Chapter 22: 22: The Rescue

MAX

Word reaches us that Beck and his team are racing back with a wounded and unconscious pack member. We have to get to them quickly.

I round up two warriors and we head out to the coordinates Beck relayed to his dad. If we make it there fast enough, we can park a van on the road and save them the trouble of running all the way back.

We drive to the approximate area where they might come out of the forest, park the van, and cautiously begin our journey into the woods. It’s daytime, so we can see clearly enough without shifting.

We want to keep the advantage of our human height. We spread out, keeping each other in sight but maintaining a good distance between us.

I make my way through a particularly thick part of the forest, branches scraping my arms as I protect my face. It’s obvious this path isn’t well-traveled.

Once I get through the dense vegetation, I stop and scan my surroundings. I listen for any noise that might guide me to them, sniffing the air for any scent of our pack mates.

I find nothing, so I continue. My mind starts to drift—I’m scheduled to leave for the South border of Canyon Ranch tomorrow.

Alpha Jason must be suspicious by now. Our wolves were spotted near their territory.

And right now, they’re trespassing on our land as they chase Beck and his team. I try to keep my mind on the task at hand.

But I’m not paying enough attention and trip over a fallen tree hidden under brush and dirt. This isn’t like me—I need to get it together.

I stumble and fall to the ground. That’s when I hear it.

The sound of footsteps. I press my ear to the ground.

I’ve seen trackers do this many times. Why didn’t I think to try this technique before?

The footsteps belong to a four-legged creature. It could be a wolf.

Or a deer. Or a bear.

I can’t be sure. I mind-link my two pack mates, letting them know I hear something and telling them to stay alert in the direction I’m heading.

I stand up, dust myself off, and start walking toward the source of the noise. My ears are on high alert, trying to pinpoint where it’s coming from and identify what it is.

I hear the faint sound of heavy panting—the kind you hear when someone has been running for a long time and is nearing exhaustion. I sprint toward it, and as I round a large oak tree, I see a naked man leaning against it, one hand on his knee.

He looks up as he sees me. “Alpha?” he croaks, his voice hoarse.

Before I can respond, he collapses. “Shit,” I mutter, rushing over to him and checking for a pulse.

It’s our tracker. I stand and scan the area.

He’s alone. I mind-link my two pack mates, telling them to come my way and that I’ve found one of our guys.

I take out my water canteen from my backpack and try to get him to drink. His breathing is ragged and labored.

Just then, my two pack mates arrive, jumping over bushes to get to me. They’ve shifted, their bags held tightly in their jaws.

After shifting back and quickly dressing, they join us. “Alpha, if he’s here, they can’t be far behind,” Walter, a seasoned warrior who knows this forest like the back of his hand, says.

I tell Stan, my other pack mate, to take our unconscious friend to the van. Hopefully, he’ll wake up on the way and can give us some information.

Meanwhile, Walter and I will follow the path he came from. Praying to the Moon Goddess, we venture deeper into the woods.

BECK

We’ve been moving for hours. I say moving because we ran out of energy a while back.

Our goal now is to get out of these woods safely. Jack is still unconscious, which is a bad sign.

I’m pretty sure we’re not being chased anymore. If we were, they would have caught up to us by now.

Our tracker never came back to us, so I can only hope he found help. The four of us have been taking turns carrying Jack.

When it was my turn, I shifted and hoisted him over my shoulder. The rope burns we were all getting were enough to make me decide I’d rather walk in human form.

Despite our quick healing, it’s still very uncomfortable. “Why don’t you guys go on ahead,” I suggest to the other three.

Connor looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Not gonna happen, Beck. I’m not leaving our future beta out here in the woods,” Connor retorts, his fierce gaze reminding me of his father, Milo.

The other two nod in agreement—they’re not going anywhere either. Just when I think we should stop for a rest and some water, I hear noise coming from ahead.

I stop and signal everyone to stop and listen. That’s when I hear a voice I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear again.

“Where the fuck are these guys,” Alpha Max grumbles not far ahead of us. “Here,” I call out loudly.

I just hope no one was following us because I’ve just given away our location. Two minutes later, Max and Walter break through some brush ahead of us.

They’re both covered in scratches, and Max looks like he took a tumble in the dirt. I’ve never been so relieved to see anyone in my life.

I drop to my knees and gently lower Jack to the ground. “What happened?” Max asks as he approaches us.

“You guys look like shit. And what’s with him?” He points to Jack.

“We can fill you in on the way back. We need to get out of these woods,” I reply.

Max nods. Walter walks over and lifts Jack, “I’ve got him. You guys look beat.”

He hands me a canteen of water before he stands with Jack on his shoulders. Max has passed out his canteen to the other guys, and they’re all trying to drink without being greedy.

Max looks behind me. “Were you being followed?”

I nod. “I think they gave up though. They would have had to cross the river and it was pretty dangerous. I don’t want to find out though. We haven’t eaten or slept in two days.”

“All right, let’s move. When we get to the van, you guys can rest. There’s water and food too.”

Max walks beside me, the others moving as quickly as they can ahead of us. Walter is leading the way, Jack thrown over his shoulder.

He’s clearly got more energy than the rest of us as we double time our steps to keep up with him. “Your mother was having a nervous breakdown, Beck. When we got that call early this morning, she finally relaxed and went to lay down. I don’t know how she handled it when your dad and mine went away on missions,” Max tells me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I reply, “She had us to worry about, I guess. It kept her busy.”

“Spill it. What went down? Did you gather any info? And why on earth did you dive into the river? You could’ve died,” Max questions, shooting me a sideways glance as he shoves branches aside.

“We had to take out three wolves. Then we had to leap into the river—it was our only escape route when the Canyon Ranch pack warriors were on our tail. As you can see, Jack took a hit to the head at some point. He hasn’t come to once.”

Max groans, a sound of frustration. He knows this isn’t good.

We were seen and we killed their wolves. They probably know it was us.

I don’t even wait for him to prompt me to go on. I start to recount everything that transpired, as we navigate our way out of the forest.

I glance at Max every so often, noticing his tense demeanor but he remains silent, letting me finish my tale. By the time we reach the van, I’ve pretty much covered everything.

I collapse into the back of the van for the ride home. I faintly hear Max on the phone with the alpha.

I rest my head back, succumbing to exhaustion almost immediately.