Page 30 of Healing Creek (Arena Dogs #3)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Pain. Creek knew only pain. He struggled against the hands holding him down.

Pain, everywhere, then fire burst from his fingertips.

A collective gasp echoed through the room.

His eyes shot open. Faces formed an oval above him.

The fire in his hands became a dull ach, but the rest of the pain still burned in his body.

Twisting him in agony. It went on and on.

Voices came and left. He lost and regained consciousness.

When an eternity had passed, the intensity of the pain burned out, leaving only dull aches in its wake. When next he opened his eyes, the faces around him became clearer. Jupiter, Saturn, Neri.

“Where’s Grace?” It was his first fully lucid thought.

Saturn patted his shoulder. “She’s resting. She healed you.”

He cautiously sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs with oxygen and clearing his mind. “Neri.”

She smiled at him. “I’m here.”

“Why aren’t you watching over Grace?”

Her face fell. “What?”

“I asked you to watch over her…didn’t I?” But he couldn’t remember clearly.

“No,” she said simply. “I found you on a ledge in the ravine. You’d fallen a long way.”

Jupiter leaned toward him. “The vines above you had been cut.”

Remembering how they’d given way made his hands flex.

He’d longed for his claws back in that moment.

He could feel them as if they were there now.

He flexed his hands again and felt the long gone slide of claws emerging from his fingertips.

“It can’t be.” He lifted a hand in front of his face and watched as he flexed fully formed claws.

“We don’t know how, but Grace’s blood healed you.” Jupiter grinned at him. “At first it was your injuries, but this goes well beyond.”

She had done this. Grace. “Damn,” he swore.

“What’s wrong,” asked Neri. “Why aren’t you pleased?”

Creek closed his eyes and focused on all the sensations rioting through his body.

There was dull pain everywhere, but not the pain he was used to.

Not the pain of too often broken bones and damaged ligaments.

This ache was that of a hard workout. He put a hand over his bare chest and found only smooth skin. “There was an injury.”

“A branch punctured your chest and collapsed your lung.” Jupiter reached for him as he tried to sit up, pushing him back against the table. “Rest. We’ll call for the medic before you try getting up.”

Saturn disappeared from his range of vision.

Creek forced himself to relax against the med-bed. “How long…have I been out?”

“About eight hours,” answered Neri.

He reached out and grabbed Neri’s arm, accidentally pricking her skin with claws he’d grown used to not having. “I was looking for you to ask you to help me watch over Grace. Roma put a price on her head, and they’ve already tried to take her from me once.”

It was his nightmare come to life. He’d been unconscious and there had been no one looking out for her. “Please find her.”

“She’s probably still resting, but I’ll go now,” promised Neri. She strode for the door.

“The medic said he’d never seen anything like it.” Jupiter shook his head. “We don’t understand how her blood could have caused you to heal so quickly, but it did. Afterward, she needed rest. I should have thought. I thought the danger was to you.”

Obviously, if someone had cut the vines in the ravine to get rid of Creek, they could also have gone after Grace…in eight fucking hours. And she was vulnerable. Weak from saving his life. Creek pushed up from the bed and swung his legs over the side.

This time Jupiter didn’t try to stop him. “Go slow until you know your strength,” he cautioned.

Saturn stood at the com station. “I’m not getting an answer from Zachary. I’ll have to go and look for—”

Creek held out a hand to stop him. “I can’t wait. Grace could be in trouble.” He pulled sensors from his chest.

Neri burst through the door. “She’s not in the room where we left her, and I checked with the kitchen—she hasn’t requested a meal.”

“Damn,” Creek muttered again. “Jupiter, are your mates still in the ship at the top of the ravine?”

“No, they moved the ship as soon as we let them know we found the base.” Jupiter put a hand out to help Creek get up from the bed.

Creek took the offered hand and jumped down. “Can you get in touch with them and ask them to fly a search pattern starting from the base and extending outward. I want to know about any transport in the area.”

Neri frowned. “Shouldn’t we search the base first? She might be here somewhere.”

No. She would be at his side if she could be. But he didn’t say the words aloud. “We’ll look everywhere until we find her. Where is Maximus? Mercury?”

Jupiter stepped aside. “In the conference room. They’re discussing the situation with the breeding program . ”

Creek strode down the hall toward the meeting room. By the time he reached it he was practically running. He shoved the door aside, not stopping until he had the attention of the four people inside.

Mercury sat with his mate, looking concerned. “What’s happened?”

Creek got straight to the point. “Grace is missing.”

Samantha gasped and clutched Mercury’s arm. “We have to find her.”

Maximus unfolded his tall body from the chair and went straight to the com’s panel. He used a base wide call to instruct all residents and staff to gather in the assembly hall. “We can at least determine if anyone else is missing,” he explained.

Eve crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. “There’s no danger here. There’s been no perimeter breach. I’m sure she’s just gotten lost in a new place.”

Jupiter approached Maximus for assistance in making an external com to his mates on the Hawley and the two men left, promising to join them in the assembly hall.

Things were happening fast. Creek should be reassured, but he wasn’t. Worry was a stone in his belly. Something was wrong. His mate was in trouble.

Neri spoke from behind him. “Creek, you should sit. Your body has been through a lot. Give yourself time to gain strength.”

Samantha reached for a pitcher of water on the table and began to pour a glass for him. “Water is always good at times like these.”

He felt unsettled and anxious to do something, but he sat and drank the water.

Eve leaned forward in her seat. “Your recovery is miraculous, Creek. Did you know Grace could do this?”

Creek hated to admit that he hadn’t known something so vital about Grace, but he had no choice. “No.”

“I don’t think she intended any of us to find out. It’s possible she might be feeling worried about your reaction?” Eve didn’t sound concerned. Only curious.

“My reaction?” Creek slammed a fist against the table. “Grace does not fear me, and I am not the one who was trying to test her DNA!” Creek couldn’t understand how she’d healed him or why, whatever this was, she’d felt the need to hide it from them all—even him. He’d known there was something.

Neri sat next to Creek and wrapped her hand around his fist. “Creek, before you lost consciousness you called my name.”

Creek stopped for a moment to think about that. “Yes, to tell her to stay with you.”

Neri shook her head. “You didn’t say that. I saw how she looked. She thought at death your thoughts were of me. When one’s heart is sore, it can make one act rashly. We must consider that she might have left voluntarily. She might simply be taking a moment to deal with her emotions.”

“No,” said Creek. He thought back to the moment he met her, standing tall, clutching the bed frame and warning them all to stay clear. She’d trembled, yes. But forced to face that fear, she’d faced it with courage.

He remembered when she’d faced the pack and told them about Patel, the mercenary. She’d been afraid of their reaction, but she’d faced that fear. They’d faced so much together. Always together. They were mates. He should have told her.

Creek shoved back his chair and stood. “She wouldn’t leave willingly.” Just because she had not yet been ready to tell him this one thing did not mean he didn’t know his butterfly. Let others search the base but he would waste no time in looking further for her.

“Come,” said Mercury. He made a low bark of comfort before directing his words to Eve. “Show us the way to the assembly hall so we can get started.

Eve stood without delay. “Of course. This way.”

Mercury extended a hand to Samantha to help her stand. She clutched it tightly and the look they exchanged spoke of shared understanding. Creek regretted putting off claiming Grace as his mate. She was his and had been since that very first day. He’d been a fool to hesitate.

As a group, they moved into the hall. Pent-up need to move faster tightened Creek’s muscles.

With a short yip of respect to Mercury and Samantha, he took off in a jog and Neri joined him. The others would follow at a pace suitable for Mercury’s pregnant mate.

Walking into the assembly hall Creek saw a room full of Arena Dogs and the humans who worked daily to free them and teach them to survive in the human world.

Would his mate want to live in the human world.

When he left the first time, he’d thought he could find a place across the border.

That he could live away from his kind. That it was his only choice.

He spotted Saturn and Lo and they joined them. Jupiter came in just behind.

“We have news,” said Saturn, holding a tablet in his hand. A list of names scrolled on its surface. “We’ve accounted for everyone. The only ones missing are Grace and Zachary.”

“Zachary, the medic?” Jupiter’s face formed a frown.

“Yes,” answered Saturn. “He’s a member of the council. He’s been with us for many years.”

Creek looked to Jupiter. “Any news from the Hawley?”

“Not yet,” he said. “But Max checked the base security logs. Someone used a code to enter a secured exit tunnel out of the base. One that leads to the face of the ravine.”

Creek knew the tunnel and knew Grace could not have founded it on her own. “How long?”

Jupiter’s frown deepened. “About seven hours ago.”

“Damn!” Dread exploded through Creek. It was a significant head start.

Jupiter looked through the crowd toward the door. “Max is bringing short range communication devices. We’ll organize a search.”

Creek turned to see Max arriving with Eve, Mercury, and Samantha. He carried an equipment box.

Saturn waved an arm to Max but spoke to the group. “If they’re on foot they could still be climbing the ravine wall. I’m told the woman struggled coming down the ravine.”

Creek was not appeased. “If he managed to get one of the jungle bashers you use for supply runs, they could be halfway to the port.”

Jupiter huffed. “He could be meeting a ship like Feeona’s with surface landing capabilities.”

“We should check the lander bay,” suggested Saturn. “The codes on the ravine side exit tunnel could have been triggered remotely as a distraction.”

“Lander bay?” asked Jupiter.

Max and the others joined them and Max explained about the small hanger camouflaged some distance away from the edge of the ravine.

“Does the medic have the knowledge to fly one of the ships?” asked Jupiter.

Eve shook her head, looking much more concerned than before. “I don’t believe Zachary has any piloting skills, but I wouldn’t have thought him capable of kidnapping someone either.” Eve hugged her arms around her body as if chilled. “I can’t believe Zachary would do this.”

Creek wondered if she was still making excuses for the man in her mind, while he could have been working for Roma the whole time.

Mercury clasped Creek’s shoulder. “Calm, my brother. Let us organize this search together.”

When Creek nodded, Mercury chuffed a reassurance in the back of his throat. “Max, will you stand with us as we ask for your people’s help?”

“Yes, of course.”

Mercury and Max stood before the group and explained the situation, then divided the Arena Dogs into search groups.

Each group was given a portable com unit.

Mercury and his pack would accompany Creek through the escape route where the medic’s code had been used to trigger the locked doors.

The humans would coordinate communications and see to the functions of the base.

Before Max sent the searchers out, Creek stepped forward to speak to the group.

“I know many of you have good reason to hate me. But I beg you not to hold my deeds against my female. Grace is a gentle but brave soul, far too good for me and more than worthy of your aid. Please, find her and see her safely back to us.”

He might have once been too prideful to ask for their acceptance, but he didn’t hesitate to beg them now. It was all he could do.