Chapter Thirty-Four
Rafe
"What the fuck..?"
I raised a hand to silence him, but inwardly I echoed Zade's appalled response to the horrific scene in front of us. The brush surrounding the small clearing was spattered with blood and other body fluids. The ground was littered with body parts. The sun-warmed air reeked of blood and death and something else – a stomach-turning combination of chemicals and rotting flesh.
One corpse had been all but shredded.
The second was in a heap at the base of a huge pine tree.
Ten or so feet from the scene, Scott sat cross-legged against the base of another pine, his clothing red with blood and Harley curled into a naked, trembling ball against his chest, his eyes were closed and every so often a sob escaped him. He watched us approach warily but didn't move to greet us.
"Are you two okay?"
Harley's body jerked at the sound of my voice and Scott winced, his Adam's applebobbed as he swallowed.
"It's okay, baby. It's the cavalry," Scott murmured into Harley's ear. Scott looked up at me with haunted eyes. "He remembers."
"Okay." I knelt down next to them, recalling all too easily when my own Omega had retreated inside himself to escape. "We don't need to talk about it yet. I'm gonna touch you, okay?"
Harley managed a partial nod and I raised my eyes back to Scott's. He gritted his teeth, but also nodded. As quickly as possible, I ran my fingers over Harley's limbs, checking under the layers of blood for injuries but finding none.
"He's not hurt."
Scott shook his head.
"You?"
"I reopened my shoulder again," he admitted quietly. "But it quit bleeding hours ago. I'm fine."
"We should get you back and call a doctor."
"No!" Harley's shout took us by surprise and I tried to back away only to fall on my ass in the mud. He lifted his head from his Alpha's chest and spoke through chattering teeth. "We have to go to the laboratory. There could be more."
I raised a brow to Scott and he tilted his head to the south. "Over there."
Squinting against the sunlight that was streaming through the leaves overhead, I saw the outline of a building of some sort and turned to Zade. "Is that yours?"
Zade shrugged. "I really don't know. I don't remember seeing it on the asset list for the pack."
I nodded. "Okay, Harley, we will check it out, but first we have to go back. You're in shock and I need to get a warrant since Zade isn't sure who it belongs to, okay?"
Harley closed his eyes for a long moment and released a ragged sigh before reopening them. "Okay."
Scott stood, Harley still cradled in his arms, but staggered as he tried to step forward.
"Shit!" I braced one arm around Scott's waist while Zade jumped forward to lift Harley from his arms. Scott's snarled and tried to reach for his Omega. "Man, I think you lost more blood than you realized. Let us help."
Scott gave no sign that he heard me, instead trying again to reach for Harley.
"Hold on, Scott." Clint stepped forward, meeting the agitated Alpha's eyes. "What ifIcarry Harley for you? You know you can trust me."
Scott stared into the werewolf's face for a moment and then relaxed, nodding his acceptance.
"Come here, kiddo," Clint said softly, bracing Harley against his chest and stepping into place ahead of me to ensure that Scott could see his Omega was safe. "Let's get you home."
A movement from the side caught my eye and I turned my head to see Zade casually stripping off his clothing and setting it aside.
