The Water Wolf

Chapter 25: Hide and Seek

Chapter 25: Hide and Seek

Noah's POV

I stumbled in as the thrumming pain exploded through my body, causing me to slide across the ground. I felt like somebody had punched me in the face with a silver glove, but there was nobody around me, I was alone in the woods looking for the stragglers of this terrible pack. I looked myself over, there wasn't any terrible wounds on my body, nothing was broken, but what just happened to me?

"Ranger, where's my mate." I asked suddenly as she popped into my mind.

"Last I knew, she was retrieving her aunt, but I haven't heard from her since." He replied with an edge creeping into his thoughts.

Without thinking, I scrabbled out of the grass I was flopped in and took off galloping toward the concrete bunker I had been in just hours ago. Questions whipped through my mind, was she hurt? Was she being attacked? Thorn struggled to contain himself as I kept thinking and I caved into him, allowing my wild instincts to control my every thought and movement. My paws barely grazed the ground as I tried to get to her, but I stopped dead in my tracks when a faint message drifted into my thoughts.

"I need help, I'm in the bunker...please come quick."

Clauida was hurt. It was clear in her tone, it crushed me to hear get like that. I took off again, the bunker wasn't far off, and I pushed myself to the limit as I raced to get to her. If she died, I would lose it, I'd be nothing.

The bunker loomed into view and I slid across the slick floor and half fell down the steep staircase leading to the dank passage below. Before I lost it I decided I would send out one more logical thought,

"Justin, Ranger, someone I need you in the bunker now. Hurry." was all I managed before I ran down the hall, the stench of blood thickening as I got closer to the end.

Turning the last corner into the tiny cell, I felt my heart drop out of my chest. The floor was covered in blood, most of it belonging to the one person I hoped it wouldn't belong to. I was at her side instantly, and I vowed right then and there to never leave it again. One side of her seemed singed, the typical blue-grey fur a withered black. There was blood pouring out of her nose and her back, and her legs where bent awkwardly beneath her. I whined
as the guilt spread through me. It was my job to protect her and I had failed miserably.

Lowering my head to her chest I listened for her faint heartbeat, the time it took between beats concerned me. I gingerly licked her cheek, wishing she hadn't gone through all of this.

"Noah what's...... Oh my god." Were the only words Justin was able to spit out.

"Is Ranger coming?" I asked quietly in my wolf form through the link.

"He should be." He replied.

Justing strode over to the crumpled man in the corner, who was the former alpha of the pack and chained silver cuffs around his wrists, careful to wear gloves while doing the job. Next he went to check out Clauida's aunt, who also seemed to be in pretty bad shape, but none of them mattered. Clauida was the only one who mattered here to me, and I would not be leaving her ever again. In a futile attempt to calm myself, I nuzzled my head against her stomach, yearning for the day that it would be heavy with our pups. Only then I realized we haven't even mated yet. I haven't even marked her. We had barely been together for a day before I was ripped away from her. I just wanted to go home, and pretend this never happened. I just wanted her to be ok.

Everything after that was a blur, ranger showed up with the rest of the pack, who was prepared to carry anybody and anything. I nodded to the ex-alpha and Clauida's aunt, but snarled when some reached out to grab Clauida. My packmate immediately apologized, he understood that my wolf would refuse anyone to lay hand on her other than me. I shifted into my human form, and one of the guys tossed me a pair of sweatpants to throw on before I gently scooped up my battered mate and followed everyone to the nearest road, where they had cars from earlier already parked. The prisoners where thrown into the back of our small cargo truck, and I climbed into back of a blue passenger van, hogging the entire back seat so Clauida's wolf could stretch out. Nobody spoke to me on the way home, the van was nearly silent for 3 hours. Finally during the last 4 hours Justin broke the tension and a light chatter spread through the car for awhile, but as it grew dark, most of the exhausted guys dozed off, leaving the van silenced once again.