Emmett feels the intense fear as Lyssa calls to him. He also gets a brief flash of several males.
He, Erich, and Roland stand abruptly as the send hits, knocking over their chairs.
"Where are they?"
"I don't know. Said they were going out for a run to talk about girly stuff."
"I saw males."
"It's raining."
"Shit."
Emmett sends out a broad call. [All able bodied males. To the front hall. Now!]
"Emmett, someone's got Jo! We've gotta go!"
"Where, Roland? Give us three minutes to plan."
"Why did Mom have to go into heat today?"
The males all gather in the front hall. Murmuring and speculation begin.
"Quiet!" Everyone immediately shuts up. "We may be under attack."
"By who?"
"I said 'Quiet!' Two of our females have encountered several males. We believe they've been taken. Erich, get the young and the pregnant females to the bunker. Set four to guard, then come find us."
Erich moves off, down the stairs, to the nursery with Paul, Gordon, and David following him while Jeremy goes upstairs to get a pregnant Cassie.
"Samuel, I want another four guarding the house, running wide perimeter. Samuel nods, three other wolves rise to follow him.
"Who saw the images my mate sent? Does anyone know where they were?"
A quiet voice speaks up. "I do. They're off to the northeast."
It was Thomas.
"You're certain?"
"Yes, Beta. I know that meadow."
"Roland. Inform your father, the pack outside the den, and the other Alphas. Then follow."
"But..."
Emmett snarls at him. "DO AS I SAY!"
"Alright. Samuel, go. Roland, you, too. All others, with me. Thomas, lead the way."
Thomas takes a deep breath and shoots out the front door, followed quickly by the other males. As he passes Wade, Emmett says [Healer, stay here.]
A stocky brown wolf is closely followed by a large grey wolf and several others.
Although frantic to find Lyssa and Joanna, several thoughts rush through his mind, including a question. [Have you been following my mate, Thomas?]
There is low menace in the question and Thomas stumbles slightly. Regaining his footing, he rushes onward. [No. After my punishment, I would go there to think, to be away for a while.]
Emmett worries. They had heard nothing since Lyssa's initial scream. That meant she was either incapacitated or dead. And what about Joanna?
The rain came heavier.
He feared what they would find when they reached the meadow. [How much farther?]
Joanna knew they were in Ross range, and moving more quickly than a wolf could run for more than a short time.
She briefly considered trying to get away but they'd just run her down and, since he'd already threatened it, she had no doubt they'd kill Lyssa.
She'd tried calling for help a couple of times but the wolf behind her simply chuckled the first time then growled at her the second. They were out of range of anyone but their captors, at least for her.
It was obvious Michael wanted her, for some reason. The Wyeth and Ross packs had always been on good terms. Was he trying to start a pack war? What had he said? Something he should have gotten a long time ago?
The quads rolled out of the fields and onto a dirt lane. Good. They were going to get her away after all. No one was chasing them. No, he was certain they were, but they'd never get close enough now to stop them. Besides, they were on Ross range and that would stop the pursuit. Since they were headed beyond it, the chances of being found were slim.
Wonderful. It was all working out well. The rain was drying up now but they were well away.
He only had to wait four more days. Then he could mate her, and claim her.
Almost there. Just a little more time. He could stand to wait that long.
They finally arrived at the meadow just as the sunlight began peeking out of the clouds. The sun made bright diamond brilliance of the droplets on the white flowers which blanketed the area.
It would have been lovely, but for the heaviness in his heart.
[Stop!] Thomas and the others skid to a halt. [Fan out. Slow walk across the field. If you find where they were sitting, where they went, or...] a hitch in his voice [any other trace, sing out.]
Emmett sits as the others begin a slow walk across the field. He concentrated even though he knew there was almost no chance to contact either of them. [Jo? ... Joanna, answer me.] He sat, and listened, his heart hammering in his chest. Nothing. [Lyssa? Sweetheart, talk to me.] Still nothing. He knew she would call if she could. He resists the urge to curl into a ball and give in to despair.
Alex calls out, [Here.] then Thomas [This way.]
Emmett bolts over. No bodies, thank Selene. They were probably both still alive. No sign of blood. [How many?]
[I make it four.]
[OK, wolves, hold.]
There are imprints from where they had been sitting, prints from four males in wolf man form. [Erich?]
[Coming.]
[Do you know where we are?]
[Trail's easy enough to follow. Where'd they go?]
[Ross range, looks like. Four males, it seems. We're holding for you.]
A lean, dark brown wolf with two white socks on his forelegs streaks into the meadow. He slows, walks around the assembled wolves, stops at the retreat trail.
[Five leaving. Four large, one small. One deeper, carrying something.] He tracks back to the capture area. [Surprised. Joanna shifted, struggled, no contest. Lyssa grabbed, then on the ground. Someone came over, one print deeper, standing on one leg?] A pause. [They were both grabbed, Lyssa was knocked out, the leader threatened to break her neck or crush her skull so Joanna would come quietly.] He heads off on the retreat trail, with the others following, but shortly skids to a stop.
[What are you doing? Follow.]
[We're on Ross range. We need permission.]
[I don't care! They have my mate and the Alpha daughter!] A breath, two. [ Calvin will allow it. Follow.]
Erich whines and paces slightly. At Emmett's growl, he takes off again.
He comes across the ATV tracks. [Quads. We'll never catch them.]
[The trail is fresh. We follow.] He thinks a moment. [Justin. Jamie. Return to the den. Get a car and the Jeep and find us on the other side of the Ross range. Go!]
The twins, dark and not yet filled out, turn as one and run for the den. While they were two more males, they were young and wouldn't be much good in a fight.
After driving down another dirt lane, the quads come to a stop.
Two Dodge pickups sit nearby. "Jason. With me. Gerry, Alan, put her in the other truck."
He dismounts and shifts to human form. "Joanna, come."
She sits, stubbornly refusing him. The wolf man behind her picks her up and sets her on her feet. "Now."
She glances back at Lyssa, limp, completely helpless, and sighs. She could only push him so far.
Ignoring his hand, she climbs into the back of the truck. Michael gets in beside her.
As Jason gets in the driver's seat, Michael runs his fingers down Joanna's face.
She pulls away, getting as far away from him as she can. He barks a laugh. "You'll learn to appreciate me, my dear. In five days, you'll have no choice."
Joanna's breath catches and she freezes. The situation strikes her with instant clarity. He was going to force her to mate with him. If they didn't get away before her birthday, Michael Ross would rape her, and claim her as his mate.
It was rare for a mating to happen before maturation and was only allowed if both sets of parents and the Alpha agreed to it.
However, consensual mating would happen any time after a wolf achieved adulthood. Females were considered strong enough to cause considerable damage to any male pursuing unwanted advances. But they weren't. Not really.
Oh, Joanna could hold her own against many of the women in the pack, but she'd never sparred against a male. Her mother was a fierce fighter in her own right, and could take half the males in the pack. Even Lyssa had been sparring with Emmett, Erich, and Alex.
