Chapter 8
His men waited just outside the door, armed with various guns and swords…because swords were in these days, I guess. I looked in the direction that they all faced and walked through the men. Were they seriously sniffing the air? I moved to where Jaeden stood, and sniffed to see if I could smell whatever it was they had.
Nothing.
I moved to my where my bike had been and almost growled out loud when I couldn’t see the markers I had left around it when I hid the bike. Those bitches! It was a full mile back to the shelter. Jaeden turned his head and looked at me carefully. “Keep the mask on, Emma,” he said as we all started forward as a group.
“Always do,” I whispered and then scrunched up my face as I heard how stupid it sounded. We walked through the woods for what felt like forever, even though I knew it had only taken us moments to reach the bloody scene.
I spotted my bike on its side, with blood splattered all around it. Jillian was sightless, her head turned at an awkward angle in death. Bonnie was nearby in the grass, her legs spread wide, as if her assailant had tried to do more than just rip her apart. Her shirt was ripped open and her pants were gone, as well as her underwear. I swallowed down the saliva which threatened to become more. My stomach rolled with what I was seeing.
They’d been ripped apart, literally. This hadn’t been a kill for food, but a brutal show of strength. Tears filled my eyes as I walked closer to where Jillian was staring into the sky, as if her killer had stood above her, taunting her. I followed her eyes, and then looked to the damp ground at huge paw prints that seemed to be everywhere around her body, but also, foot prints—bare human footprints.
I walked over to Bonnie, who had the same prints around her body. Bloody handprints covered her thighs as if they’d been held apart. Wolves didn’t work with humans…right? They’d been ripped apart, and yet Bonnie had been raped. The proof was there for everyone to see. The next question was, had she been dead before they’d raped her corpse or was she raped and then killed? Did the wolves show up after the humans had raped Bonnie and killed them both? And why was only Bonnie raped? My mind whirled with scenarios, none of them making any sense.
“What kind of sick bastard would do this?” I whispered, horrified as I turned to find Jaeden and his men staring at me. I knew that look, it was the one that said at any moment they expected me to shatter and break into a million pieces. I wouldn’t; instead I was disgusted. I was disgusted at what I was doing while this was happening. How long had I been in that house, being seduced by Jaeden?
I didn’t know shit about him, and for all I knew, I could be standing beside the killer. I doubted it, since they looked as disgusted as I felt about what had occurred here. I kneeled beside Bonnie and reached for her leg to close it, to give her some resemblance of dignity in death, but when I grabbed her leg, it detached from the body. Muscle gave way, and the sound would haunt me forever. Bone had been severed by something besides the wolves. It was a clean break, and as I looked to her arms, I realized they too had been set back in place.
“Emma,” Jaeden said gently as he held out his hand for mine. I glared up at him as I ignored his hand and reached for my handheld radio.
“Addy, call everyone in. Now. I want a full head count of every soul that belongs to the shelter. No one goes out, and no new person comes in. Lock it down,” I ordered.
“Everything okay out there, Ems?” Addy’s distant voice came back over the radio.
“Bonnie and Jillian are dead, and I need you to issue that order, now.”
“Will do, and Ems, be fucking careful. Bring them back if you can, please,” Addy said.
“They’re in pieces, Addy, actual pieces. I can’t bring them back like this, it would only cause panic. I need everyone inside and do a headcount. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Bitch, are you safe?” she growled and I could hear her panic even over the radio and static.
“I’m with Jaeden and his men,” I admitted.
“Be safe, and if he doesn’t keep you safe, I’ll cut his balls off and feed them to him!”
I caught sight of Jaeden wincing but ignored it. “Call it, and lock it down.”
“Sending it now,” she said.
I knew the moment she did it, because Jillian’s radio went off.
“Get the fuck back here! Two down, call out!” Addy shouted to the radio. I listened as one after another sounded off. Jaeden’s eyes narrowed as he listened as men and women sounded off. Yeah, I had a large group. He’d had no idea of just how big that group was. After some fifty people sounded off, I responded.
“Get back to base, and be safe. We are no longer safe in the woods. Once inside, you are to stay there. Addy and Jimmy will do a head count. If at that time, we find others missing, I will find them.”
The radio seemed to explode with chatter, everyone asking questions at once. “Enough; you’ll be told when we are all back and safe. For now, all you need to know is we lost two and I won’t lose anymore. God be with you, and watch your six, over.”
I turned to Jaeden and nodded. “Let’s find the sick pieces of shit,” I said and watched his face clear of all emotions.
“Come again?” he asked with a serious look on his face.
“I’m finding who did this, with or without your help,” I bit out crisply as I did a check of the ammunition I had on me. He seemed to consider it briefly before making up his mind.
“These were wolves, Emma, very dangerous ones at that.”
“Yeah because we all know wolves are in to fucking humans, and raping them? Since when did wolves become able to unbutton pants? Someone put them back together. Wolves don’t do that, not even rabid ones.” I watched as his eyes narrowed at my quiet sarcasm.
“Good point,” he said, but I got the feeling he was either hiding something or covering it up. I also had a feeling he wasn’t used to being questioned.
“What is it you aren’t telling me?”
“Nothing,” he said as he stepped closer, and I stepped back. “Don’t do that, Emma.”
“Do what?” I snapped.
“Don’t pedal backwards with me. I don’t regret what we did, and neither should you.”
“Shouldn’t I? I was with you when I should have been with them! I could have helped them!” I was ashamed of what I’d done. I’d been so close to having sex! I’d let my guard down, and they had paid for it. I was so sick of this shit! Too many people were being killed, and while I hadn’t been a huge fan of either of the girls, I wouldn’t wish this kind of death on anyone.
Life kept throwing curve balls at my head, and the only thing it was doing was improving my skill in dodging them. I was tired of dodging, I needed a friggin’ bat. It was time to knock a few home runs out of the park, and after all, I had home field advantage. This was my town. I knew it like the back of my hand, and had lived here for my entire twenty-one years of life.
“You should go home,” Jaeden said with a tinge of anger lacing his tone. “Try to think of it as this; if you’d been with them, you’d be lying beside them in pieces right now. What we did? It saved your life.”
“You don’t know that,” I said as I met his soul-piercing eyes. “I’m a fighter, Jaeden. I know everything there is to know about this town, and for all you know, I could have stopped this from happening.”
He smiled but it was cold. “You need to face reality, little lady. You’re small, and while I’ve seen you fight, you wouldn’t win this one. This was a pack of rogue wolves. They are deadly, unlike any other animal you’ve ever met.”
“Well since I haven’t met many wolves before, that tells me absolutely nothing. Wolves are wolves, and I have never heard of any kind of wolves doing anything like this before.”
“Emma, go home. I’ll let you know if I find the animals that did this,” he snapped.
“Those are my girls on the ground, Jaeden! I’m either coming with you to help kill the monsters that did this, or I’ll go out by myself. You can’t stop me!” I seethed. Who the hell did he think he was?
“Bjorn?” he said as he focused his attention on his handgun and checked the magazine.
“Yeah?” An extremely tall man with jet black hair and cold, blue eyes stepped up.
“Secure Emma, and protect her with your life. Lock her in my bedroom if you have to, but don’t let her out of your sight.”
I snorted. Right! Not gonna happen—I was captured in a bear hug before I’d even noticed him move. He tightened his hold on me even as I kicked his legs and screamed. “You’re an asshole! You have no right! You can’t do this to me!”
Jaeden smiled as he slipped his handgun into the back waistband of his pants. His eyes lifted to mine, and he strolled over to where I was thrashing in the giant’s arms. “Cease struggling, sweet Emma, before you hurt yourself,” he replied. His hand came up to touch my cheek before his thumb traced the fullness of my bottom lip. “I’ll see you when I get home from hunting, honey.”