Sam and Ryan were talking with Breck and the
guys as he approached. He should have known they wouldn't keep
their noses out of it. He could tell Ryan had been his charming
self, by the sour look on Breck's face.
"The trail went cold. I think they grabbed
her and put her into a vehicle. We need to try a different tact."
Turning to Sam and Ryan he added, "I have no idea how you guys know
about us, we'll deal with that later, but stay out of our way. You
can't help with this one. We'll get her back or I'll die trying."
As he jumped in the truck, he could hear Ryan and Sam yelling at
him, but he turned to Breck and said, "Let's go".
The first question was almost in unison. All
three said, "How do they know?"
"I have no idea, but we'll figure it out
later. Since the trail is dead here, let's start looking in the
forest. John said he scented Gifford Pinchot on the elders. It's a
huge place, but it's our home turf and we'll work a search grid.
Between all of us, we should be able to find them before night, if
they're there."
He opened his phone and dialed Jason. "Jas,
did you find the stuff?"
"Yep, it's here"
"Good, we'll meet you at my place in thirty
minutes."
Garrett was bouncing his leg the entire ride
home. His nerves were shot while his overactive imagination played
cruel tricks on him. Some of the most powerful wolves in the world
were out there holding his heart and soul captive. How would he get
through them and get her out without either of them being killed?
His heart was burning in his chest with fear and agitation. He
wanted to do something, anything to get her back, but he didn't
know what action to take for her safety. He hoped the spray to hide
their scent would work against the elders. It was at least fifteen
years old. Did magical properties have a shelf life? Was there
enough? The entire time his mind spun, he could feel his Kismet
connection running like a soothing balm in the background, keeping
his wolf in control. He wondered if she knew what she was doing and
how much she understood.
Jason was pacing in front of the house as
they arrived. He had a bulging backpack slung over his
shoulder.
"What do you have, Jas?" Garrett asked as he
jumped out of the truck, glad to be free from the tiny
compartment.
"I doused some clothes in the stuff for Riley
to wear. When we drink it, it'll make our bodies scent free, but
not any clothing we're wearing. That means you'll need to get her
out of there while you're nude or in your shift. Do you think you
can do that? Will she go with you?"
He hadn't thought of that. He hoped their
connection was strong enough so she wouldn't be afraid of him, but
he didn't know what she'd do when she saw him in his shift. "We
don't have an option, so we'll have to hope she doesn't freak
out."
"After preparing the clothes and saving a
dose for Riley, we have just enough for all of us to drink. I'm not
sure how long it'll last, but I'm hoping for 24 hours." Jason
crossed his fingers, and silently worried about its
effectiveness.
As they walked around to his back patio to
shift, Garrett felt a jolt of fear from Riley. He growled and his
wolf started pacing in his head. Then Riley's connection went
blank. He couldn't feel her anymore. "Something happened. Breck, I
can't feel her anymore. She was scared and then I lost her." His
wolf was frantic with the need to search.
"She may have fallen asleep, or they may have
drugged her. If either of you are unconscious, you won't feel each
other."
"Damnit! How do we know if we're getting
closer without a connection?" A low rumble issued from his chest as
he growled his anger.
"We'll have to rely on scent. With four
elders and her scent on the air, we should be able to track them.
Let's move in a grid, splitting up to cover more ground. We'll keep
our cell phones and stop to call each other if we get any
clues."
That was the best plan they had, so they all
nodded and used elastic to wrap their phones around their biceps.
Garrett tied the backpack full of Riley's clothes onto his back.
They all took a swig of the potion and shifted. He was in a full
run before the shift was complete, with the others on his tail.
As Riley warmed
herself by the fire, she continued to feel Garrett's emotions. He
was continually changing from anger to sadness to fear. It was
exhausting, but she tried her best to send soothing emotions his
way, hoping it would keep his head clear enough to find her. At
least the blue-eyed guy seemed to care if she was kept free of
harm. She shivered when she thought of the hate in Garth's eyes. He
clearly had no concern for her safety and it seemed like he had a
vendetta against her. She was thinking about possible escape plans
when she heard a motorcycle start up and drive away. A few minutes
later, Garth entered with a look of pure evil intent on his face.
She jumped in fear as he produced a needle.
"Your protector is gone," he laughed
evilly.
She saw the needle coming at her and she
darted to the side, but he was incredibly fast and there wasn't
anything for her to run or hide behind. As she turned to run the
other way, he tackled her to the ground from behind. The rough
planks scraped her face and hands. He rubbed his nose into her neck
and inhaled, licking her face from chin to ear. His breath was
pungent and smelled like rotten meat. She kicked her legs and tried
to buck him off as she fought to hold the vomit that was
threatening at the back of her throat. Then she felt the needle
slide into her neck and the darkness descended.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but
she woke up with hands and feet bound again. Her head was killing
her and she was lying on her side with her face against the rough
wood. The fire had gone out and her body felt numb from cold and
lack of circulation. She looked around and didn't see anyone in the
cabin. The light through the windows was bright, as if it was
mid-day. She tried to right herself, but she felt like a turtle on
her back, scraping her feet against the rough boards. She did more
of spinning herself around, rather than sitting up. A moment later,
she wished she had kept quiet, because Garth opened the door.
"Oh, look who's awake. Do you need a hand up?
Jeremiah wants us to treat you kindly while you're in our custody,"
he sneered.
He advanced on her, grabbing her hair by the
roots and yanking her into a sitting position. Hair ripped out of
her scalp as he pulled his hand away and it felt like hot fire.
Tears pricked her eyes and she felt rage sweep over her and knew it
was Garrett feeling her fear. She tried to soothe him as best she
could while trying to scrabble into the corner away from Garth. She
scraped across the wood floor, getting splinters in her butt and
legs. Suddenly a booted foot flew towards her and connected with
her thigh. It knocked her to her side and she cried out in pain. It
felt like he broke her femur.
"Don't try to get away from me. If I wanted
you to move I'd tell you to move," Garth said.
She immediately froze, trying not to cry. The
rage she was feeling was disorienting, she wasn't sure if it was
her own or Garrett's at this point. She felt she wanted to kill
Garth if she could get her hands on him. She felt brazen enough to
glare at him with hatred in her eyes.
"Feeling spunky are we? We'll see about
that."
He grabbed her hair again and sat her up. As
soon as she was upright, she felt his hand connect with her face.
She heard a ringing in her ears and saw stars as her head snapped
back and hit the floor. Her vision tunneled to a pinprick and she
passed out.
*
Garrett was seething. His wolf's paws were
tearing up the dirt and moss as he ran full speed, searching for
his Kismet. He could feel her terror and it ate at his soul.
Shifters could run at an average speed of 40mph through the woods
with obstacles, he was sure he was topping fifty with the amount of
anger and adrenaline coursing through his system. He saw trees,
stumps, bushes, and logs go by in a green and brown blur, but the
only thing he could scent was animals and the occasional hunter; no
sign of his Kismet. When she had been conscious, he didn't feel any
closer to her than he had felt earlier. He was hoping their
connection would lead him in the right direction. He knew he had
left the other wolves searching with him in the dust. They were
sweeping in mile swaths, back and forth over the forest. It was
time for him to make a turn and run in the other direction when he
caught a scent. He skidded to a halt and opened his mouth to scent
the air, afraid to lose it.
He wasn't sure what he smelled for sure, but
it was something familiar, possibly Riley. The wind shifted and he
lost the scent. He whined in frustration. He wasn't sure what
direction it had come from. He decided to run in each direction for
five minutes to see if he could pick it up again. If he couldn't
he'd be wasting precious time, but he had to at least try. He
started north. At five minutes he hadn't picked up anything so he
turned around, knowing he had to stick to his plan, because his
head was playing the "what if" game with him.
What if she was
right over the next hill? What if he could pick up her scent with
one more step?
That would get him off track and stop forward
progress. Next direction was south with the same outcome. When he
started east, he picked it up. He knew it was Riley and he ran with
all his heart, letting his nose lead the way. He could tell he was
close so he slowed down to creep in. He could smell Garth's scent
as well and his hackles rose.
Slinking through the forest underbrush he
quietly moved forward, not sure what he'd find. Her scent was
strong, but he wasn't seeing anything around. It was concentrated
in a small clearing. He looked around and finally saw what he
smelled; a scrap of Riley's clothing was hanging from a branch high
off the forest floor. They placed it there to get him off the real
trail. He shifted into human form and called the rest of the
guys.
"Anyone find anything yet?" he asked. They
all responded in the negative. "They knew we'd be searching. I
found a piece of her clothing high in the branches. They're trying
to keep us confused and off the real trail. Garth was the one that
placed this one. Keep sharp and make sure you aren't caught. If
they know we're searching they may try to ambush us. I'm heading
back to my original grid pattern. I'll bury this piece so it won't
confuse anyone else." He ended the call and climbed the tree to get
the piece of blue scrubs. He sniffed it and was near tears, feeling
powerless to help her.
Get it together, Garrett. Crying like a
sap isn't going to find her.
After burying the material, he
shifted into wolf and ran back to his grid.
Four hours later, he was beginning to think
they weren't in the right area. They had been on the run for about
seven hours. Maybe John smelled ash on them because they came in to
make a false trail. He was feeling heartsick and despondent when
his phone rang. He quickly shifted and answered, noticing it was a
group call, "Garrett here." He waited while the other wolves
answered and sounded off.
"I think I found something. I'll text you the
GPS coordinates, but approach from the west so you stay downwind,
just in case this stuff is wearing off." Jasper explained.
"Thanks Jasper, on my way." He hung up and
waited for the text.
His wolf was pacing and agitated. Thirty
seconds later, which seemed like thirty minutes, the text came in.
He plugged it into the map and looked. He was about fifteen miles
away. He growled and shifted, racing to get there. He came in from
the west as Jasper instructed, not able to pick up his scent. That
was good - it meant the potion was still working. As he neared the
area, he heard Jasper whistle for him. Breck and Jason had already
arrived; they were still waiting on Chase.
"How far away are they?" he asked.
"There's a cabin about five miles to the
east. We have a river to swim over before getting there. I'm
guessing they used it in hopes of erasing their trail. There are
three elders on guard duty outside, one in the trees about 1/2 mile
before the cabin, one on the ground by the door and another on the
ground about 1/4 mile behind the cabin. I didn't see Jeremiah
anywhere, but he may be inside."
"Thanks Jasper, good work on scouting. Now,
we need to figure out how to handle this. Even if Jeremiah isn't
there, I can't take on three elders alone. I need to find a way to
distract them or sneak in and out," he mused.
"How about if you get caught?" asked
Jason.
Everyone looked at him as if he'd sprouted a
second head.
"I'm serious. Then you could be in the camp,
close to her. Maybe then, you can get more information and figure
out a way out of there. We'll be out here working on how to spring
both of you if you aren't out by midnight."
Breck shook his head, "No, how about if I
head in there. They don't know me. I can be out on a run and happen
across them and stop in to say hi."
"Absolutely not, none of you are getting
close to the elders. Besides, how are you going to explain you
don't have a scent?" asked Garrett.
They all looked at each other trying to come
up with a plan when Chase arrived.
"What did I miss?"
"A bunch of lame ass ideas," said Garrett. He
was infuriated he couldn't come up with a better plan.
After they filled Chase in on the details,
Chase came up with an idea. "How about if we distract the elders
while Garrett slips in to get Riley out. With their scent covered
they won't be able to be tracked and chased unless they make
noise."
"That actually sounds like a workable plan,
if you're sure you can distract the elders without being seen or
caught. I don't want any of you injured. We also need to wait for
Riley to wake up. I can't get her out if she's unconscious."