56. DEVRIM: COMPLICATIONS

“Vanya?”
My hold on the door handle tightened as I hesitated in the doorway of the cabin.
I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was seriously wrong. It was too silent. Vanya was always making noises wherever she was busy within the cabin.
“Vanya?” I called out again, as I entered the kitchen.
A single cup rested in the sink.
Frowning, I tilted my head to the side and sucked in a breath. Her scent was faint enough to make me realize that she hadn’t been in the kitchen for hours.
I followed her faint scent all the way down the hall and towards my office.
Stopping in the doorway, I glanced around. The chair was out of place but the few files resting on top of my desk was exactly as I had left it last night. Everything looked the same until my eyes fell on the open cabinet.
My heart dropped to my stomach.
I could tell that it had been touched since the top album had fallen from the pile.
Panic hit next. Had she seen it and took off?
I spun on my heels and hurried up the stairs.
She wouldn’t run, right? Not with that bastard still out there and Betsy missing.
But I hadn’t seen or heard either of the brothers when I returned.
Fuck! I should’ve known that our secret wouldn’t stay a secret for long. I should’ve made sure that the cabinet was locked after I looked through the albums.
But Vanya wasn’t in her bedroom. Her closet doors were wide open and the few clothes she had unpack spewed across the floor. The bag she had with her after returning from the main house was also missing.
I turned, ready to run out of the cabin in search of her, but something caught my attention. Frowning, I sucked in a deep breath and tensed.
Obsidian’s scent was mixed with Vanya’s.
Had he finally had enough and decided that she had to leave? Had he snapped and killed her?
But as I took another deep breath, I smelt something else. Another scent that had my frown deepening. A scent that I had smelled before but couldn’t place. Pine trees, sweat, and. . .nature?
I turned, my eyes dropping to the floor and noticing the dirty footprints and a few crimson drops.
I crouched next to it and swiped a finger across it. Raising my finger to my nose, I sniffed.
Icy shiver raced down my spine. Vanya’s blood. Vanya was injured. Maybe Obsidian had taken her to the main house to get checked out. But what about the other scent? It definitely wasn’t a pride member.
“Fuck!”
Wiping my hand, I stood and turned in a slow circle as I took everything in. Nothing else was out of place. When I found nothing, I ran out of the room and down the stairs.
Orion would have been waiting for me to inform me if something had happened to Vanya.
I found both brothers a few miles from the cabin, both unconscious with red and blue darts sticking out of Orion’s back and Dorian’s arm.
Carefully pulling it out of Orion’s skin, I raised it to my nose and sniffed at the tip that had been stuck in his skin.
Apart from the blood, there was another smell that I was all too familiar with.
I threw back my head and roared.
Vanya and Obsidian were in trouble.

***

Ezra paced up and down the hall as we waited for one of the doctors to inform us of the brother’s condition.
The dozed used in the darts were double the dozes they used in the facility which would explain why they were still passed out. It could’ve killed them if the dozes were any higher.
I spun around when the door to the room opened.
“Orion is awake, but he’s not allowed to leave yet until we are sure that the drugs have left his bloodstream.”
“Fine.”
I stormed past him and into the room.
Orion was sitting up in the bed, awake but he still looked a little out of it. His eyes locked on mine and then lowered.
“I’m sorry Alpha; I couldn’t protect your mate.”
I growled. “Tell me what happened.”
“We heard a sound,” he said. “Obsidian was in the house so we thought that it would be okay to leave to check it out.”
“One of you should’ve stayed,” Ezra growled.
Orion glanced at him. “Dorian was hit first but before I could react, I was hit too. It’s all I remember.”
“It has to be him,” Ezra hissed. “I shouldn’t have left. Fuck! I knew this was going to happen someday.”
“You should’ve said something,” I told him.
“How was I supposed to know that both of you would leave her on her own?” He flashed his teeth at me. “You’re fucking smarter than this. You took leadership for a reason!”
“Shut up!” I yelled. “We need to find them.”
“I want a list of all Obsidian’s hideouts. You know where that is, don’t you?”
Pursing my lips, I stared at him for a few seconds before I answered. “What does that have to do with—?”
“Obsidian’s unstable!” Ezra yelled. “He—”
I had a hand wrapped around his neck before he could finish his sentence. Squeezing, I slammed him back against the wall and growled at him.
“Watch your fucking mouth,” I warned. “Obsidian—”
Someone clear his throat, making my head snap in that direction. A pride member hovered near the open door with his head lowered and neck exposed.
“W-we found something, Alpha.”
My eyes snapped back to Ezra’s. I leaned closer until my lips were right against his ear before I spoke again. “He would rather take his own life before he lays a hand on her — he would fucking die to protect her. Would you? Would you die for her, Ezra?”
I pulled back to look at him as I waited for him to answer. His silence was answer enough. Slamming him back against the wall, I dropped my hand and turned towards the pride member.
“Show me what you found.”