Kara frowned. “You don’t think they took him there, do you?”
“No.” Daryl shook his head. “Alpha Cornell strikes me as more creative than that.” And he just didn’t feel it. “Come on.” They started off again, following the winding scent trail towards the sound of the river.
”FUCKING HELL!” Daryl kicked a rock into the river, trying to contain his temper. He wanted to shift, wanted to use the enhanced senses of his wolf to track Jason down. The urge to just close his eyes and let the change take place was almost overwhelming.
“Daryl.” Kara gripped his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. “Your hands.”
Glancing down, he saw the tell-tale trickle of blood coming out of his clenched fists and quickly retracted his claws.
Fucking alpha rules.
“Thanks.” He managed the barest of smiles to let her know he appreciated it. Wiping the blood on his jeans, he looked up and down the river. “Are we at the end of the trail or did they go in the river to throw us off?” Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Whoever they’d been tracking was clever. They’d stuck to the thick undergrowth, leaving no footprints to betray how many they were following. And there was nothing at the edge of the bank either.
“Kara and Rob, walk downstream and see if you can pick up the trail.” Daryl said, refusing to believe they’d followed a false one. “Kev and I’ll go upstream. Then we’ll cross over and check the other side.”
For well over an hour they scoured the riverbank, hope fading every step they took without
finding anything.
“Do we call it in?” Kara put her hands on her hips and sighed. “We followed the stream pretty much to the property boundary, but we could check further upstream. How far did you guys get?”
“Far enough.” He turned in a circle, stomach sinking as realisation sank in. Letting his head fall back, Daryl howled out the signal to tell the others they’d hit a dead end.
“Bollocks.” Kara kicked at the ground. “Now what?”
Daryl checked the timer. “Two hours and thirty-eight minutes left.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Almost halfway. “There’s no point going back. Jenn’s team are somewhere over there, I reckon.” He pointed over his shoulder where he and Kev had walked. “We could head that way, see if we can meet up with them.”
Rob shrugged. “Might as well. We’re no use back at the lodge. At least if we’re out here looking, we might stumble on something.”
Daryl gave a gruff nod. “My thoughts exactly.”
“We should follow the river,” Kara suggested. “Just in case.”
Just in case you didn’t check far enough along.
She didn’t look away when Daryl met her gaze, just raised an eyebrow.
“Okay.” He grinned, her refusal to believe they’d lost the trail reigniting his fire. “You and Kev cross over and walk that side; we’ll cover this one.”
They set off again, scenting the air as they went, and once again Daryl had that tingling behind his ribs that told him they were on the right path.
“HERE!” KARA’S excited hiss brought them all to a stop. “Not just Jason’s and the alpha’s scents either.” She gestured around as Daryl and Rob splashed across the river to join them. “Jenn and her team have been along here.”
Rachel and Nathan’s teams had already howled to signal they’d lost the trail.
This had to be right.
Daryl inhaled. He could smell them all, but Jason’s scent stood out above all the others. Closing his eyes, he took another breath, and another, until all he could smell was Jason.
And his wolf settled.
At the back of his mind, a warning bell sounded, but Kara was already tugging him to get moving again, andfuck—he checked the timer on his phone—they had just over an hour left. “Come on.” He rushed past her, taking off down the path, his only focus finding Jason.
They ran flat out, the sounds of the others up ahead spurring them on.
The trees began to thin, and a few seconds later they tumbled into a small clearing.
“Hey,” Jenn called out to him, but Daryl skidded to a halt, staring up at the sight in front of him.
