Claws (Rewritten)

Thirty Three

Markus

The unusual silence of the house was the first thing that unnerved me. Even though Caleb and Chloe were out, for the house to be this quiet was definitely strange.

Noah noticed my apprehension immediately, frowning lightly as he stepped forward to place a calming hand on my shoulder.

"Lyn?" I called out.

No response.

Without wasting another moment, I got my phone from my pocket and called her number.

It buzzed on the dining room table.

That was the second thing that got my hackles raising. Adelyn Bishop never, ever went anywhere without her phone. It was a miracle she left it behind for the squad-cation.

"Something's wrong," I told Noah, doing a quick check of the entire house whilst I called Caleb.

Thankfully, he answered quickly. "What's up?"

"Do you know if Adelyn's gone back to her coven?" I asked him as I rushed upstairs. Noah stayed down in the hallway.

No sign of her upstairs, either.

"No," Caleb answered, "She said she's going there over the weekend."

"She's practicing magic today--or, she was when we left," Chloe spoke up.

"She's not here," I panicked, rushing back downstairs to find Noah studying something on the wall.

I took a deep breath in the hallway, half-expecting to smell the rotting stench of my father-- this whole situation screamed him-- but there was nothing.

"Can you smell that?" Noah asked me, dread lining his voice as he gestured to the mark. I went up beside him and took another breath.

"Shit," I hissed, my wolf growling in the back of my mind. "That's blood."

"Hunter blood," Noah added. He was right - there were definite traces of aconite in the scent.

My eyes shifted golden as I stormed out of the house. I couldn't smell anything and it was beginning to unnerve me. It was like she'd just disappeared, but that couldn't be right. Something bad had happened, and we weren't here to help her. I should've smelt the blood immediately. Something was masking the scent.

Noah grabbed my free hand to halt me before I could shift and take off down the street to search for Lyn-- a smart decision, in hindsight, but I was too wrapped up in rage to take note of this.

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Chloe's voice came through the phone right before the call cut off.

My hand fell limp to my side as Noah stared into my eyes. "We need to tell the pack," He said firmly, authority lining his voice. Even though he was from another pack, my wolf felt inclined to obey the beta's orders. Definitely a mate thing. "They'll know what to do. And aren't Caleb's family searching for the hunters? Perhaps they know where to start looking." I started to struggle out of his grip, but a sharp look cut my movements short. "Listen to me, Markus, there's no scent to follow. The hunters have masked it. Please, let's go to your pack."

I nodded in defeat and let him pull me down the side of the house and into the forest.

We both shifted without bothering to change first, and our torn clothes rained down upon us as we took off, sprinting straight for the pack.

A snarl ripped through my throat as I urged my wolf to run faster. Just like Caleb's family had spent weeks searching for the hunters, they had been searching for us.