Satisfaction as he'd never known it filled him. The only way he could imagine it being any better was if they were marked. But that would come, and for now, he nuzzled her neck, promising, “You won't lose this feeling, Emi. If anything, it's only gonna get better.”
She smiled in a way that said she believed him wholeheartedly, putting him in high spirits. Caleb didn't need to turn Emily, but the thought of running with her as a wolf and having children someday was too appealing not to feel excited over the prospect.
Still, turning humans was usually done under the full moon, which was three weeks away. So they had plenty of time to talk it all over, and prepare for the change if she decided it was truly what she wanted.
He exited the funhouse with the thoughts in mind and a smile on his face—never once realizing that all the time in the world wouldn't prepare either of them for the scene waiting just outside.
Chapter 34
The sound of sirens hit Caleb's sensitive ears only moments after he and Emily sneaked out of the funhouse.
The sound was too distant to be worrisome at first, but as the couple crossed the lot under the evening sun, he spied a seemingly random gathering of people surrounding a few booths and a snow cone vendor nearby. They seemed to be onlookers of some questionable incident, and the moment they came into view, those distant sirens grew louder.
Instinctively, Caleb knew something was terribly wrong.
“Oh god, I wonder what happened?” Emily mused aloud.
He didn't answer, taking her hand instead to rush toward the onlookers, ready to push through the crowd to find out what the hell was going on.
Yet, just before he reached them, Caleb noticed the werewolf alpha, Troy, standing nearly ten feet away with Aislinn, who was urgently waving him over with a grim expression.
So he joined them instead, asking on the way, “What's the hell happened?”
The witch waited until he was within range to answer on a soft tone of voice, “A bunch of lupines just started getting extremely sick for what seemed like no reason, but Adriana and her fae sisters sensed that they've somehow ingested colloidal silver.”
Caleb's eyes widened, his grip on Emily's hand tightening, but he didn't ask any questions. Instead, he quickly noticed some of those same fae nearby, using their charm to convince several of the humans gathered to move on.
This left a gap wide enough to give him a clear view of the scene—and his heart nearly exploded. Among a number of lupines laying on the ground, either motionless, or wailing in agony, was …
“Conner!”
“Oh my god!” Emily exclaimed, the couple moving quickly to join Caleb's fallen twin.
Joslyn was kneeling next to him, sobbing and calling his name in utter despair. But no matter how much she pleaded, Conner was completely unresponsive, and it wasn't a surprise. If he'd ingested even a small amount of colloidal silver, he could be dead in a matter of minutes.
Emily moved to Joslyn's side while Caleb dropped to his knees, grabbing his twin's hand in a tight grip.
“Conner! Don't fucking do this to me!”
In response, his twin rasped for air as if he couldn't breathe, and judging by his pallor, he was in shock.
Emily clutched Joslyn, who had a death grip on her mate, tears streaming down her cheeks as she rasped, “Oh god, I can't lose him now! I still … still haven't t-told him!”
Caleb's mind was so clouded by the fear of losing his brother that he had no idea what she meant, and didn't even consider questioning it. For that matter, he just barely noticed when one of the fae knelt down behind Conner's inclined head.
Though, when he looked up, he recognized her glowing face—Adriana.
The radiant blonde wasted no time placing her hands on Conner's neck to allow a questionable light to seep into his body from her palms. But it wasn't until Emily asked what she was doing that he realized why.
“I'm healing him,” Adriana answered softly, “and the rest of my sisters are ensuring the humans don't notice much.”
As she finished speaking, Conner suddenly sucked in a breath, then cringed in pain. He still looked pale, but the fact that he was responding at all had Joslyn so relieved she could barely get out a thank you.
Still, the fae didn't stick around to get one, quickly moving on to the next victim.
Caleb briefly watched her go, deciding he'd find a way to thank her later, and for now, he focused on his brother.
“Hey! Can you hear me, Con?”
“Yeah,” Conner rasped weakly, and though his color was returning, he suddenly turned over and threw up.
Caleb took to patting his back, supposing his body was ridding itself of the toxins, and after several moments, Conner finally pushed himself back to sit on his knees.
The fact that he could do so with minimal help had Caleb breathing a loud sigh of relief, directing his twin, “Just take it easy, little bro. Feeling any better yet?”
“Getting there.”
“Good,” he remarked, allowing Joslyn to take over by urging Conner to sit back against her until he was completely well.
Yet the scare of losing her mate had her hiccuping so hard Caleb only hoped she could answer his next question. “Joslyn, how did this happen?”
With a deep breath, she informed him, “I asked Conner to grab a snow cone while I kept our place in line at the dunking booth.”
“Snow cones?” he asked, eyeing the nearby vendor while Joslyn explained.
“Yeah, and when he was coming back, he just … fell to his knees.”
Hearing her distress, Conner whispered, “I'll be okay, sweetheart. I'm just really dizzy.”
“And you're staying put until it goes away,” she directed seriously.
Knowing his sister-in-law would see to his brother's care with no lack of conviction, Caleb informed them both, “I'm gonna go sniff around that stand and see what I can find.”
Agreeing, Joslyn remarked, “If you actually locate the bastard who did this, save a piece of him for us.”
“I'll definitely try,” Caleb promised, then took Emily's hand and moved toward the suspicious vendor.
The owner was out trying to help whoever he could, all while claiming he had no idea what was going on, and Caleb wasn't sure he could believe that. Yet his doubts over the owner's innocence soon faded when he detected a specific scent, one he hadn't expected to catch.
“Emily, wait.”
Stopping her, he drew in a deeper breath—and recognition dawned.
“What is it?” she inquired.
“I found him,” Caleb returned, looking at her in surprise. “It's the same scent on the shirt from Evan's home in Texas.”
“Really?”
He nodded, taking a few more steps away from the stand, then turned his head for another whiff, but couldn't catch anything among the scents of the carnival hanging in the air. Fuck, don't tell me it's already faded!
Ready to curse in frustration, the wind picked up, sending another wave right to him. So Caleb headed against the breeze, getting further and further away from the vendor.
And finally, the scent grew stronger.
“Good, we're downwind, but we need to move fast so I don't lose the trail.”
“Okay,” Emily agreed, and Caleb wasted no time getting started, keeping her hand secured in his on the way—not that he wanted to bring her along at all.
But every second counted, leaving no time to tell her to stay behind with Conner and Joslyn. So he'd have to be careful if one of Evan's friends were around, plotting something, and hoped the entire way this trail actually led somewhere worthwhile.
Emily did her best to keep up with Caleb, but it wasn't easy.
He moved around rides and past vendors so swiftly her head nearly spun. It wasn't until he reached the edge of the fairgrounds and entered a line of trees surrounding it that he finally stopped and mentioned, “The scent's leading through the woods and … yep, there's a set of foot prints. Good, if it fades, I can follow t
hese.”
She stared down at the grass, mentioning, “I don't see anything.”
“Don't worry about it,” he replied, coming to a stop once they were out of view of carnival onlookers, then pulled his shirt off with the obvious intention of changing into a wolf.
“Will shifting help you track more easily?”
“Yeah, and I gotta admit, I'm not thrilled to have you along. So do me a favor.” Caleb handed his shirt to her, then unzipped his pants and directed, “Stay behind me so you don't mess up the tracks, but not too far. Also, grab my pants and shoes.”
“Okay,” Emily agreed, waiting for him to shift so she could pick up the clothing he'd shed, then quickly bundled it in her arms to allow them to get going.
And if she thought it was hard to keep up with Caleb as a human, tailing the wolf was ten times worse.
But she managed to stay close while maintaining a distance, and remained silent when he stopped and perked his ears high as if detecting some sound she couldn't pick up. Following the movement, he lowered his nose to the ground to sniff about, making her curious to know what he'd found.
Yet he couldn't answer even if she'd asked, and soon started moving again anyway, eventually emerging in a clearing where he stopped. She had no idea how far they were from the carnival now, but the music from the rides had faded, suggesting it wasn't very close.
Sticking to the large tree trunks surrounding the area to stay out of sight, Emily waited, watching as Caleb padded quietly toward an overhang of bushes. With each step, the tension hanging in the air seemed to strengthen, and she was immensely thankful when the wolf looked in her direction, motioning with his head to wordlessly direct her over.
Crouching low, she quickly moved across the clearing and ducked under the overhang. There, she found a gap in the branches to look through, offering a good view of the area ahead.
Down a short incline was a paved, two lane road with a black van parked on the curb. The back doors were wide open, though Emily couldn't see inside from their vantage point. Yet she did hear the faint sound of chatter, suggesting someone was inside, and Caleb perked an ear in the van's direction as if trying to distinguish what was being said.
It made her wish she was a lupine because the unanswered questions were maddening. Though she quickly realized that, with the van's back doors open, the license plate was in clear view—and her camera was still hanging around her neck.
Wasting no time, Emily set Caleb's clothing down to take the device in hand, hoping no one would shut the door before she'd managed to get a decent shot.
“Hey Phil, are you done yet? We need to go!” someone called from inside the van.
Caleb's ears perked up in response, and from a point uncomfortably close to their hiding spot, Phil called back, “Yeah! I'm zipping up.”
Movement came from the opposing side of the trees directly afterward. Soon, a man emerged wearing a silver-padded body suit like Carson had the night he'd broken into Emily's duplex—and he was heading right toward their hiding spot.
They were about to be discovered, and Emily quickly looked for a way to get out of his path without being spotted. But there was nowhere to go, and no time to think. Phil was only two steps away from discovering them, and she was all out of ideas.
But Caleb seemed to have something in mind, immediately sending a threatening growl out before Phil took another step.
Quickly, the unwitting human stopped, then moved back as if about to call for his friends.
That's when Caleb lunged.
Emily gasped, watching as the large wolf jumped through the branches and knocked the human over completely, swiftly clamping his teeth into Phil's arm with a vicious growl. The cry of pain he let in response alerted his friends that something was wrong, and immediately, two men emerged from the van, one wearing another padded suit while the other was in common clothing. He must be the one Caleb scented.
Seeing them, Emily almost called a warning, but stopped herself at the last second for two reasons. First, she knew Caleb was aware that his enemy's cry would alert the others, and second, his attack had distracted them from her entirely. So if she remained hidden, she might be able to help him get the upper hand.
But how? These three men were likely no slouch in a fight, and she had no idea what to do that would help.
Caleb's sudden whimper as he jerked back from his enemy didn't allow her to think anymore clearly, either. She wasn't sure why he seemed to be in pain, but he started swiping a paw at his mouth as the other humans entered the clearing.
And their arrival prompted Caleb to take off.
“Goddamn it!” the second masked man cussed. “Stop him!”
The others didn't hesitate, taking off after the retreating wolf while their masked friend watched. Emily supposed Caleb had planned to lead them away and give her a means of escape from the start, and if so, it hadn't fully worked—not that she could leave him behind even if it had.
Instead, her heart was pounding with fear, making it painfully clear just how far she'd already fallen for him. Please don't get hurt … .
But there was no time to focus on her concerns for Caleb when the remaining enemy let a soft laugh, questionably musing, “Damn, didn't think they'd get caught so quick.”
Emily had no idea what he meant, but it reminded her of Caleb's theory that Evan was reported by someone hoping to cut ties. So perhaps this guy was trying to set his friends up to be captured as well.
Still, and more importantly, this masked man's voice actually sounded familiar. Where have I heard it before?
She tried to figure it out, but didn't have the time. Instead, the man had turned around to head in her direction, looking for all intents and purposes as if he wanted to check the overhang and make absolutely certain no one else was around. Shit!
Emily knew only two things in that moment. First, she didn't want him discovering her camera and destroying the images she'd taken of the van, and second?
She didn't want to get caught either.
So she quickly removed the device from her neck to hide under Caleb's clothing, then sprang from her hiding spot just as he was about to lift the branches.
“Son of a bitch!” he cussed loudly, and she could hear his quick movements right behind her.
After only five steps, his heavy weight landed against her back, causing her body to pitch forward into the grass.
Frantically, she scrambled for escape, letting a brief scream that was cut off when her attacker's oversized hand clamped down on her throat. Using that grip, he jerked her up painfully, and Emily clawed at both his hand and his mask, fighting as violently as she possibly could.
During the scuffle, she somehow found herself on her back beneath him, and in desperation, she jerked the mask off of his head. Yet her best efforts of struggling only served to piss him off, and not a moment after his mask was removed, he sent a fist sailing into her temple.
The blow stole Emily's consciousness entirely, but not before making a startling discovery.
I was right. It was Sam Gibbons all along.
Chapter 35
Caleb's plan hadn't worked precisely the way he wanted, but thankfully, it wasn't hard to outrun his human pursuers and double back to the roadside where he'd started.
The entire way, his teeth, gums, and tongue ached from biting into the bodysuit his assailant wore. Apparently, there was a trace amount of silver embedded in the fabric, or perhaps colloidal silver sprayed on the suit, making it impossible to hold on for long.
Still, he hadn't planned on killing the guy anyway, and only wanted to distract them from Emily to give her the chance to escape.
She'd remained quiet during his short skirmish, leaving the humans oblivious to her presence. But regretfully, only two had followed him, making Caleb extremely anxious to ditch them and return to the clearing.
Was the third man still around, preventing Emily from leaving? Or had he noticed her hiding under the overhang?
The thought
of his mate's discovery gave speed to Caleb's movements, and he evaded the human's chasing him by ducking through bushes and taking hard turns around tree trunks to confuse them. It may have only bought a little time to check the clearing where he'd left Emily, but he soon returned to find that she was no where in sight—and neither was the masked human.
Additionally, the black van was gone, and Caleb put his nose to the ground to look for traces of Emily's scent. It was strong enough to make the task easy, and he also found her tracks leading away from the overhang. Did she actually escape?
Following the trail to find out, he realized she'd only made it a few feet from the bushes before falling in an area possessing signs of a struggle. Even her glasses were laying in the grass with a broken stem, proving what happened beyond a doubt.
Emily had been spotted, and then abducted.
No! NO! This isn't happening! It can't be! Panic gripped Caleb's heart in a hold so tight he thought it'd stopped beating, even as rage sped his pulse. Making matters worse, the sun wouldn't set for over an hour, leaving Stephan and Maddox unable to track Emily before she could be hurt.
Rage, fear, and concern overwhelmed Caleb completely at the thought. He'd already lost Fiona to these assholes, and now they had Emily, pain and grief knotting in his gut until he threw his head back with an enraged howl, alerting all pack members in hearing range that something was very wrong in the territory.
His second howl was even louder, drawing out for so long he thought his lungs would burst. But the grief was maddening, and the thought of Emily being hurt, or worse, had him determined to alert as many as possible.
In the midst of his howling, a sudden stabbing pain erupted in his ribs, a heavy weight knocking him over as one of the humans caught up with him.
Caleb landed on his side, losing the ability to hold his wolf form entirely, and returned to his human state, quickly learning the reason why—a silver knife was embedded in his lower chest.
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