Page 10 of Coyote Underground (Monsters of New York #9)

Emotional Damage

A na Sofia

I shower and get ready quickly, somehow not trusting them to wait for me if they get ready first. I twist my dark hair up in a messy bun, not allowing myself time to fix it the way I normally would.

And I discover why I had three bags when I only packed one.

Isaac brought the entire contents of my bathroom, and half my clothes, even though I only packed for a few days.

He even included some of Val’s things, as if willing us to find her by having what she’ll need once we do.

As soon as I’m dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt with jogging shoes on, I head into the sitting room.

I’m not surprised to find it empty, but I do wonder if they’ve left me behind.

The nagging feeling that they want to protect me, even if it’s not the best thing for Val, eats at me.

As much as my Omega side enjoys being pampered and protected, I don’t want that right now.

I want to help find my sister. I need to be the one who’s there when she’s found. She has to know I did everything I could to save her. I will save her. I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t.

Just when I’m ready to give up and head out to search alone, the door opens.

A grin spreads across Isaac’s face when he sees me.

I can’t help but smile in return. There’s something about these men that gets to me in the best way.

Even with the desperation I feel over my sister’s disappearance, just seeing them makes me happy.

“Let me guess, you didn’t think I’d still be here?” I ask, reading his expression.

The blush along his cheeks tells me I’m right. I’m thankful they didn’t leave without me, but annoyed that any of them would expect me to do this on my own. “The thought had crossed my mind. I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

I can’t be mad, because after taking a minute to consider his position, I understand his concern. And after what almost happened at The Gin Room last night, I can see why they might think about leaving me out of things. But they haven’t, so maybe I don’t know them as well as I thought.

“Are we ready to go, then?” I ask, kneeling to check the laces on my shoes. I don’t need them to come untied while we’re out, especially if I need to run. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but I have no idea what we’re gonna come up against out there.

“As soon as Diego and Zo are ready,” he responds. “You’ll be staying in the car with me, okay? We have to be ready to drive off in a moment’s notice, so I need you to promise you’ll stay with me. Please.”

I’m relieved he isn’t being demanding. It’s nice that he’s explaining the situation and what’s expected of me. All I want is to find my sister, and I’ll do whatever necessary to make that happen.

****

I saac

“I’ll do whatever it takes to find my sister. If that means sitting in the car with you, I can do it,” she answers. I’m not sure I believe her, but I know that finding her sister is her top priority right now.

I know she doesn’t fully trust us yet, and I want more than anything to fix that. Bringing Valerie home will be a good start on that path. After a few more minutes, Zo and Diego are ready, and we all get into the dark tinted SUV that will take us where we need to go today.

The car is quiet as we head toward the docks.

I’ll have to park in the lot so we don’t draw attention while Diego and Zo creep around, looking for clues.

Once we’re parked, Diego shifts into his coyote form.

Zo opens the door for him to get out of the SUV, then shifts and follows him.

I close the door behind them and we settle in to wait.

There’s no way to know how long it will take them to find anything, if there’s anything to find.

****

L orenzo

In coyote form, we’re less likely to be noticed, even if someone sees us. I mean, sure, we’re slightly larger than our non-shifter counterparts, but most people don’t know how big a coyote is anyway. I follow Diego around some crates toward shipping containers closer to the end of the dock.

With our heightened sense of smell, I’m not surprised when Diego stops and turns back toward me as we approach a shipping container. The scent is rancid, and I don’t want to go near it any more than he does. But we have to.

Valerie is running out of time, if she hasn’t already. From what Ana Sofia has told us, there are very few reasons why anyone would have kidnapped her. And none of them are good.

Approaching the opening of the container, I can’t help noticing that the smell is stronger here.

Whatever it is, it’s inside this metal box.

And it smells like it’s been dead for a couple of days at least. Diego looks at me over his shoulder before stepping inside.

I follow him, gagging, but swallowing back the bile rising in my throat.

The moment I see her, I freeze. Diego stalks over to the girl, sniffing and nosing at her.

Under the scent of death, there’s something familiar here.

I don’t want it to be Valerie, but I’m certain it is.

We’ve seen pictures of her, and she looks a lot like Ana Sofia, who looks a lot like the unmoving body lying next to my Alpha.

When his eyes meet mine, I can’t hold back my shift. As soon as I can speak, I turn to Diego. “Is that her?” I whisper, already knowing the answer.

In response, he shifts as well. “I’m pretty sure it is. I don’t know how we’re going to get her out of here without someone realizing what’s going on.”

“Should we call Isaac? We have to tell Ana Sofia,” I insist, knowing this might just kill her. Diego shakes his head.

“She’ll run down here, and I don’t want her to see this. It’s bad enough she’s lost her sister, she doesn’t need this image burned in her brain forever,” he answers.

****

A na Sofia

Something is wrong. There’s no explanation for how I know it, but I do. “We need to follow them,” I tell Isaac. My heart is racing and my breaths are coming as pants.

“We can’t do that. You promised to stay in the car with me,” he reminds me gently.

I shake my head. I can’t sit here, not while Diego and Lorenzo are in danger. I have no idea why I think they’re in danger. But I can’t shake the idea that something is wrong, and it’s all my brain will let me consider.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to go.” The words rush out of me, and I practically jump out of the SUV, shifting as soon as the door is open. I race off in the direction Lorenzo and Diego went a little while ago, following their scent until something changes.

I smell Diego’s amber rum, Lorenzo’s citrus, and something acrid, but it’s mixed with Val’s chocolate cherry scent. She’s in there! But why haven’t they brought her out? I turn the corner, walking into the opening of the shipping container.

It’s dark, but my eyes adjust quickly. The horror of the scene in front of me will haunt me forever.

Diego is standing over my sister’s lifeless body.

I step closer, noticing how battered and broken her body is.

A soul-ripping mourning howl fills the air, until a pair of strong arms scoop me up, crushing the air out of me.

I don’t recognize this man’s scent, so I begin to buck against him, fighting for my freedom the way my sister must have fought for her life.

Darkness engulfs me as the air leaves my lungs. I feel myself go limp, even as I beg my body to fight.

****

D iego

I never should have agreed to bring her along. I know she would have found a way to follow us, though, and I thought we could keep her safe. Instead, we’ve managed to let her see the tragic scene of her sister’s death, and get captured by the men responsible for it.

I glance at Zo, and he shifts when I do.

We’re not going to be able to get Valerie out of here and save Ana Sofia.

A split-second decision has us racing after the men who just took our Omega.

It doesn’t matter that we haven’t claimed her yet, we’ve all decided she’s ours.

We just have to convince her that’s what she wants.

She’s going to need us after this. My heart aches, remembering that sorrowful howl that poured out of her.

We turn the corner and find Zac, in coyote form, standing over Ana Sofia’s unconscious body with blood on his muzzle. The human man who grabbed our girl is bleeding out next to them. Good job, Zac. As if he heard my thought, he nods at me.

Zo and I square up with the other two men who were threatening Zac and Ana Sofia with knives.

None of this makes any sense. We need to take one of these guys alive so we can get some answers.

I shift into my human form, because if I remain a coyote, I’ll rip their faces off for what they’ve done to our girl’s sister.

The man closest to me lunges, thrusting the knife at me.

I grab his wrist, twisting it until he drops the knife.

Then I elbow him in the face twice to knock him out.

When I turn to look, Zo is tearing the throat out of the other man.

I don’t have time to wonder about the blood streaking his side.

I’ll find out soon enough if it’s his or the other man’s.

For now, we have to get Ana Sofia out of here. We’ve made a lot of noise, and there could be more guys coming. “We have to go—now!”

Isaac shifts and scoops up Ana Sofia. I slip a zip tie around the unconscious man’s wrists and use another to tie his ankles before tossing him over my shoulder.

Zo doesn’t shift, and that tells me the blood is probably his.

Fuck. This entire mission went completely sideways, and I’m not sure how to bring it back.

The three of us dart back to the SUV, locking our prisoner in the back, then settling Ana Sofia and Zo in the middle seat. I climb into the driver’s seat and Zac rides shotgun.

“I’m sorry, Diego. She got really upset all of a sudden and ran off. I followed her, but I was too late,” Zac says.

I shake my head. “I should have known it was a bad idea to bring her. She must have felt it along the bond that’s forming between us. There’s no other explanation. We found her sister’s body. Zo and I were trying to figure out how to get her out of there when Ana Sofia showed up.”

“I should have stopped her,” he argues.

“You couldn’t have done anything other than what you did,” I respond. “She’s stubborn, and she would have found a way to get to us. Let’s focus on taking care of her and Zo for now. Then when this asshole wakes up, we can get some information out of him.”

We drive the rest of the way in silence. I know Zac isn’t done blaming himself, but it’s not his fault. I’m the one to blame here.