Chapter 23
The wind rushed in my ears as I moved almost in silence through the trees.
North.
That was where my mate had headed. To the road that would lead her to the human world in a matter of hours, less if she managed to hitch a ride. All I could hope was that at this time of night there would be no one around and she would be forced to stay on foot.
I had to catch up to her before she found help. I had to. I would have already if it weren’t for Kallum. He’d bought her the precious time she needed to get ahead of me.
The thought of her getting away had my wolf snarling and I did my best to ease him.
What if she got away? What if we lost her scent? This land was more dangerous than she knew. She could die out here. Was she that desperate to get away from everything my pack and I could offer her?
I understood my brother's actions. To me, he was just my messed up brother, but my wolf growled at the thought of him. He’d taken our mate away from us. He was an enemy now.
Thoughts of his mutilated body taunted me.
Would he make it? No one aside from my family would blame me if Kallum died.
What he had done was treason, punishable by death.
Another thing I would have to deal with when I got back.
If he lived that is. There would be a trial and the Elders would use any excuse to take him out.
Right now, I couldn’t think of a reason why they shouldn’t.
He’d nearly cost our family everything, and Iona…
he’d put her in such danger. If one hair on her head was out of place when I found her, I would hold him personally responsible.
Marcus and Carrick would take days to heal too but I had to believe they’d make it. I couldn’t lose them.
My nostrils flared, the scent of my mate on my tongue. We weren’t gaining nearly fast enough ? how was she keeping this pace? I growled in frustration. I couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. My father would hold down the fort at home. My only goal was her.
It didn’t matter about Kallum or Carrick or Marcus or Kara. My family didn’t matter, and neither did the ceremony, because if I didn’t get her in time, it would all be gone. She was the key to my life, my existence, my world. And she was fucking running from me.
Spurred on, I pounded my paws into the earth, a rumble in my chest as I made it to the tree line. Pausing, I scented the air. My heart leapt as I realised she was still travelling on foot.
We followed her trail northeast and hope lit up in my chest. We would catch up to her soon. She would be exhausted by now.
We ran, pushing ourselves harder than we ever had before, but where was she? We should have caught up to her miles ago. My mate was strong and fit, but she was still human. For her to stay ahead of us for this long was impossible. Yet it was happening.
We followed her trail for a mile, two, and then…it disappeared.
I paced, searching.
No, no, no…
But it was too late. She was gone.
Konnor threw his head back and howled at the sky. In the distance, far behind us where we’d left our pack, we heard an answering call. Our father. He was sending us help. Konnor’s call was dangerous. It would let her know where we were, and let the Gulfs know too, but we were going to need help.
I continued my sniffing, pacing the road, the tree line. I could smell rubber where her scent disappeared, a faint stench of dead animal with tobacco smoke mixed in. She’d found a ride…which meant she would be at the town within the hour, maybe more depending on how fast they drove.
I tried not to panic.
A human we could catch up to, but a vehicle?
That was a problem. A bigger problem was getting hold of her if we did manage to catch up.
Our wolves could take down a vehicle but any human that caught sight of us couldn’t be allowed to live.
It was our law, if we let a human live with the knowledge of our existence, the High Council had the authority to wipe out all of us.
I didn’t want to deal with those fuckers if I could help it.
I could kill a human if I had to but dead humans brought more humans, usually with a lot of questions.
I could shift back into my skin to flag the car down but without clothes, a naked man demanding his female back would bring as many questions as a giant wolf would.
The locals had enough questions about our ‘community’ already.
I huffed. I’d have to figure that out later.
Konnor whined and I looked up. He was worrying at a particular spot in the road where the car had stopped, where the driver's side would be. He pawed at the tarmac ? what had he found?
I buried my nose in the spot, my blood beginning to boil as I inhaled. I’d scented this vehicle in town before and remembered the scent. I knew it mixed with female blood. My own blood ran cold. My mate had thrown herself from the frying pan into the fire.
Forcing my wolf to stay calm, I followed the scent in my mind, trying to remember anything I could about it.
I’d found traces of this scent in other places too.
I vaguely remembered a cabin I’d come across years ago as an adolescent when I’d accidentally strayed onto human land.
I’d never got close nor visited again ? our wolves stayed away from human places ? but I had smelled the same tobacco smoke there.
Could the owner of the cabin and the vehicle be the same?
I remembered the cabin was well hidden, just off a barely used slip road that led deep into Yellowstone.
If he took her to town, we’d never catch her.
If he took her to the cabin first…I didn’t want to think about what he would try to do to her, but if we got there in time, I could bring her back and I had no qualms about killing a man like that if he saw my wolf.
I shifted long enough to explain to Konnor, then let my wolf take me over again.
I set off, praying to the moon I got there first. My brother was hot on my heels as we sped along the road, keeping ourselves hidden in the trees.
At the fork in the road, we split up and I headed for the cabin, Konnor staying on the main road.
I found the clearing situated off the slip road, the run-down cabin nestled in the trees. There was no vehicle here. Fuck. They must have stayed on the main road.
I was about to double back when my nose pricked up. Blood.
I approached the cabin, following the tire tracks. It had parked here, there was a scuffle and I could see where someone had been dragged.
Her.
My female.
He’d dragged her to his cabin.
I growled, the fur on my spine standing up as I stepped inside. Blood. A lot of blood. None of it hers. He’d attacked her and she’d fought him off, but where was she?
The blood trail led in drips over stumbled footsteps, out the back door. But Iona’s scent went out the front and stopped again where the tire tracks started up. She must have attacked him, taken his keys, and got away in his vehicle.
My wolf snarled, torn whether to go after her or her attacker.
As always, I chose her. I stepped out onto the porch.
My wolf paced, restless and agitated as we scented the area, seeking her out.
Her trail had disappeared again, leaving off where tire tracks started.
She could be anywhere by now. I tried not to panic, tried not to let the raging beast inside me free.
He wanted to go after the man that had attacked our mate and tear at him, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have time. I returned to the fork in the road. The tracks were confused, doubling back on themselves multiple times.
Iona would make for the main road. It had the best chance of getting her to town, but something had made her turn back.
Had she seen something? Heard something?
Then it dawned on me…Konnor’s howl. She must have heard it, and it had sent her in the other direction, further into Yellowstone.
That gave me a better chance of catching up to her but a much higher chance of her getting into trouble.
Now that I knew she was off the main road, I lifted my head and howled, long and loud, calling to my brother, to the warriors my father would have sent after us to help.
That change in direction had stopped her from escaping to a human town.
If she’d gone down that road for an hour she would have made it out.
I never would have caught up to her in time.
My stomach lurched at the thought. But heading into Yellowstone…
if she ran out of gas she’d have to go on foot and she wouldn’t last a day out there.
I paced as I waited for my wolves to catch up to me. I itched to go after her, but they needed my orders first.
Finally, heavy paws and wheels sounded in the air, and minutes later, five of my warriors arrived in an old Landrover, my brother not far behind them.
The twins jumped out first, Jake and Jardis, their dark skin glistening in the moonlight. I nodded, pleased at the sight of Iona’s other Luna Guards. The only ones she hadn’t met yet.
Then Charlie and Sam, each shirtless, ready for the shift, their blond hair bloody from the battle. My father was smart to send them. The brothers’ tracking skills were the best we had.
Last was Siobhan.
Each warrior was littered with wounds, but hers were the worst. Whoever she’d fought had taken a good chunk out of her thigh and left deep claw marks across her stomach and down one arm.
She’d heal but she shouldn’t be here. Either she was the least injured out of the rest of my warriors, or she’d insisted on coming and no one had dared tell her she couldn’t. I was betting on the latter.
I wondered if it had hurt her to fight the Gulfs tonight? Had she had to kill anyone she knew?
She opened her mouth to speak but my glare shut her down. My Luna had escaped under her watch and despite my understanding that it wasn’t her fault, my wolf was not happy to see her.
They approached Konnor in their skin, scenting and greeting, but each kept a careful distance from me. It hurt that they feared me so deeply now.