The Hunt

Peter's POV
The pain is intense, a stabbing sensation through my heart, if I were human I would think I was suffering a heart attack.

I reach for the ringing phone. Jo flashes up on the caller ID.

‘Hi Jo,’ I say through gritted teeth. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Help mum,’ she says sobbing.

What!?! I think, how can she know her mother is in trouble. ‘Of course, I’ll help her. What does she need?’

‘I don’t know, but Peter, I have just got a text message that reads ‘ICE - HELP. What3Words cargo.human.whisk’

Barlas and Griffin run in, summoned by my earlier roar. I flick my phone to loudspeaker and gesture at the two to remain quiet.

‘You are on loudspeaker. I have a couple of friends with me who might be able to help, could you repeat that please Jo’ I ask.

‘Text message from mum,’ she cries, clipping her words. ‘I.C.E. help What three words cargo human whisk.’

‘What three words?’ I query. ‘And I.C.E.?’

‘I.C.E. - incase of emergency, What 3 Words a location website.

Griffin places his laptop on the side, and opens it up, he nods. His fingers fly over the keyboard, and he pulls up the website, and starts typing in the words…

‘Cargo, human…’ I say as he types.

‘... whisk,’ she finishes in a whisper.

Griffin hits search; the computer sends the data; I hold my breath. Milliseconds later the screen displays a satellite map of a wooded area with a road running through it. A square just off the road is highlighted.

‘She is in Scotland, a wooded area in the Glen Nevis area, Alpha’ Griffin whispers. I glare at him, he shouldn’t call me Alpha in public.

‘It looks like she is in Scotland, Glen Nevis,’ I repeat louder for Jo’s benefit, hoping in her distressed state she won’t register Griffin’s whisper properly.

Jo wails. ‘Oh my god, that is hundreds of miles away… hours away… If she sent this she needs help now. I’ll phone the police. I just hope they take me seriously and get to her in time.’

‘Don’t worry Jo we will get her,’ I reassure my step-daughter to be, and hang up.

I look at my pack members.

‘Suggestions,’ I bark.

‘Helicopter would be quickest,’ Barlas replies.

‘How quickly can we be in the air?’ I question.

‘Let me check,’ Griffin replies.

‘Where is the nearest safe location?’ I want to know.

‘We have a place in Fort William, maybe 20 minutes from the location’ Barlas fires back.

‘Get it prepared, and someone get hold of Dr LeBlanc. I want her to meet us at the safe house.’ I order.

‘A helicopter is getting fuelled and prepped. It will be ready to take off before we get to the airstrip. We won’t be able to land at the site. There is a bad storm in the area. So it will be too dangerous to land there. A team will meet us when we land, with transport and additional manpower.’ Griffin interrupts.

‘Grab your gear guys,’ I finish. ‘Lets go.’

I am worried that I haven’t felt anything else through the link since the original pain came through. But reassured that it is still in place, and stronger than it was before. She is alive.

In under five minutes we are ready to leave. Griffin toting a laptop bag, and his go bag. Barclas dressed for combat, and I am guessing there are firearms in his bag. I have pulled on a flak jacket… if it comes to a fight clothes and weapons won’t matter, cos Braon and I will be going at it tooth and claw.

‘Hang in there Em’ I whisper as I pull the door closed behind me.

…

Barlas drives us to the airstrip, and it is all I can do not to shout at him to go faster. My mate-link is still quiet. Braon is pacing, I want to pace too… Frustration and impotence combine to make me restless and angry.

Griffin is on his phone, arranging the safe house, and contacting the doctor. I close my eyes, I feel stretched thin.

Barlas pulls the car up, and we all pile out, running across the runway towards a helicopter with it’s rotors going.

We jump in, as soon as everyone is strapped in their harness’ the helicopter takes off.

About 45-minutes into the flight, pain and fear start flowing through the link again. It must be because we are getting closer, I think.

Shortly after I feel an adrenaline spike. What the hell is happening, I wonder.

‘Oh Goddess,’ I exclaim out loud. Barlas and Griffin look at me, but say nothing. ‘I think she is fighting for her life,’ I explain.

They exchange a look, worried about what will happen if the battle is lost, especially while we are in the air.

As the flight continues I am barely aware of time passing. Pain and fear alternate, but the feelings are weakening as we travel closer. I don’t want to explore what this might mean, I expected the link to strengthen.

We land in Fort William just under 2-hours after take off. Marc, a delta, introduces Decebal, and Onan. Six should be plenty for a search and recover mission.

Marc leads us to the vehicles and we head off in the direction of Emma.

…

The Range Rovers pull up onto gravel besides a bright yellow camper van, I jump out, and look around. Even from here I can see broken glass, and the smell of blood hits the back of my throat.

Bang…. bang…. bang…. the sound of a metal door being moved by the stormwinds… accompanied by the drumming of rain. Nature's percussion.

I hesitate for the briefest of moments, anxious about what I might find in the van, reassuring myself that she is still alive if nothing else.

I stride across, and head to the open door, interrupting it’s drumbeat, opening it wide.

Inside is a mess, my enhanced sight makes out dark stains on the floor, on the sofa, splattered across the walls. Black rather than crimson, but I know what it is.

A small relief fills me, although it has spread far, the amount of blood is not life threatening, most likely a nose bleed. But Emma is not here, and I am not the best choice to find her now.

I step back and Braon moves forward as we transform.

Braons POV
I jump from the bloody van, sniff around and then howl.

Emma-mate, I am coming.

The rain and sleet slide off my coat, soaking the ground, making the scent so much more difficult to trace.

There are three scents leading from the van, all heading in the same direction. One is Emma, and the other two human, with the acrid back-bite of familiar.

Gavin, Apollo, Breech, Ci and Gil form up on me, and we run from the road into the woods.

The first priority is to find Emma, then we can worry about the other two.

Every spot I find her scent is tainted with her blood, just where we enter disturbed soil and blood from a fall. Small specks on briars and low level branches, as if they whipped her. Spots on rocks and pressed into the earth where her feet have passed. It seems our mate is wounded, and getting more wounded.

We find a log pile, sheltered from the storm a little, her scent is a little stronger here, why didn’t she stay here, it seems relatively safe.

Onwards we track, slower than I would like, every clue to her location fading as the weather does it’s best to hide her from me.

Evidence of a fall into a stream means we lose her scent for precious moments.

*Spread out and hunt for her scent both sides of the stream, up and down stream.* I order.

I don’t realise that I am holding my breath, until Ci links me he has found it.

Onward we lope. My hope is fading, as is the strength of our link.

Finally I see her huddled in a corner of two stone walls, the coppery smell of blood is thick in the air. In fact I can barely smell her natural scent, so heavily masked by the aroma of blood.

I walk towards her pushing my nose into her. She doesn’t move, I can hear her pulse, it is weak and thready, her skin is cold as porcelain against my nose. This is beyond me, beyond any wolf, our mate is dying.

Peter pushes forwards, and I allow him to transform and go to our mate.

Peter’s POV
Oh Goddess... Emma, I think, a prayer.

I scoop her up into my arms, her body is so cold against my bare chest. Her skin is translucent. Her limbs flop as if she is already dead, and I gather her more securely to me.

*Is she…?* I am asked through the pack link.

‘Yes she is still alive.’ I tell them. ‘Gil, come with me I need Marc to drive us to the safe house. The rest of you find those bastard familiars.’

Gil leads the way, as we make our way back to the Range Rover. I get in the back with her.

‘Emma, please don’t die,’ I beg. ‘I love you, I need you.’

I can feel her pulse weakening as we pull away.

‘Hurry Marc. She doesn’t have time.'