” he glanced toward where the truck vanished.
“We’ll find her, brother,” Eric said, looking him over. “You good. That was a hard hit you took.”
“Lily?” Kile ignored his brother, looking at Alex.
“Surrounded by Lance’s men. No one will get to her.” Alex said, also looking toward where the truck had gone. “I can probably track them to a point, but once they hit the pavement, we’re fucked.”
“No need,” Char’s voice came from behind them. She and Leeza walked out of the darkness, followed by wolves. “I know exactly where they took her.”
“No,” Kile shook his head. “You’re too weak from your injury. Just tell me where they are, Char.”
“Do you want to find Sadie or not?” Char growled, her eyes narrowed. “There are no directions I can give you. And believe me when I tell you, the faster you get to her, the better. Colton will be livid that Lily wasn’t taken with Sadie, but I will tell you no one at this point cares about Lily. They only care about that hard cash that comes with the bounty and Sadie.”
“Are we outnumbered?” Eric looked around as if doing a head count.
“Yes, so once we get there and you see the layout, you better have a plan.” Char looked them each in the eye. “My brothers don’t play fair. But if you take Sebastian down, then the rest will scatter. There isn’t much loyalty with our pack—only fear of Sebastian. But Sadie is in more danger than you realize. He wants her as a toy right now because he’s intrigued by her bravery as a human. It’s his mate you have to worry about.”
“Well, that’s new fucking information.” Cole sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I’m not up to killing a female. Why in the hell didn’t you mention this before?”
“Because I had an arrow in my back, and my brain wasn’t working as well as it should have been.” Char gave him a nasty glare. “And the bitch is mine. She’s made my life a living hell.”
“Good point.” Cole gave her a nod with raised eyebrows. “Okay, lead the way.”
“Once we reach a certain point, we must shift. The camp is downwind, so they will smell our wolves more quickly than in our human form.” Char said, looking at Kile. “We’ll get her back. Strip and then shift. Gemma gave me some rope to tie your clothes.”
“Are you really only eighteen?” Eric tossed her a look of respect.
“Surviving ages you,” Char said, cutting the rope and then eyeing Kile. “You sure you’re up to this? That was a hard hit you took.”
“Just show us the way,” Kile replied, taking the sweats off he had just put on, then handed them to her. Shifters were not shy about being naked. It was just part of the shift. “And watch your ass. Once we are there, stay back and let us handle it. You don’t need to mess up your injury any more than it already is.”
“I’m a fast healer,” Char said as she bent to tie Cole’s pants to his wolf. She stood hurrying through the wolves, doing the same. Then she turned to Kile with a frown. “Are you going to shift?”
“I’m going to kill your brother,” He informed her, watching her closely.
“Good, because if you don’t, I will.” Char shrugged and then searched his gaze. “And honestly, as much hell as both of them put me through, I don’t want to live with that on my conscience. I’m not made the same as them.”
“No, you’re not.” Kile agreed, then began to shift but stopped. “Thank you, Char.”
She nodded and waited for him to shift. She tied his sweats and leaned to look his wolf in the eyes. “Go get your woman, Kile.” She whispered and stood to shift. “She’s one of the good ones.”
Kile watched as Char shifted through his wolf’s eyes. He knew she was in pain, but damn, she fought through the shift. Walking past him, her wolf looked him in the eyes and then took off. Kile followed, letting his wolf have free reign.
“I’m coming, Sadie.” Kile’s thoughts mixed with his wolf’s as they followed Char toward the unknown...for now.