Everything Anew

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Eight

Nathan

Tonight was the night.

My chest was heavy all day knowing everyone would be at risk. I was on edge as every possible worst-case scenario played out in my head.

I kept my distance from Lila as much as possible over the course of the last two days, and I hated each time I avoided her in hopes that it would slow the connection between us. My sleep was more restless than usual, which was exactly the opposite of what I wanted and due to this, I had been sneaking out of bed and finding myself working through the night or sleeping in the spare bedrooms.

Lila didn't ask why she woke up alone in the morning, but I could tell by the way she looked at me that it was on her mind. I'd have to talk to her soon once tonight was over. Until then, I stayed quiet and withheld my inner demons for a little longer.

We approached the small hunter's lodge and parked our cars as deep into the woods as the foliage would allow, which unfortunately wasn't as hidden as I had hoped. We all knew what we were doing, no discussion was needed as we all stepped out, and headed in the direction we were instructed to go in.

It had been decided that Lila and I would stay as we were, while Evan, Markus, Seojoon and Eric would shift. I needed a way to communicate with all of them while Markus and Evan searched inside, and the other two kept their ears open outside.

We scoped out the area and checked to make sure no one was around before heading in. Lila was at my side, her breathing faster than usual, fear clearly radiating off of her. I brushed against her once in a while in hopes to alleviate her distress. "There's a room on the left of the front door. Check it." I whispered to my beta as I opened the door and he hurried forward. A few quiet seconds passed and I peeked in to see Evan signal with a raise of his head that the coast was clear.

The four of us eased our way inside, Markus at our back, while Evan stayed in front. I had my gun in hand, staying alert to everything around me while the others kept their ears open for any noise they might hear. 

The place was small, only consisting of the bathroom that Evan had checked, and the main room where messy tables were littered with tools and mechanisms. The heads of animals were mounted on the walls around us, their false eyes staring at us as we made our way around the room.

"Look." Lila muttered over her shoulder.

I followed her attention and stared at a wall full of traps. My blood ran cold when I saw that each and every one of them had no spring to unlock them, the same ones that were on our land. I moved closer, inspecting a few that were painted to look similar to the forest floor. We had seen them when we first checked the place, but it looked like they doubled their volume. 

Anger rose within me, I wanted to find the person who made these and have them test it out on themselves. "Bastards." I grit my teeth, repressing my fury and channeling it into finding out who did this. "Look in any drawers or dressers you find, see if you can find anything of use."

Lila gave a curt nod as she made her way over to a worktable a few feet away. She slid the drawer's open, carefully rifling through them while I made my way to the other side and joined in on the efforts.

I could hear the patter of wolf steps behind me, Markus joining us as he sniffed along the floorboards and walls. He had one of the keenest noses in the pack. If anyone were to find anything, it would be him.

"What's this?" Lila lifted a bundle of papers and flipped through them. I walked over and stood behind her to look over her shoulder, squinting to make out the small font.