25

Travis POV

Gia leaves and goes her own way, thankfully. I did ask for help, but now I am not so sure I want her to help me. I only need Viv to see that Ozzy is not the man for her. Viv deserves more; even if it is not with me, I only want her to be happy.

I should drive to her apartment and look for her. I need to see at least that she made it back home. I should have never let her just run into the night. It is only a few blocks, but I should go check.

I grab my keys and cell phone. I go out to my car and begin to back out of the driveway when I notice a strange car watching me. Some of Ozzy's men are probably making sure Viv is not here with me while he is meeting with the wolf council.

I pull out of the driveway. The strange car follows me. I decide to take the long way to Viv's apartment. I drive down a block, turn to the right, and make my way to her apartment from the back way. The strange car follows me. It has to be Ozzy's men. This is ridiculous. Maybe if she sees this, she will see how controlling he is toward her.

I pull into Viv's apartment. I look up to see the light on in her window. I take out my cell phone and call her. The phone rings, but she does not answer. I wait a moment and call her again. Nothing. Maybe she went to sleep or is in the shower.

I wait another moment to see if maybe she will call me back. I am getting nervous. I see that there are three men in the car that followed me here. I could get out and ask them what they want with Viv or me. I open the car do and begin to step out. The men see me and do the same.

My phone rings as I am about to exit the car. "Hello," I say as I answer the phone, getting back into my car.

"Travis, why are you calling me? Is something wrong?" Viv asks.

I watch the men now watching me. "I wanted to make sure you were okay, that is all," I say.

Viv looks out the window at me. "I am coming down," she says.

"No, do not come down," I say, but she has already hung up the phone.

I watch the door and inch my car closer to the sidewalk. I watch the men who have gotten back into their car. I hope Viv will be okay coming out, but I have a bad feeling about this situation. The front door pops open, and Viv comes out. She sees me and starts running toward my car.

She comes over to the passenger side, and I open the door to let her into the car. I look back to see the men still watching us.

"Viv, three men are watching us," I say to her. She looks back over her shoulder and sees them.

"None of them look familiar," she says.

"They followed me here. I thought maybe they were some of Ozzy's men," I say to her.

She looks back over her shoulder. "I have never seen them before, Travis," Viv says.

"Wolf council maybe or some of Gia's men?" I question her.

"Why are you here, Travis?" Viv asks. She looks tired and upset. I can tell she has had a hard night between work and Ozzy.

"I came to check on you, that is all. I know you were upset earlier, and I did not help matters any, did I?" I ask her. I reach over and take her hand. She looks at my hand in hers.

"I am perplexed. I feel like I should be with Ozzy, but there are a lot of red flags. And then there is you, Travis. I am torn right now. I do not want to be someone's second option. I want to be first in someone's life and the most important thing in their life," Viv says. Tears roll down her beautiful face, and it breaks my heart watching her this upset.

I wipe the tears from her face and take her by the chin. I want her to look me in the eye when I speak to her. I want her to feel my words. "I am your friend first. I will help you in any way I can. Friends, Viv. I will help you and listen to you. If you need me to be there for you, all you have to do is ask me," I say to her.

"I should go in and get some rest. Thank you for checking in on me, Travis," Viv says.

I hug her and hold her for a moment. "You are very welcome, Viv," I say.

Viv gets out of the car and closes the door. I watch her as she walks to her door. I look back for a second to see the men are no longer in their car. I get out of my car and start running toward Viv. Someone grabs me from behind.

"Run! VIV Get inside!" I scream to her. She stops and runs back to help me.

"Let him go!" Viv screams at the men.

One of the men starts running toward Viv. He grabs her and starts dragging her toward their car. I try to break free, but before I can get away, I feel something hit me hard across the back of the head.

I fall to the ground. Everything is fuzzy, and I try to focus. I see Viv being dragged to the car. The three men put her in the car, and then I see her. Another car pulls up, and she gets out of the car. Gia did this.

I roll over onto my back and try to get up. I hear the click clack of heels coming my way. My head is pounding, and my ears are ringing. I cannot get to my feet. "I told you I would take care of that little bitch!" Gia says.

I feel something hit me in the head again, and everything goes black.

"Travis!" I hear my name. I try to open my eyes. I look up to see Ozzy standing over me. "Travis!" he screams my name.

"Where is she?" I manage to get out. I struggle to get to my feet. Ozzy helps me off the ground.

"I do not know. She is not here. What happened?" Ozzy asks.

I stumble to my car. I sit down in the car. Ozzy follows me. "Travis! What the hell happened?" Ozzy growls at me. His men are surrounding me as I lit a cigarette.

"She came by the house, and she was upset. I drove over to her to check on her. Three men were following me. I thought they were your men," I say.

"My men were with me, and the rest are home. What happened after you got here?" Ozzy asks.

My head is pounding so hard I can barely think and form the sentence. "She came out to talk to me. When she went back in, the men jumped her. I tried to stop them, but they hit me with something. I saw Gia. Gia pulled up when they were putting her in the car," I say.

Ozzy starts having a fit. He takes his wolf form and starts howling and growling. Yeah, this is really going to help find Viv. I let him have his little fit. He finally settles down but stays in his wolf form. I think he is trying to intimidate me.

"I will call the wolf council. You go back to your house and wait on me to call you," Ozzy growls at me.

"Whatever," I snap at him. I jump into my car. I will find her on my own. I do not need the help of the council or Ozzy. I will find her. I just need a little magic first.

I drive back to my house like a bat out of hell. I pull into the drive and get out of the car. I run into the house. I go straight to my spellbooks. There has to be a spell in here to help me locate her. I can do this.

I flip through the pages of my great grandmothers' book until I finally come to something. This will work, a location spell. I take the book and set it on the bar. I skim over the ingredients I need. I quickly start grabbing what I need from the plants hanging from the ceiling.

I need a map of the city. I do not have a fucking map. I run to my laptop and find one as quickly as possible. I print it out and put it on the bar. I mix the ingredients and set a match in the center of the map. Now all I have to do is wait. Hang Viv. I am coming for you.

I watch the match begin to work. It sets the bowl with the herbs in it on fire and then slowly works its way across the map. It is moving so slowly. I try to take a deep breath and wait. Viv, I am coming. Finally, the fire stops. I know where Viv is located.