The Trail Back (21 page)

“I’m fine, Lachlan,” she said and wrapped her arms around his chest.

“I take it they’re all dead?” Lachlan asked.

Brody appeared with some clothes in his arms. “No vampires anywhere close.”

Lachlan’s phone buzzed, and he immediately pulled it from his shirt pocket. “Caleb,” he said.

They all started breathing again when Lachlan smiled and gave the thumbs-up gesture with his free hand. Everyone was alive.

“They’ll be home soon, little wolf,” Brayden said. He felt Abbie finally relax. Lachlan listened for a full five minutes as Caleb explained what he needed prepared for their return. They had injured pride members and the injured hybrids to bring back from Canada.

Once Caleb had finished speaking, Lachlan then informed the Alpha of the attack on Pine Falls. They all heard the Alpha’s roar of rage.

* * * *

Shane struggled to his feet as he heard someone approaching. He didn’t know if he’d healed enough to fight, but he could now move. Breathing was painful, but he’d been in more pain and survived, and that was before he had a mate for motivation.

“Shane, are you still alive?”
Josh said. Josh’s wolf trotted into the small clearing Shane had been lying in. His white coat was covered in blood from deep gashes that ran down his back and sides.

“I hear they’re all dead. Did we get the mayor? I want…”

“We don’t know, young wolf,”
Aiden said, interrupting Shane’s thoughts.
“None of us has ever met him. I’ve taken pictures and am sending them to Sean. He will have Kaitlyn confirm if he is among the dead here.”

“Efficient. Can we go now? I want to see Abbie,”
Shane said.

Josh growled in agreement. Shane had achieved what he’d set out to do, and now he needed to hold Abbie, hold her and know that she was safe. Two hours away from her had been too long.

“Caleb is assessing the injured hybrids, and Elliot has gone to the rendezvous point. He wants to be there before we ask Brody to come back. As soon as he’s there, Caleb will call Prescott and organize for Brody to come for us,”
Aiden said.

Josh came to stand at his side, and Shane leaned some of his weight on his brother.
“We need to get to the cabins,”
Josh said.
“It will be quicker if Brody takes us all home from there once Elliot brings him to the camp.”

“I’ll be slow, but I’ll make it,”
Shane grumbled.

They’d only made it a few hundred yards when the sound of Caleb’s roar shook the forest around them. Icy fear spread though him as he and Josh both stood frozen in place, waiting for news on what had occurred to make their Alpha so incensed.

Shane was growing twitchy, his wolf snarling constantly, as five minutes went by and there was still no word from either Caleb or Aiden. Calder stepped out of the trees, silent and brooding. He was naked, bloody, and bruised.

“No one at the camp is of any use right now. They’re all so pissed that they can’t even speak.”

Shane and Josh growled at him.

“Don’t fucking shoot the messenger. I’ll start by saying your mate is fine. Brayden is with her, and she is unharmed.”

Shane thought his brain was going to explode. This had something to do with Pine Falls. Something that had endangered Kaitlyn and Meg so greatly that Caleb and Aiden were furious beyond words.

“It means Abbie was in danger,”
Josh said.

Their fury grew, their wolves barely leashed. Their wolves were ready to start running home, ignoring logic in their drive to get to their mate.

“The mayor attacked the town with a whole bunch of vampires. They’re all dead. The mayor included. We’re waiting for Brody to arrive. Then we’re going home,” Calder said. “Do you need me to carry you?”

Shane would have bitten him if he hadn’t been so shaken by what he’d just heard. The mayor had been in Pine Falls and half the pride had been here. Abbie had been in greater danger than they were.
“Fuck.”

“Fuck is right,”
Josh said.
“Let’s get to the cabins. I need to get back. I need to see Abbie. I feel like I’m going to be sick. What the fuck is wrong with me?”

“Fear,”
Shane said,
“I think this is what fear feels like.”
Shane was scared, not for himself, but for Abbie—scared for what she may have been through, scared the mayor had touched her. Shane was scared the mayor had even looked at her. She’d been through enough. They were supposed to be keeping her safe. They’d failed.

All was quiet as they approached the cabins. Isabelle was holding her mate in her arms. The panther was unresponsive, but Shane heard a steady heartbeat. Aiden and Caleb emerged from the cabin interior. Both looked fiercely inhuman in their current states. Aiden’s fangs were showing, and his clawed hands were clenching and releasing as though he itched to be tearing something apart.

Caleb was pale, and his hair and body were covered in blood. He’d pulled on some sweatpants that were several sizes too small, and they were also coated in blood.

“Josh, I need your help with the hybrids. There is a male wolf hybrid here that can carry one of the women. You’ll need to carry the other. They are both too weak to stand.”

Josh nodded and shifted before climbing the cabin steps and disappearing inside. Shane could scent the fear and pain coming from his brother, but he obeyed their Alpha unquestioningly. It would mean Josh going straight to the clinic when Brody arrived. He wouldn’t be going to Abbie any time soon, either. The injured hybrids and Ray would need to be taken first.

Shane growled, and his wolf’s hackles rose at the infuriating delay in getting to his mate. Caleb and Aiden both nodded at him, their eyes blazing as they shared in his distress.
She’s safe. Calder said she’s safe with Brayden.
He tried to calm himself and his wolf. His wolf’s growl was loud as it rumbled from his throat. He wouldn’t be anywhere near calm until he held his mate in his arms.

Aiden’s and Caleb’s growls joined his own.

It was taking longer than Josh liked to get everything finalized in Canada, and he was having a hard time maintaining his newfound control over his wolf. It wanted Abbie and it cared about nothing else.

Josh had carried a small woman from her cage and dressed her in a clean shirt that Aiden had found in one of the other cabins. The vampires had few clothes and all of them were inappropriate for their surroundings. Apparently the mayor required they dress in business suits at all times.

When Elliot returned with Brody, the woman Josh was holding was the first victim to be taken to the clinic, as she was deemed to be in the worst condition. Josh was surprised to see Cameron Harvey there. He was still shifted, and his leg was in a splint.

“Bring her through here,” Charlie said. She ushered Josh into another examination room and gestured to the bed.

“My name is Charlie,” she said to the woman. “I’m a doctor. We’re all here to help you. Can you tell me your name?”

Josh was pulled from the room by Brody. “We have to get back, there’s more to be done.”

Josh found himself back in the cabin with the cages before he’d drawn his next breath. Brody took the arm of the big wolf hybrid who had introduced himself as Randall. Randall was holding the remaining hybrid, Nicola, in his arms as Brody disappeared with them.

“We’ll get Brody to take Ray and Isabelle next,” Caleb said, “then Shane and Aiden. You and Elliot start collecting the bodies and bringing them in here. Put everything that needs destroying in this cabin. Then have Brody burn it to the ground.”

Aiden appeared with some papers in his hand. “I have the names of all the people Selwyn sold his poison to. I’ll take all this to the vampire council when we’re ready, they have the resources to track them down and punish them suitably.”

“Punish them how?” Josh said. He wanted the threat to his mate ended definitively. He didn’t want some random vampire starting up a new business for himself.

“They will all be put to death,” Aiden said, a wicked smile on his lips, “painfully. Our mates will be safe. I’ve been in contact with Jason Reed. He’s been busy these last few days.”

“He actually made a vaccine?” Josh asked.

Shane rose unsteadily to his feet and the big wolf leaned his weight against him as they both stared at Aiden.

“He has. The man is quite brilliant.”

“Brody is going for him as soon as we’re finished here,” Caleb said. “He’s going to assist Charlie with all the injured. He’ll bring the vaccine with him.”

Josh waited for Shane to sit down again before running outside to collect all the bodies and body parts. He felt a strange warmth in his chest. The forest seemed more beautiful. The sky was a blue he’d never seen before. He was happy, truly happy. He had a mate who was now safe, and he and his brothers had all survived.

* * * *

When Brody delivered Caleb home, he found Prescott sitting on the sofa with Meg on his lap and a cell phone pressed to his ear as he coordinated the cleanup. Caleb growled and ran to sweep Meg into his arms.

He buried his face in her neck and breathed in the sweet honey and pine scent that was distinctly his mate’s. He felt his muscles relax as the tension drained from him. “I needed this, baby,” he murmured into her ear. “I was so damn worried every second I was away from you.”

She ran her hands over his shoulders and around his neck. “Are you hurt, Caleb?” she said, fear in her voice.

“No, baby. I’m fine. I didn’t know we were leaving you in danger, that the mayor had come here. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s good he came. Now we’re certain that he’s dead. He can’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“Lachlan’s taken all the bodies to our old barn,” Prescott said. “Samson is bringing the last three from town now.” Prescott pressed against Meg’s back and nibbled at her neck.

Meg shivered and reached back to caress Prescott’s face. “As soon as we’re alone, baby.”

Meg’s natural scent became tinged with the smell of her arousal. Caleb growled, his cock growing hard in an instant. He looked over to see Brayden smirking at him.

“I didn’t say a thing, Alpha,” Brayden said. Abbie was still in wolf form, curled up and asleep on his lap.

“Where are Sean and Kaitlyn? I imagine Aiden is on his way here from town,” Caleb said.

“They’re on the porch waiting for him. Kaitlyn doesn’t want to go home until Aiden arrives.” Brayden stroked over Abbie’s fur, the wolf didn’t move.

“Is she hurt?” Caleb moved his arm to hold Meg under her ass as he walked closer to Brayden.

“No, she’s just exhausted. May we stay until Josh returns? Then I’ll take her to the clinic to see Shane.”

Meg turned in his arms. “Of course you should stay,” she said. “Oh no. Prescott…”

Caleb held her as she started to shake. Prescott appeared at his side with a bucket in his hands. Caleb let Meg slide down him and held back her long honey-blonde hair as she threw up into the bucket.

He smiled. His pride was safe, his mate was safe, and his cub was strong and healthy. He had decided he would accompany Aiden when he made his petition to the vampire council. He felt it was important that they see Aiden had his Alpha’s full support.

* * * *

Aiden had done all he could to assist Charlie with the injured until Jason arrived. Then he gave in to his need to find Kaitlyn.
“I’m coming now, my heart.”

“Sean and I are waiting on the porch for you, my love. Hurry, I need you,”
Kaitlyn said.

He’d been listening to her thoughts since he’d been back in Pine Falls, and he knew she was going crazy with worry for him. He understood her worry. Despite being assured she was uninjured he still needed to see her, to hold her, and to know the truth of it for himself. Aiden was walking up the steps to Caleb’s porch before Kaitlyn had finished her thought.

“You look like shit,” Sean said, a wide smile on his face.

“Thank you,” he said and pulled Kaitlyn into his arms. “I’m sorry you had to fight, Kaitlyn. I never would have left if I imagined I was leaving you and Sean in danger.”

“You left us, Brody. We were safe,” Kaitlyn said.

Her smile melted away the fear and anguish that had gripped him since Caleb’s phone call. He held Kaitlyn at arm’s length and studied every inch of her. She was wearing a T-shirt that stank of Lachlan and nothing else. She was splattered with blood, but her skin looked unmarked.

“You are wearing another man’s clothes,” he said, a growl slipping out with the words. The cats were having a bad influence on him.

“So is Sean,” Kaitlyn said. She pursed her lips and tried to glare at him.

He pulled her close, wrapped an arm around her, and cupped her bare ass. “I don’t care if Sean smells like another man.”

“I care,” she said with a laugh. “You better not come home smelling of another men, buddy.” She turned and poked Sean in the chest as she laughed.

“No chance. I’m all yours, baby.”

Sean stepped up close and kissed Kaitlyn. Her laugh turned into a moan.

“I think we need to get our delicious mate home and into a bath before she drives us into a sexual frenzy in her pantyless condition.” Aiden moved his hand under her T-shirt and stroked over her folds.

She moaned louder, and Aiden held her tight and started running home.

“What about Sean?” Kaitlyn said. She kissed his neck and clung tighter to him, wrapping her arms around him.

“He’ll probably beat us home. You really do smell wonderful.”

“Sean said that Jason may have found a way to change my blood,” Kaitlyn said. “It may really be over. Our children will be safe.”

“We’ll test the vaccine tomorrow.”

He ran into their home and straight up to their bathroom. He put Kaitlyn on the counter and tore the shirt from her. He took it with him to start the bath running and tossed the shirt out the window.