Page 139 of As The Shifter World Turns

Neil

Everything happened so fast. At first we were having a nice time talking and stuffing our faces and drinking odd sodas and next thing we knew Toby was gone. The only thing giving us any relief was that he had been nowhere near the water. That would’ve been an entirely different kind of panic.

As it was, I wanted to puke. Everyone but Ivor shifted to their animals and raced to find the boy. Ivor was holding Elune. He hadn’t been told if it was safe or not for him to be shifting pregnant and having the baby to watch was good for keeping his stress at bay.

Not that it was. It was rolling off him, just like mine was.

They told me to hang back in case Toby came back and I agreed, not wanting to slow everyone down. Toby came first. Full stop. But I couldn’t do nothing and besides, Ivor was here beside the food and the van.

“I’m going to look for him,” I said, already leaving.

“Don’t. They asked you… don’t make them look for two people,” Ivor told me. And wasn’t that it in a nutshell. I wasn’t like them—any of them. I was human.

“I have my phone and I won’t go far,” I promised, not stopping to see if he thought that was a good idea or not.

I stepped into the tree line unsure where to go from there. I wasn’t like the shifters. I couldn’t just scent him out. But then again if it was that easy, wouldn’t they have found him already?

Squatting down, I approximated Toby’s height. Maybe if I saw things at his level I could find something. I looked from side to side seeing if anything caught my eye as fun and exciting for a young boy. I didn’t, but what I did notice was where the ground sloped down.

The trees felt like they were creeping closer as I walked to where I hoped he would be. Had it not been for Toby, I’d have been back out on that blanket with Ivor and Elune. Had it not been for Toby this would’ve been too much for me to bear. Had it not been for Toby each step would most likely be my last.

But it was Toby and he needed to be found. That knowledge kept me going step by step, deeper and deeper into the woods based solely on a hunch that the ball would’ve gone down and with it the dog and then the boy. At least it was a slow incline. We’d be able to get back with no trouble. That was if I found him.

“Toby!” I called again and again until I heard a dog bark. Not just any dog, Patch’s bark.

I started to run towards it and found the dog standing by a bush… no Toby.

“Toby!” I cried out. This was not good. I assumed the two of them would at least be together.

“Neil?” His voice came from a clump of bushes. Toby.

“Toby, what are you doing in there?” Relief flooded me.

“The ball’s in here. I almost have it.” Because of course he hadn’t realized anything was wrong yet. To him this was just a trip to find his ball.

“Everyone’s looking for you Toby. We need to go back. I’ll buy you a new ball.” That worked because he came crawling out.

I texted Ivor to let him know I found him in case any of them checked in and we walked back together to find his father in the clearing along with Archer and Ivor.

“Go run to your dad. He’s been so worried.” The poor kid had no idea. He thought he was still close enough to hear everyone.

His father scooped him up and held him close. I was only half way there and I could tell he was crying.

“You did good.” Archer came up beside me, still buck ass naked. Shifters were weird. “How did you find him?”

And so I told him. “But how come you couldn’t scent him?” Because wasn’t that a thing shifters did?

“Daire’s parents are apparently having a party and had people spray for bugs. It's all my beast could scent. We were going with no direction. You were amazing.”

“You were.” Martin came over and threw his arms around me. “Thank you… I don’t know what I would’ve done. I can’t… I’ve already lost too much.”

We huddled together as he sobbed against me.

55

FAREWELL

Ivor

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