Chapter Four

Kerry

"What?" Kerry asked, his voice stuck deep in his throat, threatening to strangle him. "He took her? He's going to take her soul. What—why wouldn't she say anything? Where did he take her? How did no one know about this—," it all poured out of him like uncontrollable word vomit.

Axel stepped forward and carefully put his palm on Kerry's shoulder.

"Calm down. We're going to get to the bottom of this. Let's get back to the pack house and talk to Dad."

Kerry swallowed the urge to cry like a little pup. He hated pity, and that included self-pity, but he'd already lost his first mate, he couldn’t lose his second chance.

He refused not to be there for her as he wasn't for Chelsey. She'd died in battle, a battle he was a part of, but didn't get there in time. He would get to Demetria in time. You don't get three chances, and he refused to let her die at the hands of some crazed warlock that thought he was God.

Kerry nodded slowly, and slid into the driver's seat of Axel's truck. Axel didn't question him, and crawled into the passenger seat, lifting Claire into his lap, sliding his thumb down the trail of blood on her face.

Kerry hauled ass to the pack house, not a word was spoken on the way there, and if it was, he'd blocked it out completely. Alpha Davers stood in the front yard with a few wolves, getting ready for the perimeter check when Kerry pulled into the driveway.

Kerry slammed the door, doing his best to keep his temper down, but it wasn't working. Alpha Davers noticed immediately, and put his palm out for Kerry to stop while looking at Claire. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Grace walked out onto the front porch and gasped at Claire's face.

"Sweetheart. Come inside, let's get you cleaned up."

She ushered her inside, while asking a million questions.

Axel rubbed his face with his palms. "Apparently Demetria owed some warlock her soul, and he took her while she was with Claire. Claire tried to fight him off, but it didn't work. There was magic on the knife he used, because the cut isn't healing quickly." He dug into his pocket, and pulled out a brass pendant. "She grabbed this from his neck, and he was pissed about it. If I had to guess, I would say it holds his power."

Alpha Davers' mouth popped open in shock, but he quickly corrected his reaction. "Oh my goddess," he mumbled. "If it isn't one thing, it's another. Do we know anything about this guy?"

He glanced at Kerry, and Kerry chuckled humorlessly, a slew of curses following behind it. Then rage reared its head, and he felt the need to punch someone—anyone.

Alpha Davers noticed, and motioned for the other wolves to leave, while he tried to calm Kerry down. "Son—calm down. Being irate isn't going to fix this—,"

"No!" he shouted. "You're right, it won't. We have no way of knowing how to fix it. She kept me at arm's length and away from anything in her life. Her own niece didn't even know about it. She was closed off for so long … I don't even know where to start."

He nodded slowly. "Why don't we go check out her house? Maybe she has something there we can look at to help us."

Kerry ground his molars together in an attempt to keep himself collected. "I need to go home first. I need a second."

He raced off before Axel or Alpha Davers could say anything. The urge to shift tingled along his skin, but he fought it. When he made it to this house, he slammed the door and leaned against it.

The silence helped him think. He wouldn't admit it, but besides his pack duties, he'd become a recluse as well. He wouldn't blame Demetria for keeping to herself for years, because it was what he did also.

Hiding it became easy after a while, until he met Demetria. She brought out all those bottled up emotions, the ones that he choked down and hid for those lonely nights in his living room.

The thunder of his heart broke through the silence of his solace.

Turning, he slammed his fist into his front door, ignoring the feeling of blood dripping down his fingers, and pooling onto the floor by his foot.

Moments ticked by when the door creaked opened, and Kerry stepped back so Axel could walk inside. He glanced at the hole, and Kerry's hand. "Dude … what a waste of a perfectly good door."

When Kerry didn't reply, Axel stepped forward, bringing Kerry into a hug. His feelings bubbled up his throat, and he screwed his eyes shut.

"We're going to find her. Dad is ready to leave. Why don't you clean off your hand? We have a mate to save."

Kerry walked into the kitchen, washed off his hand, and watched as his skin healed. If only he could give that power to Demetria. Alpha Davers and Axel waited for him in the front yard.

He stopped in front of them. "I'm ready."

Alpha Davers nodded, turned and ran toward the woods, shifting when he made it to the tree line. Axel glanced over at Kerry before following his dad.

What are you waiting for, his wolf growled.

A miracle, Kerry whispered to himself.

When they made it to Demetria's house, all traces of his scent had vanished. Maybe the warlock tried to cover his tracks, or they'd just faded with time. Either way it wasn't good for them.

However, Kerry's wolf wouldn’t forget the warlock's scent. Not until his claws were in his heart, or his own soul had been ripped from him.

Kerry shifted, and walked onto the porch, seeing her Siamese cat sitting on the railing, staring at him. He hissed, which wasn't new. Cats could sense a werewolf like any other type of dog.

Inside, nothing had been touched since that morning when he stopped by. Her books and potions, or whatever she used, were all located in her room. A room he wished he could transport back to.

The memories of spending the night on top, underneath and every place in-between taunted him. She'd teased him the entire night, never giving him what he really wanted, but ultimately showing him what he was missing.

He wouldn't change it for anything. He wasn't that guy, the one that tried to talk some girl into sleeping with him, when she wasn't ready.

"Crikey," Alpha Davers said. "How many books do you need?"

Kerry ran his fingertips against the spines, visualizing her doing the same thing. None of them spoke to him but the one sitting on her nightstand caught his attention.

It was leather, and old, smelled as if it'd seen better days. He plopped down on her bed, and opened the book to a dog-eared paged.

"You've got to be kidding me," he mumbled. "It's in Latin."

Kerry went to shut the book when he heard Demetria's voice. He dropped the book and turned toward the window.

"I promise, Ike. Please help me. Help me, Ike."

Axel stood closet to the window, pulled up the blinds and opened the glass. A small tree sat outside, and her voice grew louder.

"Claire needs me," Demetria said.

Kerry shoved Axel out of the way, and jumped through the small space, looking around like a madman.

It sounded so close …

"Ah, don't cry, Dove. I will make this as painless as possible." This time it was an unknown voice, and Kerry knew it belonged to the warlock.

Kerry glanced up into the branches of a small tree, coming face to face with some bird. His beady eyes flashed red before he flew away laughing in a voice that sent chills down his spine.