Saadia turned with a grin on her face and said to him, “I didn’t think anything could unnerve you, Tracker.” He didn’t like the noticeable smirk on her face as if she had another secret. Saadia strutted away into the store wearing a pair of skin tight leather jeans and a leather jacket. Tracker watched at her the whole time until she disappeared into the restroom.
He began pumping the gas and realized that he had been using Hunter’s credit cards. He had better get one for himself, but he had been busy, and thought Hunter would understand. Hunter would understand everything except the news about the motorcycle.
Standing near Tracker, Damon watched Tracker’s reaction to Saadia. He leaned over and said, “Why don’t you take her for your mate? She’s never going to give up on you.”
“I have places to go before then,” Tracker said turning to look at the gas pump.
“It appears you are right back where you started,” Damon said with a snicker. Tracker raised his eyebrow and eyes to Damon, and Damon raised his hands in surrender and turned his head looking up in the sky.
Damon annoyed Tracker. He had too many opinions about how he should live his life.
“Never mind that. Do you have a map of Flagstaff on your phone?”
“I have better than that. Remember when father gave us all a phone.”
“Yes and where are you going with that?”
“He installed an app with a tracker. I know just where Thorn is. It could be, he just wanted some time with that woman of his.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Tracker said, “then why send a finger to father?”
“Maybe it’s not Thorn’s finger,” Damon said.
“Father wouldn’t have reacted the way he did and send you to search for him,” Tracker said.
“Werewolves in love never make sense. You weren’t in love with Zoey. You would never have given her up had you felt that way about her.”
“Maybe I gave Zoey up because I was in love with her,” Tracker said.
“Not you. Or maybe it was because you’re in love with someone else. And you know well enough what I’m saying,” Damon said pointing his chin in the direction of Saadia.
Saadia strutted up to Tracker and Damon as they were talking. Damon saw the look in Saadia’s face when Tracker said perhaps he did love, Zoey.
“Are we going to stand here and discuss how much you love Zoey, Tracker? Or are we going to find the girl you love. You may be shocked to discover that she’s with the one that sent the finger to your father.”
“What are you saying, Saadia?”
“When I was hitchhiking...”
“You were hitchhiking?”
“Don’t pretend Tracker you are concerned about me.” She stared at Tracker. He didn’t know what to say. “There was this couple coming from Samsaville. A blond haired girl about my age and she had these deep dark blue eyes. She appeared nervous and terrified the entire time I rode in the car. She didn’t say a word and then I heard the man call her Zoey. I just remembered when I saw a poster of her in that convenience store.”
“Do you think?” Tracker said.
“I don’t know but that picture looked just like the girl and that scary guy called her Zoey,” Saadia said.
“We’ll know in a few hours. Get on,” Tracker said to Saadia, and Tracker watched as Saadia jumped on the motorcycle. He placed his long legs over and started it up after taking time to put on his helmet. The helmet was for decoration only and to prevent from being pulled over by the police. He didn’t know the laws in each state he had to cross, but he knew he didn’t have time for some nosey cop wondering why he was riding an expensive motorcycle even if he would pull him over just to admire it.
Giving all the problems he had with Beau, and because Zoey was perceived to be a missing person, and he was the last one seen with her, an overzealous policeman could pay too much attention to him. And then one thing would lead to another and game would be on and over. He would get pulled into something more awful than the killings of Beau and his disgusting friends. Something that could affect the Samsa werewolves and the pack for a lifetime.
Chapter 13
When Lycell drove his pickup to the gate and it opened, he jumped out and trekked to the mailbox to get daily mail. He didn’t expect to open a package and see his son’s finger in it. He stood looking in a daze. His eyes wandering up the road through the trees and back where he stood considering what was in front of him—Thorn’s finger. His mouth opened tilting his head to the side and wondering if this was some kind of joke.
It had a sticky tag on the box. The kind you place on a child’s present. It said: Thorn’s finger.
Lycell appeared to have been standing there for an hour, but it was only a minute. He rushed into his Ford truck, put it in gear and gunned the motor, sending him speeding back to the house. Loss for words and not knowing what to make of this, he knew the finger like he knew all his sons’ fingers and toes. He had marveled at them when they were born. He played with them to make them laugh when they were pups, and he watched at them when they could walk and run, and when they got thorns in their little paws, and would cry and didn’t want to walk he would kiss their little finger or toes and they would smile up at him.
Only one of his sons refused to walk for almost six months when a small thorn had entered his feet, and Lycell had the devil trying to get it out. And because of that he called him Thorn.
It was Thorn’s finger all right. Lycell’s first thought was what have Tracker gotten him into and his second thought was Adrienne. How could she be away enjoying herself in Wilder’s arms when her son was in trouble? He came to the conclusion that she wouldn’t know because he wouldn’t tell her.
When Lycell reached the ranch, and walked in a circle for an hour not knowing what he should do, he called Damon and told him to come back as soon as possible. Damon had been headed for the cabin but hadn’t got far out of Samsaville when he got that call.
Damon made a turn screeching tires and all. It was something in Lycell’s voice that let him know it was urgent.
He walked into the house calling out to his father. The cook and nurses came out and then went back to what they were doing.
Damon never saw his father in shock, never heard the panic in his voice before until now, but then Lycell never had matured sons before. Damon sat listen and watched at the troubles Wilder had with Hunter and Devin, but nothing like this, he thought. It had to be far worse because of Lycell’s reaction.
Rushing into the library Damon said, “What is it father? You didn’t sound like yourself and I hurried to back here.” He showed the note to Damon and then the box containing Thorn’s finger.
Lycell clutched the note in his hand and the box in the other. He held them out for Damon to see but not take. It was as if Lycell couldn’t move or talk. He glanced down at the note held tightly in his fist. Damon took the box from him and starred at Lycell.
Finally Lycell read the note out loud “We have your son, Thorn. If you want to see him alive, come to Flagstaff with five hundred thousand dollars.” Lycell didn’t read the rest out loud. When you get there call this number, the note said, and I’ll tell you where to drop the money. I’m not going to waste time telling you not to call anyone. If you don’t call me in two days, then I will send you a toe, and more fingers, the note said. After that if the money isn’t delivered, you can pick up the whole carcass.
Damon glanced up at Lycell, and Lycell said to him, “I know that area in Flagstaff. There are forest where Thorn can hide out if he can get to it.”
“But he has a woman with him, father. It’s Tracker’s woman. She’s with him now.”
“I knew Tracker would do something like this. I have lost one son and now I’m in jeopardy of losing another—for good.”
“Father, I’ll take care of everything. Tracker and I will find Thorn. You need to stay here and watch over the ranch. We still have threats from the Lion shifter and the Alaskan pack. You never know when they
will strike. Hunter is coming home soon and Devin is there in case you need him.”
He had been the one who acted without much thought, but he knew the truth when he heard it, and Damon made sense.
“Mother will be back soon and I promise you we will have Thorn back before then.”
Reluctantly Lycell gave in. He wanted Adrienne. He needed to talk to her. When it came to her boys she listened to Lycell as he complained and she was there to remind him that they were just like him even if he didn’t want to admit it.
Lycell liked talking to her and felt she was as much his as she was Wilder’s or Drayton. He felt that way because of his six sons, and now Thorn was in trouble, and he missed Adrienne.
All Lycell knew was that Thorn’s troubles involved men and that human female. And knowing what he knew about men and women, it was a deep as it could get.
He knew Tracker’s disposition and it was a cross between his hot-head and Wilder’s cool, calculating, loner behavior. But Thorn, he was sensitive to all things around him. He had a kindness buried inside him that Lycell thought would get him in trouble. He had been warned about playing with bear cubs, but disregarded Lycell’s instructions to leave them alone, and when the mama bear found him, she was ready to tear him apart. But when Damon spotted Thorn he hurried to Lycell to tell on Thorn. Lycell arrived in time, attack the bear from behind, diverting his attention from Thorn and killing her.
Thorn remained upset for days because of the bear and her cubs, but finally he got over it. “You’re too sensitive to live,” Lycell said coldly to Thorn, “if you don’t find a way to set that easy nature aside, you won’t survive to become a yearling.” It was the words of his father Thorn heard in the darkness and in his thoughts when his mind cleared.
For years Thorn continued to blame himself long after for the death of the orphaned cubs. He was the kind of werewolf that saw all creatures as good and didn’t want to harm them. The good that lived inside of him, he inherited from his mother. That was until he came into contact with The Voice and now he would become his father.
***
Thorn knew now it was kill or be killed. He had learned that lesson early. When he had crushed the man’s throat with his bare hands, and tore his head off, he knew he come into his own as a fierce werewolf. He didn’t care about anything anymore except finding Zoey. The thirst of the kill had consumed him and changed him.
He didn’t need anything, not food or water. All he wanted to know was where was Zoey and how could he get to her.
Leaping up the stairs two at a time behind the two men, he reached the door, and with one hard kick from his now powerful legs, the door fell with a boom, and he stepped into the light for the first time in weeks. His eyes burned. He reached for the light switch and felt it to his right and turned the lights off.
The two men feeling afraid of their own shadows fired their guns where they thought he stood. The only light was from the television. One of them had a bright idea to turn out the only light they would have to find Thorn. They thought it was to their advantage to have all the lights off, so one crouched and pulled the plug. That was one of the worst decisions of their lives. It was one and many bad decisions they had made that night.
The first was the decision to help the voice take Thorn to the cellar after he kidnapped him, and held him for ransom. The second was for them to sit there as the voice tortured and fucked Zoey without them saying anything. They could have done something. They saw that this was wrong, yet they sat in silence. And the third was to agree to let Thorn die, and the final decision was to go into that cellar.
Thorn had no thoughts of killing anyone, he just wanted to get away and take Zoey with him, but the realization of what the voice had done to Zoey in those never-ending weeks, he knew someone would pay a price, and it would be the voice and his friends, and it would be tonight or tomorrow.
Standing next to the fridge, he inched himself around when he heard them whisper. One was trying to get the other to look for him. They stood a moment discussing it until they saw head lights coming up the gravel road to the house. Because the shutters were open, the light from the car was like a spotlight focused on the two who huddled now like cowards in the corner, afraid of their shadows. Thorn leaned forward but he heard them before he saw them. They turned to go to the door to warn the voice to turn off the lights, and that was the last mistake they made.
Thorn managed to shift when his strength returned because he wasn’t taking any poison into his system. In a second he became a fierce white hungry wolf. He leapt on both at the same time and ripped one across the chest and the other he went for the jugular. He chewed at one’s throat and spit it on the floor. And looked down at his kill. He had renewed strength.
When he glanced up the car turned off the lights. He wasn’t sure if the voice had seen him. But Thorn saw him. Thorn snarled and then howled. It was loud and strong. The voice panic and jumped out of the car dragging Zoey with one hand, and a gun clutched in the other.
The voice rushed to the back of the house.
“I have your woman. If you want her in one piece, come out of the house.” Thorn didn’t believe that this man would give her up. He would kill her before he would hand her over. Thorn didn’t want Zoey to have any more pain than necessary. He didn’t know what to do.
“Are you still there?”
“I’m here.”
“How much do you want that woman?” Thorn didn’t want to answer. He would die for her, but he didn’t want to say anything for fear the voice might detect his weakness in his words. Thorn let him talk. And as the voice talked, Thorn inched outside against the wall of the house. He would sneak up on him like he had done his prey. He would exert patience and then he would spring on him.
“How did you get out?” Still Thorn wouldn’t answer. “I know. That bitch convinced me to tie you up with a rope. I should have known better than to trust a woman.”
Then Thorn heard Zoey scream.
“If she screams more and you hurt her again, I promise you I will rip your heart out as you look into my eyes, and I will watch the life bleed out of you.”
“You and who else? You don’t have a gun. It’s just a matter of time before I hunt you down. And then what are you going to do?”
“I think you have forgotten one thing. Let me educate you. I am the hunter, and you are my prey.”
Thorn heard a loud laugh and he began to move in the voice’s direction. He took his time. He let him get comfortable with his arrogance, and with what he thought could protect him from anything. Just carrying a gun gave the voice confidence that he could do and take what he wanted, and he had done just that, but it wasn’t over. He hadn’t killed Thorn yet.
“Where are my friends?” Thorn heard his voice and moved closer to him. As the voice tried to move away from Thorn, and keeping Thorn talking, was the strategy he thought of. As long as the voice could hear Thorn he could shoot in that direction. What he hadn’t plan for was that Thorn knew his tricks.
Thorn may have been a werewolf yearling, but he was seasoned. Lycell made sure all his boys knew how to survive. He dropped them all in perilous situations. Thorn had been hunted by a bear but Lycell didn’t tell him that he was watching over him. He wanted to know what he would do in a situation like that.
The only thing Thorn wasn’t prepared for was to fall in love. His love for Zoey would hinder him and he knew it. But what could he do? He was in love. And he would die for Zoey.
“Your friends are where you will be in the next minute,” Thorn answered. His voice threatening. The voice turned and fired a shot behind him. He didn’t know Thorn could throw his voice and imitate different animals.
“If you want to see Zoey again, leave us,” the voice said, “you’ve done a lot of damage. You’ve killed my friends. The woman doesn’t want to be with you. She wants to be with me. Don’t you, Zoey?” He held her with one hand and the gun with the other.
When he dropped Zoey’s hand to concentrate on
Thorn, Zoey inched away from him. The voice saw what Zoey was attempting and rushed to her and grabbed her arm. “You’re not going anywhere, bitch,” the voice called out.
And Zoey bit his hand and a shot rang out. The voice looked startled and confused but when he turned around, Thorn had shifted. Thorn stood in front of him on all fours, a six feet fierce, snarling, and growling, teeth gnashing large white wolf. His eyes never leaving his prey.
When the voice realized what and who Thorn was, it was too late. He stood terrified, his eyes wide with a startled expression covering his face. He watch at the large beast unable to move or shoot his gun. It may have been because he didn’t believe his eyes.
He wanted to run but his feet appeared to be frozen in place like he had been put into a barrel of cement and thrown into an ocean.
With a shaky hand he raised the gun and before he could get it higher, Thorn leapt on him. The voice got off one shot. It grazed his left shoulder. Leaning over him pinning the voice to the ground, he looked him in the eyes. The voice had seen those eyes before. Thorn lifted his head and let out a chilling sound. When he lowered his muzzle, he growled and ripped the face off of a screaming man begging for his life. The blood from the wound was terminal. Nothing could save The Voice.
Thorn stood glancing at him too long enjoying the pleasure of the kill. He had forgotten about Zoey. Then when he realized that he wasn’t that wolf but Thorn, he shifted back to his original form.
Looking around for Zoey he spotted her lying on her back. She wasn’t moving. Rushing to her his heart beating quickly, he leaned over her. “Don’t die. I just found you. I need you. I love you.” He picked her up in his arms and let out a loud howl. It was long followed by a whine. He rocked her in his arms and tried to revive her, but she lay there like a rag doll with blood oozing slowly from her side.
Thorn in Moonscape #9 Page 9