Chapter 20 GRANT
GRANT
“What is it, boss?” Graham asks.
“Did you figure out something?” Nate inquires.
The gears in my head are still turning. “What if they already know where we are?” I muse.
Both men exchange an uncomfortable look before turning to me. “I don't understand,” Graham says.
“You said the hunters have been rumored to be around the woods where lone wolves change, right?” They nod in reply. “There are too many patches of land around for their first sighting to be in a place that definitely has shifters.”
The image begins to become clearer for both men. Their minds start working like mine, which isn't necessarily good.
“Shit, they could already have intel on where to search for us,” Nate surmises.
“Exactly. If that's the case, then none of us are safe. We don't give them enough credit for planning and working together, but if we're thinking about it, who says they're not doing the same thing even if it's not exactly in their nature?”
“That's true,” Graham says, falling back into the chair. “How do we even start? What do we do now?”
I get up and walk to the window, taking in the view and trying to soothe my overactive mind.
“Luckily, there aren't a lot of pockets for wolves to change.
We could start search parties around those areas and see what we come up with.
With any luck, we'll be able to surprise the hunters before they get the upper hand on us again.”
The evening sky has already transitioned to night. The city's lights are shining, though, beaming at me from the streets below. The city feels alive and busy, which sums up my life. Maybe that's why I love the calmness of nature so much.
“We can get those search parties up and running by tonight,” Graham assures me.
This good news doesn't make me feel any better. In fact, it only makes me feel much worse. I wonder where the sinking feeling just appeared from, but slowly, the answer comes to me.
“I need to get back now,” I declare, tearing myself away from the window.
“What?” both men chorus in surprise. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” Nate inquires.
“Leena is in trouble, I can feel it.”
“What do you think is happening?” Graham asks on alert.
“I don't know, but those hunters attacked Tom's pack—Leena's old pack.
Who knows if they saw her at some point while they were stalking.
Anything could happen, especially now that attention is growing around us.
There's every chance they've found their way to our protected land and I left Leena there alone. I'm going to get her.”
“We're coming with you,” Graham offers. Nate stands to join him, but I shake my head at both of them.
“There's too much going on, and our forces are beginning to wear thin. If you must come with me, secure the search party for the areas in the city first. After that, both of you can come out to IronFang's land.”
“You've got it. We'll be there as soon as we can,” Nate promises.
Neither of them tries to make me wait. They both know that Leena is my mate and nothing will stop me from rushing toward her in a crisis.
I run out of the building, ignoring the curious gazes, and hop into my car. Despite my better judgment, I try to call Leena's phone. It's off, just like it has been for days. The image of the device just casually sitting on her bed flashes through my head.
The next best thing is trying to reach anyone who normally stays at the house. The problem with that is none of them were there when I left.
The first person to answer is Molly. “Jeez, I finally got to sleep early for once, and this is how it goes?”
“Molly, where are you?”
“I went to my sister's place. Come on, I told you about this two days ago.”
“Shit, I'm sorry, I forgot.”
She senses the urgency in my voice. “What's going on?”
“I think Leena might be in danger.”
“Fuck, Grant. I'm not even in the state. Are you close to her?”
“No, but I'm already on my way. I went to the city, but I'm driving back.”
“Okay,” Molly says. “Damn, no one else is around. Should I try calling them, though? You can just focus on driving.”
“That'll be perfect, Molly. Thank you.”
The call ends and both my hands go to the wheel. I drive like a man possessed, narrowly avoiding accidents. I keep flying through the streets, making my way to my mate.
I don't know how long it takes me to reach the house finally, but it's nowhere near quick enough. The sense of danger is significantly heightened when I get out of the car.
I sniff the air, already realizing that Leena isn't in the house. She should be too tired right now to still be in her wolf form.
The only way she should be in the woods is if Leena turned human, gathered some strength, and turned again, but I doubt it's something she would willingly do.
I'll find you.
I take off my clothes and run into the forest, transforming on the way. My wolf form shines through as I barrel through the woods on the path to find Leena.
It doesn't take long for me to pick up her scent, but it's only because of the bond we have. She's really far away, maybe not even on our land anymore.
Still, I continue searching for her, hanging on to any trace of her scent I can hold. My nose stays in the air in my quest to find Leena.
I think about howling her name, but quickly stop myself. If she's in danger, it wouldn't help anyone if I drew unnecessary attention to myself. The best thing I can do is keep moving until her scent is strong enough to grasp.
Soon, something else mingles with the scent. It's something so distinct that I have to pause for a second. There's no way.
I stand in place, sniffing the air as the strange smell fills my nose. It's been a long time since I've gotten a whiff of this, but I can't forget it.
A fully grown wolf appears, and I sense its hostility immediately. It looks like it's running from something, but its attention turns to me immediately.
Where are the others?
I'm sure that there's an entire pack somewhere around. I'd already gotten reports a month ago about a pack of wolves moving past, but something must've redirected them.
The wolf snarls at me, but I'm too large for it to attack without thought. I stand proud, waiting to see if it'll be brave or stupid enough to attack. I'm not sure which one is the reason, but the wolf eventually comes after me.
It jumps through the air, extending its claws in my direction. I dodge the attack, growling as well, while the wolf tries to climb to its feet.
It lunges again and this proves to be a big mistake. I push my paw into the wolf, slicing into its body, leaving a very deep gash.
The wolf falls in front of me and barely has a second to recover before I slam my heavy paw into its head. My claw pierces the bone, and the wolf howls in agony. The howl leads to even more wolves appearing in the distance.
Calling for help, huh?
I move away from the wolf, who still manages to get up. I expect the wolf to run, but it only turns around again with another attempt to attack.
This one ends worse than the last. I meet the wolf halfway, wrapping my jaw around its neck and using every single bit of my bite strength.
The animal falls at my feet, lifeless with its eyes still open. I stare with pity before sighing. Normal wolves can be ferocious, but I wouldn't just attack them for no reason. Still, I'm not letting anything get in the way of finding Leena.
The howls in the distance don't sound so far off anymore. I sniff the air again for Leena's scent and actually find something concrete. She's close.
I run in her direction, which is away from the wolves. Still, I know that the pack is hot on my tail. They're not going to leave freely after one of their own has been brutally killed like that. I would do the exact same thing.
After a full minute of sprinting through the forest, Leena's scent becomes so prominent that I can almost taste it. I track it down to a small clearing before following a trail that she definitely ran through.
At some point, it feels like her scent is all over the place, like she ran in circles. Eventually, it picks up again, leading me until I spot a trail of blood along the forest ground. Leena's scent is mixed with the smell of her blood.
My body goes into overdrive when I see this. I've never run faster in my entire life. I follow the trail until my nose picks up probably the worst smell of the night.
Gunpowder.
I keep running with all my might until something catches my eye. It glistens even in the night, reflecting light from the stars above.
Just ahead of me, I see a small dot of silver lodged in a tree. If I had doubts about hunters being here, those doubts have now been cleared.
All the scents merge into an unholy soup. The hunters and wolves are close. I can sense them. But so is Leena. She's the one that matters, and I'll find her no matter what.
My mind begins to make up terrible scenarios. What if she's already dead? I know next to nothing about mates, so I'm not even sure if I'll still be able to feel my bond with Leena if she isn't alive.
I shake all the negativity from my mind as soon as it enters.
I'm coming for you, my love. None of us will die tonight.