Chapter 94

Aiden’s POV

Her trail went cold again. We had been out here for hours. We were about an hour away from the stadium. Her scent was everywhere for a while, but it gradually started to go away. Oliver had arrived 20 minutes ago with the werewolf police; they joined me in the search, picking up any clues that they could.

I couldn’t pick up her scent in my human form so I did the one thing I told myself I wouldn’t do in human territory. I stripped off my clothes and shifted into my wolf form. I allowed my wolf full control to find our mate. For a while, he was able to track the second until we were about an hour away from the stadium and then it got cold.

He whimpered in distress as our mate's scent faded completely. He sat back on his hind legs and howled at the moon, distress ringing in the air. I heard the shuffling of feet behind me and when I turned, I saw Oliver running towards me with a few others in toe.

“Anything?” He asked me; I noticed he had my clothes in his hands. He was a true friend for thinking ahead like that.

I shifted back into my human form, naked as the day I was born.

“Nothing,” I muttered, aggravation clear in my gruff tone. I was pissed and I was going to make sure whoever took her paid the price. Nobody takes what is mine and gets away with it, that’s for sure. I took the clothes from Oliver and quickly dressed; my heart was pounding.

“Sir, we found a car a mile north from here,” one of the officers said, rushing towards us. “We think it’s the same car that Carol was in.”

“Take me to it,” I said through my teeth.

Without another word, we all ran in the direction the officer came from and within a mile, we saw a beaten-down red sedan parked in the forest on the side of the road. I ran to it even faster and when I reached the car, I brought my wolf forth and used his senses to get a whiff of Carol.

I didn’t get Carol’s scent, but I did get the familiar scent of those goons who were stalking her and were later released from prison. I would recognize their scent anywhere. Oliver helped me search the car for any clues about Carol. One of the officers went to the trunk and when he opened it, I was smacked in the face with her scent.

“Holy shit,” the officer breathed, and I ran around the car to see what he was looking at. I paused when I saw Carol’s other shoe in the trunk and my heart sank deep into my stomach. “Is this blood?” The officer asked, looking at the red spot towards the corner of the trunk.

I didn’t have to smell it any further to know that it was blood, and it was Carol’s blood. Panic consumed me and I thought I was going to go into a panic attack. Oliver gripped my shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.

“Relax, I’m sure she’s fine,” he tried to say, but I could hear the worry in his own voice.

“Fine?” I asked, feeling on the edge of hysteria. “She was shoved in a trunk and taken to the forest an hour away from the stadium and her blood is in the trunk she was in,” I said, glaring at him. “And you’re saying she’s fine?!”

“Taking your anger out on me isn’t the answer. I want to find her too,” Oliver said, trying to keep his voice calm. “We need to work together.”

I shook my head, shoving his hand away from my shoulder and I quickly stripped out of my clothes again, leaving them in a pile on the ground as I shifted back into my wolf form and ran into the forest. It was strange because she was obviously here; her scent would have normally been here somewhere. If she hadn’t been here in a while, it still would have been faint. But it was like she was never here; her scent wasn’t anywhere other than the trunk.

It was infuriating and I couldn’t help but howl loudly at the moon once again.

“Do you think whoever took her masked her scent?” I heard the question in my head and when I turned, I saw Oliver’s big black wolf approaching me.

We can only communicate with one another in our wolf forms.

My heart ached at the thought of them masking her scent so I couldn’t find her. My wolf whimpered at the very thought; he didn’t like the fact that our mate was out of sight and in danger.

I stared into the dark forest; she could literally be anywhere.

“Maybe,” I said through the mindlink. “But that’s not going to stop me from finding her.”

….

Carol’s POV

Water soaked me and I coughed as it entered my mouth and went down my throat before I could stop it. My eyes flew open, and I saw one of the goons who took me standing in front of me with a bucket of water, laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

I was freezing because the water was cold and now, I’m completely soaked and uncomfortable. I shivered as I glared up at him, not sure what to say or do.

He towered over me, and his strong demeanor made me cower away from him. I had another dream, the same dream that I’ve always had, only this one felt different. The voice was stronger and surer of herself. She was really trying to get through to me this time and she said in a firm tone, “Use your powers! Your destiny awaits! Use your powers!”

I wasn’t sure what that meant because even if I wanted to, I didn’t think I could use my powers. I wasn’t even fully sure what my powers were. How could I be expected to use them if I didn’t know what they were?

The guard started to undo my chain, while still laughing at my soaked form.

“What are you doing?” I asked breathlessly, still trying to get a grasp of what was happening and why he decided to soak me.

“I was told to come collect you,” he told me as the other two men stood at the doorway with their arms folded across their chests, glaring at me. “The ritual is ready, and Morgan is expecting you there in one piece.”

As soon as the chains were released from me, I tried to get free from him, but he was too quick and too strong. He grabbed my arms, twisting them behind my back and causing pain to shoot up my spine. I screamed in agony as I fell to my knees. This only made him, and the others, laugh.

“Don’t try to pull that shit again,” he said through his teeth as he yanked me off the ground and forced me out of the cell. He shoved me through the room and towards the other men who pushed the doorway open, stepping aside for us to walk through.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, my body trembling with fear.

“You’ll see,” he muttered as he continued to shove me forward without letting go of my arms. I tried to get a good look at my surroundings. We were walking down a dark hallway, and I couldn’t really tell what kind of building this was, but there didn’t look to be anyone there other than the three guys that were behind me. The scent of mildew never left my nose; in fact, it seemed to be getting worse with every step we took.

The hallway was long, and it appeared to be never-ending. It was also much darker than the room we just came from, and my eyes were having trouble adjusting.

“Please, let me go,” I whispered. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Neither do we,” the man gripping my arms said as he shoved me forward again.

Before I could think straight, I thrashed against him, trying to get myself free. I knew it was probably a stupid idea and I was so weak from the drugs they pumped me with, plus, I had no idea where I would go once, I was free considering I had no idea where I was. But I honestly couldn’t think straight and all I wanted was to get out of here and see Aiden.

He wasn’t expecting me to fight as hard as I was, and he released me as I threw my head back and made contact with his face.

“Fuck!” I heard him grunting. I caught a glimpse of blood oozing out of his nose, and I smiled, a bit satisfied that I most likely broke his nose. But that satisfaction only lasted a second because he quickly recovered and shoved me against the wall, slamming my entire against it and making my head pound even more than it was. “You’ll pay for that, you bitch!” He hissed.

The other two had their guns in their hands and they pointed at me, fury in their eyes. I caught a glimpse of one of them and my eyes met his.

I’m not sure what compelled me to do this, but before I could think of anything else to do, I said, “Shoot him.”

His eyes narrowed at me as a green glow surrounded his body. Then he turned the gun toward the man who was shoving me against the wall and pulled the trigger.

The man fell to the ground with bullet in his skull; dead.