Chapter 7- Slade, ten years ago

Thanks to their driver’s licenses, we identify the dead parents as Jack Cross aged thirty-seven, and his wife Ava, thirty-four. A paper trail of old leases also tells us the family moved to Camden four months ago and has moved many times over the past several years. The lockbox contains the girl’s birth certificates, placing the oldest Sloane at eleven and Bale’s child Celeste, at only four. We try to put the pieces together about how Bale fathered a cub with the human woman who was already married and had a six-year-old daughter by the time the little wolf was conceived. With the way he acted around Star, I have to wonder if it was consensual.

We reach out to Grady to help us get those answers we seek. But since the bodies haven’t been officially called in yet, his hands are tied before he can do some digging for us without raising too many suspicions. Our inside detective makes sure an anonymous tip is called in about the dead parents after we leave the farm at 1722 Cherry Tree Lane. We were careful not to leave any evidence we’d been there behind.

 We take to the road to make for our nearest allies, the Blue Moon Pack in the hills of western Kentucky. There we plan to regroup and officially make the call for aid to help find the Cross girls and Bale before it’s too late. Having one of our own in danger, will help convince the packs to rally together to get our cub back, and take a dangerous threat to our kind off the streets once and for all.

In the meantime, we do some research on our own to try and connect the dots. An internet search generates a hit, and the pieces start to click together forming a grim picture. Five years ago in Northern California, Ava Cross was sexually assaulted in a violent attack that left her hospitalized. Her assailant was never caught. Grady looks into the case as soon as its safe to do so and finds some video footage captured from the parking lot where the assault occurred. It’s grainy, but we can make out Bale, now in hindsight knowing what we know. Not to mention the camera captures a man entering on foot and later a large wolf runs out of the lot from another exit.

He must have been interrupted during the rape of Ava Cross, because we firmly believe he would have kidnapped the poor woman afterwards and forced her into a life of being his unwilling mate. Before Bale got his chance to take her, the family moved away when she was released from the hospital. And they had kept changing addresses every several months for the past five years. The timeline of events all matched up to Bale’s whereabouts at that point in time and the child’s birth nine months later.

Father blames himself for not catching this all those years ago, but how could he as the attack wasn’t his old pack mates usual style? Bale typically didn’t leave his victims breathing. Grady promises to keep us in the loop of any developments about the Cross girls or the rogue that comes his way. With two young girls with him, it will be nearly impossible for Bale to stay off the grid permanently. And especially with all the media coverage the case is generating, it is only a matter of time before they are spotted somewhere. The girls smiling faces are plastered on fliers and billboards across the country, with a twenty-thousand-dollar reward being offered to the public for their help in finding them. The Feds have also gotten involved in the search.

Our pack are far from the only ones looking for them. Father pleads to the council and sends word out to packs around the country to keep an ear to the ground and be on the lookout. Leif and Hollis accompany several hunters from the Blue Moon pack to search nearby woods in what we believe is the area Bale is headed. Around the country, packs answer our call and conduct searches of their own.

 But as the hours tick by, I hate the feeling of sitting on my ass and not out there actively searching for the girls. Clay and Wolfe distract themselves with mateless she-wolfs on Blue Moon pack lands, but I can barely, eat or sleep, let alone fuck. I can’t stop thinking about those girls and the anxiety is driving me fucking crazy. I know that Bale won’t intentionally hurt his own cub, but I’ve seen the product of his rage, and he could inadvertently hurt the little wolf or worse.

 I fear more for the human sister, the one we’re convinced Bale took as his next mate. Thoughts of what that sick rogue could be doing to her make me physically ill. I pray to the moon he isn’t doing to her what he did to her mother, that even though he claimed her, he plans on waiting until she’s older to physically mate the poor girl. That’s why we need to find her especially before that day comes. No doubt these girls are already damaged and will carry the scars the rest of their days of all the horrors they’ve seen thanks to the depraved rogue, but we need to save Sloane Cross from the unspeakable fate that befell her mother. And perhaps an even worse one.

I feel like I’m going to jump out of my own skin. I search the internet, even resorting to chat rooms where the public claims they’ve sighted the girls. I watch the news channels all through the night and next day. The wait, the unknowing, is killing me, fucking torture. But my helplessness comes in a close second. I develop some kind of connection to the older sister, because Mace is around her age, and my mind goes to dark places of what if it was my brother we were all searching for? I think of the box of horror movies hidden under her bed and her drawling’s of movie monsters. I gave her stuffed bee and the little one’s bear over to the Blue Moon pack so they could imprint their scents.

In all this fucked up shit though, there is one silver lining. The dog, Max, is recovering well. Between River’s blood and the pack healers, the animal made it through the night. His will to live is strong. He barely made a sound the whole ride here, even with the bumps of the road, the pain of his broken bones knitting back together. I gave him morphine to help with the journey and water from a sponge. The pack healer Lily says the dog is going to pull through. I’m glad the girls will be reunited with their pet when we find them. River takes a liking to the dog and spends lots of time with the animal, helping to care for it while it recovers. He has a tenderness about him not all that common to wolfs his age, and I know he’ll make a good father to his cubs someday.

I burn off some of the tension and restlessness by shifting and running through the hills of Kentucky. Though I don’t stay in my wolf skin for too long in case Grady calls with a tip. When I arrive back at the cabin we are staying in, bathed in sweat, and still naked as the day I was born beneath the snow moon, Father waits for me on the porch.

“We need to talk son,” he says not unkindly.

My fingers bite into the porch railing, “Did they find the missing girls?”

I’ve been dreading hearing terrible news. That their bodies turn up somewhere. But I try and hold out hope we’ll find them safe and alive. Bale took them both for a reason, as they have some value to him. If he didn’t, their blood would have stained the walls of that farmhouse just like their father’s. Or in the case of the little she-cub, like the man who raised her.

“Not yet. But we will. It’s you I want to talk about son. I’m worried about you. I know this case is hard and taking a toll on all of us, but you need to take better care of yourself. You’re of no use to those girls or our hunter band, weak, starving, exhausted. I need you in good shape and ready to go when we get that call, Slade.”

He has a point. I’ve been neglecting myself and my basic human needs. I haven’t slept in going on over two days and the last thing I remember eating is the pizza in the motel hours before we found Bale’s latest victims. That was nearing forty hours ago. I haven’t been hungry or able to stomach anything since, and I’ve been too amped and restless to close my eyes. Too many thoughts keep my eyes open. But the pack is counting on me to do my part when we get a lead on Bale and the Cross girls. I owe it to them and myself to be at my best. Mistakes out in the field chasing rogues led to death and second chances are rare. The moon has already granted me one and I can’t well expect the moon to keep in me in its favor if I keep tempting fate.

I nod, “Okay. I’ll have a bite to eat and catch some sleep. Please wake me up the moment you hear from Grady or any of the other packs. The moment you hear anything.”

He squeezes my shoulder, his amber eyes shine with his inner wolf coming through, “You have my word. But if you don’t follow my orders to rest and eat, you’ll remain with the pack here and not rejoin the hunt. Do I make myself clear?”

“Is this coming from Beta Alder or my father?” I remark, a bit stung.

“Both. Now go get some rest and a hot meal. We’ll catch up later to discuss any developments.”

“Yes, Beta Alder. Understood loud and clear.”

I try to put my feelings aside as I march off to the kitchen. This isn’t the first time being my father has clashed with Alder Ironclaw also being the head beta of the hunter band, and I doubt it’ll be the last. I’ve never cared much for the pack hierarchy, but it’s just the way it is. Rank and respect have to be fought for, earned, and can be even harder to keep. But I know he won’t show me favoritism and being his son won’t save me from getting kicked off the hunts and possibly the wrath of the council if I disobey direct orders.

I find a she-wolf named Brooke cooking up the largest pot of beef stew I’ve ever seen. I eat two helpings and a chunk of bread. Then I shower, make a quick pit stop to check in on the dog Max or Little Alpha as Clay has renamed him, and then find an empty bed. I stare at the wall and try to clear my mind, so sleep finds me. Wolfe thinks he’s being helpful with my insomnia problem when a naked she-wolf with blonde hair down to her knees, shows up in my room.

“Wolfe thought you needed some help to fall asleep. I can help with that,” she says in a sing-song voice.

I exhale a deep breath. She’s pretty enough and I can already smell her arousal leaving me to wonder if she touched herself before she entered my room. It’s a tempting offer. Her breasts are peaked and full and she runs a hand across them, then all the way down between her thighs. She fingers the dark curls and spreads her legs apart to let me watch.

Hell, I’ll probably hate myself in the morning, no I hate myself already for this, but I’m not in the mood to fuck her. A good fuck can help me fall asleep, but now I think it might have the opposite effect on my over wired brain.

“Fuck,” I groan, “you’re hot and all, but tell Wolfe no thanks. Because if I fuck you now, I’ll want to fuck you all day and night long, and then I really won’t get any fucking sleep.”

She continues to stroke the wetness I can smell spreading from her apex, “Are you sure? The moon created mating just for this. To help our bodies relax and rest and bring pleasure. Who are we to question the wisdom of the moon?”

Damn, she makes an excellent point. It would be easy to slip inside her, as she’s already wet and wanting, but I have too many frustrations and tensions to work through to satisfy that need, and still follow my beta’s command. If I fuck this she-wolf, it could mean the difference between me having my packs back and doing my duty to find the missing girls or blowing off the responsibility for an easy lay.  If the call comes, and I’m not ready, Father will make good on his threat to leave me behind. This is a hard choice I make, but just one of many sacrifices I’ll make because of the hunter life. I choose this life and all it brings with it. I will follow the command of my beta and await further orders.

“I’m good thanks. But if you’re still horny and wanting to follow the wisdom of the moon, go find one of my cousins Clay or Wolfe. Both would be happy to help. But steer clear of River, or his mate will likely tear you apart,” I warn.

Not that River would ever betray his mate like that in the first place, but I thought I’d save the aroused she-wolf that trouble.

She scoffed, “Your loss. You displease the moon and me.”

And then the she-wolf disappears without another word, giving me a nice view of her perfect ass, further letting me know what I’ve just missed out on. I curse myself and turn my face towards the wall, counting the shadows there as dusk settles in. At some point the moon shows mercy and sleep claims me. I’m awaken by Father’s familiar scent, like cedar and pine nuts, and his voice echoes across the darkened room.

“Slade, it’s time to get up. Grady just called. The moon has kept us in its favor. A vehicle registered to Jack Cross has just been found abandoned less than three hours from here in the Smoky Mountains. We shift in ten.”

The haze of sleep clears immediately as I all but jump out of bed and shove my feet into my boots. This is the first solid lead we’ve had in a couple days and we owe Grady big time. He might not be a wolf, but we have his loyalty and that’s hard to come by in the human world. Finding humans to trust are few and far between, influenced by a long and bloody history between our kinds. Many lives have been lost on both sides, and even in modern times, we are hunted by those who fear what they do not understand. Their hate and prejudice run as deep and plentiful as the underground spring back home which provides for the pack. That is yet another reason humans and wolfs do not belong as mates as our very species despises one another and cannot live in peace and harmony.

But it is also our duty to protect all the moon’s children, even the ones who can only wear one skin, and would put a silver bullet through our hearts just because of their fear. We protect our own and those weaker than ourselves, just as the moon intended when it brought forth life. And so, we give our blood, our lives, to protect the tuniculas, when they would not do the same for us. When they slaughter us often targeting the she-wolfs so no new life can be created, when they steal our cubs to train to hunt down their own kind, to turn into enslaved pets, still we fight and bleed for them.

Even now, despite deep rooted beliefs among some of our kind who believe that wolves should rule the Earth as we are the most favored and blessed of the moon’s creations, who are tired of hiding ourselves and being fearful for the future of our cubs, they come together to help find a human girl, to help stop the slaughter of her kind. We come together for a purpose bigger than ourselves, to lay aside hatred and prejudices for the common good. Tonight, we are one, united under the moon.

 Bale already has a significant head start on us, but with the two girls along, his progress will be much slower than if he were traveling alone. In wolf form, a Lycan can easily cover a hundred miles a night or more. Even packs can roam through half that distance, with their unshifted cubs, when needed in the time it takes for the moon to rise and set. Bale’s little cub will likely adjust to the forest quickly, as her   natural instincts will take over, but the human sister will not be so lucky. Her body is not made for it, but her misfortune will be to our advantage as it will slow our prey down considerably.

With the help of the Blue Moon pack, and any whom can make the journey here fast enough, we’ll make quick work of all that ground to cover in the mountains of Tennessee. Our wolf forms can cross the distance in less time than gas powered engines, so most of us will wear our wolf skins tonight. Instinct tells me, the feral has taken the Cross girls into forest country. A wolf is most at home among the trees and the concrete jungles are no friends to us. We coexist in the human world, as we are part human, but we are not of their world, and their ways.  A wolf prefers to die alone, to go off into the forest, and slip from this life into the next in much the same way he entered it. Our she-wolves give birth among the trees and its considered a good omen when a cub is born at night in the presence of the moon.

I just pray to the moon we aren’t already too late. That the girls have not been returned to the Earth. As I step out into the night, the moon is round and nearly full in the sky, and its light will guide the way. Soon, it will be the holy night of the month when we all take to our blessed skins to honor the moon in our most natural forms. But tonight, the moon seems ready to answer our call for aid, for protection, for its favor.

In its light, I say my prayer and ask for its blessing. I shed one skin for another. Our brethren are thirty strong tonight, with several more who will remain in their human skins and make the trek on wheels to bring supplies we have use of in the human world. We await shoulder to shoulder for the signal from our beta. A howl goes out, we take to the trees, and the hunt is on.