Decebel nodded.“Yeah, I got them too.”
They picked up their pace, now moving at a fast trot. The door to the healers’ room was wide open. Decebel ran through it first, but Jen was right on his heels.
“There not here.” Decebel snarled.
Jen did a quick walk around the room. The scent was already fading.“We must have smelled them in the hallway because they backtracked, but not from the direction we came. We need to follow that scent,”she said.
Decebel was already moving toward the door before Jen finished speaking. She followed and, once again, they moved at a fast trot. Her head was constantly moving, taking quick breaths trying to grab onto the scent of their prey.
The scent led them to one of the sets of stairs that would take them to the second floor where some of the pack members’ suites were located. They’d only gone up a few steps when they heard a loud growl and then the sound of a body hitting the wall.
They both took off up the stairs, skipping two and three steps at a time in an effort to get to the top faster. They hit the second floor and didn’t break stride as they ran toward the commotion that was still ongoing.
Jen rounded the first corner and immediately tried to stop her forward motion to keep from plowing into Jacque and Alina. If Decebel hadn’t grabbed her arms to help her, she wouldn’t have managed it.
She nudged Jacque aside so she could see what was happening.
Fane and Vasile, one in human form and one in wolf form, were fighting against Skender, who was still in his human form. Vasile moved with the speed and grace of a wolf, as he fought using the same style of martial arts Decebel taught the pack. Fane was lunging in periodically to distract Skender. Jen had to admit, Skender was decently holding his own.
“Decebel,” Jacque said, grabbing Jen’s attention. “Can you please get Costin? I tried texting him but he’s not responding. They aren’t taking him down because they want to give Costin the chance.” Then Jacque looked at Jen. “The female is still in the mansion.”
Jen lifted her upper lip in a menacing snarl. She would have found it amusing that she was acting so much like a wolf in her human form, but she was too focused on wanting to catch her prey.
Alina pressed her wolf body against Jen’s leg, and Jen laid a hand on the alpha female’s head.
Jacque grinned. “Ready to hunt while the boys deal with that?” She pointed toward Skender.
Jen nodded and rubbed her hands together as she sang, “I’m going to get you. You’re going to hate me.”
Jacque cringed. “Do not turn perfectly good country songs into sadistic ones. It’s creepy.”
Alina nudged Jacque’s leg and gave a small yipping sound.
“You coming with?” Jacque asked the female alpha.
Alina nodded her big wolf head.
Jacque smiled. “Excellent.”
Decebel had already bolted off to get Costin, so Jen filled him in through their bond.“Alina, Jacque, and I are going after the female. She’s still loose in the mansion.”Jen waited to hear his inevitable argument for her to stay put because he didn’t want her in harm’s way, but it never came.
“Okay. Be safe. As soon as I’m done with Costin, I’ll find you.”
“Well, color me purple and call me Barney.”Jen chuckled in his mind.“You’re not going to tell me no?”
He sighed as he responded through their bond.“Just don’t follow her out of the mansion, okay?”
“A compromise, I like it. Alright, B, I won’t leave the mansion. Now quit distracting me. I’m hunting.”Jen pulled out of his mind and focused her attention back on Jacque and Alina.
“Ready?” Jacque asked them. Both females nodded and gave her the same toothy grin Jen had given only a few minutes before. Jacque groaned. “That’s almost as creepy as the song. Jen, how is it possible that you can have a wolfy smile in your human form?”
Jen shrugged. “It’s a gift.”
Alina made a snorting sound and then put her nose to the ground and started moving. Jen and Jacque followed closely behind her. They hadn’t been searching for long when Alina took off at a dead run. Jen picked up on the scent a second later, and she tore off after the Alpha. She could hear Jacque’s footsteps behind her, so she knew her friend was keeping up.
Alina took a staircase down one flight and turned down the hall where the library, Vasile’s office, and the garden room were located. They continued running, following the scent of their prey all the way down the hall and into another one.
Has this freaking place always been such a bloody maze?Jen thought to herself as the turned yet another corner.
