Chapter 36: The Case Of The Missing Girl

Rushing into the forest, I head in the direction that I heard her scream. After several minutes, I keep running even though I hear nothing more except for the birds singing above my head. I stop to scan the area for any signs of a struggle or if I can find anymore of her blood on the vegetation, but with nothing to go by, I pick a direction that calls to me for some reason.

This time I am right fortunately, because the next thing I know I am just outside a small camp made up of two tents thrown together by tarps and ropes. In the middle is a fire blazing and sitting next to it is Arabella and not a vampire, but another werewolf. I can only tell, because her scent is so strong, and she looks like a rogue.

She has tattoos all up and down her arms and her hair is formed into a mohawk with a braid hanging down the nape of her neck. Arabella is sitting next to her bound by the wrists and the ankles, or at least it looks like. The woman hasn’t even covered Arabella’s naked body yet.

Shaking my head, I realize that she must be chilled to the bone and that is certainly not good for the pups if not her. Sitting there, I start to get worried and murmur to myself, “Even if I get her home tonight, will she get sick?”

The second I say it, the rogue looks in my direction as if she could hear me. I begin to wonder if she doesn’t have super hearing or something as her gift. After all, I am blessed with it, so why not others?

As I watch every move she makes, I don’t notice the male come up behind me. That is until he steps on a stick, and I hear the “crunch” from just a few feet away. Of course, I move out of the way just in time and he misses me by just a few inches with a long hunting knife.

I have always found it ironic that some of us still carry weapons, even though we have them naturally. We have sharp fangs and claws that can shred an artery in a matter of seconds, yet we still carry blades and things like that. Honestly, I have never carried them. What is the point?

Seeing the glint of the sun’s rays on the blade, I count my blessings because it was too close for comfort. Not to mention, the minute I move, he turns towards me and swings again. We he sees that I narrowly escape that one too, he starts to get sloppy when he strikes a third time.

Laying a blow to his head with my closed fist, he stands stunned and stares at me for a few seconds until I slash his throat open with my razor-sharp claws. This time, I do it all by myself without the aid of my wolf. After all, I sometimes think that it is better off this way, because the minute he takes over, I am no longer in control at all.

Hearing the commotion, it alerts the woman with my Arabella. She springs to her feet and yanks Arabella up by her arm and drags her away. When I see the look on Arabella’s face, I can tell she is in immense pain, and I must do something right away before she disappears again.

Sprinting, I make it to the camp in record time and then head in the direction the woman took Arabella. However, she must have picked her up or something, because now I don’t see two sets of footprints. Still running at top speed, I see her in the distance before someone crashes into me from the left and hits me right in the ribs with such force that it knocks my breath right out of me.

Stunned, I pause for a second before I get my bearings and then I see him standing right next to me in an instant. Where did he come from? This big hulking man who must be at least seven feet tall and must surely weigh 300 plus pounds. This man is made of pure muscle and reminds me of those body builders I often see in human magazines.

The worst part of all of this is the fact that the woman who has Arabella is getting farther and farther away every second we stand here sizing each other up. Knowing that I must do something now, I ball my fists and punch him head on right in the gut. He must have been thinking that I would do this, because it didn’t faze him one bit.

Instead, he rushes at me and clobbers me so hard that I go flying across the woods and directly into a tree. “Smack” I hear reverberate through my head, before I watch him come at me with the determination of a bear who is protecting her cubs. Then I start to feel this awful feeling that I know this man from somewhere when I recognize his ugly mug.

“Shit!” I murmur under my breath when I dodge another blow from him but then trip over a tree limb on the forest floor.

Stumbling backwards, I slam into another tree trunk and then watch as he heads towards me yet again. This time however, he stops just short of me and then stares with a wicked grin on his face and says, “Do you remember me? You should. I was the one who almost killed you last time I was in this neck of the woods.”

Shaking my head, I watch as he comes for me again. Moving just in time, his fist hits the tree with a force that it cracks the bark, but he buries his claw in the wood so far that he gets it stuck. It allows me the advantage I need to win the fight and then go after my woman.

While he still has his claw buried in the wood, I hit him hard enough to knock him out for a while, but not to kill him. Then once I verify that he is indeed out like a light, I quickly take off after the two women. Tracking them by the scent of Arabella’s fresh blood, I find them in a clearing about 500 feet from where I stand.

The woman holds her claw to Arabella’s neck and then yells to me, “Don’t do it if you know what is best for this one and her pups. She won’t make it out of this alive if you move any closer. Got it?”

I nod hesitantly, but then notice something else. Another man is just past her in the shadows and this one is on my side. Alpha Robert is back from his hunting expedition and now the tables have turned in my favor. Before she could even turn around, he is on her and slashes her throat with his claw.

Her blood sprays everywhere, even on Arabella. When she realizes what has happened, she screams loudly and then faints before falling to the ground. I quickly run to her and collect her in my arms carefully, before turning to Alpha Robert and thanking him. “Thank you so much. I am indebted to you now.”

He smiles and then replies, “That makes us finally even. Don’t you remember? Three years ago, you saved my life and now the tables have turned. I am extremely happy that she is back in your arms now and that the pups seem to be unharmed.”

I nod and then ask, “Did you manage to get anything on your hunting trip or was it for nothing?”

“Hunting is always a pleasure. Even if I didn’t get anything, I would still do it just because. However, this time I killed a buck and a doe. They are with my stuff about 500 feet away. I was walking this way when I heard the commotion and decided I had better investigate.”

Relieved, I smile again and then say, “Anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask. I still owe you, this little one means the world to me, and you just saved her, so you saved me at least twice I consider.”

He returns the smile and then states, “You had better get her covered up and back to the castle before she catches her death and then gets sick.”

Nodding, I carry her all the way back to the castle. That is after she finally wakes up when I give her my coat to cover her with.