They had been searching for almost an hour. Randomly people would find her scent then lose it again. Caeden circled back to her apartment to check in with Constance who was taking phone calls as people checked in with where they had patrolled.
She dropped the pencil when she saw him walk inside, “My poor boy, don’t look so lost. We’re going to find her.” She wrapped him in a hug; he wanted nothing more than to break down in her arms but now wasn’t the time.
“How can you even be talking to me? This is all my fault.” He had never felt such shame before.
“That’s enough of that, no one is to blame but the scum bag who took her. Grab a sandwich and go sit down. Take ten minutes to compose yourself, then get back out there and find our girl.” She spun him around and shoved him toward the kitchen table.
He smiled at the woman he didn’t know who stood there making plates for people. If they had this setup then obviously they weren’t too optimistic about their odds of finding her. He grabbed the nearest plate and went out to the patio. He needed to be alone.
He forced the food past the lump in his throat, he didn’t bother to taste it. A noise in the distance had him walking toward the rails. Koira’s canary friend was flying straight at him, chirping erratically. It dove at his head and flew in the air multiple times. He tried to shoo it away but it wouldn’t stop flying around him. It flew to the rail, landed long enough to whistle out the pattern it usually sang with Koira, then flew up again.
A crazy thought occurred to him, could it know where she was? He took off his clothes and shifted. The bird got excited and flew down the road a few feet then turned to see if he followed. He barked at the people in the apartment then took off. He didn’t care whether anyone understood, backup would be nice but he didn’t have time.
He ran the streets, following the bird as it continued to repeat Koira’s song. After a long run the bird finally landed on a sign in front of a building. Caeden sniffed the air, maybe he smelled her but maybe it was his imagination playing tricks on him. He couldn’t get past the smell of decaying fish, it permeated the air.
Quietly he crept toward the building and jumped on his hind legs to look in the window. He saw nothing but his own reflection, it was pitch black inside.
A popping noise behind him had him spinning around, ready to attack. He didn’t know what to make of the old woman standing on the sidewalk staring at him with a large smile on her face. “I guess I’m not the hero after all, you found her first.”
Caeden shifted and walked toward the woman. He smelled the pack coming, they raced around the corner coming from every direction. Brogan, Rook and West shifted and stood next to her. “How did you guys know where to go?”
Rook gestured toward Cadence, “I was with her when I got the news. We stopped by the apartment and she used a necklace of Koira’s to track her. As soon as we had a location, we called everyone and told them to meet us. How did you find her?”
“A little birdy told me.” Caeden knew how it sounded and he fought to keep a straight face as they exchanged confused looks with each other. “No seriously, a little bird led me here.” As if on cue, the canary flew down from a tree and landed on the head of a wolf standing next to Brogan. “See, I told you.”
“That’s enough chit chat, go in and get your girl.” Cadence walked to a nearby bench and sat quietly as if she were waiting for a bus. Caeden had never met the priestess but now he understood why people were in awe of her. She exuded a power he couldn’t identify.
A tiger came around the back of the building and shifted. Deader nodded at Caeden before speaking to the group. “There’s another entrance in the back, why don’t we split into two groups?”
“Rook and I will go in the front with Caeden. Brogan, you and Deader take the back.” West waited for everyone to nod before shifting.
Caeden quietly picked the lock on the door and cracked it open before shifting and heading inside. He knew there were twenty shifters following him in yet he didn’t hear a sound.
He sniffed the air, her scent was a little stronger inside but the fish were still making it difficult. A noise above them got everyone’s attention. Caeden’s stomach dropped as he watched Koira collapse to the ground. Rage filled him as he saw the asshole kick her before walking away.
He took off for the stairs, even in a blind fury he managed to stay quiet. Once he reached the top, he peeked around and spotted the guy taking his belt off next to a desk. He better not be doing what Caeden thought he was going to do. With a quick glance toward Koira, he saw her chest rising and falling. She was alive.
Caeden crept toward the man, determined to rip his throat out. Before he could pounce, the scumbag turned back to Koira and spotted the dog coming at him.
Caeden leapt toward him but his jaws snapped air; the guy had run toward Koira and lifted her in front of him. The blade pointed at her throat froze Caeden from advancing. Without a better idea, he shifted and held his hands up in surrender. “This isn’t going to end well for you. Let her go and you can walk out of here in one piece. Resist and you have not only me to deal with, but all of them, too.” He nodded his head toward the stairs. The guy leaned back and paled at the sight of a tiger and wolves standing beneath him, pacing and growling, all wanting to tear him to pieces.
“How about you let me walk out of here with her and I’ll let her go once I’m safely to my car.” Caeden was impressed the guy was willing to deal, too bad he had no intention of letting him go.
The wolf coming up the stairs made it clear they weren’t going to play along. Caeden could see fear in the man’s eyes while Koira stared in his direction, looking pleased to see him.
Her face contorted as the tip of the blade dug into the side of her neck. Everyone moved at the same time. Koira reached back, grabbed a handful of the man’s dick and twisted. He released her to grab himself as she reached for the knife. His eyes bore into hers for a split second before the wolf rammed into him, sending him over the rail. Caeden caught Koira at the same time, keeping her from falling over, too.
The wolf shifted and West stood staring below at the body contorted on the ground. The other wolves and the tiger circled him, howling in excitement.
Koira spun around in Caeden’s arms. He grabbed her face to check her neck. She gasped and pulled back, “Did I hurt you?”
“What’s your middle name?” West and Caeden exchanged glances at her odd question.
“Michael.”
“Caeden Michael Shepperd, how dare you not tell me you are Thumper! I should have known because you smelled alike and I was only content when one of you was around.” Koira paced back and forth, talking exasperatedly into the air. “And oh my god, the things I did in front of Thumper, you bastard.” She swung around to West, “I guess that means you knew, too.” She walked to the rail and yelled over to the pack beneath, “You all might as well shift so I know which of you helped keep his secret.”
She spun back toward Caeden, glaring at him. He couldn’t speak, he didn’t understand what was happening. How did she know? Why did she seem like she could see them?
“But how?” was all he could get out.
Her anger eased a little and turned to uncertainty. “It started this morning, when I got out of bed I started seeing tiny fragments of light. When you touched me at breakfast, the fog cleared a little and I could make out shapes and colors. I didn’t know what to make of it, but then West and Thumper showed up and the same fog lifted when I touched the dog, but not when I touched the sheriff. As the day went on, the fog has cleared a little more and I can see dimly now. Caeden, everything is so beautiful. The canary is exactly how you described.” The smile fell from her face again, “But when that asshole grabbed me, the fog didn’t change at all. It wasn’t till you touched me right now and everything lit up again did I realize who you really were. I don’t know why you can help me see but I’m not sure I care either.”
West and Caeden exchanged shocked glances, West nodded and snuck back downstairs. Caeden grabbed Koira and pulled her into his arms. She stood rigidly, not ready to forgive him yet. He grabbed her face and made her look at him, “You are my mate, do you understand what that means?”
She stared at him for a minute before shaking her head. “When shifters find their mate, it’s forever and sometimes when the mate is a human, they take on traits of the shifter. West was a human till he mated with Rook, now he is a wolf, too.”
The look of shock on Koira’s face made it clear how little she knew about their world. “So now I’m going to be a dog?”
Caeden laughed at the look of hope on her face. “It’s too soon to say, I haven’t officially marked you yet as my mate, so I don’t think we can say yet what changes may come. Not everything happens right away either, it could take a few weeks.”
She burst into laughter unexpectedly, Caeden looked at her questioningly. “I just realized your last name is Shepperd but you’re a lab!”
Caeden gave her a droll look, she had no idea how many times he heard that one growing up.
“I’m sorry,” She tried to look apologetic but he could see the laughter in her eyes. “How do you mark me?”
“Remember when we talked about doing it doggy style? Well, I’m going to take you from behind then as I come inside you, I’m going to bite the back of your neck. There will be a tiny mark there showing the world that you are mine.”
Caeden chuckled as he smelled the desire rolling off of her, she obviously liked the sound of that.
“Do you think after you bite me, I might get my full sight back?” Caeden didn’t want to give her false hope but he didn’t want to crush the look on her face either.
“Let’s take it one day at a time and see how it goes.” Tears welled in her eyes as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“How about we finish this later, when we’re alone.” He kissed the tears from her cheeks and tucked her against his side.
“Is Rook down there?” She glanced up at him.
“Yes, Rook and Brogan are there.”
“Good, I can’t wait to tell him his description of you was terrible, you are so much hotter than he described.” Caeden laughed and kissed the top of her head, he loved her sassiness. “Now how fast do you think you can get rid of everyone so you can show me how doggy style really works?”