Tristan's Lyceum Wolves (36 page)

Kalli’s stomach lurched as she thought about Tristan, Logan and the others going after the Wallace pack. Merciless, they’d go for the kill every time. While she was confident that Tristan could best Gerald one to one, they played dirty, often employing human weapons that could injure wolves, weakening their prey. Maybe Tristan thought her going wasn’t an option, but losing him wasn’t an option either. Quietly, she resolved to try and talk him into taking her after she checked the horses.

“Stop worrying,” Tristan ordered as he pulled the car in front of the barn. “Seriously, you’ve got to let it go and trust that I will handle this. I’ve got news for you; it’s not my first time to the rodeo. I won’t be able to do my job if you’re there with me. It’s literally impossible to concentrate when I’m within five feet of you.” He gave her a small smile. “Now go take care of my baby…my big four-legged baby, that is.”

“Baby, huh?”

“Jellybean’s the one who’s sick. She’s a sweet girl, picked her out myself. And yes, she’s my baby. So go give her a look, would you? Janie can give you a ride back if you want.”

“Nah, I think a walk back to the house would do me good. I’ll take the path you showed me yesterday. Should only take me about ten minutes, right?”

“Yep, the cabin’s open. I should be done in a few hours, okay?”

Kalli leaned over, giving him a brief kiss on the lips. As she contemplated kissing him more deeply, she ran her tongue across the seam of his lips. He reluctantly resisted, softly laughing.

“If you keep this up, I swear I’ll have you up in that hay loft within five seconds. I don’t think Janie would appreciate us going like rabbits in her stables.”

She smiled against his lips. “Later. You owe me,” she teased seductively.

With a peck to his cheek, she opened the car door, shut it and walked into the barn. Janie, a pixie-sized woman with red cropped hair, waved her over. Looking around, Kalli considered maybe taking a ride, but regretfully, she hadn’t thought about it when dressing in a pair of shorts. She admired the neatly kept facilities. The stable already housed around twelve horses, and it appeared as if it could easily hold twelve more.

“Janie?” Kalli asked, extending her hand.

“Kalli?” They shook hands and she quickly ushered Kalli toward Jellybean’s stall. She was a beautiful palomino American Quarter Horse, standing fourteen hands high with a small refined head and strong muscular body.

Slowly approaching her, Kalli flattened her palm, letting the horse sniff her before gently stroking her neck. “That’s a girl. Now what seems to be wrong? You a sick baby?” she crooned.

Janie shot her a broad smile. “You really are Tristan’s mate, aren’t you?”

Kalli nodded, smiling in kind. “Yes, I am. Or, I should say that I will be. Why?”

“They’re his babies too, you know. I’m glad to have you in the pack. He needs a good woman,” she offered. “And I couldn’t be happier now that we’ve got ourselves a pack veterinarian.”

“I’d love to help with them when we’re here, but I’m more of a generalist. Not a lot of expertise with these big babies, I’m afraid. But I’d be happy to check her vitals. What did Dr. Evans say?”

“He said she was doing better. She had been diagnosed with influenza. She seems all right, but I get worried, ya know. She’s been on stall rest, isolated. I figured since you were here, you could give her a looksee.”

“I’d love to. Got a stethoscope handy?” Kalli happily opened the stall and began her exam.

After checking all of Jellybean’s vitals, she was happy to report that the big girl was making a speedy recovery. Janie and Kalli talked horses for over an hour before she decided to get home. Promising to return later in the day for a ride, she took off toward the path.

Enjoying the warm afternoon, Kalli took her time on the trails, thrilled that she actually remembered her way through the forest after their run. Approaching the spring, she sat on a rock, trying to decide the best way to convince Tristan to take her with him to South Carolina. She was sure she could help him, even if she agreed to stay in the car. Perhaps if she remotely assisted via a wire, she could feed them information about location.

Deep in thought, she heard a branch snap. Her lupine senses, having returned to normal, didn’t detect any kind of animal or wolf. She sniffed into the air again, wondering if perhaps she was mistaken. The altogether familiar scent of a human wafted into her nostrils. She knew that sometimes humans came onto the compound to bring in supplies to the clubhouse or help with the horses, but was also certain that none should be in the forest.

Like a deer on alert, she stilled, scanning the trees. Seeing nothing, she decided to shift. At the very least, she’d get home more quickly. At worst, she’d outrun any human predator. Crouching down into a defensive stance, she readied to shift, calling her wolf to the surface. But as she went to lift her shirt in an effort to strip, a dark covering fell over her. Struggling to remove it, she hissed in pain. Laced in silver, she’d been effectively blinded and trapped. Strong arms wrapped around her as she fought to escape. The silver restrained her from shifting, weakening her entire body. Screaming for help and writhing, she jerked as a sharp needle pierced her thigh.
Tranquilizer.
Mouthing Tristan’s name in silence, she hit the forest floor, enveloped in darkness

They’d spent hours reviewing intel, including maps and names, in preparation for their attack. Logan, in charge of weapons, had worked with Declan to load the plane and procure the necessary bulletproof equipment. While Tristan normally didn’t do weapons, he was aware that Gerald liked guns. And he planned on taking him out by any means possible.

‘
Do you know where Kalli is?
’ buzzed across his cell phone screen as he finished up with the wolves. The text from Janie didn’t automatically send him into a panic, until he realized it was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon and he’d been gone for four hours.

Tapping Janie’s mobile number, he waited. “Where is she?” he barked when Janie picked up the line.

“I don’t know, Tris. We were supposed to go for a ride hours ago. I tried calling the house, but no answer. I was hoping she was with you.”

“Lock up the barn, Janie. Lock all the doors until Simeon comes for you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just do it. Don’t let anyone in. Grab the shotgun in the office and wait for Simeon now.”

Ending the call, he yelled over to the group. “Logan! Kalli’s missing. Simeon, over to the barn, now! Take Declan. Go wolf when you get there, start running the property. Something’s wrong. I feel it. Logan, car! Let’s get over to the cabin now. Call Mira; tell her we’re on lockdown. All wolves need to be inside and ready to shift.”

Running out of the building, Tristan and Logan jumped into his car and sped up to the cabin. By the time they got there, Tristan was furious. They tore through the cabin, but he could tell by the scents that she hadn’t been home since the morning. She was gone.

Tristan began pacing like a caged tiger, working through where she could be, who’d taken her. “Goddammit, Logan. How’d they breach our property? There’s no way in hell any foreign pack could make one step on our land without someone scenting them. The only way anyone could have gotten in is as human. What deliveries did we have today?”

“There was a scheduled food delivery early this morning, but if anything had been wrong, the food service manager would have called us. But you’re right; a human has to have done this. The wolves would know if another wolf breached our property. And if someone did go after her, why wouldn’t Kalli shift? She should be able to shift on demand by now…after last night,” Logan reasoned.

“A human. A fucking human. Or…” He stilled as the horrifying possibility ran through his mind. “A wolf pretending to be a human. The CLI. No one would have scented them. They could have taken her over the fence just about anywhere. We’ve gotta run the perimeter. Fuck!” He pounded his fist into the wall in frustration.

“And if they silvered her, maybe drugged her, they could stop her shift,” Logan added.

Tristan felt as if someone had reached into his chest and pulled out his heart by its bloody roots. They’d come into Lyceum Wolves and taken her. His blood pumped in rage. Stripping off his clothes, he instantly transformed, sprinting off across the yard and into the field. Logan followed in pursuit. By the time they reached the furthest boundary, they’d almost given up hope, but soon Tristan screeched to a dead stop and shifted back to human. Running over to the fence, he peeled off a small scrap of red flannel. Holding it to his nose, he breathed deeply, memorizing every last molecule of its odor.

“Wolf. Not ours,” he barked out, raking his fingers through his hair. Handing it off to Logan, he peered over the fence that led into a thin patch of woods next to a small road. No car. No trash. No clues. It didn’t matter, because he knew where they’d taken her. And he knew for certain who exactly took her. When he found Gerald, he swore he’d rip his throat out vein by vein. If he weren’t a dead man before, he’d just signed his own death warrant.

“Back to the clubhouse. I want every wolf there. I want to make sure no one else is missing and if anyone saw anything,” Tristan ordered.

Silently, Logan nodded. His Alpha was about to go on a tear, and he prayed they’d find Kalli. Cursing his damn visions, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen this coming.

Pack members filled the large all-purpose room in the clubhouse. A hum of nervous conversation echoed off the cedar walls. After a quick change of clothes in the locker room, an agitated Tristan entered the open area, parting the sea of people. Instantly it became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone sat, cautiously watching their Alpha.

Looking to Logan, who’d dressed quickly as well, Tristan assessed the situation. “All wolves accounted for?”

“Yeah, everyone’s here except for Simeon. I sent him to the airstrip to make sure the jet was ready tonight, and to change flight plans. We’re set to go.”

“Listen up everyone,” Tristan began in a deadly serious tone. “We’ve suffered a security breach this afternoon. We believe that at least two persons, possibly wolves taking CLI, came onto Lyceum Wolves’ property via the north gate. Somewhere between the barn and my cabin, they abducted Kalli.”

The crowd released a small roar of murmurs at the news.

“Settle down,” he ordered. “Now I know that most of you noticed her on last night’s run…at the spring. I was planning on a formal introduction to the pack later this week, but now it seems there’s no other way for me to do this. So for those who haven’t been listening to gossip, she’s mine; I’ve claimed her.”