I hear growling and other guttural noises coming from outside the rock structure, but I can’t get my eyes to open right now. They’re heavy, and my head is pounding with pain.
No longer able to keep my head straight, it flops to the side on its own, my cheek hitting soft dirt. I feel the wolf above me yip and bark at something, moving from its position above me. I hadn’t realized how much of the rain the wolf had been blocking, and my body breaks out in chills when the raindrops hit my bare arms and face.
One second I’m lying in the dirt freezing, and the next, I’m being scooped up and held against a warm body. I want to snuggle into the heat and safety, but my body has finally had enough, and I allow the darkness to take over.
A strong tattooed chest is the last thing I see before I close my eyes.
6
Ryker
I don’t have time to rejoice in the fact my mate is alive because every fiber in my being is screaming at me she’s in danger right now. I know my dad is upset with me for not telling him about the threat sooner, but there’s no way he’s madder at me than I am at myself.
I throw my head back in a howl of frustration as I continue to sprint through the woods. Remi had told me the direction to head in before I left. Our group had split into two teams. My siblings took my truck and are taking the shorter way to Grey’s house while Avery and Sawyer shifted with me, and we’re taking the longer route. We figured someone would come across her car, and then we would know where to look for her.
Avery and Sawyer howl in response to mine as they struggle to keep pace with me. I don’t have time to slow down for them. My mate is in trouble, and I have to get to her. The scenes in which we had found the red wolf’s last victims flash in my head, and I try to not think about finding Grey in that beaten and violated position.
The last girl we found almost had her throat ripped out. The local pack doctors were able to save her life, although not her voice. Not only is the girl’s body forever scarred, but she will never be able to speak again.
I feel someone nipping at me from my left flank, and I turn to look at the sandy-colored wolf running along my side. Sawyer.
“I see the Jeep. She couldn’t have gotten far from here,” he tells me through the pack link. Every pack is able to speak to each other through an internal link, and it only works if you’re part of the pack. Therefore we can’t communicate with Avery this way.
I look forward and see a black Jeep pulled off to the side of the road, the driver’s side door still flung open. I want to growl in irritation that Grey would be so reckless, but now is not the time.
I breathe in the air, and the red wolf’s scent assaults my senses. Mixed with the vile scent of the rogue is the light scent of vanilla—she’s close.
I nudge Avery with my head and direct her toward the right. We take off in that direction, the only sound I hear our paws pounding into the earth and our three heartbeats. The small animals that live in these woods sense predators are near and have quieted.
We run for a few hundred yards before Avery skids to a stop at a large tree with a low hanging branch. She leans up and sniffs. She motions to the right with her chocolate-colored head and takes off in that direction. My stomach tightens when I smell a slight hint of blood on the branch as we pass.
Thunder cracks above our heads and fat raindrops hit our coats. I barely feel the change in weather. My only focus is finding Grey. I can’t believe after all this time, I may actually end up losing her to a rogue wolf again, just like I had thought all those years ago.
“Ryker?” Remi’s voice comes over the pack link, something I hadn’t experienced in five years. It’s a nice change from only hearing Sawyer’s. “Have you found the Jeep yet?”
“We came across it about half a mile ago, she wasn’t there.”
“We’ll stay at her house in case she finds her way here.”
“I’ll reach out if we find anything.”
The sound of someone yelling in pain reaches my ears, and I growl. The noise came from a female, and my heart bursts at the thought of Grey being hurt by that fucker’s hand. I dig deep for extra energy and strength, leaving Sawyer and Avery a couple yards behind me. I throw my head back again, this time as a warning to the red wolf.
I’m coming for you.
Sawyer and Avery echo my howl, and I hear two more join in from the north—Mom and Dad. I may have been away from them for a few years, but I would recognize those howls anywhere. My wolf barks in happiness at the idea of being with his alphas again. That pang of guilt resurfaces as I think about how hard it has been for Dad to not have his pack around him. But with Grey being alive, I have no intention of ever leaving our pack again.
I slow as I come up to a large rock formation that is part of a small cliff structure. I actually remember running around here when I was younger. I hear whimpering coming from the other side of a large stack of boulders, and a deep growl cuts through the sound of the rain. The thunder above cracks loud in the sky and lightning quickly follows, illuminating my surroundings.
I see
