Chapter: Chapter 79Eve stared at Craig as he walked out of the house’s back door and scanned the trees. She shrunk back before realizing they were deep in the trees and doubted he could see them. “He’s not able to smell us, is he?” she whispered to Arec as the thought hit her. Arec shook his head, not taking his gaze from Craig, who finally nodded and walked back into the house.“Now that we know he’s in that house, that must mean Linda’s inside too, right?” Eve asked, not taking her eyes from the door Craig had used to go inside the house.“Most likely,” Michael said, nodding once. “I did catch her scent around, though it was faint.”“I wonder if he’s keeping her in a basement room or something,” Arec mused, scratching his chin.“That’s possible,” Michael said, looking at the house. “It does look like the basement windows are blocked, at least on this side.”“So, what’s the plan?” Eve asked, finally tearing her gaze from the house to look at the brothers.“Let’s move around the house, keeping as out
Last Updated: 2025-03-21
Chapter: Chapter 78While Arec and Eve waited for Michael to return, they looked around for a comfortable place to spend the night. “Do we really have to spend the night in the woods tonight?” Eve asked after a few minutes of searching for a spot.Arec looked at her and frowned as he nodded. “This will be our best chance to find Linda,” he told her. “We’ll be close enough to find her and get her away from Craig.”“When you put it like that, it makes sense,” Eve said. “I just don’t have much experience sleeping outside.”“You’ve never been camping?” he asked her, his eyes wide.She shook her head and said, “My family’s idea of roughing it was when the internet went out, and we had to read books.”Arec chuckled and shook his head.“Well, we’ll try to make it as comfortable for you as much as we can,” he said. “But I can’t guarantee you’ll like it.” Eve looked at him and smiled weakly. “I’ll be okay for tonight,” she told him before walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him. “As long as I hav
Last Updated: 2025-03-07
Chapter: Chapter 77Arec and Eve followed the trail through the trees. Arec pointed out the signs of someone crossing through the area as they went. Eve nodded as he did and continued to look for signs that Craig had taken Linda this way or that Michael had been there. They reached a small clearing in the trees, and Arec stopped. “What is it?” Eve asked, stopping behind him. “Did you find something? Did you smell something? Is it Linda?”Arec remained silent but held up his hand to quiet her questions. He scanned the clearing before nodding and waving her forward. She moved behind him as he crept forward. “What’s that?” she whispered, nodding toward a rustling noise to her left. Arec turned toward the noise, ready to defend them, when he relaxed and called out, “Come out, Michael. You’re scaring Eve.” “I’m not scared,” Eve protested as Michael exited the bushes. Arec greeted his brother before stepping aside to let him approach Eve. Michael walked toward her with an uncertain look on his face. Ev
Last Updated: 2025-02-14
Chapter: Chapter 76Eve ran down the road, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was following her. She retraced the route back to the creek where Michael had lost the trail. Checking over her shoulder again to see if anyone had followed her, she crouched beside the creek, looking at the bank. “I don’t know if I’ll find anything,” she muttered. “It’s been searched by Michael, but I’ll look again for Linda’s sake.”She looked at the dirt and vegetation beside the creek and frowned. “How am I supposed to know what I’m looking for?” she muttered. Several indentations in the mud at the water’s edge that looked like footprints caught her eye. “These might belong to Craig,” she said, tilting her head to study them, then frowned. “Or they might be Michael’s.” Standing, she looked up and down the creek, then closed her eyes, trying to picture the scene. “I doubt Linda went willingly,” she muttered as she thought about what had happened. “So, she’d be struggling.” Eve opened her ey
Last Updated: 2025-01-12
Chapter: Chapter 75“What?” Arec asked, scrambling to his feet. “You mean to tell me Michael lost Craig and Linda’s trail?” Bella nodded, not looking up as a tear falling from her eye and rolling down her cheek. “He’s still out there, looking for them,” she said, “but he lost it on the other side of the creek.” “Damn it!” Arec swore, hitting the palm of his hand with his fist. “I knew we shouldn’t have left,” Eve said, scowling at him. “We should have stayed to help him search.” Arec walked over to Eve and put his arm around her shoulders. She shrugged it off, glaring at him. “I wanted to stay to help, but you told me Michael would be able to find Craig’s trail,” she said. “Now look what happened. Linda’s out somewhere with Craig, and we don’t know where they are.” Arec reached for her again, but she stepped out of his reach. “You should have let me stay,” she told him before stalking out of the room. Arec started to go after her, but Bella held him back. “What are you doing?” he asked his
Last Updated: 2024-12-24
Chapter: Chapter 74When Eve met with Arec in the gym, she had changed into her workout leggings and tank top. She saw he had put on an old t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts and had spread the gym mats across the floor in preparation for their session. He was already warming up for their session and grinned as he spotted her. “Ready to warm up?” he asked her, leaning with his hands pressed against the wall to stretch his legs. She nodded, stretching her arms and shoulders as she walked toward him, and said, “Let’s do this.” Squatting, she moved from side to side to stretch her leg muscles. She stretched her legs out before standing. Arec stood from the wall and stretched his arms before jerking his head toward the center of the room. She nodded once. They walked to the center of the room and faced each other. Arec crouched into a fighting position and nodded at her. “Aren’t you going to transform first?” she asked, frowning as she waited for him to do so. He shook his head and said, “Not to warm
Last Updated: 2024-12-08