You&Me: Book 4

Chapter 60: Let Go Home

I stood on the upper balcony and peered up at the moon. It would be full in a few days. It would put Archer in an even more vulnerable place.

"Saigon." My dad opened the door. "Saigon, come inside. Trevor called. He's on his way here."

"What is he doing here?"

He shrugged. "He was talking to the packs around here. They might have found something."

Shaking my head, I peered up at the sky. "He's not here anymore. I can feel it. Archer has moved even further away from me."

My dad hugged my side. "Wherever has been taken, we'll find him. We'll keep looking until we do."

I let out a deep breath and put my arm around him. Thanks, Dad."

We went inside and headed to the living room. I could hear my grandma in the kitchen and the smell of chocolate filled the air. I sunk into an armchair and rested my head back. Rupert and Peter were missing from the people wandering around. My father entered with a tray of vanilla and chocolate brownies. He offered me it.

I shook my head. "Trevor is coming?"

My father nodded. "He went to talk to a nearby pack and then he's coming over to check-in."

"Did they find anything?"

He shrugged. "Trevor called Darius, and Darius sent me a text."

"Where is the alpha?"

"He took Jagger and went to meet up with Trevor."

My stomach was starting to turn. I leaned over my knees and stared at the floor. I would know if something happened. That was what everyone told me, but maybe there was a distance barrier. If Archer was hundreds of miles away, would I still know?

"Hey." My father clasped my shoulder. "If it was about Archer, they would have said something. He's your mate. Darius wouldn't keep it from you."

"I feel sick."

He sat on the arm of the chair and squeezed my neck. "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"Titus."

My father looked up and caught the water bottle being tossed to him by my grandpa.

"Drink that before you pass out."

I took the water bottle. "Thanks, Grandpa."

"Keep your chin up. If you need someone to go out with you, let me know."

"I'm done for the night." I took a drink. "The longer I look without finding him, the more nauseous I start feeling. I've thrown up enough for one day."

My grandpa checked the kitchen. "Don't let your grandma hear that."

"I wasn't planning on it." I screwed on the cap and held the bottle to my face. "They warn you about this in school. I was stupid and changed to the human school, so I didn't get the advanced lesson about losing your mate fucks you over for life."

The front door opened. My father went to meet Darius and Trevor at the door. Cyrus was glaring at his uncle's back as the man entered the living room.

Trevor sat down across from me. "Saigon." He nodded. "How are you holding up?"

I move the water bottle. "Like shit, but still alive."

The Midfield Alpha shifted in his seat. "There isn't an easy way of saying this."

The hairs on my arms and down my spine started to prickle.

"They found two bodies."

I crushed the water bottle in my hands, shooting water across the room.

"Jagger and Daven went to check it out. We believe one is Willow."

My chest felt tight. It was getting hard to breath.

"He's dead," I gasped. "No, no! I can feel him. He's alive, he's alive." I pulled at my hair. "I would know; you all fucking said I would know!" I rose to my feet and felt my claws and fangs emerge. "You said I would know!"

My father grabbed me from behind. "Saigon, it's okay."

"It's not. It's not." I dug my claws into his arms as the tears fell.

"It wasn't him," said Darius. "It was another werewolf. We don't know who. Jagger sent me images of the bodies, and it's not him."

My knees gave out and I sunk to the floor. "He's gone," I breathed. "Archer is gone. He's not here anymore. He's getting further and further away. I want to go home." I pressed my palm into my eyes. "There's no point in being here anymore. They took my mate away."

My father hugged me, and my dad was soon on my other side.

"I want to go home," I wept.

"We can," said my dad, cradling my head to his chest. "Let's go home. We'll keep looking but if Archer isn't here, we can go home and try other places."

"They're going to kill him." I clung to my dad.

"They won't," stated Darius. "If they wanted to kill Archer, they would have. Willow and this other werewolf served their purpose. No pack was going to pay to get them back."

"You—" Wiping my face, I met my uncle's glaze.

"I give whatever they want to get him back."

Falling back against the couch, I draped an arm over my eyes. "Let's go home. Archer isn't here. They've left this place, so there's no point in staying."

***

The train was stopping. At least, I hoped that high pitched squeal wasn't normal. It was making my ears hurt and I already felt sick. I was freezing even with being covered in fur. Huddled in the corner, I watched the exit as the train stopped. Someone was moving around outside. I shifted my weight, preparing for whoever opened that door.

Multiple voices came closer to my cart. Swallowing hard, I sat up straight as the door was unlocked and started to move to the side. A young black man stood back a few feet as others pushed the door. I let out a low growl.

The man stepped forward and sucked in his cheek. "So, you're it? All that money for practically a middle rank. What a waste." He nodded to the others. "Drag him out, and let's go."

I bared my teeth at them. The men started to remove their clothes. I pressed into the corner. My eyes grew wide as they shifted forms.

They were werewolves. A pack was working with hunters? They were betraying their own kind. Maybe they were rogues. My heart rate started to pick up as I tried to figure out why they would do this.

"Catch," said the black man. He tossed the gray werewolf a key ring. "Hurry up. We don't need any humans wandering by and seeing us."

They unlocked my chains and tossed them onto the floor. The werewolves lifted me to my feet. They outranked me and I was worried the claws digging into my arm were going to break the skin. We jumped out of the cart and walked toward a van. The leader opened the back to show that the inside had been fitted with a cage.

He opened it and nodded his head. "Throw him in and shift."

I was shoved forward. Lowering my head, I climbed inside. The cage was closed and the van doors followed. This made things more complicated. With humans, I had a chance to overpower them. How was I supposed to take on a werewolves who outranked me?

Letting out a shaky breath, I told myself to remain calm. I'd wait for the right moment, but it looked more and more like I was going to have to find a way out of this by myself.