The doors of the barn swung open; as predicted, Xander didn’t even bother locking them. I saw the figure of a guy walking into the barn. He was shirtless with a pair of ripped jeans and he was barefoot. His hair was on the longer side, resting just above his shoulders and it looked wet from rain. I hadn’t even realized it was raining… or maybe it was sweat?
His back was turned from me so I couldn’t get a good look at his face, but I saw deep and gnarly scratches on his back, making me wince. I’m sure that must have hurt; it’s strange how he hadn’t healed from that, but maybe it had just happened.
Behind him stood a young girl; she didn’t look much older than me. She had long blonde hair, which was also wet, and she wore a bra with a pair of jeans that looked almost designer. She had a nice figure and bright features, though she reeked of rogues.
Unlike the guy, I was able to get a look at her face and I was shocked to see that her eyes were tinted red, and she looked like a mix of pissed and worried.
She looked around the barn for a moment with a look of disgust.
“Are you sure nobody is here? It smells like shit,”
she muttered, staring up at the man.
He looked around as well, and that was when I also saw his face. I had to stifle a gasp when I realized who he was. I covered my mouth with my hands and kept myself buried in the shadows.
They were part of Paul’s clan.
They were Volana hunters.
Enzo’s POV
“Something is wrong with our mate,”
Max’s voice came into my head while I was in the middle of speaking to the researcher.
We could smell the wolfsbane potently since Hazel broke the masking spell on it, but now he was generating some new reports to prove that there was indeed wolfbane in the mixture so I could present it to not just Professor Xander, but the school board as well.
I already called to schedule a meeting with Tiffany Prescott, and I was planning on going there first thing in the morning.
That is until Max spoke the words that left me frozen.
“What do you mean something is wrong?”
I asked my wolf in return.
“Don’t you feel it? She’s nearby and something is wrong. I can feel her worries… her anxieties. A little bit of her pain as well. She’s far enough away where it’s not coming through clearly… but she’s close enough that I can just reach her…”
“She’s at school; we aren’t supposed to be able to feel her right now,”
I said in return, wanting to ignore him and continue my conversation with the researcher, but his loud voice stopped me.
“I’m telling you, she’s in range. She’s around somewhere and she’s in danger,”
Max growled, and I could feel just how serious he was.
“I don’t understand,”
I said, shaking my head at the thought. “What would she be doing this close to here?”
“I don’t know, Enzo,”
Max growled. “But she is. We need to go to her.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do we go to her?”
I asked.
“I don’t know….”
I looked at the researcher who was still running the tests on the mix and not paying much attention to me anymore.
“I need to leave. But I’ll be back,”
I said quickly.
I didn’t wait for him to answer but I thought I heard him saying, “Okay, no problem,”
just as the door shut behind me.
….
Lila’s POV
“I don’t feel right here; we should go,”
the girl said in a hushed whisper, grabbing at the guy’s arm.
“We need to find the others,”
he said, harshly.
“They probably died,”
she said in annoyance. “You saw what that Volana did to Paul… there’s no way the others survived that.”
“I’m sure others had fled like we did. We just have to be patient. We will come across them but for now, we should rest.”
“But right here?”
The girl said and I could hear the desperation in her voice. “It’s gross in here… the scent alone makes me want to throw up. It’s creepy and we are way too close to that wretched pack than I feel comfortable.”
That wretched pack? Was she talking about Enzo’s pack?
We were close to the Calypso pack. Oh, thank Goddess. Maybe Enzo can feel me after all. I just had to hope he’d find me before they did. I bit my lip and continued to hide in the shadows, listening to them.
“This barn has been abandoned for years. Nobody will be coming here and we aren’t on anyone’s territory. We are fine, Casey,”
he said, sounding majorly annoyed himself.
Casey was her name; I needed to remember that in case I ran into her again in the future. If I even had a future at this point. I was basically a sitting duck, and I didn’t like this feeling. But the shadows continued to morph into one of them, hiding me from their viewing. I silently thanked them and the Goddess for keeping me hidden.
“How long are we going to stay here for?”
She asked and I watched as she found a hay pile and sat down.
“Just until I finish healing and then we can go,”
he answered. “Maybe for tonight. Just get some rest and we will figure it out tomorrow.”
Ugh… they were going to be here all night.
There was a part of me that wanted to reveal myself to them; maybe they would help me after all. Or they would leave. They seemed to be afraid of me; it seemed as if they were actually in hiding. So, maybe if they saw me, they’d let me go or run away out of fear.
But every time I thought too much about making myself known, Xander’s words invaded my thoughts, and I felt a sense that I shouldn’t do it. I continued to press myself against the wall, ignoring the pain going in and out of my body.
Please Enzo. If you can sense me… if you can hear me…. come find me. Your mate needs you.
I closed my eyes, allowing some tears to fall down my features. How did I allow something like this to happen? I felt so stupid.
“How’s your back?”
The girl, Casey, asked the man whose name I hadn’t found out yet.
“It’ll be fine,”
he murmured, sitting beside her. “Just give my wolf some time. He’s old and it takes him a little longer to heal me nowadays.”
“You aren’t old, Charlie,”
she said, and I heard a little flirtatious humor in her tone.
Charlie was his name; I needed to remember that.
Casey and Charlie; rogues and Volana hunters. I shuddered at the very thought.
“My wolf is an old soul,”
he said in return, but I could hear the chuckle in his voice. “Come here.”
I heard her moving toward him and I knew he must have been holding her close.
“How did we get so wrapped up in this?”
She whispered against him.