“Fuck!”he yelled for lack of any other way to release his pent-up anger.
“Adam, do you think you could track your mate?”Shawn asked.
“I could try certainly, but she was in a vehicle that makes tracking almost impossible.If we could get close to where they were staying, someplace she had walked around, then yes, I absolutely could.”
“He has no better chances tracking Willow than we do El.We already know Willow can mask them, and even though we found her one time I’d say they’re long gone now,” Trip stated.
“There has to be something we can do besides sit here,” Shawn said.
“We need your mom.She has more information than anyone in this room, and she may be able to help more,” Marcus told Shawn.
“I’ve called, but there’s been no answer.”
“You don’t think that’s unusual given the timing?”Trip questioned him.
“No, it’s not unlike my mom to not be home when I call, and she doesn’t have caller id or anything.”
“Go get her and bring her here.I don’t have a good feeling about her not answering the phone.Matter of fact let’s all go,” Trip said.
There was no true Beta or Omega in the Triad, but Trip had become a makeshift leader while Ryan was out of commission.
“I’m going to stay behind.One of us needs to be here at all times for the Pride,” Adam said.
“Agreed,” Marcus chimed in.
“We’ll check in when we get to her mother’s, and you do the same if any developments happen here.Also, call our boys at the precinct and tell them we need results.Expand the traffic camera search for a hundred miles.”
Adam nodded and sat down, pulling out his cell phone and booting up his laptop on Ryan’s desk at the same time.The rest of them filed out and headed down to the garage.Ryan’s truck was parked in the back, so Trip flipped through the key box they kept hung just inside the door that led to the house until he got to it.
The drive to Shawn’s mothers was silent.Each man was no doubt lost in his own thoughts and also dealing with the pain of being separated from El.Their pain wouldn’t be as bad as hers since they at least had each other.The thought of her in pain, somewhere against her will, made Trip’s stomach turn with both anger and guilt.As soon as Willow had stated her case for theguardiansor whatever bullshit she was a part of they should have thrown her out.They were El’s mates, and ultimately charged with her protection above anyone else, prophecy be damned.They had failed El by allowing Willow to stay, and now they were all paying for it.
When they got to Shawn’s mother’s house, her car was parked in the driveway, which gave Trip some hope that maybe he had just been jumping at shadows.They all filed out and fell in step behind Shawn, who didn’t bother knocking on the door before entering.
“Mom!”he called out.
“Shawn,” his mother’s voice came through the living room, and they all registered how weak it sounded at the same time.
They rushed into the house and found her lying on the kitchen floor.She didn’t look beaten or injured in any way, but it was obvious she had been there a while.
“What happened, mom?”Shawn uttered, his voice registering his concern for her.
“I’m bound by the guardians,” she choked.
“How long have you been like this?”
“Three days,” she replied.
“What can we do?”Marcus asked, joining Shawn on the floor on the opposite side of his mother’s body.
“Nothing, only one of them can release me.”
Trip felt Shawn’s anger before he saw it.Shawn rose to his full height, his body shaking as anger rolled off him in waves.
“Shawn, now is not the time.Your mother needs you, and El needs you,” Trip said, trying to placate him, so he wouldn’t shift.
Shawn looked at him, and Trip knew he was now speaking with Shawn’s panther.
“We need Shawn right now.Elneeds Shawn,” Trip said slowly hoping that if he focused on what El needed Shawn’s panther would placate them.
