Chapter 187
Chapter 187
98 – Ryker
“Just take a deep breath,” Josh urged gently.
“I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! NO ONE LEAVES THIS FOREST UNTIL SHE IS FOUND!” I bellowed into the thick darkness surrounding us.
Every warrior who could be spared stood around me, alongside every pack member touched by her presence. They had all gathered for one purpose to bring her back safely, something I had failed to do.
“I’m not telling you to calm down because I’m stupid. None of us are calm,” Josh said, his voice steady but firm. “But you’re our strongest connection to her. If you lose control, we lose that link. So pull yourself together and tell us what she said.” I could feel the tension in his words, see the concern etched on his face. Still, I couldn’t care. My mate had been ripped away from right beneath our noses.
I had wanted her home, safe and sound, but her stubbornness had led us here. I was right to worry, and now no one knew what she was enduring. I could sense her presence, but it was scrambled-like a radio signal caught in static. To make matters worse, she had somehow figured out how to mindlink us without having a wolf of her own. How was that even possible? She had warned us all, and we were on high alert. Yet, she was the only casualty in this complex, multi-layered attack. No one else had been hurt in the fire. Thanks to doubled patrols, we intercepted a dozen rogues trying to breach our defenses. The problem was, they were all killed before she was taken, leaving us with no one to interrogate.
All I could do was pace, my nerves fraying with every step. I’d be lucky if I still had hair left by the end of this.
My mind kept replaying the look on her face when she told me about her capture in Silver Crescent, the horror she’d endured. I couldn’t let that happen again. I refused to fail her once more. My chest felt like it was being crushed, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the suffocating weight.
“ALPHA! Knock it off!” My beta growled sharply. He’d never had to put me in my place before. “You’re just making Bennet worse. Give him something to work with. He needs to find her just as badly as you do p>
His words snapped me out of my spiral briefly. I glanced over at Army Gamma-her gamma.
Tears streaked down his dirt-smeared face. He’d been running through the forest where we last caught her scent, his hands bloodied and scratched, eyes wild with desperation as he screamed her name like a child trapped in a nightmare. Now, he crouched on the ground, staring at the bucket she’d been holding, hoping it might offer some clue about where to search next. He’d even tried shifting, but her scent vanished just like all the deserted camps we’d found before. The source of thɪs content is ͟.net
“I can’t do this, Josh. I can’t focus or think straight. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to function without her,” I admitted, my shoulders slumping. “This is why I didn’t want a mate. Why I tried to resist her. There’s too much power here, and whoever has her knows it p>
I couldn’t even meet his eyes. No alpha should feel this powerless.
“Both of you better buckle up,” Josh said, voice hardening. “I’m calling in reinforcements. We need Kennedy, and you two idiots are wasting time p>
I barely had the energy to question what he meant.
“Ryker! You need to stop and think. So many pack members see her and work with her every day. Talk to them-your warriors, even those kids who follow her everywhere. Figure out how to find her. There has to be something we can use p>
“Mom,” I said quietly. “We’ve talked to everyone. No one knows anything about these rogues or where they could be hiding. They’re like ghosts. I don’t know what else to do p>
At least my mom was safe, and Rayna was far from here. I used to worry about both of them being used against me, just like my dad.
“You’re not listening,” she snapped. “I don’t care about those rogues. They took my girl. I want you to burn them to the ground. What I meant was talk to people about Kennedy. She managed to mindlink this whole pack in a crisis. She warned us all. There has to be more clues she left behind-whether on purpose or not. Talk to those who know her best, who know her habits and little quirks when she’s away from you p>
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. A new tactic. A strategy. I could work with that.
Just as I opened my mouth to brainstorm with Josh, the sudden crashing of branches caught everyone’s attention. All eyes turned toward Todd and a few teenage boys who helped Kennedy on Saturdays.
“ALPHA! ALPHA! We found her… I think it’s her. No one else could be that over the top,” Todd nearly collided with me. I grabbed his shoulders, blinking a few times before asking him to repeat himself.
“We found a trail… uh… a trail of her… of her… Ummm, would you mind letting go of my shoulders? I feel like you’re way too close p>
“Just tell me, Todd,” I said, releasing him but instinctively stepping closer when he tried to back away.
“It’s a trail of her blood. A lot of it,” he said, swallowing hard.
My heart sank, and dizziness washed over me, but I forced it down. I had to get to her. See her again. I could feel she was okay, but if Todd was right, we had a serious problem.
“Show me. Bennet! Get your ass up. We have a Luna to save. And I think this time, she might actually let us without too much grief.” I tried to lighten the mood, knowing Bennet blamed himself more than I did. We’d both need time to heal.
Without hesitation, Todd and his friends led us through the forest. Within five minutes, we reached the spot where she’d clearly grabbed a branch for dear life. Her blood was smeared across leaves and bark—not splattered, but pressed into fingerprints in several places. She’d fought hard. That was my girl. Keep fighting, Lamb. I’m coming.
We pushed through a dense thicket, the forest thick and shadowed around us. I wondered if her captors even realized how much blood she’d left behind. Either they were fools, or this was a trap. We had to move carefully, the slow pace only amplifying my frayed nerves.
“I’m coming, baby,” I whispered, uncertain if her frequency was as scrambled as ours, but unwilling to stop trying.