Scout
He didn’t remembermuch after passing out.
At first, when the grey wolf took off with him, he struggled. But the wolf was huge and strong — far stronger than him, probably an alpha — and Scout couldn’t manage to squirm free. On top of that, Scout’s mind was foggy with panic and stress. It was probably best that he’d blocked out so much of what happened, he thought.
Now, he was surrounded by a completely unfamiliar landscape. Where Whitewood pack was largely full of old buildings and manicured foliage, this place was almost entirely wild. Huge trees soared overhead and the canopy obscured most of the night sky.
Even the wind seemed to be harsher here. Scout found himself very cold, although he wasn’t sure how much of that could be chalked up to his dreadful anxiety.
He did remember being brought to a huge concrete building, hidden away beyond a jumble of trees. The sight of the strange square building gave Scout the chills. But what made his blood jump in his veins was the sound of low, mournful howling as soon as they got close.
The wolf holding Scout growled, and he tensed. At first Scout thought the wolf was growling at him, but realized after a moment it was probably directed at the howling coming from inside the building. Who were they? And why did they sound so upset?
He would learn why soon enough. The wolf holding him shifted back to human form — a tall, powerful man more than strong enough to keep Scout in his place even without teeth and jaws — and entered the building by tapping in a key code. He dragged Scout in behind him with a grunt.
Once inside, Scout was overwhelmed by the amount of noise. The howling and crying was even louder without the concrete walls to contain it.
But then Scout’s blood ran cold. He recognized those voices. He recognized thosesmells.
The wolf shifters trapped inside this building were none other than the stolen omegas from Whitewood pack — along with Stark and the other guards who had been sent to rescue them.
Just as Scout pieced this information together, he found himself thrown inside a private kennel run with the door slammed quickly behind him. Scout felt humiliated - it was a kennel designed for dogs, like the ones humans used, and had no place in a shifter pack — but more than that, he was afraid. Beyond a vague notion, he didn’t know where he was or why he had been stolen.
The only thing that gave him a glimmer of hope was that he shared this hellish situation with his kin.
Scout raised his head, taking in his surroundings. The ceiling was low and dark, and the room was barely lit — just a handful of cheap bulbs dangling from above. The air was cold and smelled like old dust and wet concrete. He shivered.
As Scout was coming to terms with his situation, a voice interrupted his thought.
“Scout? Is that you?”
He turned his head to see a ragged-looking Stark, eyes wide in shock. He reached through the iron bars to touch Scout on the shoulder, as if he needed make sure he was really there.
“It’s me,” Scout said. He sat up, suddenly remembering what had happened to the rescue team. “Are you okay? Is anyone injured?”
“No, thankfully,” Stark said, shaking his head. “What about you?” His brows furrowed in concern. “What happened? Did something happen to Killian?”
“No, he’s fine, don’t worry.”
Stark let out a sigh of relief — even trapped in this situation, his first priority was the prince.
“I… we got separated,” Scout began. With a chill, he remembered the slavering jaws and hard eyes of the grey wolf who captured him. The territory he was in now shared a similar scent — Silvercreek scent. “The assassin — the one who tried to take me the other day — he was waiting for me and Killian in the jail.”
Something registered in Stark’s mind and realization flashed across his face. “That’s where the king was — was he harmed?”
“I don’t know,” Scout admitted. “I was… taken away before we saw anything. The assassin was in wolf form, and Killian wasn’t and—” Scout’s voice cracked. “It happened so fast. He attacked Killian, then came for me. Then I ended up here.”
“That bastard,” Stark spat.
“What about you?” Scout asked. Over Stark’s shoulder, he could see a wider pen where a number of shifters Scout recognized as omegas were huddled together. They looked weary. Even after five minutes in the cell, Scout hated it. He couldn’t imagine what the other omegas had gone through, being imprisoned here for so long.
“They knew we were coming,” Stark growled. His eyes glinted coldly. “Someone must have tipped them off. And I have a feeling I know who it was.”
“The assassin,” Scout finished. “But… he was in the jail cell the whole time, without a phone or anything.”
Stark scowled. “Doesn’t stop him from howling. Even though it’s small, thereisa window down there — it’s probably just large enough to let the sound carry outside. He must have had some kind of signal or code he knew we wouldn’t be able to understand.”
Scout realized something and felt a cold chill run down his spine. “That means he must have been lurking around the manor while Killian was explaining the plan, or — god, he might have even been eavesdropping on us while he and I were talking.”
