Chapter Twenty One - Wallom Woods
Lincoln's P.O.V -
My group arrived at where we would be entering the woods after an ten and a half hour drive to northern Idaho. We had left at midnight last night after spending hours planning our search.
I climbed out of the car still exhausted from the journey despite not even driving most of it. Cole groaned tiredly as he followed after me towards the woods.
"How the hell are we supposed to find someone in this." He stared at the dense wooded area with a frown.
"We don't." I huffed. "The trackers narrowed the area down using the phone call, we only have to search the northern area."
"It's still huge." He muttered walking ahead of me.
I just nodded in agreement following him with the group not far behind. After half an hour we decided to spread out more and shift into our wolves so we could cover ground faster, also this way if any humans sore us they wouldn't be suspicious as to why we are here.
After eight hours of searching through the woods we had still found nothing. Although we had a run in with a bear trying to attack us along with a pack of real wolves. It was beginning to get dark when we eventually decided to take a break.
"I don't like being in the woods at night." Cold complained. "It's creepy."
"Bad memories?" I asked him.
"Shut up." He growled.
Cole used to be a rogue before he met Cora, our patrol team had caught him entering our territory and locked him in the cellars. Cora had been the one in charge of questioning him as to why he entered our land when she discovered that they were mates. Cole doesn't like packs now but back then he despised them and it was very difficult for him to get comfortable here. That's why he dislikes me, he had never been told what to do before so he didn't like that I am the alpha and in charge.
"It was a joke." I rolled my eyes.
"Not a very funny one." He crossed his arms.
"Sorry." I mumbled.
I couldn't imagine what it would be like to grow up outside of a pack, it wasn't even like he was kicked out of one because he was born a rogue. I didn't know much about his life before us but I had figured out that his parents were killed by a pack when he was still a pup.
"Whatever." He muttered sitting down on a log.
I remained standing despite my tired legs, I was ready to get back to searching for them. Knowing that Milo and my mum were nearby made me feel like I didn't have time to stop, that I didn't have an excuse for getting to them slowly anymore.
***
"Happy Halloween." Cole told me once it turned midnight.
We had almost finished our second break, everyone had begun to wake up. I didn't sleep.
"It's Halloween?" I asked confused.
He nodded. "All day."
I had lost track of the days over the past two weeks that I hadn't even noticed, everything had just merged into one.
I frowned staring down at the dirt. Halloween was never my favorite holiday but I always enjoyed celebrating it. Wyatt would always find the most stupid costume to wear while I went down the more traditional route.
Last year I was a gladiator, the costume was cheap from a supermarket but still looked decent. Wyatt had decided to dress as the little mermaid which turned out to be a big mistake, he taped two shells to his chest for the top which meant he complained all night about being cold.
He also made his own mermaid tail out of fabric but he hadn't thought it all the way through as he could hardly walk and would trip every two minutes, this was made even worse after he began to drink at the party we were at. The tail was so poorly made that no one would've been able to figure out what he was if it wasn't for the long red wig he had been wearing.
Wyatt had spoken about wearing couple costumes this year, he spoke more about what Milo and I should wear because at the time Lucy and him hadn't gotten together. I entertained the idea with simple suggestions of Milo and I dressing as the same thing, such as two skeletons. Wyatt wanted us to dress as something more interesting such as the ying yang symbol where we would both be a half, or there was also mention off a plug and socket costume.
I had never actually spoken to Milo about Halloween costumes although I probably would have as we got closer to the holiday.
"Thank God I don't have to dress up again." He sighed in relief.
Last Halloween Cole refused to wear a costume because he believed he looked stupid. It wasn't until Cora threatened to withhold sex that he finally agreed to dress as a vampire with her.
"Let's get back to looking everyone." I called out before standing up and shifting into my wolf shredding the shorts I had been wearing.
We looked for the five more hours until I got a mindlink from Cora.
"We've caught the scent of a group of people, one of them is the same as Oliver's dad.'"Â She informed.
I stopped dead in my tracks looking east where I knew they would be. They must be miles away from us and it would take at least another hour to get to them.
"What? Who are you talking to?" Cole's wolf turned to look at me when he noticed I stopped, he must have seen my clouded eyes and noticed I was mindlinking someone.
"Cora." I answered.
He took a step towards me his ears flattening against his head. "Why? Is something wrong? Is she okay?"
It wasn't often that I saw any emotions from Cole, other than annoyance and anger, but on occasion he showed his vulnerable side when it came to Cora.
"She's fine." I told him. "They found their scent."
"Well say that from the beginning!" He explained returning to his annoyed state. "I was shitting it."
I ignored him mindlinking the rest of my group about the news before telling Cora we were heading in her direction. She explained that she was going to tell the other groups so I didn't have to and could focus on getting to them faster.
We all sped in their direction, well sped would be an overstatement. On any over day our speed would have been considered a jog but seeing as we had been on our feet for over half a day we couldn't go much faster without collapsing.
It took about an hour and a half until I could finally smell both Cora's group and the hunters. It didn't take long until I found Cora. Everyone shifted back into their human form and took a short break so Cora and I could talk.
Cole pulled Cora into a hug placing his head in her hair sniffing it.
"Aw, I missed you too." Cora cooed at him as if he was a child.
He huffed stepping away from her. "This is too much time in the forest for me."
She looked at him sympathetically reaching out to grab his hand before squeezing it comfortingly.
"Plus Lincoln thought it would be funny to scare me by telling me you were in danger." He mumbled with a frown.
"That's not even close to what happened." I deadpanned.
Cora smiled at us both, she was fully aware Cole was overreacting like he usually does.
"He asked me who I was talking to when you mindlinked me and I answered." I explained.
"The way he said it made me think you were hurt." He grumbled.
She let out a soft laugh pulling him into a quick hug before turning her attention to me. She explained the direction of the scent and we discussed what to do. We planned to follow the scent until it got strong then we would split into our groups again and go either side in order to surround where they were. Our plan was disrupted by Wyatt.
"Uh Lincoln, we found the place." Wyatt informed.
"What? How?" I asked confused.
"We were on our way to you guys and we found an entrance to a basement." He explained
"Don't go in, wait for us." I ordered. "How far away are you?"
"I have no idea." Wyatt replied honestly. "Half an hour?"
"Okay stay hidden until we arrive." I ordered.
I briefly explained what's going on to Cora before we made our way in the direction of Wyatt's group. It took twenty minutes to get to where they were.
My eyes locked on the metal door which would lead to the hunters and I suddenly felt nervous. I had no idea what I would find or if I even wanted to know what's down there. I wished that Milo and I had mated before he was taken that way I would know what was happening to him but unfortunately I had no idea.
We must have been to loud because the doors swung open and dozens of hunters climbed out of the doors with weapons in their hands. They all suddenly charged towards us my warriors fighting back instantly.
"Cole, Cora. I want you two to go inside with the rest of Cora's group." I ordered.
I noticed Cora running towards the doors and leaping in ahead off the group, the rest soon followed. Cole glanced at us before jumping in to see if we could handle it, he gave a small nod at me before jumping in.
I took that as his reassurance that he would get my mum and Milo out of their safely, this allowed me to focus on fighting the hunters.
Half way through the fight, where half of the hunters were killed and unfortunately some of my wolves, I noticed Cora's wolf climbing out of the doors with my mum on her back. Cole followed after her with Milo.
I was too far away from them so I couldn't clearly see either of them. Both wolves darted away from the fight to get them both to safety. I felt a weight lift off my chest seeing both of them.
I must've been to focused on watching them because I forgot about the battle until I noticed a man charging at me with a knife. It was a predictable attack one which resulted in having his neck snapped easily.
Another wolf climbed out of the doors dragging someone along with her. He was trying to escape obviously terrified. He was yelling for help and once I noticed it was Oliver I ran over killing a hunter on the way. I shifted back into my human form once I reached him.
"Oliver." I called.
His head snapped over to me his eyes full of panic. "What's happening?"
"I'll explain later." I promised. "Climb onto her back and she'll take you somewhere safe."
The wolf nodded at me while Oliver shook his head.
"I'm not getting on a wolf!" He spoke to me as if I was crazy.
"Oliver we're all wolves. I'm a werewolf, so is Wyatt." I told him. "That's why your father is trying to kill us."
He gawked at me for a moment before glancing at the wolf. "O-okay." He stuttered cautiously climbing onto the wolf and letting out a yelp of surprise when she begins to run.
I heard some noise coming from the basement and decided to check what was down there. I shifted back to my wolf and lept down the stairs. I walked down the hall trying to detect where the noise was coming from.
It wasn't until I reached a room which reeked of urine and blood that I spotted a man chained to the wall with a bag on his head.
"Did you purposely leave someone in the basement?" I asked Cora through the mindlink.
"It's Oliver's dad." Cora replied.
I shifted into a human and walked over tugging the bag off him. Cole and Cora must have beaten him when they arrived because he had blood covering his face.
What annoyed me was that this room was filled with Milo and my mum's scents telling me this was where they were kept. I glanced at the patches of dried blood with a glare and my eyes glossed over at the distinct smell of sex at the far side of the room.
Oliver's dad looked at me with wide eyes telling me that he knew who I was.
"Are you in charge?" I asked him.
He rolled his eyes at me before nodding, he couldn't talk because he had a cloth stuffed in his mouth.
"Are the people here the only ones involved?" I questioned.
He shook his head with a blank face.
I sighed pulling the cloth from him. "Who?"
"Only one other person." He commented.
"Who?" I repeated.
"Ask your fag mate?" He spat at my face.
I wiped my cheek before punching him knocking a tooth out. "Why can't you tell me?"
"I'm interested to see what he does with the information he has." He smirked.
I stuffed the cloth back into his mouth making him gag before pulling the bag back on before leaving the basement.
I noticed that all the wolves were stood around waiting, they had killed all the hunters and weren't sure what to do now.
"Carry the injured and deceased to the nearest exit of the woods." I spoke loudly so they could all here me. "Anyone who isn't helping run ahead and get the cars and drive back to us."
Everyone got started in helping while some sprinted into the woods. I got the two nearest wolves to take Oliver's dad to the cars so we could interrogate him later.
Wyatt's wolf walked over to me as I shifted back, we both ran to where I saw them taking Milo and my mum.
"Over here." Cora called as we got closer.
I whimpered as I looked at them. My mother was passed out naked on the floor with her head resting on Cora's lap. She had bruises and cuts dotted on her body but not as many as Milo. He was rested against the tree, I wasn't sure if he was awake as his eyes were closed and his head was drooped forward.
He was still in the clothes from the first picture I was sent of him but now it was hard to find a section of skin which wasn't purple or green. His right leg was bent at an awkward angle and Cole was holding it still so that it wouldn't move.
I took a deep shaky breath before walking over and kneeling beside him. I gently placed my hand in his hair playing with it softly, I let the fingers of my other hand run down his bruised arm avoiding all the cuts.
Milo lifted his head slowly opening his eyes slightly. I was expecting to see pain or fear in his eyes but there was nothing. His eyes were completely blank.
"Hey Milo." I whispered. "You're safe now."
He didn't say anything, I wasn't sure if that was because he was to tired of if he just didn't want to.
I gave him a small smile. "We should start going back to the cars."
Cole and I carried Milo, we each had one of his arms over our shoulders so that he wouldn't have to put weight on his broken leg while Cora carried my mum. This was going to be a long walk.