Page 47

Chapter 47

Caleb

Dante gets the police on the phone while Garrett drives like a maniac.

Usually, when Garrett drives like a maniac, I tell him that I’m going to call the highway patrol on him, but right now, I’ve never been so damn grateful that he’s such an aggressive driver. I don’t care how much trouble we get in so long as we avoid a collision and get to Ava in time.

“Yes, we have a missing person,” Dante insists. “Yes, Ava Charleston. Five foot two, long dark hair, and brown eyes. She was released from—yes, you have her file. No, nobody’s heard from her. We have reason to believe that her ex-boyfriend Marcus—yes, the one who brought the charges against her—yes, damn it, this is an emergency, start treating it like one!”

I don’t think anyone would be quick to call me aggressive or someone who’s prone to anger. I leave the Alpha posturing to Dante and Garrett. There are times when a quieter strength is what’s called for.

But right now? I could yell at some fucking police myself. Hell, I’ll yell at anyone. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we get to Ava before Marcus can do anything to her.

I keep my eyes on the maps application on my phone, giving Garrett directions as he weaves in and out of traffic on the highway. We quickly leave any other cars behind and get past the usual commuters, ending up on the part of the freeway that is used by people coming up to their fancy house for the weekend when they know it’s worth the long drive.

The idea of Ava stuck with that monster for a long drive like this makes my blood boil. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kill anyone before, but Marcus is sure coming in close on being my first.

Behind me, I hear Dante finally managing to convince the police this is an issue and getting information.

“He says that security footage on the cameras outside of the prison shows a white van pulling up and a man matching Marcus’s description grabbing Ava and yanking her inside before it takes off,” he tell us. “They were able to get a partial license plate and they’re checking through the database now.”

“Watch,” Ethan says darkly. “Marcus will have bought it with a fucking credit card or something.”

“Don’t underestimate him,” I say darkly.

Marcus completely fucking played us. We thought that he was trying to put Ava in prison, or at the least drag her through a long and painful court process. Even if his ‘evidence’ against her ended up being proven as false, it would still be a lot of heartache and headache on our parts. Especially Ava.

I thought he wanted to drag her through the mud and make her relive their relationship. Maybe even try to make some kind of legal claim on her since he was in a relationship with her while she was technically an Omega, even if she hadn’t presented yet.

Sure, that charge wouldn’t stick because an Omega’s consent is important, and if Ava didn’t consent to this, then it would all fall to pieces. But he could still very well try.

But I was thinking too small. Too legal . I should’ve known that a man like Marcus, one who made Ava that goddamn scared, would pull an even bigger piece of bullshit like this.

Ava may look delicate in her features, it’s part of why she’s so beautiful in my opinion, but she’s not delicate in spirit. She’s strong and determined. To have her afraid of someone like that says a lot about what kind of person they are and it’s nothing good.

Now Marcus is determined to make her his, legal or not.

Terror boils in my stomach as my mind races, my thoughts full of all the worst possibilities. I struggle not to tell Garrett to drive faster. This is one of Ethan’s sports cars, so it’s built for speed, but there are limits to how fast any vehicle can go.

Garrett’s going as fast as he can. I just wish we could fucking teleport.

What if Marcus manages to give her the bite while she’s with him? What if he forces himself on her like that? It makes me want to scream and rip things apart with rage. Preferably Marcus himself.

“They’re treating this as an abduction,” Dante says, sounding annoyed and weary as he hangs up the phone. “They know the address of Marcus’s residences so they’re headed there now. Both the penthouse in the city and this one.”

“We’ll get there first,” Ethan notes, sounding savagely triumphant.

I’m with him. I’m glad we’re going to be there before the police. I want to have some time just the four of us with this piece of shit.

We keep driving, and I give Garrett instructions to take the next exit off the highway.

We’re almost there.

“Hang on,” Garrett informs us. “I’m ignoring red lights.”

“Good,” I tell him, but I brace my feet anyway.

There aren’t any other cars around, thank fuck, so we don’t have to swerve to avoid T-boning anyone. Garrett’s as good as his word and blasts through every red light, obeying no laws of traffic except the directions I give him.

Finally, we end up on one of those streets where the houses are divided by the remains of the forest that once conquered this land. It keeps all the houses apart and private, so that people can enjoy their parties or solitude as they wish.

“Up ahead,” I tell him. “On the right, two more down.”

Garrett skids the car to a halt as he turns sharply into the driveway, all of us jolting from the sudden stop.

I don’t waste a second. Garrett throws on the parking brake and we all rip our seatbelts off, rushing out of the car.

There in the driveway ahead of us is a goddamn white van. I don’t bother asking Dante if the license plate matches the partial that the police were able to get off the security footage. What are the chances this white van is sitting in Marcus’s driveway for perfectly innocent and coincidental reasons? Practically fucking none, that’s what.

As if my thoughts have summoned him, out of the woods emerges a figure, cursing loudly. “Dumb fucking…” he growls.

My rage completely takes me over, and before I even know what I’m doing, I’m rushing him.

Alpha rages aren’t really a thing the way that fantasy stories and others like to portray them. They’re greatly exaggerated for dramatic purpose in those stories, especially the ones that make it a big plot device, like a prince going into an Alpha rage and causing a major diplomatic incident, or killing an ally he didn’t recognize in the moment. High drama stuff.

But right now, I feel like I’m in the grip of something primordial, some deep instinct from back when we were literally out surviving in the wild, taking on saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths and all other manner of animal that was three times our size.

I literally leap at Marcus, catching the surprised look on his face right as I slam into him and knock him onto his back on the ground. I grab him by the arms and pin him, snarling in his face.

“Where is she!” I demand, my voice a low, thunderous growl I’ve never heard come out of my own mouth before.

A small, distant part of me is detached, observing this behavior and marveling at how Ava could bring this out in me.

The rest of me is too busy being fucking furious to care. I’m in the grip of righteous rage, and nothing is going to stop me.

Marcus whines and tries to get out from under me, twisting this way and that like a snake. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Get off me! You people need to stop fucking harassing me. This is assault, and trespassing. I’ll call the damn police on you.”

The fact that he’s trying to weasel out of it just makes me angrier. “You kidnap a woman and you can’t even find the stomach to admit to it?” I snarl. “You have to pretend that you didn’t do anything? You can’t even find the goddamn balls to stand up and say that you took her and you want her for yourself?”

I’m almost stunned at the cowardliness on display in front of me. I know that most people who are abusive are actually quite cowardly when people stand up to them properly. They’re usually deeply insecure and that’s why they feel they have to manipulate people, to get the power and attention they crave.

They can’t actually face up to someone when they know that person has the power here. When they know that admitting to their crimes will get them in trouble.

Knowing and seeing, however, are two different things, and I find myself furious all over again at this piece of shit.

“Come here,” Garrett snarls, grabbing one of Marcus’s arms.

Dante grabs another, and they haul him up as I back off, turning him and slamming him against the side of the van. Dante grabs the back of Marcus’s head and pins it harder against the van. I hear the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking and see blood sliding down his face and the side of the vehicle.

“You son of a bitch,” Dante snaps.

“Where is she!?” Ethan demands. He slams his fist against the side of the van by Marcus’s head, making it clear what he’ll do to Marcus himself if Marcus doesn’t give us what we want. “Where is Ava!?”

The sound of sirens cuts through the air. Dante and Garrett don’t let up their grip, but we all turn our heads to see several police cars racing down the street. They pull up the driveway and stop, with multiple officers getting out, hands on the weapons at their hips.

The four of us step back and put our hands in the air. I realize belatedly that I’m growling, but I don’t care if it makes me look like a knothead. This man kidnapped our Omega and I don’t want the police dealing with him. I want us to deal with him. Ava’s pack.

It’s our goddamn right. It’s justice.

“Officers!” Marcus puts his hands up too. “Officers, you have to help me, look at what they’re doing to me. They’re trespassing, and assaulting me—”

“You’re Marcus Travers?” one of the officers asks.

“Yes, yes, this is my house.” Marcus indicates the house behind him. He sounds relieved.

I can’t help my smirk when the officer replies, “Then, sir, we’re placing you under arrest for abduction.”

Marcus’s jaw drops open. “You can’t be serious.”

“Very. Please turn around.” The officer pulls out a pair of cuffs.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Marcus pleads.

“You abducted Ava Charleston from outside of the correctional facility where she was released six hours ago,” the officer replies. “Using this van.”

“Look, I don’t know where the bitch is, all right?”

Garrett and Dante drop their weight, clearly ready to attack him, but I hold up my hand to get them to wait.

Marcus just came out of the woods, and he was angry. He didn’t come from the house, or the van, which I can now see is open on the other side, empty and dark.

The woods…

“He’s telling the truth,” I tell them. “Kind of. He abducted her, but she fled into the woods. I saw him come out of there furious. She must’ve lost him in there.”

The officers all exchange looks, like they’re not sure what to do with this information.

Screw it. We’ll let the police deal with Marcus. As much as I want to beat him into a pulp, I know that Ava’s more important. She could be hurt out there.

“Then let’s go,” Dante says.

I nod, and we all take off running into the woods.

We’re quickly enveloped by the trees, and I realize how easy it is to get lost in here. That’s a good thing for Ava when it comes to running away from Marcus. She could easily lose him among all these trees.

But it’s a bad thing when it comes to getting her to safety.

The woods here used to cover a massive area, and the houses were carved out of it piecemeal. The woods still exist, in between each house and surrounding them, interconnected like Everglades snaking through the houses down in Florida.

It doesn’t look like much when you’re out on the road. You think it’s just a large patch of trees. But then you get into it, and you realize it’s all bigger and wilder than you thought.

“Ava!” I yell. “Ava! It’s us! We’re here!”

I can hear the others fanning out, yelling for Ava as well. We’re going in separate directions, by silent agreement covering as much area as possible by splitting up. I’m glad, not for the first time, that I’m on the same wavelength as the rest of my pack and we can all read each other so well. There’s no stopping to huddle and waste time planning or questioning. We know what we’re doing.

I try to strike a balance between moving fast and being thorough. I don’t want to accidentally pass Ava by because I ran too fast and didn’t see her, but I also want to cover as much ground as I can.

At first, I’m sure she has to be nearby. She can’t have gone all that far.

But then minutes pass. And then one hour. And then two.

Night falls.

A light rain begins to pour down. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me at all, but right now, it just adds to my fear. There are far too many things that could’ve happened to Ava out here. She could’ve hit her head and died or gotten a bad concussion. She could have broken her leg or twisted her ankle badly.

Hell, she could’ve been attacked by a deer. They can be surprisingly aggressive if they feel threatened and they have young to protect.

Marcus could have been so angry because he accidentally killed her while she fought back. We could be looking for her body somewhere.

No. Don’t think like that. Ava has to be alive. She has to be. I feel like if she wasn’t, I’d know, somewhere deep in my chest.

“Ava!” I keep yelling her name. I can’t even hear the others anymore, we’ve spread so far apart. I tell myself that’s a good thing. It means that we’re covering more ground.

Maybe one of them has found her, and I just don’t know it yet.

Maybe she’s already okay.

I comfort myself with that, but I don’t stop looking anyway. Until I hear from one of my pack mates that Ava is found and safe, I’m going to keep going.

I yell and yell for her into the darkness until it feels like I’m going to lose my voice. Like her name is the only word I know how to say anymore.

My fear and desperation are at a fever pitch. I don’t know what I’ll do, what any of us will do, if Ava doesn’t turn out okay.

And then.

“Ava!” I yell. “Ava!”

Very faintly, I hear a muffled word. A word that just might be my name.

My heart lurches in my chest. I can’t see her in the damned dark, but if I close my eyes… and inhale…

It’s faint, but I can trace it, that sweet scent I now know so well. I follow it through the trees as it grows stronger and stronger, until finally, I see her.

She’s curled up and shivering at the base of a large tree in a clearing. The moment I see her, my heart stutters with anger.

She’s got her hands behind her back, zip-tied, the skin raw and cut, bleeding. And there’s a gag in her mouth. That’s why she couldn’t say my name properly.

“Ava.” I rush over to her and work the gag out of her mouth.

Ava bursts into tears. She’s shivering uncontrollably, and she’s soaked, covered in dirt and leaves. I pull out my pocket knife.

“Hold still, sweetheart, I know.”

I cut through the zip ties, and then pull her into my arms. Ava clings to me, hissing as she moves her arms properly for the first time in what must be hours.

“Yeah, I know. I know.” I massage her arms to get the feeling back into them, and check her hands.

It doesn’t look like any blood flow was cut off, no permanent damage, but the zip ties cut through her skin, bruising her wrists and making them bleed. We’ll have to dress her wounds and take care of some things for her for a bit while she heals.

Far be it from me to complain. I’m more than happy to have an excuse to pamper her after this, even though I’m shaking with fury over what Marcus did to her.

Ava sobs in my arms, and once I’ve gotten the feeling back into her, I hold her tightly, rocking her.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” I breathe. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

“I tried so hard,” she hiccups. “To be brave. To be strong. I wasn’t… I wasn’t going to let… I’m going to be free. I’m free with all of you.”

Her words are pouring out in a broken rush, and I’m not quite sure I follow what she’s saying. I place the back of my hand on her forehead to check, and sure enough, she’s got a fever. Must be from the cold. And I have no idea when she last ate or got water. My poor sweet Omega.

“Guys!” I yell at the top of my lungs. I haul Ava into my arms and stand up. “Guys! I found her! I’ve got her!”

Ava loops her arms around my neck and rests her head on my shoulder, still shivering and crying.

I hear shouts and gruff voices in the distance, and soon, the other three emerge from the trees, barreling toward me. They crash into us, grabbing Ava and holding her tightly, the four of us now enveloping her in a group hug.

She clings to us, and the relief I feel is palpable—as strong as the love I feel for her.

“I’m never going to let anything like this happen to you again,” I promise fervently.

Never .