AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My phone begins to vibrate in my pocket, so I help a very naked Ryder to sit down on the air mattress while I snatch up his clothes from the floor and toss them at him. Just as soon as my phone stops vibrating, it starts again. Reaching into my pocket, I pull it out, seeing Damien’s name flash across the screen. “Did you find her?” I rush out quickly, never giving him a chance to speak.
“Yeah, Chelle is okay. They were out in the yard and didn’t hear the phone. I spoke with Mandy’s mom and she’s going to keep Chelle there and call some of the pack members over as a precaution,” he tells me. “Did you find Ryder and Shay?”
“Ryder is here. He was shot with some type of dart with a drug in it, he was knocked out cold. Shay’s gone. No sign of who took her, or in which direction they went. We’re headed back to the house, meet us there ASAP,” I order before ending the call and sliding my phone back into my pocket.
“Miguel, come help me get his heavy ass over to the truck. I’m gonna message the Doc to meet us at the house." I’ve met Levi, the pack doctor, many times, so I have his number already programmed into my phone. Before helping Ryder to his feet, I pick up the dart, sticking it in my back pocket, knowing we need to find out what drug he was shot with.
“We need to find her,” he mumbles out, the drug still affecting him.
“We will,” I tell him, but also myself, needing the encouragement that we will. Once we’re at Miguel’s car, we get Ryder into the backseat, then we climb into the front. My phone is already out in my hand, my fingers flying across the screen as I text Levi.
Ryder was in and out of it the entire ride back to the house. But it was like a fire lit up inside him when we pulled into the driveway of our house. Clarity seemed to take over as the haze of the drug dissipated. Pulling into the driveway, we park beside Damien’s truck. It seems he beat us back.
Heading inside, both of us make sure to keep stride with Ryder in case he stumbles.
“Where’s munchkin?” Ryder bellows out, catching Tala off guard with his booming voice.
“I left her there,” Damien tells him before I cut in.
“It slipped my mind with everything.” Wanting him to know it wasn’t intentional that I didn’t tell him.
“Okay, I need to get pack members over to Janey’s to guard them in case these fuckers come for her,” Ryder says, but it comes out sounding more like an order.
“She’s already got it handled,” Damien informs him, just as the front door flies open, and slams against the wall.
The noise has us all on alert as we quickly turn ready for a fight, only to see a very confused Hunter standing there in only his pajama pants.
“What the fuck happened?” he questions before collapsing to the floor, unconscious.
We all, except Ryder, rush over to him, checking his vitals, and looking for any sign of injury but find nothing,
“Miles, grab his legs. I’ll get him by the arms and let’s get him on the couch. Levi should be here any minute and he can check them both out,” I bark out at the same time I see Ryder stumble over and collapse into the chair.
“What the hell happened to them?”
“I think I know what it is. I just need to confirm it. Excuse me, I’ll be right back,” Tala squeaks out before rushing out of the room. I can hear her feet on the stairs as she runs up them.
“I’m glad someone knows. At least we know they didn’t get Hunter too.” Damien walks over to me, sliding his arms around my waist, pulling me into him.
“We’re going to figure this shit out. Ryder will talk to the pack and we’ll have them to help us fight.” He places a soft kiss on my lips before turning to face Miles and Miguel. “Do you two know any other people that would be willing to go up against Maverick's dad?”
“There’s many, but for most, it will take the right incentive.” Miles’s words are more of a riddle than an answer.
Tala comes rushing back into the room, a large brown, worn leather book grasped firmly in her hands and pulled tight against her chest.
“Can you wake him up?” she asks, gesturing her head towards Hunter. “I need to ask him a few questions just to be sure.”
Curious as to what she thinks she knows, I quickly move across the room to try and wake him. Ryder continues to sit limply in the chair, his focus on his brother asleep on the couch.
“Tala, what are you thinking?” Ryder asks her, slowly shifting his body into a more upright seated position.
“It’s just a suspicion. But while we wait for Hunter to wake up, tell me about the two of you.”
Ryder, along with the rest of us, shoots her a questioning look.
“We’re brothers,” he says, confused.
“Yes, you idiot, I know that. Tell me, did he have a connection with you stronger than just the pull to follow your command? Was the connection between the two of you different than normal, more special?”
