Avenger(59)

Garrett, Sophie’s dad, appeared behind some bushes. “Caeden, you’re going to want to take a look at this.”

I glanced at Sophie and back at Garrett. I didn’t want to leave her, but I couldn’t abandon my duties as Alpha either. I was torn on what to do.

Bentley grabbed my arm and forced me to look at him. “Go,” he nodded towards Garrett. “I’ll stay with her. You have nothing to worry about.”

I let out a sigh of relief. I trusted Bentley.

“I’ll be right back.” I told him, but really the words were for my benefit.

I followed Garrett a ways into the woods before things opened up and several other shifters stood around, digging up mounds.

I was going to be sick. The smell—God, it was awful. The smell of decaying human flesh was something you could never forget.

I held my breath, shaking my head.

“How many?” I voiced.

“Too many,” Garrett whispered.

“What do we do with them?” I asked. “Notify the police?”

“That seems like the best bet. These families…they deserve closure.” Garrett stood back behind me, letting me take in the carnage around us. I refused to let myself count the mounds. I didn’t want to know how many dead ones there were—or think about how many successfully turned mutants Travis might possess now.

I turned away from everything and started passed Garrett. “Take care of this. I trust your judgment, Garrett. Right now, I need to be with Sophie.”

“We’ll be by later,” he assured me. “Tell her that her mom and I love her.”

“I will,” I shoved my hands in my jeans pockets.

I jogged back to the Jeep so that I could get there sooner. Bryce had returned with other wolves and I saw Bentley and Christian in the back of the Jeep with a sleeping Sophie.

“Hey,” I said, coming to a stop in front of Bryce. “Find anything?”

He frowned, glancing down at the ground. I knew that didn’t mean anything good. “We followed the trail for a mile or so and then it…it just…stopped.”

“Stopped? What do you mean?” I fired questions at him.

“I mean, it stopped,” he rolled his eyes at me. “The scent disappeared.”

“How is that possible?” My body was tensing all over. How could someone disappear without a trace? No scent, no nothing?

Bryce shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s Travis. Why should we be surprised?”

I nodded. That was true. I scrubbed my hand over my face. “Look again.”

“Again?” He raised a brow. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything new.”

“I don’t care. Do it,” I raised my voice, knowing I needed to take on a demanding tone with Bryce.

“Whatever,” he huffed, turning away from me and shifting. The other wolves followed after him.

I rubbed my face, closing my eyes, and let out a pent up breath. I felt like this whole thing had aged me twenty years. I got in the car and looked behind me at Bentley and Christian. “How is she? Has she woken up any?” I questioned.

“Sleeping like a baby,” Bentley smiled. “I’m pretty sure she drooled on me.”

Despite the dreariness of the situation, I managed to crack a small smile. “She does drool.”

Before I drove away, Christian moved from the back of the car to the front so she’d have more room. Sophie continued to sleep with her head pressed into Bentley’s shoulder. It felt so good to have her back with me. I knew our battles were far from over, but for now we had each other, and we’d get everything else figured out in time.





Twenty One.

Sophie

I woke up and sat straight up, a gasp escaping my throat. I looked wildly around me. I was back in my own bed and in my home. Had it all been some horrible nightmare? When I glanced down at my stomach, and saw that it wasn’t nearly as round as it had been, my heart stuttered in my chest. It hadn’t been a nightmare. It was real. All of it was much too real.

My lip shook as I fought tears. I didn’t want to cry. I wanted to be strong. Beau needed me to be strong.

Beau.

I had to find Beau.

I was his mother and he needed me.

I tried to remove myself from the bed, but found that I couldn’t move. After everything I’d been through, my body was too tired.

I really did begin to cry then.

I felt like a sniveling baby. All I was doing was crying—at least it felt that way to me. I didn’t like being…weak. I wanted to be a stronger person, and fight for what I believed in, but the way my body felt I wouldn’t be fighting for a while. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try though.

I braced my hands beside me and pushed myself into a sitting position. My body ached all over like I’d been tossed inside a dryer, spinning around uncontrollably. This was nothing like the exhaustion I’d experienced when I was pregnant with Beau. Was, keyword there, as in not anymore.