Page 14 of Fennick’s Fortune (Sentinels of Apollo #2)
“I’m not planning to chain her to my bed and refuse to let her up until she submits and stays,” I growled, though the image, if it was play, made me begin to harden. I had to push it away. Ripper chose that moment to get in on the conversation.
“Yes, we can. She’s our mate. She stays with us. We can persuade her,” he said confidently.
“No, we’re not doing that.”
“Why not? She’ll settle once she has a cub in her belly,” Ripper replied. He made it sound like I was stupid for not thinking of it. I gave up trying to point out how wrong that was.
“Let me guess. Ripper is all for the idea.” Brax rolled his eyes.
“Of course, just as no doubt Nightstalker would be,” I countered.
“You’ve got that right. Alright, let’s get serious. We can’t all go running after her all over the country. We have others to help settle or get to a safe location of their choice. And we have no idea how much of a head start she has,” Brax added.
“Is she on foot or traveling as a bear? She could carry that pack of hers in either form. And as a bear, she’d cover more ground,” Keir admitted.
“Why don’t we divide up and each see if we can pick up her trail from here. Once we have it, then I assume Fen will follow it. Who else wants to go with him?” Royal asked.
“I think it’s best if I go alone. No, hear me out.
If she’s embarrassed over the memory incident, the fewer people, the better.
And I promise, I won’t kidnap her and bring her back here.
As much as I want her here with me and as my mate, I won’t do that.
Akiva has to choose me of her own free will.
If not, I’ll never have all of her, and it’s doubtful she’ll be able to love me,” I admitted.
“I suggest we get started then. It’s dark, and if she’s got a large lead, you’ll be out there a long time.
I know you’ll travel in bear form as much as possible, but take your phone.
Once you find her, if she agrees, call us, and one of us will come to get you and her. What about your work?” Gunnar asked.
“I’m off for two more days. And yes, I’ll go as a bear. It’ll be faster, and my sense of smell is more acute in that form.”
With this plan decided, we rose. Brax stood, but I shook my head. “We have enough to find the trail. You need to stay here with your mate. Cerys, I don’t want you feeling guilty. It’s not your fault.”
“I feel like it is. I lay down around one o’clock for a nap. I got up at three o’clock. That had to be when she left.”
“Thank you, that’s less time than I feared,” I told her, then kissed her cheek.
Outside, the six of us split up and searched for Akiva’s scent outside the house. The trail took about five minutes to find. Nico discovered it.
“I found it,” Nico projected to us.
We were able to follow his psychic footprint to where he was standing. Even before I reached him, her intoxicating smell tickled my nose. I inhaled deeply and rushed over to him. The other four joined us.
“It leads off in that direction. I didn’t go far, but it’s the only one that smells like her,” Nico claimed. “Do you want me to fly ahead and see if I can spot her?” he asked.
I thought for a moment, then shook my head. “I don’t want to spook her. If she sees you, it may make her run or become more resistant. Thanks for offering, though.”
They all slapped me on the shoulder or back and wished me good luck.
As they returned to the house, I stripped off my clothes.
It was winter, and the night air was a brisk forty degrees and dropping.
But for me, my body ran at a higher temperature than a regular human, and when I let Ripper out, he’d be toasty in his fur.
After rolling the clothes tightly and putting them, the phone, and shoes into my pack, which I slung over my shoulder, I let Ripper out.
After all these years of transforming, I could do it in mere moments, and the discomfort hardly registered.
There was no holding Ripper back. After releasing a roar to let any competition know he was out there and willing to fight, he charged after Akiva.
I knew the Bhaer men. They knew me, so I was less worried about coming across them.
They had no clue about Akiva. There was the chance that an actual bear might be around and would want to accept Ripper’s challenge. We’d have to see.
Then a thought hit me. What if one of the Bhaers allowed their bear to run and came across her trail?
There was no way they’d be able to resist it.
She had pheromones mixed in with her natural scent, plus an underlying hint of something I couldn’t identify.
Regardless of what it was, it was enough to drive Ripper into an almost frenzy.
I thought we would catch up to her in no time.
I saw no indication she’d shifted. Occasionally, I saw a human footprint.
Yes, even in the darkness, with only the moon casting light, I could see as if it were dusk at the most. My confidence that it would be a short effort came to a halt once we were on the outskirts of Needles.
We came upon a popular trail used by hikers.
That shouldn’t have presented a problem, but so many smells from numerous people mixed, and Akiva’s distinct one was barely a whisper.
What the hell had happened? I’d never had this happen in the past. Ripper sniffed all over the area and was frustrated that he hadn’t found her.
Finally, I made him continue to follow the popular trail.
Eventually, she’d veer off it. When she did, we’d discover her again.
Eventually, other scents decreased, but Akiva’s didn’t reappear.
Ripper and I were puzzled, and to avoid losing her, we backtracked and worked away from the main trail to see if she’d gone off it.
When nothing new was found, and not wanting to give up, we went back to the main one and continued to explore it, despite the lack of her essence.
When we came to a stream, I had to make a decision. Stay on our side of it and walk along it until I pick up something familiar, or cross over and do that on the opposite side. After a short debate, we decided to cross.
We traveled a good distance on the opposite side.
I was about to call it and tell Ripper we should return to the original side of the stream and work our way back when a faintest hint of Akiva tickled our nose.
It was mixed with earth, water, a coconut sunscreen, and an overpowering perfume.
The sunscreen and perfume had been part of the trail since we left Needles.
As soon as that thought registered, I wanted to slap myself.
That was Akiva! She tried to disguise her essence and further altered it after emerging from the stream by adding mud. Clever.
I was confident I was right. Ripper sped up and stuck to that scent path.
It veered away from the others and was now the sole one we were tracking.
It took us further from civilization and was on a southeastern trajectory.
Was she headed to Arkansas? Did she have a destination in mind after all?
Or was someone waiting for her? The idea that a man was somewhere waiting for her to join him made both Ripper and me angry. His speed increased.
When we began to smell her bouquet grow stronger, I warned Ripper. “Slow down. We don’t want to scare her or make her run. She’s close by. I can sense it.”
“We have to get to her before others do,” he replied.
“There’s no one out here who’s a threat to her. Slow down.”
About a mile later, we came upon several large rock outcroppings. The area was heavy with them. Looking around, we spotted her curled up with a shiny survival blanket tucked around her. Akiva was lying on the top of a flat rock with her back to us. She didn’t move.
“ Stop!” I shouted to Ripper. He came to a halt.
“What?”
“You need to shift. And before you argue, listen. We need to talk, and you in this form and she in her human form won’t work.
Let me speak to her. While I do, see if you can connect with her bear.
Find out her name and if she’s receptive to becoming your mate.
She can tell you if there’s someone else. ”
Ripper growled and was less than pleased, but he let me force the shift in the end.
With him given a task, I got dressed. I made my way quietly to stand no more than a couple of feet away from her.
I soaked up the sight of her in the moonlight.
Her eyes opened, and she stared back at me.
There was no fear. She studied me as intently as I studied her.
Neither of us seemed ready to break the silence.