Page 29 of Lost Wolf (Exiled Omegas #2)
Twenty-Nine
Ollie
My eyes burn with tears, and a mix of frustration and hopelessness wars in my chest as I stare at the spot where the truck vanished from sight, taking my mate with it. With every second, I can feel Luke getting farther and farther away, the bond tugging at my chest.
The emotions roiling in my stomach bubble over, and I collapse to my knees, leaning over to vomit onto the ground, the action leaving the burn of bile in the back of my throat. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I rest my forehead against the nearest tree, the rough bark helping to ground me, at least a little.
The single-minded focus that got me all the way out here is wearing off, the cuts and bruises on my bare feet making themselves known along with the ache in my chest at being separated from Luke.
What am I supposed to do now?
Even if I can make it to the SUV without getting caught, I don’t have the keys, so I have no transportation except my own two feet—four paws, if I can manage to shift—and I’m stuck in an unfamiliar area with possible enemies around every turn.
The sound of voices startles me out of my thoughts, and I scramble off the path into the safety of the trees. Wanda walks out of the concrete building with a large male shifter I don’t recognize at her side. She points back toward the building and then off somewhere to the side. I can’t quite make out what she’s saying, but I do catch the words “bury” and “body.”
My stomach twists. I know Luke’s alive… but what about Macy?
A lump forms in my throat and I swallow it back. As much as I hate the idea of staying here long enough to find out who that guy is supposed to bury, I need to know.
Wanda hops into an ATV, powers it up, and takes off, leaving her lackey behind. The other shifter disappears into the building for a few minutes, then returns, dragging a large form by the legs.
My breath whooshes out in relief. I can’t tell who the body belongs to from here, but it’s much too big to be Macy. Which means she might still be alive and, if I find her, I’ll actually have an ally in all this mess.
Instinct tells me Wanda probably put Macy in another location. The Rockcastle Alpha Mate doesn’t strike me as someone who would have offered a two for one deal and, given her plans for me, she was probably livid when the humans took me along with Blake. She wouldn’t want the humans to see anything more than whatever shifter or shifters their current deal involved.
All I need to do is figure out where Macy might be, something that’s not going to be as simple as finding my way to Luke.
I turn around and head back the way I came. The path I cut through the woods is fairly obvious with plenty of footprints, trampled plants, and broken branches to show me the way. I catch sight of a light to my left and make my way toward it, surprised to find myself not in the clearing with the house I escaped from earlier, but the one with the Alpha’s house in the center.
The light is on in every room, and as I watch, I can see Wanda crossing in front of the windows on the lower floor. She’s moving quickly, a deep frown on her face as she turns her head to speak to someone out of view.
Earl? Or maybe Clay?
It doesn’t really matter who she’s talking to, just that she probably already knows I’m gone. I don’t have much time before they come looking for me, and the second she finds me, I’m sure I’ll be locked up again—this time more securely.
The last thing either me, Luke, or Macy needs is for me to get caught. Right now, I’m probably the only one of us free to do something.
Darting through the trees, I skirt around the edges of the clearing, making my way to the one of the outbuildings Clay showed me earlier. Then I work my way around to each one, peeking through the windows and praying for a glimpse of Macy.
But no luck.
I even check the chicken coop.
By the time I’ve checked every building in the immediate vicinity, I’m not feeling very hopeful. There must be somewhere else they put Macy, but I don’t know enough about the territory to figure out where, and I can’t just lurk around and hope to overhear some villain monologue about where they’re holding Macy.
So, I randomly pick one of the paths leading away from the clearing and follow it through the woods. The rest of the pack lives out here somewhere. I don’t know if I can trust any of them, or if I’m willing to take that risk, but maybe I can find a map in one of the houses. Or a phone .
Hope flares in my chest. If I can get in contact with the two praetorians somehow …
I increase my pace, almost giddy with excitement at the idea of having another way out of this mess. A few minutes later, I find myself in front of a small cabin. The structure is clearly old and parts of it are falling apart, but some instinct draws me closer, and I find myself on the half-rotted porch before I even think about it.
Taking a deep breath, I reach for the knob. It turns easily and the door creaks open with nothing but a soft push. One hand resting on the door frame, I poke my head inside. When nothing descends to chop it off and there’s no sound of protest, I step through the doorway and into the house.
My gaze darts around the interior, searching for anything that looks like a phone or a radio as I move further inside. I’m so distracted by my hunt for a method of communication, that I don’t even notice the other shifter until she grabs me by the ear, twisting it painfully.
“I told you kids to stay out of my house,” she snaps.
“Sorry… I—”
She drags me across the room by the ear and shoves me toward a chair before grabbing something off a nearby shelf. A flicker of flame appears as she lights a small candle, then moves back to me, candle in hand. The shifter—an older female beta—gets right up in my face, the small flame nearly catching in my hair.
This close, I can tell she’s older than I thought at first glance, her face lined with wrinkles and her waist-length hair a stark white. She wrinkles her nose.
“Oh, it’s you,” she says, taking a step backward and pulling out another chair. “When I heard you were back, I was wondering if you might show up here.”
I do my best impression of a fish, opening and closing my mouth silently. This shifter seems to know me, but none of the memories I’ve recovered so far tell me who she is.
Or whether she’s friend or foe.
“I don’t…” I let the words trail off and shake my head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who you are. I was… injured.”
Her brows rise and she lets out a soft chuckle. “It’s not necessarily me you would know.” She gestures to our dingy surroundings. “All this luxury used to be yours.”
It takes a moment for me to realize what she means.
“This was my house,” I whisper as I scan the space and try to call up any memories of living here.
“Yep,” she says. Her lips twist with wry amusement. “After your mother died, the Alpha was generous enough to allow you and your brother to stay here.” A note of anger enters her voice. “It became mine when the Alpha Mate decided I’m too old to run.”
My gaze darts down to her neck. She’s not wearing a metal band like those shifters at the house were, but there’s a ring of scarring, as if she used to wear one. Catching the direction of my gaze, she raises her hand to her throat and rubs at one of the thick knots there.
“What the hell kind of pack is this?” I mutter, half under my breath.
The woman actually chortles. “The kind anyone with sense doesn’t want to be a member of if they can help it.”
“No kidding,” I say, relaxing slightly as the shifter and I seem to share similar views about Rockcastle. “I don’t imagine there’s any chance you have a phone is there?”
“The only phone in the entire compound is in the Alpha’s office,” she replies. She lifts the candle up. “The rest of us are lucky to having running water.”
“Why did—”
The sound of feet on the porch, yanks my attention to the door and I drop down, crouching half under the wobbly table, my breath speeding up. All the surprises so far this evening have been beyond shitty, and I’m not ready for another one.
The door lets out a loud creak as someone inches it open from outside.
“Granny?” says a soft male voice. “You still awake?”
“Come on in, boy,” says the older shifter. Her gaze slides to me. “But just so you know, I got company.”
“Company?” The young man takes a few tentative steps inside, and I recognize him as one of the betas from dinner.
I slowly rise to my feet and the young man’s eyes widen.
“Oliver,” he says, his voice barely a whisper. “I-I-I’m sorry,” he stammers out. “I didn’t have any choice. I tried to tell him not to drink the wine, but…”
My lips pull away from my teeth, a low growl rumbling in my throat as I realize what he’s saying. He knew . He knew what Wanda was planning, or at least enough to know that something was wrong with the wine. And he served it to us anyway.
But, as pissed as I am about that, it also means he might know what happened to Macy.
“The other shifter we were with, the female beta, where is she?” I ask, practically snarling the question.
The young man cringes away and he takes a small step backward. “I… I don’t know.”
I advance on him, anger feeding the fire in my chest, but the old woman holds up her hand to stop me.
“Taylor is not your enemy,” she says. “You might not remember what it’s like here, Oliver, but I’m sure you understand none of us are in a position to disobey without extreme consequences. If he had tried to do anything against her orders, she would have killed him without a second thought.”
The woman’s words douse some of that fiery rage, and I let my shoulders slump. “Sorry.” I glance at Taylor. “I believe you don’t know where they took Macy, but do you have any information that might help me find her?”
He twists his fingers together as he thinks. “She might have been taken to the barracks?”
“The barracks?”
“It’s where people are kept before being fitted for collars,” he explains, his fingers absentmindedly moving up to brush the metal band on his own neck.
That definitely sounds promising as far as places to keep a prisoner. Unfortunately, I have no idea where it is and time is running out.
“This might be a big ask,” I say, meeting Taylor’s gaze. “But can you take me there?”