Chapter 717 Chapter 717
Oaklyn put the car in park and turned off the engine. The car sputtered like it wanted to keep running. When it made a gurgling sound, she winced. Her cheap ride wasn’t sounding like it was going to make it much longer.
Getting the map out, she opened it and looked at where she was. If the bus schedules were right, she should be here before him. He’d been tricky with his plan, but she had figured it out. Because he had a few days head start on her, she skipped the first bus altogether. It had also been going in the wrong direction, which meant he lost his lead on her when he hopped on another one that backtracked and went back the way he had come from.
At least he wasn’t a stupid man. In fact, if he hadn’t written those bus route numbers on that notepad, she would have had no clue where to start. She checked the time and smiled. She had enough time to go for a run. Her animal hated being confined and restricted, but when she was doing something like this, she had no choice.
She looked around the lot she had parked in. There was a lot of snow. With any luck, she would find Mister Sanders and be back to her little home in no time. Home wasn’t much, but it was dry and warm and out of the elements.
Getting her run pack out of her bag, she got out and locked the decrepit little car. “Just hold on until spring, if you can.” She patted the hood like she would have a horse’s behind and smiled.
Walking through the snow to get to the treed area she’d seen on her way into the town had proven one thing. She needed taller boots for the snow, and she hated snow. Her animal stirred inside her. The wolf liked the snow. It was the one thing they didn’t agree on. Oaklyn loved basking in the sunshine on a warm day, and her wolf preferred running through the snow.
When she finally stood among the trees, she looked around. It was thick enough that if she went the other way, she hopefully wouldn’t run across any people. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it before she put it in her pack. She had a message from Calum. Her coat must have muffled the chime, and she didn’t hear it. He wanted to know how she was doing. She looked down at her cold feet and smiled. He likely meant with finding Zain Sanders and not the state of her chilled body. She typed back that she should have eyes on him in the next few hours.
Her phone rang. She smiled; it was Calum. “Hey.”
“Oaklyn, are you able to talk right now?”
She looked around. “Yes, I am.”
“Where are you? You know where Zain is?”
“I know he was taking buses all over the place.” She tucked her other hand in her pocket. “He started out heading North but then turned right around and took another one back in the direction he’d come from.”
“He’s afraid he’s being followed?”
“He’s afraid of somethin’. He cleared out of his place spur of the moment.”
“I won’t ask how you know that.” He sounded distracted. There were voices in the background. “Do you know where he was hoping to get to?”
“The bus routes he planned were to cross over the border into the States.”
“Chicago?”
She grinned. How did he know? “That’s what it looks like to me.”
“When you find him, he can not go there.” His tone was very abrupt. “I’m going to send you some map coordinates. That’s where you take him.”
“Alrighty. I can do that.” She looked around. “Is he going to want to go there?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know why he’s so spooked, but he needs to get to the Factory where we’ll sort everything out.”
She nodded. “I will get him there one way or another. Even if I have to hog-tie him.” She grinned.
“Whatever works. I have to go.”
“Alrighty. I’ll message when I have Mister Sanders.”
“You tell him his teammates are not happy with him right now.”
“Will do.” He hung up. She pranced on the spot, trying to warm up while she waited for him to send her the location. She hadn’t wanted to go over the border, but if it was somewhere warmer, she was willing to chance it. A moment later, her phone chimed. She opened the message and looked at it. She didn’t have the map memorized, but she was fairly certain those numbers were going to take her back North. Stuffing her phone in her run pack, she shook her head. “You better be worth me freezin’ my lady bits off, Mister Sanders.”
~
She let her wolf have her fun for what felt like hours, but with the position of the sun, it was likely around an hour. Her hope was when she was back on two legs in cold boots, her animal would turn up the heat and help keep her a little warmer.
She jumped over an unknown snow-covered mound on the ground and then zigged into the trees. A moment later, her wolf put on the brakes. Oaklyn controlled her breathing so she could pick up whatever had altered the animal’s course. Someone was in the trees. Dang it. Now, she was going to have to try and stay hidden. Snow wasn’t much help when it came to trying to be unseen. She was a red wolf and didn’t have a coat that blended well.
Keeping low to the ground, she found a few trees that were close together and stopped behind them. A quick check of the wind told her that she wasn’t downwind, at least. She heard a voice. Slowing her breathing, she focused and let her animal boost what she heard. Only one voice. Male. Was he on the phone? Normally, she’d think it odd to stand in the forest to talk on the phone, but she’d done the same thing.
As she moved closer for a look, she made sure that each step was carefully placed. She’d had more than one run-in with hunters in her life and wasn’t in the mood to be shot at again. The last time had spun up her wolf, and she had to fight to run away and not go take a big chomp of flesh off that hunter.
When she was able to see the man, she was completely shocked. He was getting undressed. A shifter? What are the chances of running into another shifter? Usually very slim. Her kind was being hunted as much as any wildlife. Only, they were hunted by one-forms that like to keep them as pets and do horrific things with and to them. She had to strain to keep her wolf from growling at her thoughts.
“I’m going.” The man said. “You were like a toddler the whole ride. Do you think I liked having a numb ass? I’m not used to sitting that long either.”
Oaklyn would have smiled if her animal could do that. He was chastising his animal. Her animal jerked her head back to the man. A ride? On a bus, maybe? She stood straighter so she could see him better. His back was to her, so she couldn’t see his face. The picture Calum had sent her wasn’t the best, but if she could see his face. Did she approach him? Her animal locked her legs, so she couldn’t move. Your right. We should wait until he comes back. She didn’t know what he shifted into, and with her luck, it would be a bear or something that could maul her to bits.
When he shifted, her heart pounded. He was a wolf. A grey wolf with a lot of black coloring. He was pretty for a boy. Her animal agreed with her and reminded her that he also outweighed her by enough that it would be a hard battle.
Oaklyn bid her time and waited until he took off into the trees. She looked around for where she’d left her clothes and then turned and ran to get to them. Hopefully, he went for a nice long run so she could go check out his bag and confirm it was Mister Sanders. Finding him this way was much better than having to corner him at some small-town bus stop.