Chapter 34

I absently stroked her hair, wishing that I could understand an ounce of what was going on inside her incredibly seductive head. She had stared at the seat in front of us for a long time before she finally began silently crying. For the first time ever, I felt helpless. I couldn’t make her feel better. I knew today was going to be a lot, I just... I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be on her. I could practically see the memories flashing before her, and I couldn’t seem to pull her out of them. She eventually cried herself to sleep, and I watched her twitch now dreaming of the things she was afraid of. All I could do was pull her close. All I wanted was to make it better. But she still bore another man’s mark, and until that was gone, this was all I could give.

The car came to a gentle stop, but she didn’t so much as stir. I carefully lifted her into my arms and carried her out of the car and straight up to her room. It wasn’t terribly late since we had left so early this morning, but the emotions of the day seemed to have drained everything she had in her. I hoped she would sleep better now that she was in a familiar space, but I wasn’t sure if that mattered or not. God, I had never cared about a girl like this literally ever. It was driving me mad!

I wrapped her tightly in the blankets and sat in the chair next to the bed. I could watch her all day. If the Beta wasn’t her mate, her pack could just literally disappear, and nothing was making any sense, how the hell was I ever going to figure out the truth?

“Rhys?” Leon mindlinked with urgency.

“Yes?"

“Can you come outside please?” There was a pause. “And don’t bring Grace.”

I gave Grace a longing look, and headed out the door once again.

“Hey, I didn’t realize you were back.” Sawyer called out as I passed him.

“Hey,” I answered briefly before circling back to him. “I have to go deal with something; can you just keep an eye on Grace in case she needs something? Today has been a lot.”

Sawyer nodded, and I took off down the stairs as Leon’s sense of urgency lingered just on the brink of my mind.

I stepped outside, and I could see all of my men near a car and Leon was in the center of everyone.

“Leon?” I questioned.

He didn’t answer me, but he reached into the car and pulled out a man in chains. The man looked normal by all accounts, other than he was naked, bound and covered in blood and mud. He looked fairly young but looks could be deceiving. He was not one of my men though, so I looked to my Beta for clarification.

“Explain, Leon.”

“Look at him closer.” Leon stated, his voice all business, telling me this wasn’t some kind of joke.

I frowned and did as he said, and the young man immediately began to transform. Fur began to grow, and he began to grow in size. My men immediately tightened the chains around him, trying to keep control of whatever was happening in front of me. The young man didn’t fully turn wolf. Instead, he stood on two feet and was far larger than I had originally given the kid credit for. He fought my men with everything he had, trying to break free of the hold they had on him.

“What the hell is this?” I demanded.

“Gwen found him. Her group was tracking Luna Kinsley and Alpha Adrian as well as trying to find any trace of the pack like you asked. The creature has no scent and is adept at hiding, especially since as you can see, he’s standing on two legs.”

“What is he?” I asked, feeling disgusted looking at this unknown creature.

“I’m not sure, sir,” Leon stated uneasily.

“And if he is so good at hiding, how the hell did Gwen find him?” I asked thinking out loud.

“We think he fell out of a tree, otherwise we wouldn’t have found or even noticed him. We still have people in the pack, looking to see, but we don’t have the same ability as they do to climb.”

“Was he in this form when you found him?” I asked, looking at the others who were barely able to contain him.

“Yes. He’s shifted between his two forms several times. He seems to not know which one to stay in right now. And I’m not sure if having more forms is a potential, but we should prepare for anything.”

I stared at the creature for a long moment. Could he climb? Could they all be like this? Is that why we haven’t found them yet? Could he have more than one form? Why hadn’t I ever heard so much as a rumor about this creature in front of us?

I looked up at the window that I knew was Grace’s as the creature let out a roar unlike anything I had ever heard before. I hoped it wouldn’t wake her, but then I got a flash of a similar day.

The Deja vu was unreal. I had been spending time with Grace similar to today. Leon had mindlinked me, very similarly to today. And then I had come out and my men at the time had been in a full on battle with the creature. It had taken like 8 of my men if I was remembering correctly, and one had gotten pretty injured before I fully stepped in. The creature had been similar, but I hadn’t really gotten the best of looks at it. Could the thing in front of me be the same sort of creature? I mean they both stood on two legs, and looked wolfish, but not fully wolf, and definitely bigger than my wolf, and my wolf was large... They couldn’t be the same... Could they?