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“No, I haven’t.”
“Yes, you have!”
He threw the ball to the ground where it bounced and swept right past my ear. I lashed out at the ball even though it had already passed my shoulder. “Hey, you could have hit your old man like that.”
“You’ve been mean. I don’t want to be around you right now.”
I laughed. “That’s not really something you get to decide.”
“Why not? Grandma says I always have a choice.”
“I’m your father. I make your choices for you.”
Leo took off running. Good Goddess, the little dude could scamper too. He didn’t have full control over his shifts yet, but he was able to utilize some of his skills, which currently involved speed. The way he hauled ass through the trees made me stop for a second. I was too stunned to move, unable to figure out how things had gone off track so quickly.
I shook my head. There wasn’t any time for thinking. I had to use my instincts to keep my kid in sight.
“Leo!”
I darted after him toward the trees, gaping strides carrying me double the distance in half the time. I lunged through a bush and stumbled to the other side.
“Leo, get back here!”
His scent thickened to the right, so I took that path, weaving expertly between trunks while dodging thick brambles. Footprints in the dirt gave me some direction until I arrived at a fork in the trees. Despite my training and my skill, I couldn’t figure out which way to go. Because I couldn’t stop smelling that damn rose scent.
When had that started to take over? It wasn’t like it was coming from my memory bank. It was right in the air, cloying at my nostrils like rancid food sitting in the fridge. I frantically glanced between the paths, feeling suddenly helpless.
“Leo!”
No response. It was like he had vanished right off the earth. Without any way to track him, I wasn’t sure how to proceed, my entire body freezing up under the weight of my decision.
I was a bad dad. I’d taken out my emotional crap on my kid and chased him off. Now he was missing in the woods and there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it by myself. If that damn scent hadn’t distracted me—
Nope, I wasn’t about to fall down that rabbit hole. Whether she was nearby or not was completely irrelevant. I had to get back to the neighborhood, grab the guys, and start a search party. The first hour was imperative. Leo was a shifter, sure, but he wasn’t entirely skilled in many things and there were bigger predators out here that could hurt him, like bears and wolves.
And rogue shifters.
My speed picked up as I scanned my mind for any recent reports of dangerous shifters from Wolfcreek. Generally speaking, the town was safe. It had plenty of resources and places to help even the most wayward of souls. But every now and then, there was always just one among us who couldn’t handle their shifter nature and they went on a rampage.
That was to be expected in a world where magic was the default.
After scrambling through another heavy layer of brush, I skittered into the road and hauled it to Spencer’s house. Rigorous knocking and some hard breathing later, I loosely explained the situation to Leo’s uncles.
Andres grabbed his phone. “I’ll call Claire.”
“No,” Spencer and I snapped.
Andres shoved his phone into his pocket. “Alright, sorry.”
“I’ll call Raven,” Spencer offered. “You two need to head back to the forest right now.”
I nodded curtly and ran out the door with Andres on my heels. There came that rose scent again, digging right into my olfactory senses, clouding my judgment. If she didn’t leave my mind, then I wouldn’t ever find my boy.
Moments later, Andres and I arrived at the spot where Leo had taken off. We still had enough sunlight to search for him, thankfully, but we were running on borrowed time. Predators could still be stalking in the afternoon light. Worse, if he was injured, then he was probably susceptible to infection or fever.
Andres grabbed my shoulder. “Where did he run?”
“That way,” I said, pointing ahead.
