I don’t stop at one slap. Wide palms and nails scratching, I land more and more blows. He took her. That damn dog. I bet he’s a wolf shifter. He took my Layla. Dogs love to take things. I should’ve known not to trust him. I scream as I launch my attack. I’m getting stronger as he takes my hits, and it’s making me mad he isn’t fighting back.
“Where is Layla, you shit” I yell, with no answer in return. His hard eyes stare at me, and his body barely flinches as I land another blow.
“Willow, stop!” Luxe’s Alpha voice streams into my ears, and Eddie’s hands wrap around my arms as pulls me flush against him. I try to get free, digging my nails into his arms, but it does nothing but make him hold me tighter. His strong arms bands around my body, and his scent only takes a moment to completely surround me. I blink a few times, trying to focus on Ghost, but my mind is pulled away from him and onto the tobacco and vanilla in my air.
My mind is racing, and my bear is flaming mad, yet a tingle in my stomach grows, and the guilt of what I’ve done forms like boulders. I hit Ghost—I mean James. I attacked James. I stare at James. He’s barely ruffled, but that’s not the point. He stands strong and nods at me. But that’s not enough. Not for me.
“James, I’m... oh my goodness, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. You should have kicked my butt.” He didn’t even try to fight back.
“Consider us even for the tea lacing,” he says before going to see the board. I watch as he walks past Eddie and me. He purses his lips. Maybe he’s helping, maybe he’s still working for Milo, but now that I see him, he doesn’t appear happy, or even neutral.
He looks mad.
I match my breaths to Eddie’s, with his arms still wrapped tightly around me. There is just one thing that doesn’t sit right with me. One thing I should’ve been focusing on when I was in Kaller City. “Do you know what Milo did?”
“I intended to find out, but I wouldn’t keep hurting you or Layla to figure it out.”
“What properties does he own? What name would they be under? Are there any abandoned buildings nearby? She could be anywhere. We have next to nothing on this guy,” Luxe says, sidestepping me and Eddie. She has a marker in her hands, and she leans over the table to write.
“Why is this important?” River, the youngest member of the Enchanted Pack, asks, running a hand over his short locs. His eyes find Jackson’s, knowing if anyone was going to answer him, his Alpha would.
“Milo took Layla. She was a target too,” Jackson answers.
She was a target. How could I forget she was a target? How could I have let her out of my sight?
“Where could she be?” I hear River ask. I pinch my eyebrows. I’m more confused now that I’m on the brink of something, and it flushes my cheeks in frustration. We’re all staring into space with thoughts not connected enough to say out loud.
“What are we going to do?” I mumble and look towards Eddie. He’s got the same saddened expression on his face andhas me wrapped tight in his arms as if he’s afraid of losing me too.
“I’ll find her,” James says as he stalks out the door to goodness knows where, leaving no room for questions.
“Jackson?” River asks, for what I’m not sure. What am I supposed to do with that?“I’ll find her.”Okay, where? What does he know that we don’t, and why didn’t he bother to share?
“One of us should follow him,” I say. “Where do we go from here? He obviously knows where she is, or at least has an idea?—”
“Willow, go take a shower,” Jackson demands, pointing to the stairs.
“A shower?” Confusion is the top emotion I’ve experienced in the last twenty-four hours, and it seems even around my most trusted group of people, the emotion continues to choke me.
“Yes, go take a shower, and Eddie, go with her. Take a moment to breathe, then meet us back down here, and Felix—go with James, and the rest of us will work on a Plan B. Go.”
I have little experience with an Alpha, even less with Alphas in a crisis, but a shower will not help anything. Our focus should be on Layla. What if?—
“We’ll be right back.” The voice is a whisper that warms me head to toe, and I move instinctively. I don’t say anything, and my mind turns off. I’m in the presence of the one man that has stuck by me since day one, and my body knows if anything, I can trust him. We move together. We breathe together. And for a moment, I can pretend we will be together forever.
24
GHOST–JAMES
“Where are we going?”Felix asks as he slides into the front seat of my car. My eyes narrow at him as he buckles his seatbelt. “Safety first, you fucking weirdo. Don’t make me ask again.”
I shake my head and turn on the car. The Alpha probably ordered him to come along, and I can’t blame the guy since they don’t know me. Not as much as I know them.
It’s not only Layla I’ve been watching.
“Milo, used to meet in person since technology can be traced; he wasn’t the fucking brightest. There’s an abandoned apartment building nearby—it’s the only place I can think of,” I say, peeling out of the driveway.
The building is old as shit and rotting from the inside out. It’s on the outskirts of town, and with how far it is, I’m not surprised no one lives here.
