Now, he needed to see what Shane really needed. His text had simply read – Need you as soon as possible. Call me. Manon hit two on his speed dial and the line picked up after the second ring.
"Manon?"
No greeting. It must be dire. "Oui.What you need, Beta?"
"Head to Laremie's Rock. Rachel and Paul's son, Demetri … he went running up there and is missing. I have Nick and Cliff already out there combing the area, but another nose is always helpful."
"Will do, Shane. We find him," Manon stated. He hung up and turned his car around, heading north toward Stone Ridge. With Nick and Cliff hunting the youngster, they might even have the cub found before Manon could get there. If not, he'd lend them a nose.
Fifty minutes later, Manon pulled his Camaro to the side of the service road. He hated bouncing his baby down these roads, but he didn't think Shane would appreciate him taking an extra fifteen minutes just to protect his undercarriage and pick up his Honda CBR1000RR, although, considering the speed of the damn thing, he probably could have made up the time, if he didn't get pulled over.
He grinned, exited his vehicle and then let his wolf out.
Dropping to his knees, Manon let the change slide through his body. His muscles contracted, his bones and tendons popped, his head and jaw contorted, and fur sprouted over his body as a tail grew. In less than thirty seconds, a dark-red furred wolf with black points leaped forward and streaked through the forest.
Manon threw his head back and howled. A heart-beat later, two answering howls echoed through the forest. He started running toward them, his nose twitching as he breathed in the familiar scents of the forest-pine, earth, and animals.
The low whine of an injured animal stopped Manon in his tracks. He cocked his ears and listened, waiting for it to come again. It did. He wasn't certain if Demetri made the sound, but it was certainly worth checking out.
Racing through the underbrush, he began to make out the scents of both Nick and Cliff. Both wolves had criss-crossed this area. Another scent he vaguely recognized as pack tickled his senses. Since he didn't recognize it, he figured it was Demetri's. He wondered how they'd missed exploring in the direction of the whine, but when he stepped into a clearing, he found out.
Manon paused on the edge, his nose to the wind, but no scent except earth and pine reaching his nose. Had he misheard the sound? Just then, two wolves appeared and flanked him. He recognized Cliff's large black wolf and Nick's tawny colored animal. He growled low, not in aggression, but in question. Cliff stepped forward, nose to the air. He whined, getting the same confused mix that Manon had. Nick chuffed, drawing attention. The smaller wolf buried his nose in the flowers, then took a few steps and sniffed at the sage growing near a rock base.
Nick whined and scratched at them. Manon trotted over, and it occurred to him what Nick was telling him. He couldn't smell the flowers, though they were thick enough here to have easily drowned out the scent of the pine trees towering over them.
Growling low in his throat, he motioned with his head, ordering Nick left and Cliff right. He took the middle. Noses to the ground, they spread out and started working their way across the clearing. Halfway across, Cliff found something, giving a sharp yip to get their attentions.
Manon and Nick came running. When they reached Cliff's side, they realized what he'd found. Humans were in the area. Mixed with their smell was Demetri's scent. Something had happened to the young wolf and the humans had been able to hide their scent. That didn't bode well for them.
He knew the human mate of the Stone Ridge pack's lead enforcer had been working hard to figure out the location of human scientists who liked to experiment on shifters. So far, they'd only located and shut town two facilities. Neither had been headquarters. When they'd kidnapped a second altered soldier of the scientists, they hadn't heard anything in retaliation. They still held the soldier in a small cottage in the woods. Maybe they were searching for him?
Pushing his thoughts away, Manon followed Cliff as he led the way. The wolf tracker had a better nose. Nick trailed, in case they needed to send someone for reinforcements. The tawny-colored shifter was fast and agile, and could easily evade any attempt at capture.
"Come on, Roman. We need to get out of here. These things run in packs, remember?"
They heard the human's voice before they saw him. The trio slowed, slinking forward, not wanting to let the men know that they'd been found. The three wolves crept on their bellies, spreading out the closer they got.
"Awe, come on, Will. Stop your worrying. Those guys wanting the wolves swore up and down that they wouldn't be able to smell us if we sprayed that shit, and it worked. This one never knew what hit him," Roman boasted.
So, these guys are paid lackeys of someone else. Are the scientists trying to regain a foothold? Manon didn't like his thoughts, but couldn't fathom what else it could be.
Manon watched the two men carry a cage toward the back of a truck, presumably with an unconscious Demetri inside, since they still couldn't smell much. Both men were concentrating on their task. The man with the beer belly was panting and sweating while the slender fellow was grunting and gritting his teeth.
Manon nodded sharply and he and his pack-mates leaped forward. Both men let out undignified shrieks. The fat one dropped the cage, which swung toward the slender human and knocked his legs out from under him. Cliff was on the skinny man instantly, his heavy weight pressing the human's chest to the ground.
As Manon shifted, he watched Nick give chase to the heavy-set man. The tawny wolf leaped, and Nick landed on the human's back, dragging the guy to the ground. Manon had just completed his shift, and crouched over Cliff and the skinny man, when the roar of an engine coming to life caught his attention.
His head snapped up and his gaze locked with the frightened brown eyes of a third human they hadn't even known was there. He was sitting in the cab of a truck, behind the wheel, his eyes as big as saucers.
"Merde," Manon cursed.
The human's mouth dropped open. He spun to face the windshield and gunned the engine. Manon could do nothing but watch the truck as it carried the small human down the weeded track and out of sight between the trees.
"Damn it," he cursed again, the English equivalent this time.
He dropped his gaze to the human under Cliff's paws and saw that he was unconscious. A look at Nick's captive revealed a whimpering, mumbling mess of a man, and from the scent in the air, he'd pissed himself. "You two had best shift," he commanded Nick and Cliff. "It's going to be a bitch of a walk out of here."
Shaking his head, Manon carefully maneuvered the crate holding the wolf off the skinny man's chest and, using shifter strength, broke the lock. From the corner of his eye, Manon saw the two wolves following his order as he peered into the cage. Drugged green eyes stared back at him. He scented the wolf in the cage. "Demetri?" he asked after a second.
The blond wolf whimpered.
Good enough. "Let's get you out of there, mon ami," he said encouragingly. He reached an arm in, trusting the other shifter's nose still worked well enough to recognize him as pack.
He must have, because he let Manon get hold of the wolf's scruff and pull him. Demetri whined, but scrabbled forward and out of the cage. As soon as he was clear, the young shifter changed, returning to human form.
"How is that possible?"
Manon looked up and discovered the slender fellow had woken. His eyes wide in his head, but at least he was coherent. "Who sent you?" Manon demanded.
Instead of answering, the man whispered, "What are you?"
After shaking his head, Manon blew out a breath. It looked like they would need to take them to Shane. There was some explaining to do, on both sides. Manon walked over to the slender fellow and knelt next to him. "If you come with me, and tell me what you doin' here and who sent you, we explain everything." He held out a hand, palm up.
It took a few seconds, but finally, the slender human reached out and took Manon's hand.
Chapter Three
"W
hat the hell do you think you're doing?" Eric snapped. Chris knew he shouldn't have told him. When Eric had called to see what was up that evening, Chris had tried to avoid telling his friend. Yet, he'd pressed, and as soon as Eric heard Chris had agreed to go out on a date with Manon, Eric had declared he was on his way over, and disconnected the call. Daren was at work at Colin City Animal Shelter, so he wasn't available to join in on the ass chewing, but Remy more than made up for it.