Chapter 187 Chapter 187
Jake was perfectly fine in the morning like it hadn’t happened. His anger was proof it happened and everyone was more tense than normal. Maybe tense was going to be the new vibe in the clan. She hoped not. Happier times were definitely welcome to invade the tension and paranoia.
The ground squished with each step as she walked. She turned and glanced down at the rock-covered area they’d just climbed. Blair and Calum were giving her lots of space and not following right now on her heels. She waited until they were closer before she spoke. “With all the rain, yesterday and last night, there’s not going to be any scents to track.” She adjusted her run pack, so it was riding along her hip.
Calum nodded.
Blair looked down the incline to the fenced area. “Think if a cat took a running leap, they’d clear it?”
She turned to look at the fence and examined the space between where she stood and the metal wiring. “I know I couldn’t.”
“I couldn’t even make that leap,” Calum said quietly.
Blair scoffed, “then no one can.” He grinned.
Calum gave him a bored look and then turned to her. “What are you looking for?”
Kobie started walking again, her eyes on the ground. “I’ll know it when I see it.” Neither of the men commented, or to her surprise, questioned her. She wasn’t lying. She had no idea what she was looking for, but they had to figure out how they were getting on the property. Kobie wanted a safe place to run, to teach the young shifters how to track, and more. Glancing behind her, she looked at Blair to see he was watching her. He gave her a heated look and her insides responded. She felt her cheeks flush and looked back in front of her. He was distracting. It wasn’t a bad thing necessarily, but she needed to focus.
Their talk last night had made her feel more at peace with everything. Any other male and she would have said they were giving her a huge line of bull, but Blair, he meant every syllable he spoke. She not only felt more at ease but lucky. What she had done for fate to bring her a mate such as Blair, she didn’t know. He was kind when needed. He was all Alpha but didn’t flex it like a muscle to show off. Sweet, she smirked at his reaction to her using that word. He was though, a sweet man. She had a flash of him coming back to the camp after he’d dealt with those men that had taken Daisie. He wasn’t afraid to do whatever was needed. She admired that.
Stopping, she turned and looked back to where she had just walked. Something was off. Moving over, she went down the slight incline and moved carefully along it. The men didn’t ask or make a move, just stood there and let her do whatever it was she was doing.
It was slick from the rain, but—she moved down to the bottom and walked along slowly. Nodding her head slowly, she turned and looked up to where Blair stood. “There are dead patches.”
He gave her a questioning look and came down the slope to stand beside her. “Dead patches?”
Pointing to the rocks along the top, “that would have washed away with the rain, but look,” she motioned to the path down the slope and ahead of them, “see the patches that are brown.”
Calum was beside them now. “There’s no reason for them to be here, they get plenty of sun and rain.”
“Exactly.” She grinned and started walking again, faster this time, “rubbing alcohol sprayed directly on grass will do that.” Kobie leaned down and reached toward the ground, “if it’s sprayed this close and not misted to cover more area,” she nodded.
“Son of a bitch.” Calum walked by her and then along the fence.
Blair smiled down at her and took her hand to catch up to him. Lifting it, he kissed the back of it and winked at her.
Kobie inhaled. She felt pride that she’d been able to figure this out.
Calum stopped and looked in both directions and then down at his feet. “This whole spot is dead.”
Kobie pulled her hand from Blairs and went and squatted down beside the fence. “It’s trampled too. Someone stood here for quite a while.”
“Like they were waiting for someone else to come back.” Blair turned and looked on the other side of the fence. “If someone boosted them over the fence so it wouldn’t set off any alarms,” he looked along the fence, “how would they get out again?”
“There’s no way they could, one maybe, but what of the one that boosted them back over? How do they get out?”
Kobie went closer to the fence and looked at the area on the other side. There were no trees to leap from, not since that last time that mistake had already been corrected. No rocks. “What if they didn’t come out here?” She turned to see both men look at her. “Three or more people would be noticed, or someone would trip an alarm in error, but one…”
“Could walk out the front gate in the commotion and no one would notice,” Calum said.
Blair swore softly and looked down at the browned area again. “They camped out here for a while.”
“Like they were waiting for the one inside to bring whoever they incapacitated from the chemicals,” Calum said in a venomous tone. Clenching his jaw, he pulled out his phone and walked a few feet in the other direction.
Kobie looked at him for a moment, then turned to Blair, “So someone else was on the land when you guys went out to check?”
Blair nodded, “most likely. Probably hoping a solo runner would fall ill and be easy to take.”
“Mika.” Kobie covered her mouth, “it could have been Mika.”
Blair nodded, grinding his teeth together for a moment. “She was smart and ran fast and furious back to the house.”
“Oh my god, it could have been Nichelle.” She hugged her waist, feeling ill at the thought.
Blair wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. He pulled his phone out and tapped the screen, using his arm around her neck and not releasing her. Dropping a kiss on top of her head, he blew out a breath. “Gage. I need all the guys here as soon as you can manage.”
Kobie leaned her head against his chest so she could listen to his heart beating. She was trying to stay calm. To act like the Alpha mate she was. They didn’t freak out, they stayed calm and did what needed doing. She blew out a breath.
“Kobie figured out how they got on the land and as far as we can figure one, of them was still on it when we went out looking…” Blair made a sound of disgust, “yeah, or worse.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “I want to sweep the entire property, especially with Robbie and Niles coming back tonight.” He hugged her tighter with his other arm. “He’s talking to Devin now.” Kobie glanced to see the expression on Calum’s face wasn’t pleasant at all. “Yeah, I’m sure he will.” He cleared his throat, “I’ll help you get caught up in the shop tomorrow.” He relaxed slightly. “I appreciate it.” He hung up and tucked the phone back in his pocket.
Kobie looked up at him. “What do we tell everyone?”
Blair looked down at her, then leaned down and kissed her softly on the mouth. “The truth. If everyone is aware and on the lookout, it’s better.”
Calum came back over.
“What does Devin say?” Blair asked.
“A lot of words I won’t repeat in mixed company.” He gave his head a shake. “He’s sending a team this way.”
Blair stiffened.
“We don’t have a choice, Blair. There’s going to be three injured males here and not enough bodies to keep watch over everyone and every inch of this land.” He pointed, “Ed’s place will be patrolled as well. We’re not taking chances.”
Blair huffed out a breath, “yeah.” He swore quietly, “can we get cameras or something set up around the outside of the fence?” He motioned in the direction we’d come, “if we end up with a few dozen shifters that can’t safely shift and run, things are going to get ugly.”
“I already asked.” Calum started walking, “he’s sending that too.”
Kobie was glad he didn’t move away from her but started following with his arm draped over her shoulders.
“I don’t care if we have a camera every five feet and have to patrol every hour until we get these bastards…” He blew out a breath and squeezed her against him.
“I’ll work out a schedule once I see who Dev sends.”
Kobie leaned into Blair. If she let go of him, she was afraid she would panic. Her clan deserved a new start, not this.
“We’ll deal with it, babe.” Blair leaned down and looked at her face.
Kobie nodded, believing what he said.