Chapter 31: Twenty Seven

Disclaimer: this chapter includes lots of violence.

Tobias

My limbs ached, but I pushed myself to run faster. I could hear the growling and shouting from my pack members behind me. I could feel the tingles on my face and throat. He was hurt. Gill said they didn't go far, but their scent was nowhere to be found. All I could smell was the stench of unfamiliar wolves, and I followed it.

"Alpha! Over here!" I followed the sound of one of the warriors shouting. There, in the ditch, was Jax's jeep. All of the windows were shattered, and the car was empty. I shifted into my human form, already feeling the tears run down my face as I opened the door. I could smell the blood. Mostly from Jax, but I could smell Gill's too.

"Any pack member not able to fight needs to take shelter immediately. I want every inch of the border covered. Not a single person, wolf, or fucking squirrel is going in or out of the pack lands until we find them." I ordered. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked up to see my father with sad eyes.

"We'll find them, son."

"Gill, love? Can you hear me?"  I knew he wouldn't answer. He hadn't answered the last seventeen times I'd tried to link him. Same with Jax.

"I shouldn't have let them leave! God, this is all my fault." I collapsed into my father's arms, my shoulders shaking with sobs.

"This was not your fault, Tobias. There was no way you would have known this was going to happen. They took every precaution. Some of the trackers found paw prints miles back, and another abandoned camp. They were followed. They've been sitting there waiting for days, if not weeks." He hugged me tighter.  "Do you still feel the tingling?" I nodded.

"All over the right side of my face and my throat. They hurt him, Dad."

"You still feel it, though. That means he's alive, and it hasn't been long since he linked you. They haven't gone far. We will find them." He cupped my cheek and  wiped my flowing tears with his thumb before letting me go.

"Is there anyone else missing?" I rubbed the tears away, even though they were still falling. My father shook his head.

"Not that we know of. Your mother is gathering all the people in the shelters and they'll take roll as soon as they can." I nodded and took a deep breath.

"Let's go find Gill and Jax." As if on cue, one of the trackers nearby interrupted our conversation.

"Alpha! We found a scent trail heading North. Seems whoever took them tried to mask their scents as much as possible, but didn't take into account that blood is the easiest scent to track. Mostly from Ajax, but we've caught wiff of Gill as well." Both my father and I began running, shifting into our wolves mid sprint, ignoring our clothes now in shreds.

Eventually, I also picked up the scent of my best friend's blood mixed with Gill's. They were on foot.

"Son, this is one hundred percent your call, but I think we should wait to ambush."  My father's voice echoed in my head.  "I know all you want to do is run full steam ahead toward your mate, and I will follow right behind you if that's what you choose to do, but we have no clue what we're running toward. This could be a trap, we could be dangerously outnumbered." I sat back on my haunches in frustration, knowing he was right.

"What do you suppose we do instead?"

"Send our stealthiest group. Have them follow the trail, get eyes on the situation, possibly confirm if this is an actual lead or if we're headed right for a trap. In the meantime, we wait for our allies. We'll have a much better advantage with several packs and their alphas, as well as the council and their warriors behind us. Our close allies are already on their way, and the farther ones will be here within a few days. Even if we do have to fight before then, at least we'll have the closer ones." I let out a whine. He was absolutely right. The last thing I wanted to do was wait. I wanted to run as fast as I could toward the scent trail, but I knew it was risky.

"We need to keep a close eye on everyone. If anyone makes a phone call, I want to know. Someone is doing this, and it's someone close to us. I want to be updated every minute. The second anyone has any information, I want to know."  A chorus of  affirmations echoed in my head before a small group of trackers separated from the rest, following the trail. I reluctantly turned back and followed my father to the pack house to wait for the allies.

"Gill, please, if you can hear me...I love you...please talk to me." I tried once more to link him, but I got nothing back. I could still feel the tingling on my face after a couple hours, which concerned me. I tried to keep my father's words in mind. If I still felt them, it meant he was still alive.

***

I sat alone in my father's study, crying once again. I had just gotten off the phone with the council. They were sending their best trackers and warriors our way. Some of our closer allies had begun arriving, and the looks of pity and curiosity was enough to drive me mad.

"Alpha Tobias, we've reached the end of the trail. There appears to be a large camp, but it's empty. They were definitely here though. We're canvasing all around at once."

"Thank you. Are you near any other pack territories?"

"Still on ours, but getting closer to a large area of unclaimed land. We've been canvasing the entire border, but we'll venture out just to be safe." I sighed and rubbed at my eyes. Hours had gone by, and we still hadn't gotten any closer to finding them. That is, until the most beautiful voice finally echoed in my brain.

"Toby? Can you hear me?"  I shot up to my feet and immediately left the room.

"Gill?! Love, it's so good to hear your voice. Do you know where you are?"

"I don't know how long I was out...I think they drugged me. It's really dark. I think I'm in a house?"  I gestured toward the first pack member I saw.

"Get my father, Gill is linking me." The young man's eyes widened as he nodded and hurried away.

"Is Jax with you?"

"Yes, he's still unconscious. They must've given him more."

"Is there anything else you remember, love? About where you are, the people that took you?"

"Lots of wolves. There were at least fifty of them at the car. I think I hear water nearby? I don't see any light, so I think I'm in a room with no windows, or at least they're covered up. I haven't seen anyone yet. I linked you the second I woke up."

"Okay, we're going to get out out of there as soon as we can pinpoint where you're at, alright? I love you so much."

"Has anyone...does my dad know?"

"My mother is with him now. He's safe in lockdown with the rest of the humans and weaker wolves. He's worried, but he knows we'd do anything to get you back safely."

"Will you...tell him I love him? That I'm okay?"  I saw my own father rush toward me as yet another tear dripped down to my chin.

"Of course. I'm on my way, Gill. I love you. Tell me whenever you see or remember anything at all, okay?"

"I love you too. I have to go, my head is pounding from whatever they gave me. I'll link you as soon as I know anything more."  I looked down at my hands and had an idea.  I took the skin of my wrist and pinched it lightly, enough for it to sting a little.

"Did you feel that? Anytime you feel that, know I love you and I'm thinking of you, okay?"  I soon felt a small tingle in my own wrist as a response.

"I love you more."

"Gill is awake, he just linked me." I said to my father. "He said he's in a house of some kind, no light, so either the windows are covered, or there are none. He might hear water nearby as well. Do you know of any buildings in NoMansLand?" My father shook his head.

"I don't know of any buildings, but there is a river that runs right through it."

"What if we just follow the river as far as it goes. Any scent we come across, we investigate." My father opened his mouth to respond, but was soon interrupted as another link came through, this time from a tracker.

"We have a scent again! Following it now, heading Northwest along the river, going right through the unclaimed land."

"Let's go find your mate, son." We both sprinted out of the house, hundreds of wolves behind us.

"We picked up your scent, love. I'm on my way right now."

Gill

I slowly opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the darkness. I was in some sort of basement or windowless room. I was sitting on the ground, my feet tied together with rope, my hands tied to a large pole behind my back. I looked around, seeing another figure tied up in the opposite corner.

"Jax!" He didn't move. His chest was rising and falling, so I knew he was breathing, but he was out cold. My face burned a bit still from the glass that was still imbedded in my skin. My throat also felt sore from the hand that strangled me through the window. What was new, however, was the dizziness and the splitting headache, I assumed from some kind of drug considering I didn't feel injured in any other way. I closed my eyes and tried my best to fight through the pain to link the one person I wanted to talk to more than anyone else.

"Toby? Can you hear me?"  Almost instantly, I heard the beautiful yet panicked voice of my boyfriend.

"Gill! Love, it's so good to hear your voice! Do you know where you are?" I talked to him for a few minutes, telling him everything I saw and heard. He promised he would come find me, and it wasn't until the pain in my head grew stronger that I had to let him go.

I lied there for hours, alone in the dark room, Jax still unconscious beside me. Toby had said they found another trail to follow, but I had yet to hear any other news, nor has I heard anyone else in the building. I replayed the events in my head several times over, going through every little detail I could remember. Was there a face I recognized? Did someone say something that gave any indication of where they could've taken us? As hard as I tried, however, all I remembered were wolves and the hands coming through the window of the Jeep.

I looked around the room again, my eyes now well adjusted to the darkness. I could make out the outline of a window, but it was boarded up. The floors were made of wood, the planks splintering in some places. It squeaked and groaned when I shifted my weight around. It seemed like a very old building. I could see two doors from where I sat. One smaller door to the left, and a larger door to the right. Based on it's position and the boarded up windows, I assumed the larger door led outside. The walls were empty, the only decor being the peeling stained wallpaper. I couldn't turn my head far enough to look behind me, but I could hear the crackling of a lot fireplace.

"There's a fireplace. I think I'm on the main level of a house? It's very old and run down. There are windows, but I was right, they're all boarded up." I felt the tingling in my wrist, letting me know Toby heard me, he just couldn't reply. I twisted my hands around to pinch my own wrist back.

"Ughhh, what...shit my head hurts." I shot my gaze toward the no longer sleeping figure across from me.

"Jax! You're awake!" He sat up as best as he could with his hands behind his back and squinted his eyes at me.

"Gill? The Jeep...the wolves...they took us?" I nodded, letting him recall the events that had taken place.

"I don't know where we are, but Toby is looking for us. He'll find us. Are you okay? You were out a lot longer than I was." He groaned and squinted again.

"I've got a killer headache, and my side hurts pretty bad." I frowned. I didn't remember him getting hurt.

"Can you roll over at all so I can see?" Jax shifted his weight and I could just barely make out a spot in his tee shirt that was torn, a nasty gash oozing blood on his hip.

"Oh my gosh! Shouldn't that have healed by now?" He looked down to see what I was looking at.

"Huh...probably? I don't feel sick, just in pain, so I don't think it was silver. Maybe because I was unconscious, I wasn't healing as quickly?"

"I think they drugged us with something. They probably gave you more than me since I'm smaller." He nodded.

"Has anyone come in yet?" I shook my head.

"I haven't heard a peep." As if on cue, I suddenly heard voices from outside. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but they were getting closer. Creaking footsteps came from the other side of the bigger door before finally, it slammed open, a large figure standing in the open frame.

"Well, well! Look who's awake! Lovely to see you!" I didn't recognize him. He was tall, large build. He wore the same clothes as the hunter who had attacked me in my house months before. There was someone else right behind him, another man, but he was just wearing a pair of shorts.

"Toby! Jax is awake, and there's people here. I think one of them is a hunter, the other a wolf. I don't recognize either of them."

"We're still following the trail. They went farther than we thought. I'm on my way, love, I promise. We're getting closer."

"I thought for sure you both would be out at least a day or so, the boss is going to be thrilled!" The hunter continued.

"Why are you doing this to us? We didn't do anything wrong!" I cried, tears running down my face. The other man beside the hunter rolled his eyes.

"The Crimson Lake Pack has always thought they could walk all over the rest of us. They have the most land, while the rest of us are crammed together like canned sardines!"

"Land? That's what this is about?" Jax yelled. "That's what meetings and treaties are for! If you had an issue with the amount of land we have, you could have brought it up to Alpha Greene, instead of hurting innocent people."

"Ah, you see, but that's where we come in." The hunter interjected. "See, we've developed quite the alliance with this pack. We leave them alone and ensure them no hunter from our clan will harm them, and in exchange, we exterminate the most powerful pack in the region. Seems pretty fair if you ask me."

"Will you two shut up already!" A third voice from behind them called out. This one, I unfortunately did recognize. "This isn't some dumb movie where we reveal all our plans before we actually get to do anything." I watched Ajax as his expression changed from anger, to complete betrayal and devastation.

"How...how could you do this?" The woman stepped into the room, confirming the identity of her voice to the both of us.

"Hi Gilly! Hey Babe!" Kayla greeted with a sickening smile.

"I don't...why would you do this?" I'd never seen Jax like that. He looked completely broken.

"Sweetie, I'm doing this for us! It'll be so much better growing our pack and having pups with all this new land!"

"For us? These are my friends! My family! I grew up with these people!You're insane if you think I'm ever having pups with you." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Well it's kinda too late for that!" She pat her flat stomach gently.

"No...I don't believe you...we were careful every time!"

"Oh come on, Jax! You know those things don't always work! Especially when you poke holes in them!" She chuckled, as if what she said was actually funny.

"You're...you're lying..." She groaned and stomped her foot.

"Fine! I'll just have to go and get proof then!" She turned on her heel and walked out of the house, the two men following closely behind her, the door creaking as it shut.

"Toby, it's Kayla! Her pack is responsible for this! They want to take the pack land for themselves!"

"We just caught her scent, we're following it now. Alpha Steele is back at the pack house, but he's being locked up as we speak, along with the rest of his pack that came with him. We're sending another team to his pack lands as well. I'm almost there, love. The trail is getting stronger, more recent. I'll be there soon."

"Jax, Toby is on his way. They captured Alpha Steele and they're following Kayla's scent." I whispered to him. His head was hung and by the shaking of his shoulders, I knew he was crying.

"Gill, I'm so sorry...I swear I had no idea she was doing this. I promise, I would never intentionally put any of you in danger... This is all my fault!"

"I believe you, Jax. It's okay. It's not your fault. She fooled everyone." He shook his head.

"But I'm the one who told her everything! I told her about you and Toby, because I was excited my best friend found his mate! I thought the one person I could trust with that information would be my own mate...it's my fault. If I hadn't told her, none of this would have happened."

"No, Jax. This sounds like it's been in the works for a long time. They've just been waiting for the opportunity." I tried to pull my wrists, and was shocked when I actually felt the rope loosen a bit. I wiggled some more, and eventually, got my thumb under one of the knots, pulling it loose, until eventually, my hands were free. I quickly untied my ankles and crawled toward Jax.

"How did you..." I shook my head.

"Shh, they could be back any minute. I'm going to untie you, okay?" He nodded. I untied his hands first, and let him untie his own feet. It was then that I finally heard the familiar howl I'd been waiting for all day.

"The boards on the windows look pretty old, do you think you could rip them off?" I asked Jax as he was standing up.

"I can try. I still feel pretty weak." He clutched his side as he limped over to the closest window. The fighting outside grew louder, giving him the perfect opportunity to pull at the boards. It took him a couple tries, but eventually the first board came loose and ripped from the wall. The other two were a bit easier to rip off. We both pulled together to open the window, and with a lot of force, it eventually budged open enough for us to climb through.

"You're clever, I'll give you that." Kayle sneered as we climbed out. She'd been outside the whole time. She turned to the two men beside her, the same men as before. "Kill the human please, and tie my mate back up. I'll have to convince him more later." Before I could react, I was grabbed from behind.

"TOBY!!!" I screamed out loud. Jax shifted into his large black wolf and pounced, clamping his teeth onto the leg of the man holding me. More wolves and humans rushed toward us, and based on the fighting, I knew at least some of them were from Crimson Lake. The hunter holding me, struggling to kick Jax off of him, loosened his grip on me. I took advantage of his distraction and slammed my elbow into his gut, pushing his body away from me. Another wolf rushed toward me, but turned at the last second to stand in front of me, defending me. All I could hear was the snarls and screams from both wolves and humans. I couldn't tell who was who, I couldn't tell who was winning and who was losing. I turned my head just as Jax finished off the hunter. The ground was littered with bodies, but the fighting continued.

Finally, among the chaos, I saw my silver wolf.

"Toby!" I yelled again. His head shot up and his eyes locked onto mine. He looked relieved, but only for a moment before utter panic covered his face. He rushed toward me, determination in his eyes. I heard a click come from behind me, followed by a loud bang, then....silence. The fighting stopped. The back of my head felt warm, but I didn't feel anything. I turned around, only to see Kayla's body on the ground, a gun in her hand. I looked around and it wasn't until I heard a gutteral scream that I understood what happened.

Ajax, now in his human form, dropped the gun he had stolen from the hunter he killed, his hands still shaking from the force of it being fired. His eyes met mine for a brief moment. They were empty. He backed up slowly, shaking his head.

"...Jax?" I whispered softly. He shook his head harder, and turned away from me. His body began to convulse violently as his bones snapped, his form shifting into his wolf. He gave me one last sad look, and ran away into the thick forest. I stared at the empty spot he had occupied until my body erupted into sparks as Toby collided into me, his arms wrapping around my waist.

"I am so sorry, Gill. I should have gone with you, or better yet, I shouldn't have let you go all. Or at least been more careful. I'm so glad you're okay, I was so afraid of losing you." I turned toward him, and wiped the tears from his face.

"Love, there's no way you could have known any of this was going to happen." A small yip and a paw scratching at my leg stole my attention. It was the wolf that had defended me.

"Drew, I told you to stay back with the others!" Toby scolded. I smiled down at him.

"Thank you for defending me, Drew."

"So...can we go home now?" I recognized Holly's voice nearby, but I couldn't see her. Toby kissed my forehead and pulled away, shifting so I could climb on his back.

"Is Jax gonna be okay?" I asked him.

"I don't know, love. I hope so."