He was ready to start his new life.He was impatient, even though things were moving quickly now that he and Nico had come clean to everyone.Both of their families were happy about the baby and that things were going well for them.Nico wasn’t showing yet, but it wouldn’t be long before he started to, and just a few months after that, the baby would be here.It was overwhelming, but in the best of ways.
A strange sound stopped Mackenzie in his tracks.It was like a whimper that reminded him of a wounded animal.He frowned and looked around, but he couldn’t see anything.Of course, he lived in the middle of a forest, so it wouldn’t be surprising to find a wounded rabbit or something like that.Did rabbits even live in the forest?He had no idea.
It sounded like something bigger, though.He hadn’t seen many pets since he’d moved, but it could be a dog or something similar.If that was the case, he didn’t want to abandon the poor animal.
He closed his car door and carefully made his way toward the area from which the sound had come.It took him a moment to find it.He was eager to get this out of the way, though.Nico was waiting for him.
He couldn’t see any dogs, but he did notice something big slumped against a fallen tree trunk.From a distance, he couldn’t identify what it was, so he carefully made his way closer.He gasped when he realized it was a person.He rushed forward, wanting to help them.
“Are you okay?”he asked.Now that he was closer, he could see it was a man.Mackenzie wrinkled his nose at the smell that came off the guy, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to do something.He couldn’t see the man’s face, but he could see blood on the ground.
“I’ll call someone,” he said.
A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.“No, you won’t,” the man growled.
The man straightened.Mackenzie had never seen Silas, but he didn’t need to have seen him to know who was in front of him.It was the only logical explanation.Nico had told him that Silas had been severely wounded, and Mackenzie could see that he had been.The man’s arm was in bad shape.It looked like he was still wearing the same clothes he’d had on when he’d attacked the bear alpha, and one of the sleeves had been torn off.His arm was covered in blood, and Mackenzie’s stomach turned at the sight of the gaping wound.
He tried pulling away, but even though Silas was wounded, he was a shifter.He was stronger than Mackenzie.
“You’re human,” Silas said with a growl.
“And you’re not in your territory.”
Silas snorted.The sound was pained.“If we were in my territory, you’d already be dead.I can smell fox on you, but also bobcat.”
His hold on Mackenzie’s wrist tightened to the point of pain.When Mackenzie looked down, he saw that Silas’s nails had turned into claws.They were digging into his skin, and blood was pearling under one of them.
“What do you want from me?”Mackenzie asked.He was terrified, but he wouldn’t give up easily.He had too much to live for.
Silas smiled at him.His teeth were yellow, and his breath was rank enough to make Mackenzie’s stomach turn.“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure you’ll be useful,” Silas drawled.He pulled, and Mackenzie stumbled forward.
He was in trouble.
* * * *
MACKENZIE WAS LATE.
Nico frowned at his phone.It wasn’t like his boyfriend to be late, and it definitely wasn’t like him not to warn him that he’d be late.The few times he had been, he’d texted or had called, warning Nico so he wouldn’t freak out.He’d been treating Nico with kid gloves, almost as if he was afraid that something bad would happen if Nico got too stressed out.It didn’t make sense that he wouldn’t tell Nico he was late.
Nico told himself not to be an idiot.Mackenzie being late didn’t mean something was wrong.It just meant that he was late.He’d be there soon, they’d unload his car, and everything would be all right.
But Nico’s stomach churned, and it had nothing to do with the pregnancy.He wanted to believe things would be that easy, but something told him it wouldn’t be.He was scared.It might be ridiculous, but he’d feel better if he could somehow contact Mackenzie.He didn’t even care if people thought he was overemotional because of the pregnancy or whatever.He just needed to know where his boyfriend was.
He tried calling again, but the result didn’t change.Mackenzie didn’t answer.The phone kept ringing, and Nico’s heart kept sinking.
What could Nico do?He didn’t want to tell his father because he was on the phone with their council member.He could maybe call Jerome and ask him to check in on Mackenzie, but he didn’t want to bother the alpha.No, there was only one way to go about this.
Nico was out of the house minutes later.He didn’t even stop to tell anyone where he was going, but they’d assume he was headed to Mackenzie’s, anyway, so it didn’t matter.He just needed to see for himself that his boyfriend was okay.He didn’t care if Mackenzie teased him over it.He’d take the teasing over freaking out.This couldn’t be good for his stress level and his baby.
The drive felt longer than it actually was.Nico kept trying to call Mackenzie, even though he really shouldn’t be on his phone while he was driving, but it was as if Mackenzie had just vanished, and Nico’s gut told him that something was wrong.
Nothing seemed to be out of place when he parked his car in front of Mackenzie’s house.Mackenzie’s car was there, and everything seemed normal.Mackenzie was nowhere to be seen, though, and when Nico went inside the house, he wasn’t surprised to find that his boyfriend wasn’t there, either.It was as if Mackenzie had vanished.
Nico left the house since Mackenzie wasn’t there.He peeked inside the car, not surprised to see it was full of boxes.Mackenzie was moving, after all.
Well, he’d be moving if he was here, but Nico still had no idea what had happened to his boyfriend.He looked at the trees that surrounded the house, wondering if Mackenzie was somewhere in there.Why would he be, though?
“Nico,” someone said, making Nico jump.
