Chapter Five
Ross had sent everyone to bed as soon as Davidson had left, after making sure Ash was OK. Thankfully, his brother was just a little dizzy, but Connor had got to him in time to get him to make an appearance for Davidson’s sake. Ross was relieved he’d managed, even if he’d felt entirely awful. It had been enough to get Davidson off their case, at least for now.
“How is everyone feeling this morning?” he asked, grabbing a cup of coffee. “I know last night was tough.”
“We’re fine,” Sarah replied on behalf of herself and Thomas. “Not so sure about Ash, though.”
Ash merely grunted, his face still quite pale. Ross wasn't surprised at his reaction. He'd been hit with a big dose of tranquilizer, so he'd need a couple of days to recover.
“I’m fine, if anyone’s wondering,” Connor said with a grin. “Then again, I wasn’t the one knocked out yesterday!”
Ross snorted. “Yes, about that. There’s more to this than you all know.”
That got everyone’s attention at once. Four pairs of eyes landed on him, their gazes intense.
“When I went around the back of Davidson’s house last night, I found Jenny.”
Sarah gasped, her hand at her mouth.
“What do you mean you found her?” Ash asked, looking confused. “I thought Davidson came to tell us she was missing!”
“Davidson’s a liar,” Ross replied hotly. “He’s got her in a cellar in his house. She’s a shifter.”
“What?” Connor exclaimed, suddenly looking horrified. “So, he is a hunter then? What is he going to do to her?”
“How do you know she’s a shifter?” Ash asked.
“Should I phone my sister?” Sarah interrupted.
Ross held up a hand, asking them all to be quiet for a moment while he collected his thoughts.
"One thing at a time," he said, waiting until there was quiet. "Yes, she's a shifter. I was in my wolf form at the time, and she recognized me at once. There's no way a human could do that. That's why Davidson's having such a hard time identifying us all."
Thomas let out a long breath, his arm going around Sarah’s shoulders. Ross sensed the tension in the room, knowing that each and every shifter wanted to protect Jenny even though they knew nothing else about her.
“What are we going to do?” Thomas asked heavily. “You said she’s in Davidson’s cellar?”
Ross nodded, his face grim. “There’s no way she can get out of that grate, and I don’t think there’s another way to get to her. She warned me to stay away, though.”
Ash frowned, and Ross already knew what his question would be before he asked it. “Why did she warn you? What’s so dangerous?”
“She told me his name is Greg Davidson, and that he wouldn’t stop until he got all of us.”
“Got us?” Connor asked, his face growing tight with anger. “So, he is hunting us?”
“Him and a few others, I think,” Ross replied firmly. “Remember those scents from yesterday? I think there’s more going on in that house than we know. That was something else Jenny said—if that’s actually her name. She said that he knew someone would come to investigate the house. I don’t think she was talking about the police.”
Silence covered the room like a thick blanket as each of his pack members realized what he meant. Davidson was onto them. He'd gone to the police and to them to try and discover who the shifters were.
“It’s just as well you were able to come through when you did, Ash,” Ross continued, softly. “When you showed up, I could see the disappointment on Davidson’s face. He obviously thought you were the one he’d hit with the tranq gun.”
Ash nodded. “Yeah, that’s what we thought. So, now he thinks we’re not the shifters? He’ll start looking at the police?”
Ross took in a deep breath, hoping that would be the case. “I’d think he would. Obviously, he knows that there are shifters here, he’s just not sure who yet. His attention is off us for a little while.”
“Then we should use that to our advantage,” Connor replied, getting to his feet. “We need to try and get her out.”
Warning rose in Ross’s chest. “He’s going to be expecting that.”
“But what’s the alternative?” Ash replied tersely. “Leave her there to rot?”
Ross shook his head, the memory of her frightened eyes looking up at him making him go hot all over. The last thing he wanted was to leave a terrified shifter alone. “I want to get her out too,” he replied calmly. “But we need a plan. There are hunters out there, more than just Davidson, and we have no idea who they are.”
Sarah looked up, her expression telling him that she had a plan. Typical Sarah. She always came up with something, and most of the time, it worked out.
“What?”
“We’ll have to take her away from here,” she said quickly. “Without drawing too much attention to yourselves, of course, but we could easily say that you and maybe Connor are away investigating the case?”
He frowned. “But where would we go?”
“To another pack!” she exclaimed. “We have to let everyone know that there are hunters on the loose.”
“I can just call the other leaders, though,” Ross argued. “What’s the point?”
She blew out a long, exasperated breath. “Because Davidson is going to put all of his energies into finding Jenny. And that means all of his hunters are going to be doing the same, I’d guess. Our pack’s not that big.”
“So, you think I should go up to the East River pack,” Ross said, understanding what she meant. “They’ll be able to protect her better than we can.”
Sarah gave him a small smile. "I'm not intending to say that we're not as good a pack as they are or anything like that. We're just smaller, that's all. Besides, the farther away from Davidson she is, the better. Whatever his reasons for wanting her, they're obviously important."
Ross didn't want to agree but knew he had to. There wasn't any other way as far as he could see. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Sarah. OK, that means we keep our heads down for a couple of days and come up with a plan. Once we get Jenny out, we'll have to leave pretty much straight away."
"Are we going to take the truck?" Connor asked, obviously a little calmer now that there were the beginnings of a plan.
Shaking his head, Ross saw the gleam in Connor’s eye. The longer he could stay in his wolf form, the happier Connor was. “We’ll take it some of the way,” he said eventually. “But we’ll take the last five miles or so on foot. No way I’m leading the hunters to the East River pack.”
“Sound good to me!” Connor declared. “Right, then. Let’s make a plan.”