“Right? But I don’t have any proof. I don’t even know who the fuck the guys were. They had accents that sounded Dutch, but more like from South Africa than Amsterdam. They were humans. And I honestly don’t think they knew anything about shifters. Like maybe they were human mercs.” They continued their trek.
“Why’d you move back to Australia?” Peyton asked. “After you and Maya mated? If Ray Dorland was a dick even then, sounds like you would’ve been better off in the US.”
“Because Maya always saw the best in people. To her, family was everything. When her other brother and parents died, Ray was the only ‘family’ she felt she had left.” He used finger quotes. “Besides me and Carl, obviously. She didn’t want to see the ugly, the bad. As far as I know, she had no idea he was going to pimp her out. But she got pregnant not long after we mated. She wanted us to raise Carl in Australia so he’d know her family, and I couldn’t tell her no to save my life. I kept my mouth shut and my head down and tried not to give Ray any additional reasons to hate me.”
Even though Peyton walked behind Jake, he knew the man was crying from his soft sniffles.
After a moment, Jake continued. “The guy hated me on sight, but we showed up at a Muster, so there were plenty of people around when she introduced me to the pack. And yes, I planned it that way. I wanted witnesses. I’m just glad Carl was a boy and not a girl.”
“You worried Ray would have abducted a baby girl?”
“Yeah. More rumors I have no proof of.”
“Why hasn’t someone taken that fucker out before now?”
“Because he consolidated power through the years. Back then, he had a few organized crime types working for him. And I’m almost certain he’s behind the deaths of his brother and his parents.”
“Why’s that?”
Jake stopped and turned again. “Because his younger brother was a Prime Alpha, and that’s who his father was grooming to take over the pack, even though Jake was the oldest. And let me tell you something, Jake was not happy about that plan. At all.”
Chapter Forty-Two
They avoided several farms, staying close enough to the boundaries of the properties to prevent detection. While the skies remained overcast, their luck held with no rain.
It neared dusk when they stopped to refill their water bottles and split a can of cold chili. “How much farther?” Peyton asked.
“At this rate, we’re maybe an hour from the border, give or take.” Jake pointed, sweeping his hand. “There’s a road that runs in that direction along it.”
“Any kind of fence, or barrier?”
“Yeah, and a corridor of empty land, but there’s a culvert I use. Might be a little wet right now.”
“I don’t care if I have to swim. I just want to get out of this country.”
“Once we’re closer, I’ll shift and scout ahead. Last time I passed through here they didn’t have active sensors, but it’s been a while.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Peyton neared exhaustion, the cumulative effect of the past several days wearing on him, but they were so close that he didn’t want to stop until they crossed the border.
On the other hand, Jake looked like he could keep going for days on end without stopping. The older shifter moved with the ease and speed of a man a fraction of his age.
Then again, so had Duncan when he emerged from the wilderness.
Screw CrossFit. I guess struggling for survival over multiple decades beats reps at the gym for effectiveness.
From this point on they stayed low, moved slowly, Jake carefully guiding Peyton through more overgrown sections of forest to avoid detection. Mist started settling over the darkening landscape when Jake crouched in a small hollow and waved Peyton close.
“I’ll go on ahead while you wait here,” Jake whispered. “I’ll run the fence both ways for at least a half mile to see if there are any changes from my last trip.”
Peyton looked around and kept his voice down. “I don’t see or hear anything that looks like humans around here.” It was a wooded area, probably an old tree farm, based on the size and regular planting alignment of the trees.
“Me, either,” Jake whispered back, “but we don’t know what kind of sensors they might have. We need to stay quiet.” He quickly stripped and headed off into the dark, soon disappearing in the mist.
Peyton nervously waited. He hoped they wouldn’t have to cross shifted and leave their clothes behind, because that might add an extra level of difficulty to the process. They didn’t want to be shot as wolves, but two naked men running around would definitely draw the wrong kind of attention.
He also didn’t want his eager desire to escape to force a hasty misstep that would get them snagged by authorities.
