Page 59 of Alpha
“You won’t hear anything,” Jake informed me.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because when they are tracking, they keep their thoughts from us. It allows them to concentrate,” he explained.
Even though Cade was experienced, I couldn’t help the worry that kept me pacing back and forth. I didn’t know what I would do if anything happened to him.
Images of two massive wolves tearing into each other made me sit down on the sofa as my legs trembled with fear. I closed my eyes and dropped my head into my hands.
“He’ll be okay, he knows what he’s doing,” Jake said, trying to soothe me, but I wouldn’t believe he was safe until I saw it with my own eyes.
Fear grew inside of me. I couldn’t contemplate the thought that something could happen to him while I was sitting safe and sound in his house, oblivious.
Half an hour later, I heard the sound of a car engine and rushed to the window to peer outside.
Any hope that I had that it was Cade vanished when I saw Hank and a few other guys, along with Gary, get out of the car.
I rushed to the front door with Jake following behind me.
“Have you heard anything?” I asked anxiously as Hank entered first.
“No,” he answered as he shook his head.
“How are you doing?” Gary said as he entered the house behind Hank. I gave him a look that revealed the panic that was rising up inside of me. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.
Still being tightly hugged by Gary, I noticed Jake stiffen for a moment and then he dashed through the formal lounge. I pulled myself out of the hug as I saw Jake disappear out the patio doors toward the compound.
My heart began to hammer inside my chest as fear began to overflow inside of me. I watched Hank hurry to try and catch up with Jake. Something was up.
I followed them to the compound, where there was flurry of activity. The air was filled with a nervous energy.
Just as the gates at the bottom of the property came into view, I saw a couple of injured guys lying on the ground. Curtis leaned over one of the injured people. It was only seconds, but time seemed to slow down as I looked down to the faces of the people who had been injured, my feet leading me to them.
Blake. He grimaced in pain as Curtis put his hand on a wound bleeding on his stomach. Horror filled me when I saw a deep gash through a tear in his shirt. There was so much blood.
Oh. Dear. God.
My head began to spin as I came to a stop a couple of feet away from him. I couldn’t pass out; I needed to know where Cade was. I took a deep and struggled breath to stop the dizziness. My mind fought with my body to stay upright and in control.
In the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop the thoughts that something bad had happened to Cade. He and Blake were inseparable and Blake looked seriously injured. Had Cade been injured as well?
I don’t know how, but when I opened my eyes again, the sight of blood didn’t make me feel sick.
Cade.
I needed to know that he was okay, because if he wasn’t… it wasn’t something I could think about without feeling like someone ripped my heart from my chest.
I wanted to help Blake. I knew I’d just get in the way, though, so I stood nearby, just a couple of feet away as I watched them load him onto a stretcher and carry him to the medical center.
Where was Cade?
Frantically, I scanned the area for Jake. He would know, but I couldn’t find him in the crowd of people that had built up around the gate. I spotted Hank standing guard at the gates with a few others watching into the forest. Were they waiting for Cade?
Panic gripped me, but I pushed forward in Hank’s direction. Even though I was petrified of the answer, I needed to know where Cade was.
As I reached Hank, he glanced at me.
“He’s on his way back,” Hank informed me with a soft expression when he saw the state I was in. I clutched his arm. Relief flooded through me and I felt my knees weaken. The array of emotions that had gripped me from the time this had all started had exhausted me. It felt like I’d been stuck on a roller coaster for the last hour.
