Connected: Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4

Kyla

It took almost five minutes for that aggravating paralysis to wear off. What made it worse was that my heart was thumping wildly, and I couldn’t move to chase after Camille or check on Abby. Eventually I could move my fingers and toes, then my arms, and legs. I reached up and tore the belt buckle open, dropping headfirst to the roof of the overturned Jeep. By the time I’d pulled myself free of the wreckage, I finally managed to push onto my knees. I got one foot planted on the ground, and struggled to my feet only to throw myself to the dirt at Abby’s side.

“Are you okay?” I asked. She was bleeding just above her right ear, and when I reached under her to help pull her up, she winced with pain. “Abs, please tell me you’re alright.”

“I’m okay,” she grunted. She scooted backward to lean against the side of the Jeep, dropping her head back. “I tried to stop them,” she whispered, raising a hand to press at her eyes. “Shit.”

Luna stood, setting one arm on the upside down front bumper. “Did you recognize any of them?” she asked.

I shook my head, and Abby said, “They seemed to recognize me,” and gestured to the scar on her arm. “But I hit my head. I couldn’t read them.”

Seeing as Abby wasn’t critical, I immediately removed my jacket and kicked off my shoes.

“What are you doing?” Luna asked.

“There’re only so many directions they could’ve gone.” I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it to the dirt. “If we split up and hurry, we might catch them.”

“Kyla,” Luna said, grabbing my hands as I reached for the button of my jeans. “Slow down for a second. What are you going to do if you find them?”

“Get Camille back.” I knew we could all list at least three reasons that was a horrible idea, but I didn’t care. I pushed her hands away and hurried to get the rest of my clothes off. “Fine, come with me. Or stay with Abby. Just don’t try to stop me.”

Without saying anything else, I Phased and took off in the direction the van had disappeared. I flew through the trees along the road, my paws barely touching down with each strike. This one-lane road went on for a few miles before splitting off in a couple of other directions, and those roads split off even more. The only option was to get lucky and catch up. Five minutes wasn’t enough time for them to get far, but they’d gotten far enough that my connection to Camille wasn’t pinpoint. I knew the general direction they’d gone, but one wrong turn could take them out of range, and then I’d never know where they went.

Over the crashing of my paws through dry foliage, I heard Luna not far behind me. There was no time to slow down and let her catch up. I could see in the near distance where the road would split off, and I knew to head east. When I got to the intersection, I didn’t hesitate to bear down the road on the right, dodging trees and sprinting as near the highway as would keep me from being seen. We were catching up. I could feel it. The kidnappers had constraints of traffic and speed limits, but we were dashing through the woods at fifty-five, sixty miles an hour and we were catching up.

Then all at once, it was gone. Like someone had flipped a switch, in the matter of an instant, I couldn’t feel her anymore. I mean, I could feel that she was alive, but our connection was rendered useless. I skidded to a halt, gulping air into my lungs and trying desperately to keep from panicking. Where did they go? Blindly chasing might be worse than not chasing at all, but I didn’t know what to do. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes as Luna stopped at my side, trying to focus on the connection. Nothing. I trotted forward a few paces and stuck my nose into the air, hoping something, anything would help. It didn’t. I let out one long, ear-piercing howl and then fell silent.

Come on, Camille. Even Luna stopped breathing to listen intently. Give me something. We waited nearly a minute, the angry chattering of a nearby squirrel the only reply to my call. A growl left my throat as I turned on my heels, heading back in the direction of the Jeep. I couldn’t focus out here, over my near desperation and the sound of traffic from the highway and Luna’s tense waiting. I needed quiet.

It didn’t take long at all to get back to the vehicle, where we Phased and rushed into our clothes. Abby was standing and leaning back against the Jeep with my cell phone in her hand. “I called Wes,” she said. “He’s coming to pick us up.”

“How’re you feeling?” I asked as I pulled my shirt on.

“Just a little beat up,” she answered.

“Concussion?” Luna asked.

“Maybe a minor one,” Abby said. “But I’m okay.”

I finished dressing, and we waited for two restless minutes for Wes to come speeding down the road. He took us back to the Pack house just as quickly, and I was the first one to burst through the front door. “Julian!” I yelled. It took a moment, but then Julian reached the landing at the top of the stairs, and at the same time, some of the others appeared to check on the commotion. Knowing Julian was the best with technology, I told him, “Camille’s been taken, we need a location on her cell phone.”

He nodded and hurried off to grab his laptop.

“What happened?” Eli asked, coming down the hall from the kitchen with David at his side.

I didn’t bother saying anything because I had one goal. I sat right on the small bench in the foyer, and folded my legs beneath me while Luna explained the situation. It took a good minute for me to meditate deep enough that I’d blocked everyone else out. Meditation was the easiest way we’d discovered to amplify our connection, and my intent had been to zero in on Camille. Only, the result was the same no matter how hard I concentrated. There was no way they’d taken her far enough that quickly to make it this bad, but it was this bad. She was gone, and it didn’t make any sense.

After a couple of minutes, I opened my eyes, only to find that everyone was watching me silently.

“Anything?” Eli asked.

I shook my head, glancing over at Julian, who’d come down with his computer. “Julian?”

“I can’t find her phone.”

I dropped my feet to the floor, setting my elbows on my knees and letting my head fall into my hands. Abby finally came over to sit down next to me, and I looked up to watch her lean back, trying not to appear in as much pain as I knew she really was.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, casting a wary look at Eli.

“Did you get anything useful?” David asked. “A familiar scent? A license plate number? A name?”

I shook my head again. “All I know is that they were human.”

“Wes,” Eli said, “go check the archives for anything similar to that sound device.” Wes headed down the hall toward the library. “Julian, keep trying the GPS on Camille’s phone, and call your connection down at the police station to have them keep an eye out for black vans.” Julian nodded and carried his laptop back upstairs. “David-”

“Checking in on Pack enemies,” he said knowingly. “On it.”

Things fell silent for a minute. It seemed like Eli was giving me a chance to catch my bearings, but I wanted to exploit every avenue we could in order to get Camille back. “Maybe the Council’s heard of other kidnappings or has something that could help.”

“No,” Eli said instantly. “Leave the Council out of it.”

“Eli,” I said, rising from the bench.

“That includes Abby,” he said. “I want you to take her home.”

“Someone took Camille,” I said urgently, feeling a rise of frustration.

“Kyla,” Abby said quietly, “it’s fine.”

But Eli had approved of Camille, Luna, and me working on small cases with Abby over the summer. He’d approved of our attempt to try and improve the Pack’s relationship with the Council. Why now, when it mattered most, had he changed his mind? “We don’t know what they’re going to do to her,” I said. Eli’s face set sternly. I could see the deep concern in his eyes, but that fear for Camille was causing him to make the wrong choice. It was wrong. We needed Abby on this. “Eli, please,” I begged.

“I’ve made my decision,” he said.

“That’s bullshit!” I protested, and Luna was shaking her head at me to get me to stop, but I ignored her. “The Council has more resources tha-”

“I said no!” Eli roared.

The wolf in me cowered at the rare assertion of our alpha’s dominance, but the human in me, the part of me that’d give anything to get Camille back, it resented his authority, and it was stronger. I stared him defiantly in the eyes until a low growl rumbled in his throat, and then I looked away. I backed down, resisting the urge to shout again or fight back any more than I already had because I’d already pushed him dangerously far, and I knew it. To keep myself from losing it, I stormed out the front door, slamming it shut behind me as I took off running for the side of the house. The door opened and closed a second time, and two pairs of footsteps rushed after me. Luna and Abby trailed me to the side of the house, where we were out of sight and hearing.

“Kyla,” Luna prompted. I ignored her to pace, folding my hands behind my head to consider our options. There was no way I was keeping Abby out of this, but just how much could I defy Eli? “Kyla, stop,” Luna pleaded, stepping in my path to end my pacing. I met her hazel eyes impatiently with my own. “You can’t do shit like that.”

“I know,” I groaned, dropping my arms. “He’s the alpha, yada, yada.” It wasn’t the first time I’d gotten this lecture. Adjusting to Pack hierarchy after being Changed wasn’t as easy as it seemed for the rest of the wolves, and I made little mistakes constantly. Though, admittedly, I’d never challenged Eli like that before. Not directly, and never deliberately.

“If you didn’t have the ties to my family that you do,” Luna said, her voice full of concern, “if you were any other wolf, he would’ve taken that as a formal challenge.” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose from stress. “Tell me you understand, because if he lets you challenge him, he looks weak. He won’t do that again.”

I took in a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. To slow down and try to keep a level head because it’s what Camille and Luna needed from me. I tried to follow Pack hierarchy, but of all the adjustments I’d mastered since being Changed, it remained the hardest. I wasn’t raised like Luna and Camille were. I tried my best to respect Eli’s authority, to follow the endless list of subtle formalities in everyday life, but even my wolf struggled with obeying without question, no matter how much it recognized Eli’s dominance.

And I still cared so little if I was out of line. The Pack house was where I lived, but Camille was home. Hierarchy didn’t mean a damn thing if I didn’t think Eli would do everything he could to get her back safely. I understood why he didn’t trust the Council – he blamed them for the death of his daughter, Lacey – but I needed Abby at my side for more than just Council resources.

“Okay,” I told Luna. “I’m sorry. You’re right, but-”

“I know,” Luna interrupted, and gestured at Abby, who’d leaned against the side of the house. “We need her. Just know it would’ve been less of an issue if you weren’t so freaking stubborn, because now I got to risk getting my ass in trouble too.”

“Really?” I asked in disbelief. Luna was as rebellious as anyone, but I’d never known her or Camille to go against Eli’s word. I’d never known any of the other wolves to disobey him.

“He hasn’t been himself…” she whispered, “since Lacey.” She shrugged, but it was clear that criticizing Eli made her uncomfortable. “But Abby can get information we can’t, and I want my sister back, too.”

I glanced at Abby to see what she thought. She looked just as uncomfortable as Luna did with the idea of defying Eli, but she nodded and said, “Just ease him into the fact that I haven’t left yet.” She touched her fingers to the drying blood on the side of her head. “Like maybe get me an ice pack or something…”

“Right, sorry,” I winced. “Are you sure you’re alright? Should we take you to the hospital?”

“No, no,” she said hastily. “You don’t want my dad to find out I got hurt with you. I’ll be okay.”

“It’s not our faul- Ow!” Luna yelped, stretching to see behind her. “What the?”

There was a feathered dart sticking out of the back of her shoulder, and I almost didn’t believe what I was seeing. “Did someone just shoot you?” My eyes immediately scanned the forest around the house as I took a breath through my nose to search for a scent, but there was no trace of an assailant on the breeze. “Eli!” I yelled.

Luna reached to her shoulder and winced when she tugged on the dart, unable to pull it out. “It’s in deep.”

I turned her around and tested the dart’s depth for myself while my eyes continued searching for the forest. “Where are you…” If they were still out there, they could still be a threat, and Eli came rushing out with David and Wes. “Someone’s out there,” I told them, motioning to Luna’s shoulder.

Eli and David didn’t waste a moment. Their wolves burst forth, and they took off sprinting into the woods. Wes and Abby both moved to my side to look at the dart.

“Get it out,” Luna whined, a growing sense of urgency in her voice. “God, what the hell? You see anyone?” I hummed a negative and gave a weak pull, which made her turn to glare. “Get it out of me.”

I gripped the dart and pulled hard, and to keep from yelling or even from punching something, Luna bit down on her knuckles and grunted through it. I held it up to get a good look, and even though she was still in pain, she turned and leaned in too, confused and fascinated and concerned all at once. The needle was nearly as thick as a pencil, and easily over an inch long.

I began to ask, “What do you think-” But a loud snap cut me off, and Luna screamed with pain. “Luna?”

There was another powerful crunch that caused her to buckle over, and with the next pop, she fell to her knees. She curled into herself, her face already burning red with pain. “I’m Changing,” she said, choking on an agonized cry.

Through the next series of cracks, she struggled to shrug off her jacket, but that was all she managed to get out of. It looked hard to even breathe. She kept gasping for air and clutching at her skin and slamming her fists into the ground. It was happening so much slower than it normally did, but it was happening too fast for me to know what to do. There was nothing I could do. Already her limbs and torso were nearly Changed, a tortured mess of woman and wolf as white fur began to sprout and her clothing ripped as she grew.

“Something’s wrong,” she forced out, her body wrenching with the force of speech. “Abby, get in the house.” Abby looked at Wes and me, and turned to jog for the front door when we both nodded. The Phase was almost too far for Luna to say anything at all, so when she spoke a final word, it was barely recognizable behind a growl. “Run.”

She struggled to stand on all four paws as the last of her fur punctured through. I backed up a step. The wolf was still panting from pain and exertion, but just beneath each breath was a ragged rumble, a sound I’d felt before in my own chest. A sound I knew prefaced a full-blown snarl.

Now that she was fully Changed, there was no way Wes and I could run for the house fast enough to escape her, and something about the eerie vibrating in her chest said it was a bad idea to try. So I held perfectly still as her wolf eyes met mine. Her lips curled away from her teeth to expose her long, sharp fangs, and every hair from the back of her neck to the tip of her tail was standing straight. This wasn’t Luna, that much was clear. There was something in that dart that had done this to her, and there was nothing left of conscious thought or control in her eyes. They were wild, ferocious, hungry, and we were stuck.

“Open the cellar door,” Wes whispered to me. “Now!”

Luna let out a menacing snarl and leapt, jaws wide and ready to snap down on me the moment they reached my flesh. I ducked and threw myself toward the cellar as Wes Phased, his multi-colored wolf leaping to meet Luna in the air. They went crashing down in a tangle as I threw open the doors set in the ground. Luna and Wes rolled as they fought, but Wes was doing his best to bring the fight toward me. They snapped and clawed, driving each other closer and closer to the open doors until one more roll sent them tumbling downward.

They smashed onto the earthy floor of the cellar hard enough that it separated them, and Wes didn’t miss his chance for escape. He leapt upward and out, and no sooner than he was clear, I slammed the doors close. Luna was on her way out right when I shut them, and hit with so much force it almost threw me back. But Wes hurled himself on top, using his wolf weight to try and keep it closed. From the other side, there was a thud like Luna had hit the ground again, and I took the opportunity to launch the massive padlock into place.

We scrambled back as Luna crashed into the doors a second time, but the lock held fast. Wes collapsed onto his side in the grass, his ribs heaving as he panted from the fight, and he was bleeding an impressive amount for such a short scuffle.

“You alright?” I asked.

He gave a tired grunt, laying there as we listened to the sound of breaking food stores and crashing shelves from down in the cellar. A couple of minutes passed before Eli and David came sprinting back empty-handed, and Wes finally rose as they reached us. All three of them Phased back to human.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Oh, we saw him,” David snarled. “And got a taste of that sound device. Lucky bastard.”

Eli looked at the ruckus coming from the cellar and gave Wes and me a curious glance.

“Whatever they shot her with forced her to Change,” Wes said. “She’s dangerous right now.”

Eli sighed a stressed breath, and then passed me an expression that said it’d be a grave mistake to argue. “Get Abby out of here.”

I didn’t say anything. I turned and headed for the house, where Abby was pacing just inside the front door. “What happened?” she asked the moment I entered. “Is Luna okay?”

"I don’t know," I said, and motioned for her to follow me as I strode to the kitchen. “She’s locked in the cellar. I just hope it wears off.” I grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with ice from the freezer, handing the pack to Abby so she could hold it to her head. “I need to get you out of here until Eli calms down.” She nodded. “We’ll take a truck, flip the Jeep over, and tow it back.”

I passed a concerned look over the wound in her head to see if she was even feeling well enough to come with me, and she laughed, “Kyla, stop, I’m fine.” She pulled the ice away and twisted her neck to give me a clear view. “I’m just going to be a little sore later.”

It was a relief that she was fine. Wes was fine, and Eli, David, and I were fine, but Luna wasn’t. Someone did this to her, and it couldn’t have been a coincidence. Whoever took Camille had come back to shoot Luna with that dart, or they’d been watching us the whole time. Either way, we had no idea what this was, if it was permanent or how long it’d last or why Luna had tried to attack us. What I did know was that we needed to figure this out, and to do that, we had to find Camille.