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After I showed Honor what I’d seen, he’d immediately rallied everyone to search for Axel. He’d even called someone named Mozley to come help. Mozley hadn’t arrived yet, but all of Axel’s friends were gathered in the forest with handheld lights, searching for clues.
It felt like days had passed since I found he’d been taken, but it couldn’t have been that long. It was still dark outside, though the moon was quickly sinking toward the horizon. Soon it would be morning. It’d be easier to search for tracks and clues in the daylight, but we couldn’t wait that long. Papa—Parker—wouldn’t wait.
What does he want with my mate?I anxiously shifted from one branch to the next, digging in my claws to keep from falling. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. I only hoped that Papa wouldn’t hurt him. If he did, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from killing Papa.
At first, that was all I’d wanted to do. When I realized it was Papa who’d taken Axel, I saw red. It took everything in me not to run after him, hunt him down, rip him apart. Axel was mine, and I had promised to protect him, even from Papa.
“How do you know?” Ben hugged himself tightly and shivered. The air wasn’t that cold, at least to me, but he seemed especially bothered by it.
Honor smacked Ben in the back of the head and pointed. “Tire tracks. They’re pretty obvious.”
Ben frowned and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, but how do you know it was Parker? Those tracks could belong to anything.”
“You know of anyone else lurking out here in the woods?” Chris said.
Ben shrugged. “For all you know, those belong to some guy in a four-wheeler.”
Charlie shook his head and squatted near the tracks. “These aren’t four-wheeler tracks. Too deep for that. This was a heavier vehicle, and a taller one. Look at the broken branches. We’re looking for a truck or a van, maybe.”
“Which suggests Parker isn’t alone. Fuck.” Honor sighed.
Ollie’s hand came down on Honor’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. “We’re not alone either. We’ll get him back.”
A growl rumbled out of my chest. I hoped the krampus was right because if we didn’t… I didn’t even want to consider the alternative.
“We can’t track a vehicle on foot,” Phoenix said, shifting his grip on the gun he held. He’d left Bud behind with their offspringto keep them safe, and to watch the house in case Papa came back. “The RV’s not making it through this, and I doubt your van will either, Honor. We need something meant for this kind of terrain. Anybody got any ideas?”
I scoffed at their conversation and turned my attention away. No matter what they decided, I wasn’t going to ride in a vehicle of any kind. It would be faster for me to go on foot, using the trees for cover. I scanned the forest, trying to pick up the trail, but it was only obvious in some places. Underbrush or darkness hid it further out. Without someone with me to help track, I would quickly become lost.
I whined and climbed down from the trees while they argued about whose vehicle to take. The tracks stretched into the dark. Maybe, if I paid close attention…
“Ghost?”
I hissed at the t’chl when he startled me.
Ziggy held up his hands and stopped a few feet away. “I hope you’re not considering going after him by yourself.”
I looked back at the tracks with another whine and took a step forward.
Ziggy swept in front of me, blocking my path. I growled at him, but he just crossed his arms.
“I know you want to go after him,” he said, “and that it’s hard to wait, but Axel’s chances are better if we work together.”
I snarled, even though he was probably right. I had killed dozens of soldiers when I escaped from the base, sliced through their armor and their guns without a second thought, but I hadn’t been trying to save anyone. It didn’t matter to me if I lived or died during the attempt. All I had cared about was revenge.
That wasn’t who I was anymore. I couldn’t charge in after Axel, not knowing Papa held him prisoner. What if he hurt Axel? What if he threatened to unless I surrendered?That’s what he wants,I thought. He wants me back.
Panic squeezed my throat, and then I did as if I could get it to release its icy claws. My heart sped up, and I fought the urge to run away. I couldn’t run, not when my mate needed me, but I couldn’t go back either.
Not back into the tank.
Not back to Papa.
But it felt like the tank walls were closing in on me, squeezing me, the darkness pressing in. I had to fight it, had to be better for Axel.
“Trap,” I hissed through my teeth and then, using borrowed voices, I said, “It’s a trap.”
The others exchanged glances. The stiff way they stood told me some of them had already figured that out.
