“Alpha,” Travis, one of our trackers, rushes inside.
Alpha Blackwood turns to him. “Find me a trail.” Travis nods and leaves immediately.
“Slate’s enroute,” Zane says before turning to me. “Anything from Riley?”
“No.”
I let my wolf come to the surface. My sense of smell and sight increase, and I start making my way around the room. I reach out periodically to Riley but get nothing every time. Quint shows up next. “I came as soon as I heard. What happened?”
I nod at the table. “Sat there. Something in the coffee.” I haven’t touched it yet. I know Slate’s nose is better than mine, and we’re waiting for that. I don’t want to contaminate it with my scent.
Quint puts his hand on my shoulder, more serious than he normally is. “We’ll find them.”
More pack members come and go, but I don’t talk to anyone. I shove the door open and head outside. A truck parks, and Slate climbs out and makes his way right to me. “Hey, Man. What happened?”
I fill him in on what we know, which is next to nothing. He looks behind me to the restaurant. “Alpha?”
“Losing his—” We both hear Alpha yell from inside. “That,” I say flatly.
“We’ll find Riley,” Slate says, dropping a hand on my shoulder. I don’t respond, and he makes his way inside. I plan on keeping close to him. If anybody can scent a lead, it will be him. I’ve scented the area where both Riley’s and her mom’s scent both abruptly end. I’ve made the same assumption everyone else has made. They were put inside a vehicle. I already checkedfor cameras. Of course, there are none. This place is too old and probably opposed to that kind of technology. I heard Alpha order several pack members to check surrounding buildings and see if anybody has security cameras. One of the police officers that’s a friend of our pack shows up next. Alpha is always leery to reach out to local authorities, but they have more power than we do. They can pull traffic cams, neighborhood cams, and more. The nice thing about this particular officer is that he’ll keep our case quiet and mostly let us deal with it ourselves. Alpha comes out of the building to talk to him, but I stay out of the way. Slate comes out of the building next, and I walk his way. I don’t get too close but let him do his thing. Frustration and anger burn through me, and I try to keep calm.
Riley.The emptiness at the other end of our bond makes my skin crawl; it’s not right.Where are you, Riley?I stride for my car, pulling my keys from my pocket. I slide into the front seat and start it up. Just before I pull out of the parking lot somebody knocks on the passenger window. I brake briefly, and the door opens. Slate slides into the passenger seat. “What?” I manage to grunt out.
“I’m going with. Drive.”
I don’t need to be told twice, but I don’t make any progress. Zane steps in front of my car, halting me. I wait for him to tell me I can’t leave, but he doesn’t. He simply climbs in the backseat. Quint appears out of nowhere and jumps in the back next to Zane. Only then can I finally get moving. I don’t even know where I’m going, but I have to do something. “Do you have a plan?” Zane barks out from the backseat as I turn out onto the street.
Not really.My mind whirls a million miles an hour. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Skinwalkers took her. The reason they targeted our pack in the first place was because their master had a thing for Zane and Riley’s mom. She didn’t accepthim and met her mate soon after that. He’s been planning his revenge ever since. I try to push past the panic in my mind and think clearly. I try to attack the problem rationally.They’ve got two wolves, unconscious probably. They need to get them wherever they’re going to hold them. The highway would be the fastest way out of the area, but they’re not going to do that because that’s where we’d look first. They’ll stay off main roads where they can be spotted, and they won’t want to be stopped by policemen.I do an abrupt U-turn, and the guys grunt in response.
“What’s the plan, Reid?” Zane barks out again. I want to ignore him, but I know he’s just as worried. His mom and sister are missing.
I tell him exactly what I deduced in my mind. “The highway is the fastest way out of town, but they won’t want to be tracked. They’re going to want to go fast. Back roads. Get to where they’re going without any interference.”
“Downtown,” Quint says, following my train of thought.
“What kind of car?” Zane asks, following my line of thinking.
“Van,” I throw out. “Two shifters? They’ll need to make sure they have lots of room.” I drive, not knowing where I’m going, but I can’t just sit around and do nothing.
Reid! Get back here!Everybody in the car flinches, and I know I’m not the only one that heard those words from Alpha. I’ve never disobeyed a direct order before, but I’m about to.
I can’t just stand around while Riley is out there, who knows where…maybe hurt...or worse.The agony those words bring nearly make me pull the car over so I can throw up, but I push forward.
Alpha is silent a moment.The moment you find something, you tell me.
I will.
There’s nothing more from him, and I figure he’s back at it. We get back at it too. “We’ll find her,” Quint says reassuringly.
“We won’t stop until we do,” Zane echoes.
I nod but don’t say anything.Riley,I push again. It feels like there’s a brick wall between us, and it terrifies me. I know she’s still alive, but that’s it.I’m coming, Baby,I push to her, even though she can’t hear me.I won’t rest until you’re safe and back in my arms.I make the pledge both to her and to myself, and my wolf echoes my sentiments.
We won’t rest until we find her,my wolf echoes.
.
Chapter 43
