Page 128 of Callen's Captive
“Tess, stop!” Damien yelled. “That’s not Hayden!”
Tess eased back. Slowly, she ushered the handful of kids she had gathered toward the nearest cabin.
The white wolf had a striking resemblance to Hayden. This one was as tall and almost as long as Hayden, but definitely not as thickly muscled. The eyes, while as dark as Hayden’s, had a wild, almost feral look to them. Crazed, like many of Drake’s pack. The white wolf hadn’t moved, yet. It seemed unsure of itself, which was good. A wolf that questioned itself would be slower to react, easier to defeat.
Callen and Frank inched away from Damien, scenting and listening as they spread out and scanned the surrounding trees.
“How many?” Damien asked, his eyes locked on the white wolf, watching its every movement in case he decided to leap at Tess or any of the nearby children she was guiding toward a cabin. As long as the wolf was content to stand there, they’d wait for Tess and the kids to get to safety before attacking.
“Just the one,” Frank said. “Definitely one of Drake’s pack. Maybe a new scout.”
“The scent is familiar, but I’ve never seen this wolf,” Callen said, bothered by the familiarity. Usually, he was quick to identify a scent, even in times of crisis. “Capture?” he asked Damien.
“We don’t have time for interrogation, not with the WSSO in the woods and Hayden missing. As soon as Tess and the children are in that cabin, deal with the wolf quickly, then check the riverbanks again to make sure the soldiers aren’t doubling back.”
Deal with the wolf. That meant there were no restrictions. If the wolf resisted, death was assured.
Frank split left while Callen veered right, heading away from the wolf, to give him a false sense of security. The wolf must have sensed their intent, for he shot into the forest at top speed. The snow sank beneath Callen’s feet as he pursued the intruder. His brain kept searching for the memory of that scent, or an explanation of why it seemed so familiar. One thing was certain, whoever this scout was, he was crashing through the thickest branches, searching for an escape route, creating such a racket that even the younger teen shifters with their awkwardness and inexperience could follow him. Despite the obvious lack of training, the wolf had speed, but not enough.
Glancing to the left, Callen spotted Frank through the trees. The large tan wolf was gaining on the white wolf. Within a mile, Callen’s path merged with Frank’s. Frank had the lead by fifty feet. At this speed, Frank would overtake the wolf within a minute. Callen tried to focus on the other sounds in the woods, to make sure they weren’t being led into a trap, either by the WSSO or Drake. It wouldn’t be the first time the WSSO had used shifter turncoats. One never knew what Drake was up to.
Inches behind the white wolf, Frank’s wolf leapt and slammed down on the white wolf with such force, the white wolf cried out. This untrained wolf proved wiry, slipping from beneath Frank’s massive body, but Frank was a seasoned guard. He knew how to hold on to a wolf, even one as slippery and sly as this one. He sank his teeth into the wolf’s hind leg with crushing force.
Pain erupted inside Callen, and he snapped his jaws behind him, to fend off whoever had grabbed hold of him. Except no one was there. Terror pushed him back up onto his paws, out of the snow, and he leapt at and slammed Frank to the ground, away from the white wolf. As Callen rolled off Frank, he shifted.
“It’s Kate!” he screamed at Frank, who subsequently shifted to his human form.
“How?” Frank said, breathing hard, eyes wild.
“I don’t know!” Callen raced over to the white wolf who was whimpering as she crawled away, dragging her injured leg. Her hackles rose from her head down to the base of her tail. When she snarled, he crouched on the ground, to show he wasn’t a threat to her.
“Are you sure?” Frank said directly behind him. “I thought Kate was human.”
“So did I.” It explained why he didn’t recognize her scent. Wolf and shifter forms held different scents.
“Why isn’t she shifting back?”
“I don’t know.” That question worried Callen. Kate should have shifted back by now. There were only two reasons a shifter stayed in wolf form, safety or for the advantage. Did she plan on running the moment she healed?
Fear and pain surged through the bond at that moment. Callen followed her eyes, dark eyes that watched Frank with a wariness.
“She’s afraid of you, Frank. Go. Check the river for any sign of Hayden or the WSSO and then report back to Damien.”
“What about Kate?”
“I can’t leave her.”
As soon as Frank shifted and bounded toward the river, Kate’s wolf stopped snarling. It was as if she recognized Callen, but not enough to approach him. If this was her first shift, as he suspected, then she’d be confused as well as untrained. She may have given in to her wolf completely, and she was injured. He could be dealing with the equivalent of a feral wolf.
Callen sat down on a particularly hard area of snow and waited for her to come to him, to hopefully recognize his scent and to know who he was to her. Despite his wolf clawing at him to go to her, he needed to be patient. If he scared her, she’d run. He needed to regain her trust.
Kate’s wolf limped closer to him, scented him, then lowered herself beside him. The fur of her neck tickled his thigh. Slowly, he sank his hand into the fur on her back. Her fur was thick and incredibly soft. When she lowered her head onto his thigh, he stroked the top of her head.
“I need you to come back to me, Kate.”
Her wolf stared out into the woods, but her right ear pitched back toward him. She was listening, but she was either lost to her wolf or something else kept her from shifting.
“I screwed up a lot lately, but I’m trying to do what’s right for you, for everyone. I need your help, Princess. I can’t do this alone anymore. I’ve lost my focus, my ability to care, except for you. You are my light, Kate. I don’t want to go on without you. Please, come back to me.”
