Raymand
The scent of silver and blood assaulted Raymand’s senses when he shuffled through the front door with two large pizza boxes in his hands. He dropped the pizzas and bolted to Maple. He wrapped his hand around her arm and the searing burn of silver zipped up his hand.
“No,” Maple whimpered, shattering Raymand’s heart. He grabbed her and ignored the burning pain in his own arms as he carried her to the tub. Raymand needed to get the silver from her flesh, so she could heal.
“Cora!” Raymand yelled but nothing sounded back to him. His wolf knew she wasn’t there, but he couldn’t help calling her name again. He couldn’t hear her heartbeat in the house and his wolf paced quicker.
“No, Cora.” Maple mumbled as tears fell down her cheeks. Raymand set her in the tub and turned on the water before grabbing her arm. The shallow cut had specks of silver, but the water didn’t push it out. He shut off the water and turned toward the medicine cabinet. He tried to think of a way to clean the large wounds. Raymand grabbed the alcohol and hydrogen peroxide.
“This might hurt.” He dumped the alcohol on one of her cuts but it did nothing while Maple whimpered. He dropped the bottle after closing it and poured peroxide on the same cut making her pull away, but this time the bubbles pushed the silver out. The knots in his stomach loosened a touch as he pulled out his phone he poured more on the rest of her cut.
“What’s-” Drake started.
“Fucking hunters were at my house. Cora isn’t here, and I need more fucking hydrogen peroxide.”
“Give me five and Anne will be there with the peroxide in two.” Drake ended the call. Raymand grabbed her other arm and cleaned it with the little peroxide he had left. The scent of silver still perfumed the air mixed with blood.
“You’ll be okay, Maple.” Raymand kissed her head. He needed her to heal.
“But Cora.” She winced.
“Once you’re healed I will go find her. I can’t be worried about you not healing when I’m out looking.”
She opened her mouth, but he put his finger to her lips. “Hush, you need to save your strength. Do you think you can shift?”
Her gasp of air sent a wave of panic through him. She shook her head. The front door opened and closed sending his wolf into a panic.
“Raymand?” Anne yelled through the house. His wolf stopped trying to shift but paced at the edge.
“In the bathroom,” Raymand yelled back. Hurried footsteps came closer and she stopped in her tracks when she came into view. “Give it to me.” He waved her forward. Anne swallowed hard and took a few tentative steps forward, dropping the bag of bottles on the ground near him.
“Why isn’t she healing?”
“Blood loss and silver in her cuts have made it hard.” Raymand uncapped another bottle and cleaned her other arm. The first one slowly stitched itself up. Carefully he turned her, so he could look at her back after tossing the bottle to the side. Anne gasped behind him. The long cut ran up most of her back and the shirt barely stayed together. His heart ached staring at the angry red flesh then anger followed close behind. His wolf howled with rage, the need to kill coursed their blood.
“Hand me another bottle.” He extended his hand while keeping Maple in place. Anne’s shaky hand placed another open bottle in his hands after a second. Any longer and he would’ve started growling.
Maple cried out as he poured the liquid down her back. Her efforts to get away were weak making his wolf whimper in his mind.
“Another.” He tossed the empty one and reached out. The quicker the silver left her body the faster she could heal. Anne handed it over quicker this time. The liquid slid down Maple’s skin. With more bits of silver sluggishly rolling down the drain, her skin gradually gained more color.
Drake rushed into the house and stopped next to the bathroom door. “Shit.” He cursed, only the bottom of the long slash still held silver.
“Go into the living room and get the fucking scent of the bastard or bastards who did this,” Raymand growled when he reached for another bottle.
“Two males.” Maple’s shoulders tensed. “Thirty.”
“Thirty of them?” Anne asked, and Maple shook her head.
“Years?” Raymand asked this time. Maple nodded and sighed as the last of the silver left her body. He grabbed her and carried her into the room. “Anything else?”
Anne followed close behind and pulled blankets up from the bottom of the bed. Maple’s tears started again.
“They put a collar on her, so she couldn’t shift without killing her.” Maple pushed the tears to the side. Raymand growled low as the image of a collared Cora filled his mind. At least now he knew the other pups weren’t dead but that still left him with a ton of fucking questions.
“Why didn’t they…” Raymand couldn’t push the words from his mouth. He couldn’t imagine her not being at his side so soon after finding her. His wolf shook his head trying to get it out of their mind.
“The older guys said not to kill me but I don’t know why.” Maple shrugged then winced. “You need to go find her. She’s scared.” Her eyes pleading with Raymand.
“I will.” He turned to Anne. “Call Ash to come over here and watch out for you and her.” Raymand kissed his mate before joining Drake in the room.
“I heard her and didn’t find anything to tell me otherwise. One attacked while the other grabbed. We might need help.” Drake sniffed the air again while Raymand took in the attacker’s scents. His wolf wanted blood and for the first time in a while, his human side agreed.
“Get Zac, he’s a good tracker like you.” Raymand stormed out into the garage following the hunter’s scents. It ended at the end of the driveway, blending with the rest of the scents of the outside world. He hoped Zac and Drake would have better luck. Zac and Ash pulled up a few minutes later ready to work.
His wolf paced wanting Cora safe and sound. Not having her little feet running around in the house broke a part of Raymand’s heart. Shit, I do want her to stay with us. He cursed his stupidity for not seeing it before they took her. When he found her, he would promise both Maple and Cora to become a family.
“If they attack again watch out for their fucking knives,” Raymand yelled the warning to everyone. “Now let’s go. We need to find Cora.”
Drake and Zac took the lead south and Raymand followed in his pickup. Zac looked odd with his head out of the window by an inch, but the jerky lane changes and quick turns brought Raymand hope they were going to locate Cora soon.
“I need to find her tonight.” His wolf nodded at the declaration. They reached the edge of the city on the south side and he stopped seconds before Zac hopped out.
“We need to shift.” Zac yanked off his clothes and shifted before Raymand said anything. He ground his teeth together and shifted without stripping. Zac headed farther south. Raymand hoped they weren’t following a fake fucking trail since he couldn’t catch Cora’s scent.