Turning away from the house, he headed over to where the bag had pressed against the earth. Her scent was faded, but not too far gone that he couldn’t follow it. He needed to get started. The longer he waited, the harder it would be to detect, and the farther she would get.
He shifted into a wolf and hurried into the trees. Tracking the scent through the woods, he moved through the trees at a quick pace. Not as fast as he would have liked, but her scent was fading, and he didn’t want to step off the path.
At some point, though, another smell mixed with Amber’s scent. Fear. Cillian froze, pausing long enough to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. But no. Something had happened to frighten Amber.
He kept tracking her, moving faster, more urgently. The stench of fear grew stronger, nearly palpable. He tried to keep his mind steady, but all he could think about was Amber and what on earth could have made her this terrified.
He came to a stop when he stumbled across a battered duffel bag that had fallen on its side. Amber’s. He growled, his intuition prickling at him, telling him that something was terribly wrong. There were any number of reasons that she might have abandoned the bag, and none of them were good. He sniffed again, hoping to catch her trail once more.
He stiffened when he realized her scent had joined with several others. One of them was slightly familiar, though he couldn’t place it initially. It wasn’t until he realized that Amber’s own scent had an underlying note of fear that he recognized the other scent that had been nagging at him.
It was Eric’s.
Eric had Amber.
Cillian froze, his entire body going rigid. Then his eyes narrowed, a low growl escaping his throat. His claws dug into the earth.
After that first moment of pure rage, he began to think. His gut was to go after her right then and there, to track their scent and rip Eric to shreds the second he saw him.
Somehow, he managed to resist the impulse. That impulsivity was half the reason they had gotten into this mess in the first place. Amber was already in enough danger without him rushing in without a plan. As much as he wanted to help her, he needed a plan first.
Shifting to human, he dug into the pack he’d carried on his back as a wolf. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“What’s up?” Camden asked when he picked up.
“Eric’s got Amber,” he said. “I’ve got their scent. I could probably track them to their hideout, but I’m not going to go after him alone.”
“Fuck,” Camden said.
Cillian heard mumblings on the other end of the line. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Camden to relay the information. It seemed to take a lifetime before Camden returned to the phone and said, “Get to the pack house. We’ll make a plan and go from there.”
Cillian wanted to argue. He had their scent right there. The longer they waited, the more that scent would fade, and the harder it would be for them to track. He managed to bite down the argument. As much as he hated it, Camden was right. They needed a plan. They couldn’t just rush in, no matter how badly he wanted to.
“Right,” Cillian muttered.
He hung up and took one last look in the direction the scents wandered off. The need to race after them, to rescue Amber as quickly as possible, reared its head once more. It took nearly all his strength not to act on that urge and instead turn around and race toward the pack house.
I’ll be there soon, Amber, he thought.Just hold on.
Chapter 20 - Amber
They dragged her to a camp on the outskirts of town. It was a large camp, with tents dotting the hill surrounded by the dense forest. At least four or five shifters stalked around the camp, some in wolf form, others with guns. They watched the procession with interest. Eric dragged her through the cluster of tents and past a roaring fire, his hand grasping her arm in a vice-like grip. She tried to tug her arm away from him at one point, but he just held her tighter.
“Take a seat.” Eric flung her toward an upside-down crate propped next to a tent. She stumbled, thrusting her hand against the rough canvas to stop herself from falling. She twisted around to glower at Eric.
“Stay there until I tell you otherwise,” Eric said.
“Do we need to tie her up or anything?” one of the other shifters asked, looking her up and down.
“Nah. She’s not the type to flee. She’s too timid. She’ll listen as long as you give her orders.” His eyes narrowed when he saw that Amber was still standing. “Though sometimes it takes a couple of repeats before it manages to sink in. She can be a bit dense. I said Sit down and stay put,” he barked at Amber.
She remained standing.
Surprise and alarm flickered across Eric’s features. She’d never disobeyed him so brazenly. He marched over, grabbed her shoulder, and forced her onto the crate.
“I said sit down,” he hissed. “Now start behaving before I make you behave.”
She stared up at him, her eyes hard. But she didn’t retort, didn’t try to move. After a moment, he nodded, satisfied, and released her.
