39 – She’s Feisty

Trevor had told Troy, we’re four minutes out, Troy, do what you have to do, but he’d lied. He was a good nine or ten minutes out, even running in at full speed as a wolf, one lone bearen hauling everyone’s clothes up the forested back of the bluff. He only had one wolf who had been four minutes out, and one wolf was not much backup, but he should get there any second─

The report came. They’re gone, all of them. The top of the bluff is empty.

Shit! Trevor put on a burst of speed, calling his brother in ruhi. Troy! Troy, answer me!

After a few more minutes, Trevor made it to the top of the bluff, slowing to lope in on the alert, head down, surveying everything. He saw his team, all wolves at the moment, sniffing the boulders on the rocky terrain of the edge of the bluff, then the forest plunging down the other side.

Trevor picked his way to the edge, scenting the fight that had happened there. Troy’s blood had spilled, but so had a foxen’s. Trevor stared down the face of the bluff to the houses at the bottom, finding and marking Remington’s clinic, noting all the drapes were pulled and the house appeared silent. Everyone who was heading up this way was already in the forest, and everyone else was hunkered down inside the clinic, staying away from the windows. Trevor eyed the windows to the room he knew Blake to be in, still lying on his back in a slim imitation of sleep, calculating the odds in his head that Rex, Soren, Grey, and the bears were all working together in a coordinated effort to get their hands on Blake. It made no sense, until he factored in what Troy had said, that Blake was part foxen, and everything that had happened in the last few days. What was Khain up to?

Trevor turned around and eyed that strange copse of trees that he hadn’t been able to see from Remington’s window. They were packed together like a circle of trees that had somehow grown right up on top of each other, so tight, even a housecat couldn’t twist between the trunks.

The bearen showed up with their clothes. Trevor found his bundle, his brain working while he shifted and, his eyes going back to the circle of trees again and again. His team also shifted and grabbed up their clothes, no one speaking until they were dressed.

Mac and Rogue ran out of the forest, a few patrol officers behind them, and Mac started barking orders, getting the scene under control, leaving Trevor to wander close to that circle of trees. “Troy,” he called out loud, getting no answer.

He turned in a circle, watching the team of males looking for clues. If they didn’t find anything in five minutes, he was going to send a team to take Graeme’s place at the police station with the team guarding the young. He needed Graeme in the air more than he needed him with the young. It was a tough call, but one both Wade and Eventine would agree.

If they lost Troy…

No. Troy was around. Troy was alive. Trevor could practically feel him close by. He looked around again, his eyes searching the tree line, the bluff, then sweeping the town, then back to his team.

He made his way close to them, touching each tree once, running his hand along them like a child would run a crayon across a wall. “Troy!” he shouted, scanning the tree line again, knowing he was missing something.

Mac and Rogue strode up to him. “No sign of him,” Rogue told him. “Or Grey.”

Trevor ignored what she said, and gestured toward the trees. “What’s your gut instinct on this?” he said, asking both of them.

Mac shrugged. “It doesn’t look natural, but what could have caused that? Not Khain.” Rogue only eyed the circle, fiddling with her sleeves.

Trevor turned in a circle again, 360 degrees, then he touched a different tree, feeling his brother was close.

Mac looked around. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled for him like Trevor had done. “Troy!”

Rogue did the same. She knocked her knuckles on her SWAT helmet twice, then cupped her mouth and yelled for Troy again, her voice seeming to bounce farther into the forest than Trevor or Mac’s had.

“Wait.” Trevor held up a hand and cocked an ear. “Do you hear… snoring?”

Mac tilted his head, looking so much like a dog that Trevor could have laughed, if his brother wasn’t missing. “I might,” Mac said, “But I can’t tell where it’s coming from. It’s echoing back to us from the back of the bluff, maybe.”

Trevor cupped his hands to his mouth. “Troy!” he shouted. Nothing. He tried again in ruhi. Troy, come on you’re giving me a heart attack over here. Answer me.

The light rumble Trevor was taking as snoring didn’t stop. Troy couldn’t possibly be sleeping, could he? And where? Trevor jogged around the circle of trees, but there was no way in. If he stood back and tried to see the top of the trees, most of them looked bowed in, but there was no opening in the middle. It wasn’t like Troy could be inside there. And still…

“Mac,” Trevor said. “I need everyone over here, except for the lookouts.”

Mac gathered everyone, and in a few moments, Trevor had a throng of wolven around him, plus a few bears, cats, and Rogue.

Trevor explained his plan, spreading everyone out in a half-circle around the trees.

“Ok, get ready,” Trevor told them. Trevor did the count. “One, two, THREE!” He pointed down both sides, yelling out loud and in ruhi, while everyone else did the same.

“TROOOOY!”

In the stillness that followed, Trevor heard no snoring.

Then came lip smacking in his head. His brother. Relief hit Trevor like a train.

What? Troy said in ruhi, like they’d interrupted a pretty awesome nap.

Are you asleep? Trevor said, almost unable to believe it, even from Troy.

What? Troy said again, like Trevor was out of his mind, his voice stretching like he was stretching.

Nevermind. Where in the hell are you?

I don’t know. It’s dark. Hey, my leg must not have been as bad as I thought it was.

Your leg? Are you injured? What’s the last thing you remember?

Popping an eyeball out of old Rexie.

A few whuffs and growls came from the males listening in.

Can you hear this?

Trevor cupped his hands and yelled again. “Troy!”

Yeah, I heard it, I can’t tell where it’s coming from, though. It’s muffled like I’m in a sleeping bag.

You yell, Troy, Trevor said, shaking his head, not quite able to believe what he knew he was about to hear.

Trevor didn’t hear anything at first, and he wondered if he’d been wrong, but then the sound came, long and low.

“Arrooooooo.”

Troy howled, the howl strange as a man, but somehow, fitting Troy perfectly. The note of sadness in it stirred Trevor’s wolf.

Got it, we know where you are, he told his brother. We’re coming in, but it might take a while.

Am I in the tree cage?

Ah, yeah, I guess you could call it that. How did you get in there?

You’ve got to find my mate.

She did this?

I don’t think so, but she can fix it.

Any idea where she might be?

Um, I’ll bet she didn’t go home, but I’m certain she made it out of the forest. Check with Rizzoli.

Rizzoli?

From Mugshots. Ask Mac.

Trevor called Mac over, but he’d heard everything and was already talking. “I can find her, you want me to?”

Someone’s radio squawked, calling for Trevor. “KSRT1, ah, I know you’re on radio silence, but we’ve got a problem here that I think you need to know about.”

The radio was handed to Trevor. “Go,” he said into it. Just what they needed, another problem. Until the officer on the other end clicked his mic and spoke, but all Trevor could hear was the female voice in the background, going off on the desk sergeant.

“Are you kidding me with this? I’m his mate. He bit me, see? He’s in trouble, and if you don’t connect me with Lieutenant Burbank, right now, I guarantee you’ll be looking for a new job tomorrow.”

“Ooh,” Mac said. “Troy’s female is feisty. I approve.”

Rogue rolled her eyes at Mac. “I think she sounds like a bitch.”

Trevor shushed them both. “I’ll be there in twenty,” he said.