Chapter 29: Royce - Marked By Love

Margarette stood in the greenery behind the clinic, her face contorted and red as tears fell down her face, her voice carrying across the open yard. Gerald stood in front of the clinic, his phone pressed to his ear as he yelled into it.

Amelia soared in the skies above, her hawk eyes hunting. Scott’s wolf had his nose to the ground, searching for a path. Buford’s grizzly stood erect, eyes sharp on the perimeter.

Royce’s ears pounded, fingers trembling. Was he breathing? He couldn’t tell.

“Phase!” his wolf bellowed. “What are you waiting for? We need to track the trail while it’s fresh! PHASE.”

A yell tore from his chest, and he gripped his hair as his knees threatened to buckle. His teeth were elongating, and thick fur was starting to spread over his skin. He fought it back.

He needed to remain rational. He needed to know exactly what happened before he let the wolf take over. He needed to talk to Margarette.

“What happened?” he demanded.

“Dr. Abbott! I mean, Theodore.” Her voice shook, and her hand clutched at her throat. “He came in early to walk Mutt. He—he went further from the clinic than normal. I couldn’t see … I was doing inventory, and I couldn’t see. But I heard the shots.”

“How many?”

“I don’t—three, four, I’m not sure. When I came out, he was gone and so was Mutt.”

“They took both of them?”

“Mutt was howling, I don’t—I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t see.” Margarette had started bawling at this point.

Scott’s brown wolf disappeared, leaving the naked man standing in the grass. “I scented three alphas, one was in bear form. And there are four shells in the grass and some alpha blood and …” He held up Theo’s glasses. “Whatever happened, Theo put up a fight.”

“He’s scrappy like that, a good shot too.” Royce remembered the time he’d been the one Theo was aiming at. If he hadn’t ducked and rolled when he did, there’d be no more Royce. “But still, three alphas at once? And if one of them was shifted, he wouldn’t be able to fend them all off if they took him by surprise.”

Royce wanted to fall to the ground, to cry and scream, to shift and run after his mate. But he forced himself to remain in control. This attack had been coordinated. They would have had an escape vehicle waiting somewhere. He couldn’t run down a car the way he could run down someone on foot.

“Amelia!” he called upward. “What do you see?”

The hawk took a nosedive. A split second before it hit the ground, it pulled up and turned into a woman.

“There’s a track in the trees,” Amelia said. “Four miles, maybe six, up to the northernmost path, based on the mud tracks, they had a van waiting. I’d also wager someone got shot in a critical location.”

“Blood?”

“Tons.”

Royce turned to the forest. He hoped to hell that blood belonged to the alpha Theo injured.

“The dog. I can’t believe they took the dog too. And Doc. What do they want with Doc? What’d they do to the dog?” In his shocked state, Gerald was repeating the same sentiment over and over again. Royce twitched as the omega’s voice grated his ears.

Lucy had taken Margarette to the side and was asking her more detailed questions along with trying to get anything out of Gerald. Argus was on his way, but he hadn’t been in town when they called, and it was going to take him a while. Royce couldn’t wait that long. Theo couldn’t wait that long.

“Buford, you’re coming with me. Amelia, follow from above and return here if anything happens to us or we find where they’re hiding.” Royce kicked off his boots. He couldn’t outrun a van, but he could sure as shit follow it until the trail died.

A pitiful howl carried through the air as he was removing his shirt. His head snapped to attention. The sound came from the cabin, by the lean-to. He went forward to investigate; maybe one of them got left behind? But how had he not scented that?

With a whine and a bark, Mutt came out from the lean-to. Her lead still attached to her harness, her curly fur was covered in mud and bark. She whined and limped, her ears flat as she looked around cautiously.

“Mutt!” Royce knelt in front of the dog. She wiggled her butt and came forward to Royce’s open arms. She rested her head against his chest. “Oh, Mutt, you poor thing, you’re shaking. They didn’t hurt you too, did they?”

Mutt snuffled and licked Royce’s face. He ran his hands over her, careful of her stitches and bandages. She seemed okay. He was worried sick about Theodore, but seeing Mutt here, unharmed and upright, soothed a piece of Royce’s mind. Albeit a minuscule one.

After reassuring Mutt, Royce took her to Gerald and Margarette. They’d know better if anything was wrong with her. Mutt, however, looked as if Royce was abandoning her in her most dire hour. Odd way for a dog he’d hit with his car to be looking if you asked him. But he couldn’t stop and consider that right now. Theo needed him.

Shucking his clothes, Royce let go. His wolf surged forward, and he dropped to all fours. Placing his nose to the ground, he found Theo’s scent. It was stronger as a wolf. He could track him across the lawns to the exact spot Theo had a surge of adrenaline, then terror. His wolf growled, the scent of his mate’s fear leaving a sour taste on his tongue.

He also picked up the three distinct alpha scents: the black bear, his pain and surprise; a bobcat, he had surprise in his scent too; and a wolf, her scent was mixed with arousal.

His hackles went up, and he sprinted into the woods. Some alphas got off on being bullies, especially to omegas. If these lot were the traffickers, which was his best assumption, he had to hope they had a long way to travel before they got Theo to their destination. Far enough to buy Theo time … time for Royce to track them and catch up to them.

Putting his nose to the ground, Royce’s wolf traced the combination of scents through the trees while Buford’s grizzly lumbered behind him.

The further into the woods they traveled, the more diluted Theo’s scent became; in short, he was tracking the alphas only. He hated this. If he’d been mate-bonded with Theo, this would be easier. He’d instinctively be in tune to his emotions, his state of being … not only would he be able to find him without issue, he’d know for sure Theo was okay.

But if he’d mate-bonded with Theo, that would have meant he’d forced something onto Theo that he hadn’t wanted.

His wolf snarled at him. “Would you shut up? I’m trying to concentrate.”

“It’s distracting having a never-ending diatribe, isn’t it?” Royce shot back.

“Our mate has been kidnapped, and you think now is the time to make a point?”

Royce decided to be quiet after that. If they tracked the alphas’ trail, they would find Theo … eventually.

They ran through the woods for what felt like hours before Amelia’s hawk overhead let out an ear-piercing screech. Royce’s wolf slowed, snuffling the wet forest floor and then the air.

There was pavement ahead and blood. Lots and lots of blood.

Emerging from the forest, there was a road winding through the trees, cutting north and south. Here the three alpha scents mixed with another alpha, motor oil and gasoline, and another omega scent. Royce couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, most likely the second omega was injured or using suppressor, but it scented wrong. Something about it made Buford’s bear agitated. He rose up on his hind legs, sniffing furiously before letting out an irate roar.

Royce paid him no heed, because at this spot his mate’s scent vanished entirely. Maybe that was a good thing though? The blood wasn’t Theo’s, and there was no evidence of further harm or distress to him. He tried to force the logical thoughts onto his wolf—he wasn’t having it.

His wolf trotted south down the road while Buford’s bear went north, both of them tracking. After several paces and the scent trail of the car hadn’t faded, Royce turned to Buford and barked. Head bowed, Buford turned and ran after Royce, rapidly outpacing him.

What the hell had Buford scented that made him this impatient? As Royce’s mate being the one kidnapped, Royce should be the one leading the way. He could challenge Buford’s position in this hunt, but Theo had precious little time to waste on formalities and ego.

Amelia’s hawk screeched again, then flew on ahead of them. Royce prayed to the fates that she found something, that they were close, that Theo would be able to hold on … Royce was coming for him.