“You go back in the car, then,” I said loudly over the pounding rain.
“Margo,” he started again.
“Just…shush!”
He stayed nearby as I lowered myself further into the trees. It was hard to see with the rain and darkness. I crouched down, hoping to see better.
Something moved to my left, and I bolted over to the leaves that moved. I lifted them cautiously.
A hand twitched underneath them. I threw the branch out of the way and yelled for Theo to help me. We cleared the twigs and dirt off her and turned her onto her back.
She was a small girl, pale, with short blonde hair that was stained from the mud. She gasped for breath, the obvious trauma that her body was put through made it difficult. Theo held her head off the ground.
“Can you hear me?” I asked loudly, reaching over to press my hand on the girl’s cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed and then stayed open.
“Help them,” she ground out, her raspy voice cutting through the air.
“Where are they?” Theo asked her. We huddled in closer to her, trying to share our body heat.
“North, about two miles.” Her voice was weak, and her split lip wobbled terribly. “There’s a cabin.”
Theo carefully lifted her in his arms and brought her over to the cars. The Warriors from Caddy’s pack were waiting outside their cars. Theo settled the girl into one of their cars and told one to stay with her. The others followed us as we shifted into our wolves and dove into the forest.
I trailed behind Theo closely, paws slightly squishing into the ground. There was a small cabin in front of us, lights off, no smoke from the chimney.
We slowed down as we got closer, listening to see how many people were inside. I counted three heartbeats. Either the girls were in there along with another man or the girls weren’t there at all, both possibilities equally terrifying.
“Around back,” Theo said through our mind-link. We snuck to the backside and found a window. Theo shifted back first, and the Warriors followed him. There were no clothes left on their bodies, but at that moment, it was the least of our concerns.
I shifted back, slipping slightly as I got my balance against the dirt. Theo stepped in front of me, hiding my body from the gaze of the Warriors.
“Margo, shift back,” he ordered.
“Theo, you need me. Those girls are probably scared to death. What are they going to think when six, large, men burst in, and you tell them to come with you?”
He growled and bit his lip, trying not to admit I was right. “Fine, but you go in last, right before me.” I nodded.
The Warriors shattered the window with one kick and leaped through the opening. Theo lifted me through since I wasn’t tall enough to enter without cutting myself on the glass. He jumped in after me and immediately searched for the women.
A muffled cry came from the room next to us. Theo tried to open the door, but it was locked. He twisted the knob farther, causing the fixture to break, and threw the door open.
Two women were huddled in the corner; their hands were tied to a pole, and thick, black tape was over their mouths. I pushed past Theo and knelt next to them. After I untied their hands, they carefully peeled the tape off their mouths.
“Pilar? Olympia?” I searched their faces.
“How do you know our names?” one asked. She had tanned brown skin, long black hair, and pink lips. The other had darker skin, shorter black hair, and bright hazel eyes.
“Saskia,” I said in explanation. The one with darker skin spat blood out of her mouth at the mention of her name.
“Tell me that bitch isn’t here,” she barked.
“No, she isn’t.” They relaxed visibly, sinking down. “Why?”
“Because I’m going to kill her the next time I see her.”
Three for Three
The man that was in the cabin fled when he heard the glass break. Two of the warriors left to track the scent and the others stayed to help us transport the injured girls to the car. Olympia refused to let us help her, tearing herself out of our grasp.
Pilar’s ankle was cracked and twisted, healing quickly from her wolf genes, but healing improperly. She had various bruises and lacerations covering her arms and abdomen. Olympia’s arm was hanging weakly from her body, her shoulder stretched too far. The rest of her body was in the same condition as Pilar’s, injured but treatable.
The girl in the car, Verona, was the worst of them. Her face was mangled, lip split, cheek busted open, eyes were swollen, and popping out of the socket. The rest of her body was as badly hurt as her face.
Verona remained lying across the backseat of the warriors’ car. Pilar and Olympia sat in the back of our car, watching our surroundings like they expected someone to jump out.
I called Joella from Theo’s phone; she picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Joella? It’s Margo. I need your help.”
“Anything. What is it?” she said fiercely.
“I need to bring three injured women to your pack, and I need your help to treat them.”
“When will you be here?” she asked immediately.
“About thirty minutes,” I guessed. We were already headed towards her pack.
“I’ll be ready. I’ll have Felix alert the borders. Bring them straight to the packhouse.”
We hung up, and Theo sped up slightly as we got out of the mountains. Pilar was whimpering softly in the backseat, tears streaming silently down her face. Olympia was stone.
We entered the Audacia pack safely, pulling the cars up along the walkway near the entrance. Joella, Felix, and a few others rushed out to help us. They carried Verona into the building first, and Joella ran in after her. She was the one that needed the most attention.
Two Warriors assisted Pilar, limping up the few steps into the house. Theo attempted to help Olympia, but she
