Chapter 151 Chapter 151
Kobie ran as fast as she could. Her cat was torn between carrying Daisie back to safety and helping Blair. So far, she was listening and taking the child back to her mother. Daisie held onto the strap for her pack, but still had trouble sliding to the side as Kobie turned to go up an easier route to get back to the others. Cortney would be going crazy worrying about her. Those thoughts helped her stay on course and get back.
She put on a burst of speed as she went through the densely treed area before the incline to the cave. A large male jaguar met her halfway down the hill. She knew it was Calum and didn’t pause to see if he was following or going to help Blair. She hoped for the latter.
Cortney came running out of the shelter and scooped Daisie off her back and went back to the safety of inside. Kobie looked back up the pathway.
“You should stay.” Shaelan stepped out of the shadow of the entrance. “Blair is probably on his way back now.”
Kobie looked at her, then back into the trees. Calum came bounding back at a full run and then right past her to check the other side of the trail. Shaking her head, Kobie went over to the side and shifted back. It would be easier to stay here if she was on two legs than her unpredictable cat was controllable. She didn’t want to run back and end up distracting him. If anything happened to him, she’d be mad at herself for the rest of her life. Her cat was not happy they weren’t going back for him. He had to come back. He had to be okay. She ignored the feelings of ire inside her chest. She shouldn’t have left him. Why had she listened without question?
Torrey came out when she was walking back, carrying her shoes. “Daisie okay?”
Torrey nodded. “A little shaken, but” she shrugged, “you know Daisie—first thing out of her mouth was she was hungry.” Torrey’s voice shook as she spoke.
Crossing her arms over her stomach, she looked back, hoping she would see Blair's cat running toward them.
“He’ll be okay.” Shaelan came to stand beside her.
Kobie nodded, unable to find her voice to speak. He had to be all right.
Calum came out of the trees in his jeans. He glanced up at her but seemed to know not to tell her to come down and hide inside with the others. She wasn’t moving until Blair was back—and if he took too long; she was going to find him.
Blair elected to jog and walk back to the cave. Something with his cat had almost scared him and he felt it was safer to stay on two legs, even though his bare feet weren’t happy with that decision. He walked down the path and dropped the two packs from the other men on the ground. Calum came over and looked at them, a sober expression on his face. Blair jerked his head toward them. “ID’s and phones.” Calum raised an eyebrow and glanced at the borrowed shirt tied around Blair’s arm. “It’s not too serious.”
Kobie came running down from the shelf and right for him. He wasn’t sure if that was anger, annoyance, or concern on her face. She grabbed his hand and shoved it off his arm so she could look under the shirt.
“It’s pretty deep. You need to hydrate, have something to eat and then shift again to heal it.”
Shaelan looked at Calum going through the two packs and then came over and lifted the shirt away from his arm. “I can put a light stitch in it to stop the bleeding until you shift.”
Blair nodded. He needed to stay on two legs for a bit. His cat liked blood, and he didn’t need to be raging through the bush right now on a killing spree. He had no problems fighting for the right reasons, but the fury that had taken over his cat wasn’t a good thing. He needed to think about that before shifting again.
“I’m going to call Devin and tell him about this.” Holding up the wallets, he gave Blair a quick look, “we have addresses and new locations to check now.” He glanced up the trail and sent Blair an inquisitive look.
Blair shook his head. “They won’t be returning.”
With a look of satisfaction, Calum nodded and walked down the trail.
“Find out where Jesse is too, Cal,” Shaelan called after him. “I’ll go get my bag.” She went back inside.
Blair looked down at Kobie, “Daisie okay?”
She nodded and pressed the shirt against his arm again. “Is this the only injury?”
Blair gave her a brief nod. “I outweighed them by a lot, it almost wasn’t a fair fight.”
“Are they dead, Blair?”
The nerve in his jaw twitched while he decided if he should tell her the truth or breeze over it. “Yes. I threw the bodies over the ravine.”
She inhaled through her nose slowly, then blew it out of her mouth. “Good.” Without warning, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, pressing her cheek over his heart. “Thank you for coming to get her.”
“Of course, I’d come.” He held her. This feels righter than anything I’ve felt in years.
“I couldn’t have taken both.” She said quietly.
He didn’t like the tone of shame in her voice. Blair leaned back and look at her. “No one expected you to.”
“Hunting and tracking I know...”
He saw Shaelan coming back carrying a small bag. “You tracked them, I just followed you.” It wasn’t entirely true, but he didn’t want her to be too harsh on herself. Most wouldn’t have taken off after her at all.
“I’m going to keep watch.” She released him and jogged away before he could say a word.
He could barely still long enough to have a few stitches put in his arm. Everything Calum had told him before Daisie was taken was now replaying in his mind, over and over.
Assessing there were two of the others watching in various directions, Blair walked away. The storm filling him was overwhelming. One problem being around so many other shifters were they would pick up on the emotions of others if they were strong enough.
He stopped when he was far enough away from the others and tried to breathe it away and settle down. He had a brother. A brother that worked for the Tomas family—voluntarily. He hadn’t asked how old his brother was, obviously older than him, but by how much? He was from an Alpha family. His father had been the Alpha. He frowned, unless his clan, he shook his head. No, his clan was Ed’s not that other one—if the clan he was born into functioned as most clans that meant his brother, did he want to know his name? He wasn’t sure—his brother was Alpha of a clan that was responsible for a lot of the torment and heartache caused by the Tomas family.
His heart jerked in his chest. That clan was part of the reason Kelsey’s parents were gone. He could never tell her. Would Kobie and her clan think less of him if they knew? He could tell no one.
Shaking his head, he looked down at his arm. He should go shift and heal this completely. He took two steps and saw the expression on Calum’s face as he came back up the path. It wasn’t good, that’s all he knew. What now? Calum stopped and motioned for him to come down.
Glancing over his shoulder, Blair checked that Torrey and Kobie were keeping watch over the others. He walked toward him; a questioning look sent to the other man.
Calum shook his head and then stood there looking at his phone.
“What’s going on?”
“Jesse will be here soon; he found a faster route.” Calum motioned up the incline, “we’ll go get everyone moving in a minute.”
That was all good news, so what was the bad? “And?”
Calum nodded his head slowly, “and Kobie’s brother was found.” His tone was sober. “He’s alive, but they’re not sure if he’s going to make it.”
Blair looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. Running his fingers across his hair, he looked at Calum for a moment. “If I tell her, she’s not going to leave.”
“They’re trying to stabilize him for transport.” Calum looked up at the trees and then back at him. “Don’t tell her yet.”
Blair closed his eyes for a second, then opened them and sent him a blank look. “Secrets tend to come back and bite me hard.”
Calum’s mouth quirked like he wanted to grin but didn’t. “If it comes to light, just tell her you were waiting for an update on how he was doing before telling her.”
“We have to get them out of here.” Blair paced a few feet away. “When they don’t hear from those other two, they’re going to send more after them, if they haven’t already.” He growled in the back of his throat. “They’ll keep coming for nine females until we get them back to safety.”
“May not stop even after we do.” Calum motioned to go back up. “It’s your call, but right now we need to get them down to meet Jesse.” He looked at Blair’s arm. “I’ll stay on two feet until we reach the car.”