Chapter Twenty
Parker
Parker strained against his binds despite not being uncomfortable in the slightest. At least, not physically. Mentally, he was punching himself repeatedly. He deserved that and worse. He should have come clean that first day, certainly before they'd taken things to a physical level and definitely before he'd decided they were all mates. Now, he still felt that way, but his mates hated him.
He couldn't blame them. Parker strained to try and hear something, anything that would clue him into what they were doing. Glenn had taken Brady out to the barn to tell him his plan and Brady had come back very upset. He stomped into the kitchen to grab a moist towel and ice. While he cleaned Parker's face with gentle swipes, he was lost in his head, thinking over whatever it was that Glenn had told him. The only reason Brady would be mad was if it was a bad plan or if Glenn wouldn't let Brady participate. If Glenn wouldn't let Brady participate, then that meant whatever the plan was, it was dangerous. Parker couldn't stand the idea of Glenn getting hurt in a mission that he was to blame for.
"You can keep me tied up, torture me, ask me anything, I'll talk," Parker said.
Brady blinked as if bringing himself back from wherever he'd been lost at in his mind. "We aren't going to torture you," he said. "At least, I don't think so. Glenn, are we going to torture Parker?"
Glenn stopped. He'd been rushing through the room gathering supplies. Parker watched him put more surgical tape into a bag, a bottle of clear liquid he got from the medicine pantry, and a lighter. "No. We aren't torturing Parker."
"Where are you going, Glenn? What do you have planned?" Parker fought against his bindings. He didn't want any of those items used on any of the innocent coyotes in his pack. And how would Glenn know the innocent ones from the assholes? Parker would be the first to admit that there were quite a few assholes in his pack. But they looked the same, unfortunately.
"I'm going to solve the problem," he said simply.
"You aren't going alone!" Brady said. Parker had been thinking the same thing.
"I am. You are going to stay here or I will tie you up and put you right next to him," Glenn threatened. "It is too dangerous for you." Before either of them could argue the point, he stood in front of Brady and gave him a light kiss on the lips. He turned toward the door but hesitated. Parker could read the indecision in his shoulders but after a few seconds, Glenn turned back toward them. Stomping toward the couch, he bent down giving Parker the slightest, fastest kiss on the forehead.
It was the sweetest kiss Parker had gotten. He exhaled a relieved breath, letting go of a stress that had been stabbing the back of his mind. That relief was short lived as Glenn then left the room and walked out of the house to carry out a top secret, dangerous mission that was definitely Parker's fault.
***
A few hours later Parker thought he was going to go crazy. "He should be back by now, Brady. Something happened. Something is wrong."
"I know that, Parker. But what are we supposed to do? We don't know where he went, have no way of finding him."
Parker leaned up. "Not no way. He found me in the middle of the forest. You forget, we're shifters and when I shift into my animal form, there isn't anything I can't track."
"No way. You're hurt and besides, Glenn would slaughter me if I let you out."
"And what will he do if he's dead?" Parker felt bad for saying the words immediately. Not only did they hurt himself but they hurt Brady. He was tired of hurting his mates.
Brady pushed his glasses up his nose. "How do I know you won't just make me stay like he did? You both seem to think that since I am a human I can't protect myself."
Parker wouldn't say that that sounded about right. "I'm done lying to you," he said. His voice didn't shake because there was no deception.
"How do I know that isn't one of the many half-truths you've been telling us since day one?"
"Because I am done with those as well. I mean it. I am done being anything but one hundred percent transparent and authentic with you and Glenn. If you untie me, we will track him together. You can even tie a leash around my neck."
His attempt at a joke worked. Brady smiled for the first time since he'd gotten back. Like Glenn's kiss, Parker was relieved to see it. He'd been so sure at first that he was facing a life of no more kisses or smiles. If he had time, he would spend it being in awe of his amazing mates.
"That is some kinky shit," Brady said, but not in a way that seemed like he wasn't into it. "I don't need a leash, just your promise."
"I promise."
***
The night was cold, but that just made Glenn's scent stronger. Parker concentrated on not just locating Glenn's scent, but also trying to locate what he was carrying. He'd had surgical tape. That stuff had a unique smell. In moments, he caught it.
Eau du Glenn and surgical tape. He yipped softly to let Brady know he'd caught the scent and then followed it. Brady jogged alongside him. When Parker noticed the scent was leading into town and not the forest, he paused. Where had Glenn gone? What was in Riverside that would solve their problems? It took him a second to answer his own question.
It seemed by Brady's gasp that he had put two and two together at just about the same time. "He's going to Foster's place. To do what?" Brady paused. "The distillery."
The lighter, the bottle, it all made sense. He was going to go blow it up. No monthly gifts meant there would be no reason for his pack to want to keep Foster safe. Parker had to admit, it was a plan that he would have come up with eventually. He didn't like that Glenn had gone alone, and especially disliked that he wasn't back yet.
Brady's hand fell on Parker's haunches. His palm trembled telling Parker how nervous he was. Parker paused, shifting into his human form. He grabbed his pants from the pack Brady carried and then grabbed his hand, continuing to walk forward to Foster's house.
"How many people are in your pack?" Brady asked out of nowhere.
Parker thought maybe he was just trying to distract himself as they traveled to Robert Foster's home. He lived past the police station on the other side of town. The furthest from Brady's home one could go while still being in Riverside. That had been another reason why Parker had thought Foster's land would make a great place for the coyotes. It would keep Brady away from danger.
"Years ago, there were more than a hundred of us. Sickness killed around a third of that number, and many more left the pack the deeper it fell into despair. I'd say there are about fifty adult coyotes left and maybe a handful adolescents."
"And how many of those can't shift?"
Parker knew that if Clyde, his alpha, or any of the other male coyotes found out that he was readily giving pack information away that they would call him a traitor and perhaps do even worse. "I can't be positive now, but Clyde made it sound like things were still getting worse. I'd guess that by now most of the adult males can't shift. Around seventy percent of the women."
"What about the children?"
"Well, shifters don't gain the ability to shift until around puberty anyway so the littlest ones can't. The teenagers all can though, except one." Parker made a face as he thought of the one teenage boy who couldn't shift. He was, to put it mildly, a jerk. Almost eighteen, he was always causing trouble, bullying the smaller kids and trying to get the other teens to drink and smoke with him.
"Hmm," Brady said. He was trying to figure it out, find a cause for his pack's misfortune. Parker appreciated the effort.
They were three quarters of the way through Riverside, sticking to the shadows despite the fact that the town was basically empty at this time of night. They might as well roll up the sidewalks. In the distance, a gun shot rang out and Brady squeezed Parker's hand as they both stopped.
"That could have been anything. Could have been anyone," Brady said though it was clear he was trying to persuade himself more than anything.
"The distance is about right," Parker replied, slipping his pants off.
"We live on a mountain, every one of these people owns a gun," Brady said, his tone rising.
Parker pulled him into a tight hug, hoping to absorb some of the man's panic. He was breathing so hard, Parker worried Brady would pass out. "We're going to be okay. We would know if something was seriously wrong with him."
"That isn't what you said earlier."
Parker cringed. "You're right, but I am saying it now. We need to get moving though. We would know if he was seriously hurt, but I still think he needs our help."
"For as much as you two worry about me needing protecting, how is it always one of you that is in need of rescuing?"
Parker chuckled, kissed Brady on the forehead and then shifted.
The two of them broke into a run. Parker could move silently over the terrain in his coyote form, had learned to when he was younger and learning to hunt. Brady was also pretty quiet despite only having two feet. They made it to the fence on Foster's property and took a break, peering through the wooden planks to get a better look.
Parker could no doubt see more clearly as a shifter. There was a field in front of them, a few cows munching lazily at the grass. Behind that was a barn connected to a huge shop, and to the right was Foster's house. If Parker had to guess, he'd put the distillery in the shop.
Brady slid over to a gate in the fence that was likely used for herding or loading. He slipped it open and walked the large gate to rest against the fence.
"Foster has a lot of animals, I don't want them panicking and trampling each other because of anything that we are about to do."
Parker's heart swelled. Of course, his sweet mate would think of the animals first. He nodded his coyote head and then made a look that he hoped told Brady he was to stay here while Parker went forward.
"No way, buddy. I'm not waiting. Besides, I have my gun. You go first, by all means, but I'm following. He might have Glenn. How do you expect me to stand back?"
Parker understood. Nothing could keep him from saving either of them. He forged ahead, silently through the field. There was no outside lighting and it was a dark night. A warm drop of rain landed on his forehead. Another one did not follow but the atmosphere was thick and warm, more was coming. Parker thought about that morning. He'd been eating breakfast reading in Brady's newspaper about a big thunderstorm that was supposedly coming. That life felt so far away. How had so much changed in a day?
He walked past the barn to the shop, slipping through a breezeway door into the corridor that connected to the barn. He stuck to the shadows of the wall as he spotted light up ahead.
"I thought I smelled your stink," Clyde snarled.
Parker swayed back. What was Clyde doing there? He must have been suspicious after meeting with Parker earlier that day. Parker didn't hear if Glenn said anything back, which just made him more nervous. What had Clyde done to him?
Parker tried to think past his rage that Glenn might be hurt, past his fear, to a place where he could concentrate on the other noises going on. If Clyde had Glenn that had to mean Foster knew someone had crept onto his land. So where was the man?
Brady placed his hand on Parker's side. This time, it was steady. His mate was good in an emergency, that was for sure.