I had made it to the edge of the border just as the scent of blood filled my nose. The trail was pretty heavy but here, it was all I could smell. This was where he had killed them –Rosy and Juliet- just outside of our territory. He was playing a skillful game, one he thought he could and would win, but I had other plans for him.

Following the thick scent, I could sense eyes on me. Trying my best to take in my surroundings –without looking like I was doing so- my slight trot sped up a bit as I stuck my nose to the ground. Making it look like I was searching for the end of the scent but in all reality I was searching for his scent.

It was odd that I couldn’t find it. I knew he was close, but for me not to be able to smell him….it was just not possible. Only vampires had no scent. Though Weres were always able to tell when they were close.

Their minds gave off a gentle hum. A small vibration that most supernatural beings could pick up on but there was nothing like the sort here. It was like I was alone but I knew I wasn’t.

How is he masking his scent? I’ve never known a Were to be able to do that.

My wolf thought aloud in my head.

I left her to it, how was not really my concern at the moment. Why, however, was. Why would he mask his scent if he wanted me to find him? He had told me to come to him, so why would he make it more difficult to do so.

He thinks we aren’t alone. The thought hit me just as it hit my wolf.

Just when the realization hit us, we could feel the slight pressure on our mental block. A light knocking –if you will- but nearly so soft, we almost didn’t notice it. At first I thought it might be Ryker, but the feeling that surrounded the presence in my head was nothing like the feeling I would get with him.

Letting down my walls only enough to feel around and ‘peek’ –so to speak- at who was trying to get in, I was shocked when my small crack completely crumbled into a pile of rubble inside my mind.

Did you really think you could hide from me?

The deep voice sneered. I knew it immediately.

Brody.

Ryker’s POV:

It’s been hours since Dallas left and no matter how many times I try to get through to her, I am met with the small hardened wall that surrounds her thoughts. My frustrations were growing at the thought of not knowing where she was or what was happening to her.

We had tried everything, even Jax had tried to break her wall but –surprisingly- she was stronger than he was. I was slowly losing hope that we would be able to find her after Ricky and Beth returned. They were our best trackers and once they lost her scent at the small creek that lined our border, I knew we wouldn’t be able to find her unless she wanted us to.

“Who was with her here when he came to her?”

Jax asked, I could tell his patients was wearing thin also. He didn’t hold back in voicing his annoyance with her decision to leave without telling anyone or taking some kind of back-up. As much as I wanted to tear him apart for his anger with my mate, I knew it came from a place of love.

Funny, I always thought vampires couldn’t love. Up until Jax I –like most Weres- had hated vampires. But there was something about him. It was like he forced you to like him, which I wouldn’t put pass him, the things vamps could do was shocking.

‘I can hear your thoughts, you know! And let me tell you….that is just rude! Push me pup and you will not like the outcome!’

My head snapped to the side to glare at him. He was getting on my last nerves and this just broke the last straw.

How dare he talk to me like that! I was the Alpha and also the one who lost his mate today, not him! He needed to learn that while Dallas may like him, I didn’t and since she was no longer here, I would have no problem ripping him to shreds.

I would deal with the punishment she felt I deserved once I got her back and she found out I killed her friend. Anything would be better than letting him stay and think he could disrespect me like that. Hell, I’d even settle for a little understanding here. My whole life just climbed out a window to go meet some psycho asshole who wanted to take her away from me and Tristian. He could be a bit more sympathetic, instead it’s like he is pushing me just for the fun of it.

“Ease your thoughts, Ryker. I’m pushing you because I am sympathetic. You are lost without her and therefore not thinking clearly, you need a little incentive to get you and your wolf under enough control to find her!”

This was the first time I had seen a crack in his smooth, tough guy act. For once his tone held worry and sadness to it. His eyes also held fear. Fear for what we all might have lost today if we didn’t get our head out of our asses and figure out where Dallas was.

Sighing, I walked over to him.

“You’re right, I do need to clear my head in order to find my mate. But if you ever talk to me like that again, no God out there, will be able to save you from what I will do to you. So if you don’t have anything useful to say, I suggest you shut the fuck up now.”

I think he finally got the message that I was not one to be messed with. If the look in his eyes was anything to go by, he did. His flinch was so sudden and quick, if I had blinked I would have missed it.

To my shock, once he regained his composer, a smug smirk graced his features. The instant it did I wanted to knock it off.

“What?”

My irritation fully evident in my word.

“You and Red are more alike than you think. She once said nearly the same thing to me, well except for the mate part, just before she gave me this.”

He lifted his shirt enough for me to see a faint white raised scar just under his ribcage. I was shocked, vampires heal almost instantly so scarring one was near impossible. Both wolf and man felt pride at the thought of our mate being able to do so.

Before I could ask how she did it, he playfully rolled his eyes at me and turned to walk out of the room. My first thought would have been that he was upset about it but the smile playing on his lips told me otherwise, so I really didn’t care why he left.

That is until I heard his voice just outside of my office.

“Where you spying little one?”

Little one? I thought, just when the image of Tristian crossed my mind.

I stood and listened closely for a bit longer, I knew he would never hurt Tris. He knew how much he meant to Dallas and if that scar was anything to go on, he knew better than to piss her off by hurting her pup.

“Do you know where my mummy is? I know she went to that bad man, but why didn’t she take Daddy? He would have kept her safe.”

I was out the door and in the hall within seconds.

“Tris, what bad man?”

No one –as far as I know- had told him anything about Brody but here he was, clued in on the situation already.

“The bad man that came the other day, the one that…took Roe and Julie from us. He told mum he would, if she didn’t go with him.”

The tears that filled his eyes broke my heart even more than it already was. He knew we had lost two members last night but with everything going on I hadn’t had time to think what it would do to him. Though I wanted to pull him aside and make sure he was ok, the end bit of his sentence was more important right now.

It could help us find Dallas and once we brought her home, both she and I would be able to help him understand losing people and how to deal with it.

“Tristian, buddy, did he say anything else? Like where he was going? Did he tell mummy where to find him?”

I asked, kneeling down to try and look him straight on. Gently resting my hands on his small shoulders. He looked deep in thought for a second before his brown orbs lit up.

“He said to follow the blood. He would be there waiting for her.”

Pulling him into a tight hug, I kissed the top of his head as thanks while I mentally called for Ricky and Beth. The scent of Rosy and Juliet was still heavy enough to track, not to mention the light breeze that was still stained with their blood.

Every time the wind blew in from the west, it would bring with it the reminder of the two we lost. The bastard bled them from the spot where he took them, to just outside the border and left them to rot. He left a trail for Dallas to follow, and us.

Dallas’s POV:

Shifting, I stood proudly with my head raised, looking everywhere that could give him a bit of cover.

“Who’s hiding? I’m the one standing out in the open! I’m not being some little cunt cowering behind the trees and bushes!”

I yelled. I knew it would get his attention and maybe draw him out. He seemed like the type who had to over compensate and when his ego was threatened, he would have to be dumb enough to try and prove people wrong.

I was thankful, it had worked. Just a few feet to my right he stepped out from behind a massive oak tree. Doing my best to hide my smirk I looked him over. His sandy blond locks splattered with specks of red.

Blood.

The blood of Rosy and Juliet no doubt. I would make him pay for that. For taking the lives of two innocent women who were nothing more than pawns in his sick game.

“Ah…a bitch, just like your mother. She had the same attitude as you do.”

His wicked laughed rang throughout the woods, sending birds out of the cover of the trees, flying away from the horrid sound.

“Now look where she is, buried in a hole somewhere rotting!”

It took everything in me not to shift and lunge at him. I had to keep my temper under control, he had to be the one to crack first. Otherwise my plan would never work. So, biting my tongue, I did my best to give him an innocent smile.

“Don’t worry, soon you will be in a hole somewhere rotting too.”

The sweetness in my voice thick as honey, lacing it with a girlish tone I imagined would be on a child wanting to get out of a scolding, while twirling their small fingers round their curls. The look of fury passed through his eyes but he quickly recovered.

“Oh, there is certainly one hole I would love to be in right now.”

He purred as his eyes ranked over my naked form, paying extra attention to my breast and the junction between my thighs. The way his pants tightened as his dick hardened made me sick. The need to throw up becoming more predominate by the second.

Did he really think I would be so easy? That he would get me without a fight? If he honestly thought I would just lay down for him and spread my legs, he had another thing coming.

The moment that disgusting piece of muscle and flesh came near me, I would take pleasure in doing to it what I did to Darien and his friends. Only this time, I would make sure to take my time. I would peal his flesh back like I was skinning a banana. Cut into his muscle like I was cutting into the grooves of an orange, letting his blood flow freely just like juice would from the fruit.

So many possibilities and, this time, I would make sure to think it through before I started. He would suffer for the many women he killed, for the countless children he used and slaughtered. He would feel an ounce of their pain for as long as it took. I would spend weeks on him if I had to, I would let him beg for death long before I lit the match that would slowly ignite the flame that would melt his skin away like butter.

“I knew you would be the special one, out of all the worthless shits I made, you are the only one who shares my vision for fun. You are so like me.”

His proud smile was like a punch in the gut.  

I was like him! Kept running through my mind like a flashing neon sign.

I was consumed and sickened by the idea of being like him that I didn’t note the shiny metal object he pulled from behind his back, until it was too late.

The sharp sting of the dart breaking my skin, ripping through the muscle, and embedding into my bone brought me out of my depressing thoughts just long enough to realize what he had shot me with. Soon the world became a hazy blur as strong arms lifted me off my feet and started off in an unfamiliar direction.

I was truly frightened of the blackness that was going to come, but as I tried to count his steps, it never did.

“Oh no sweetie, I want you awake when we get home. I want you to enjoy all the fun we will be having.”

*Ok sorry I lied....Book 2 will be called Golden Wolf (I had to go back n remember what color Ryker's wolf was ch 7mentions it), n I'll work on a summary of it soon. *

*come away to the water- Maroon 5 ~~>*