Heart of the Forest

Chapter 16 Sam's POV

Watching Millie run away from me last night felt like being punched in the gut over and over again.

I was completely lost on what to do.

Of course, I would be keeping a watch over her still.

It would be hell having to watch her from afar, but I would never let anything happen to her or Connor.

It killed me this afternoon to leave the tree I had nestled myself under, but duty calls. I had to work the evening and overnight shift tonight.

I really didn't need to work. Alphas had plenty of money and plenty of duties to keep busy.

I enjoyed my job though and helping the people of Nelson.

As soon as I pulled into the station my phone rang. Intuition or wishful thinking made me believe it was Millie, so I jumped to answer it.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw Millie's name pop up on my phone and I answered as quickly as I could.

When I did there was no hello just straight to "Connor is missing." Those words made my face pail and my stomach drop.

That was why I wanted to tell her about the rouge. Shit shit shit.

I had to be strong for her. I had to figure this out.

"I'm on my way," I said knowing she would be completely frantic till we found him and we would find him.

Turning on my siren I raced to Millie's house.

Before I could knock on the door it swung open and a tear-stained Millie stood before me.

She looked beautiful even in her distraught state. "We are going to find him," I said and with that, she broke down crying and I without thinking engulfed her in a hug.

"I've run all over the area screaming his name he's nowhere." She sobbed.

"I called in an alert that people will be searching for him. I also told my force to block off all roads just in case. Meanwhile, let's look for him in the forest."

"Okay let's go," she said walking out of the house with no jacket despite it being 20 degrees outside. I did not like that one bit, but I definitely wasn't going to tell her to put on a jacket right now, so instead, I handed her mine.

"Millie, I would be able to find Connor a lot quicker if I could fully use my wolf senses. I would be able to smell him out and run to where he is faster." I spoke with hesitation knowing the whole wolf thing still freaked her out. "Do you mind if I shift?" I asked hesitantly.

With zero hesitation she replied, " do what you gotta do to get my son back."

"Okay after I shift I want you to climb on my back. We can go through this whole forest a lot quicker that way."

"Okay?" She said more as a question.
When I pulled off my shirt I heard a hitch in her breath giving me hope, but I couldn't think about that right now.

I backed up and let myself fully transform into my wolf.

Millie looked in awe as my body turned. I could sense a mixture of both wonderment and fear coming off of her, but I wasn't sure if the fear was because of me or her worry over Connor.

So as not to scare her I slowly approached her. To my surprise, she ran her fingers through my dark brown fur.

"Wow, I can't believe you're really a wolf," she whispered more to herself than me. Then she nodded her head as if to shake herself from her thoughts and get back into action.

She climbed onto my back before I could even fully bend down. After sniffing the air I took off in the direction where I smelled Connor.

Originally, I believed the kid could not have gotten far since he was only 4. I was very very wrong.

The closer I got to Connor the more I could smell him. I ran for about 20 minutes before reaching a clearing I was sure Connor was in.

The moment I reached the clearing my wolf senses told me I was wrong. Sniffing the air I noticed not only Connor's smell but an unfamiliar one as well, the rouge.

Quickly,  I scanned the area and noticed Connor playing in the dirt about 800 feet from me.

The rouge, I could tell was also in the area. I needed to put Millie down. I got on all fours and she got the hint and climbed off. I could tell she still hadn't spotted Connor yet, which was a good thing because I knew she would run up to him if she did.

I started walking slowly toward Connor scanning the area as I did and finally spotted the rouge creeping from the shadow of the trees.

He was stalking straight toward an unsuspecting Connor. Taking a closer look at the rouge I realized that was no rouge at all and I knew exactly whose pack it was from.

Immediately, I ran in the direction of Connor. The wolf leaped out from the trees to attack Connor and as he did I met him halfway causing him to fall away from Connor.

At the same moment, I heard a scream, which I knew was Millie's. I could hear her footsteps running to the scene, but she hadn't reached us yet.

The wolf and I rolled on the floor wrestling and hitting each other. Finally, I pinned him down and bit his neck.

I picked him up by the neck and tossed him at a tree. I was not trying to kill this wolf. No, I needed answers.

In my peripheral, I saw Millie bent over Connor hugging him and crying. I mind-linked my men to come to get the knocked out wolf and bring him to the pack prison for questioning.

Turning around I saw Millie start to stand but as she did she looked pail with her legs wobbling.

"Mom, are you okay?" I heard Connor as she fell to the floor.