I arrive at the old warehouse and park behind Noah’s car. As I step out of my truck, I feel the sun shining down on me, but there is no warmth in its rays. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to warm up, but the coldness comes from deep within.
I approach Noah’s car, where Noah, Ryna, and Uncle Alex are talking.
“Did you see what direction he was headed in?” Noah asks Uncle Alex.
“No. But I picked up his trail heading north in that direction,” he points towards the tree line.
“Where were you holding the doctor?” Ryna asks.
“Come on, I’ll show you,” Uncle Alex says as he walks towards the warehouse doors, followed by Noah and Ryna.
I stay back, holding my nose in the air and breathing deeply, trying to pick up any scents. I can faintly smell Andreas and follow his scent towards a small building to the right of the warehouse doors. When I walk into the small room, I find his clothes folded up on a dusty shelf, with his phone on top.
My heart aches as I pick up his shirt and hold it to my nose, breathing in his scent. I hear Enyo whimper as she finally lets me in again.
‘*Mate*,’ she whimpers softly.
‘*I need you, Enyo*,’ I say softly, tears welling up in my eyes. ‘*We need to figure out who these bastards are, and I can’t do it without you*.’
‘*They took our father and now our mate. They’re going to wish they were never born*,’ she snarls, a sudden surge of her strength washing over me.
I put Andreas’ shirt down and make myself relax so that Enyo can shift. She runs out of the small building and in the direction Uncle Alex had said Andreas went in. We can smell his faint trail and follow it deep within the surrounding forest.
‘*I think I lost it*,’ Enyo says after a few minutes, slowing down and sniffing the ground. ‘It’s hard to tell between Ares’ scent and the smell of the trees,’ she explains.
We hear the snap of a twig and freeze, trying to listen for where it came from.
‘*Someone is following us*,’ Enyo says. ‘*I can hear them to the right of us*.’
‘*Is it any of the guys*?’ I ask.
‘*No. I don’t recognize the scent, but it’s human*,’ she explains.
Enyo lets out a small warning growl in response to another twig snap, this time even closer. Enyo closes her eyes and concentrates her hearing to pinpoint their exact location before bracing herself. She then breaks cover when she hears the distinct, heavy clink-clack of a bolt-action rifle being opened for a new round.
Sprinting through the brush, Enyo lashes out and grabs onto the man’s shirt and begins thrashing her head from side to side. The man, thrown completely off guard, tries to hit us with the butt of the rifle as he screams. Enyo lets go of his shirt and then digs her teeth deep into his shoulder, and the man screams in pain and drops the rifle. Hearing the gun fall, Enyo knocks the struggling man off balance and begins dragging him towards the warehouse.
‘*Ajax, I’m bringing someone back to the warehouse*,’ Enyo mind-links Uncle Alex’s wolf.
‘*Roger, friend or foe*?’ He asks.
‘*He’s definitely no friend of ours. He was going to shoot us*,’ she growls through the link.
“Let me go!” The man screams in agony.
We hear the pounding of paws behind us as Ajax, and Rynas wolf Alaster, find us. Alaster grabs the ankle of the unknown man, causing him to scream more, and helps Enyo carry him back to the warehouse.
As we get closer to the warehouse, Noah rushes over, and Uncle Alex shifts, and together they grab the man’s shoulders and hold him up.
‘*I’ll go back and find the gun,*’ Alaster mind-links and runs back into the forest.
“Who the hell is this?” Noah asks.
Enyo runs into the small building again where Andreas’ clothes are and shifts. I try to ignore the scent of my mate as I put on his t-shirt and track pants, rolling down the waist, so they don’t fall down. Then I grab his phone and go back out to the guys.
“This asshole was following us in the woods,” I tell them.
“That crazy bitch attacked me!” The unknown man shouts.
I growl and stomp towards him, getting in his face. “What did you call me?” I snarl.
The man whimpers and shrinks under my glare.
Ryna emerges from the woods, clutching the rifle that the man dropped when Enyo attacked him. “It smells like wolfsbane,” he says.
I growl again. “Take this piece of shit inside. I want to find out who he is,” I tell Uncle Alex and Noah.
“I need a doctor!” The man shouts.
“You’ll need an undertaker if you don’t stop screaming,” I growl.
I follow behind Noah and Uncle Alex as they take the man inside. The inside of the warehouse is bare, and the floor is covered in dust, and the sounds of our footsteps echo along the bare walls. I keep following the guys into a small back room with only two chairs in it. Finally, they sit the stranger down, and Uncle Alex leaves the room to get dressed. Ryna enters the room and stands in the corner next to Noah.
“Let’s start with something easy,” I say to the stranger. “Who are you?” I ask.
He spits at my feet and looks up at me defiantly. “Fuck you. I’m not telling you anything.”
“Oh, you’ll talk. It just depends on how painfully you want this to go,” I say as I circle him to stand behind him. “I’ll ask again, who are you?”
“Piss off,” he says angrily, but his voice wavers, his fear visible.
I extend my claws and turn my hand back and forth to examine them. “Last chance,” I say.
“Get fuc… ARGH!” He screams as I dig my nails into where Enyos sharp teeth shredded his shoulder. “STOP! PLEASE! I’LL TALK!” He yells.
I remove my claws from his shoulder and lean down to talk in his ear. “Name,” I snarl.
“John,” he says in pain, clutching his shoulder. “I’m a hunter in training.”
“What are you doing here?” Ryna asks.
“Please, they’ll kill me if I talk,” he begs.
“I’ll kill you if you don’t. So, answer him,” I snarl in his ear, causing him to wince.
He starts to cry. “Please don’t kill me. I’m only 17!” He pleads with me.
“If you’re old enough to kill, you’re old enough to die,” I say harshly. “That’s not a toy rifle you were carrying around. Not to mention the wolfsbane bullets. What were you planning on doing, John?” I ask.
“I was patrolling the area,” he sobs quietly.
“Why were you patrolling this area? How did you know we were out here?” Noah asks.
“I got a call from a fellow hunter with instructions to come here and patrol the woods, and report back about anyone who comes and goes after they found another wolf out here. I was told to kill any wolves I saw on sight,” he explains.
My heart sinks. “What other wolf?” I ask, my heart racing.
“I don’t know. I got here after he was taken away.”
I growl, “Where did they take him?”
“I don’t know,” he says. Growling again, louder this time, I place my hand on his shoulder, ready to dig my claws in again. “I don’t know! I swear! I’ve never been to where they take them!”
“Them?” Noah asks. “How many have they captured?”
“I swear I don’t know! I’ve only been with them for like six months!” He cries. “Today is the first time I’ve been out on my own!”
“I’m not sure I believe you, John,” I say as I stalk around him in the chair as if he were prey. Finally, I kneel so we’re face to face, my hands resting on his knees and lightly squeezing them. “You see, the wolf they found today was my mate. And the sick fucks you’re working with murdered him, videotaped it and sent it to me,” I say.
“I know nothing about that! I swear!” he cries out with fear in his voice.
I tsk. “John, how can I believe you? You were going to murder me; how do I know you didn’t murder my mate?” I ask, digging my claws into his knees slightly.
“I was just following orders!” He yells, crying again. “Derek said there might be wolves coming back and that I needed to be here when they did!”
I snarl in his face. “Derek?!” I yell. I look up and see Uncle Alex standing in the doorway, then I turn back to John. “Derek Williams?”
“He’s who I’ve been working with,” he explains.
“Are you telling us he’s a hunter?” Uncle Alex asks.
“Yes, he’s the one that’s been training me,” John says.
“Derek was here? At this warehouse?” I ask.
“Yes! He was the one that captured the other wolf!”
I look at Uncle Alex and mind-link him. “Outside, NOW,” I growl. Then, I turn to Noah and say, “watch him, please.”
Noah nods and sits in the chair in front of John, leaning back and crossing his arms.
I storm out of the room, and Uncle Alex and Ryna follow me out of the warehouse. When we’re outside, I turn to Uncle Alex and yell, “YOU HAD ME WORKING WITH A FUCKING HUNTER?!”