Wolf Moon

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Kit was rudely awoken by his phone, ringing over and over. He grumbled some nonsense under his breath and sleepily patted around for his phone. He put it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"He's gone!"

Kit cringed at the loud yell. "Ow, Pha, you trying to burst my eardrum?? Who's gone?"

Ming made a soft sound, pressing up against Kit's back. "That P'Pha?" He kissed Kit's neck.

"Yeah."

"Yo's gone! I came back after helping one of my friends get back to his dorm, and the room is a total wreck, and Yo isn't anywhere to be found! Someone took my mate!"

"What!" Kit shot upright, dislodging a disgruntled Ming. "Can you smell their scent??"

"No! Whoever took Yo," Pha was losing it, his voice wavering between horror and anger. "Doused the whole room in some kind of perfume. I can't smell a damn thing!"

"Ming," Kit turned to his mate. "How good are you at tracking?"

Ming blinked at him. "Um...really good. Why?"

"Yo is missing, and Pha said someone took him. The room stinks of some kind of perfume to hide the scents."

Ming plucked the phone out of Kit's hand. "P, we'll be over in a few. Have you contacted Yo's dad yet?"

Pha gave a distressed whine. "No, I didn't even think about that."

"Don't worry about it. You keep trying to find the scent, and I'll call uncle. See you." Ming handed the phone back to Kit, his expression dark and furious. "Dammit, I can't believe someone was stupid enough to take Yo!"

"You don't think anyone would hurt him, do you?" Kit asked worriedly, dressing quickly and following Ming out the door.

"Kit, the only reason anyone would take Yo wouldn't be for torture," Ming explained gently. "But...I mean, you've seen him. He's a beautiful boy."

Kit reared back in horror. "No...Ming, no!"

His mate nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so, KitKat. Whoever took Yo only has one thing on their mind. Heaven help them when P'Pha catches up with them."

XXX

Ming sniffed at the door, brow furrowed as he struggled to find Yo's scent. Then he finally caught a small whiff of vanilla and catnip, right around clawmarks on the door. "He tried to fight his way free of his attacker," Ming said, following his nose from the bathroom door to the room door. More claw marks, but this time there was another subtle scent. "His attacker drugged him with chloroform to knock him out. I can smell it."

Pha angrily paced back and forth next to Yo's destroyed bed. "Can you smell who his attacker is?"

Kit nervously wrung his hands, keeping away from Pha and Ming. He was scared that they'd find Yo and it would be too late.

Ming's head shot up, his eyes faraway and calculating. "I recognize the scent...but the shifter..."

"So it wasn't a human."

"All due respect, P'Pha, but a human wouldn't be able to force Yo to go anywhere. And if they tried, he'd claw them to death. No," Ming shook his head grimly. "We're dealing with a shifter. One who knows how to deal with a cat. It has to be another cat shifter. But..." Ming sniffed the air outside the door. "There was a second person...a human...girl, from the scent. I don't recognize the scent, but I know it's a girl."

Kit took a tentative sniff, and wrinkly his nose in disgust. "Ugh, it smells like Pring's perfume."

Pha and Ming looked at each other. "Pring."