The Unlikely Mate

Chapter 25

Jackson and William pulled up to Jennifer's apartment, and approached slowly.

"It doesn't smell like they've been back since I was here before" William said to Jackson as they walked up to the door.

Jackson pushed gently on the door that showed signs of being forced open. "It was like this when you got here?" Jackson asked William.

"Yeah, I knocked and there wasn't an answer, and that's when I realized the door had been busted. I went in to look for her, and that's when I caught his scent. I got a hold of Alpha Mark who said they'd seen that Hunter around here, and described his truck. I know it was him, and I'm worried about what he'll do to her."

"I don't know why she wouldn't reach out if she were in trouble" Jackson muttered under his breath, his concern for Jennifer continuing to grow. He was even more concerned because he'd been trying to reach her through the mind link for a while now, and couldn't get through to her, almost as if she were blocking him.

The two men stepped out of her apartment and got back into their vehicle.

"Let's check out this guy's place" Jackson suggested. "You said he's got an office in town, does he live here too?"

"Yeah," replied William, "let's check his house first, and then we'll check his office."

William pulled out his phone and after a quick call to Alpha Mark, he had obtained the Lennox's address and they headed toward the house.

Once they arrived, they didn't have to spend long before they realized that Lennox hadn't been there for a while, and there was no indication that Jennifer had ever been there. They spent a few minutes looking around, and then left to head toward Lennox's office.

*****

Jennifer and Lennox got out of the truck quickly and went into the office. He grabbed a few things from here and there, and handed Jennifer a few things as well. He strapped a silver knife to his leg, grabbed a few things Jennifer didn't recognize and was soon ready to go.

Jennifer grabbed a few things she thought might be useful, a silver knife she was careful to tuck into her boot, a satchel of wolf's bane which she immediately dropped and suggested Lennox take with him and then bo staff. She was well-trained with many weapons, but knew that in this instance if there was a fight, she would likely have to shift and weapons wouldn't do a lot of good at that point.

For a minute, Jennifer considered knocking Lennox out and leaving him behind. She didn't want him mixed up in her fight. She felt it would be best if he were out of the way, even though he was obviously capable if he had killed two werewolves in the past. She didn't want him in danger, but realized that their scent was everywhere, and if she left him here defenseless, someone would be sure to find him while looking for her. She figured she could protect him better if he were with her, so she quickly dismissed her idea of leaving him behind.

"I can handle myself" Lennox said to her, almost as if he had read her mind.

Jennifer looked away sheepishly, "I know, I'm sure you can. But I wish you didn't have to be part of this fight."

"It's our fight" Lennox said to her, touching her gently on the shoulder. "Besides, you probably wouldn't be in as much of a mess if it weren't for me attacking your friends."

"They weren't my friends, I can guarantee you that" Jennifer said firmly. "Any wolves that attack helpless humans go completely against everything we're supposed to stand for."

"It seemed like they were having fun" Lennox said, turning away. "I could hear Amy screaming as they dragged her away, and I swear I could hear them laughing about it."

Jennifer took Lennox's hand and leaned her forehead against his. "We'll find whoever the last one responsible was, and make sure they aren't able to ever do it again" she said to him softly. "We need to go" she then whispered softly.

Lennox and Jennifer quickly left the office and got into the truck to head to the park, and wait for whoever was after them to show up.

It was only a minute or two later that William and Jackson pulled up to the office and forced their way inside.

"They were here, very recently!" William exclaimed as they walked inside.

"It doesn't look like there was any kind of a struggle" Jackson observed as they looked around.

"Looks like they were gathering weapons or something though" William pointed out, as they could see several places where items had obviously been collecting dust but were now gone. "I wonder how he's controlling her?" He questioned aloud.

"What do you mean?" Jackson asked.

"Well, she seems to be cooperating with a Hunter. So, either she's working with him, or she's his captive. Either way, he must have found some way to manipulate here, otherwise she could have killed him easily" William reasoned.

"Jennifer isn't apt to go killing humans, even if they are hunters, if she could avoid it. Maybe she has a plan" Jackson thought aloud. He didn't like any of this, and none of it made sense. And he was becoming increasingly frustrated that he couldn't contact anyone via the mind link. Something was wrong, very wrong, and he didn't know what.

"We should be able to follow their scent" William interrupted Jackson's train of thought. "They were just here, so the trail is fresh. We should be able to catch up with them quickly."

"What's our plan when we find them?" Jackson asked, wondering just what exactly William intended to do.

"You get Jennifer to safety, and I'll worry about that Hunter. The Ember Night pack will want to settle their score with him."

"Hunter or not, I'm not going to just let you take a human captive and hand him over to some blood thirsty wolves looking for payback" Jackson responded defiantly.

"We'll see" William said with a smile, and Jackson couldn't help but feel like there was a threat within all of this, and that taking helping Jennifer was going to involve far more than just distancing her from a hunter.

Within about a minute, William and Jackson had arrived at the park where Jennifer and Lennox were waiting. They were just sitting there at a park bench, seeming not to have a care in the world, but as soon as Jackson and William approached, the tension in the air was thick enough that even the birds in the sky knew to steer clear.