Torn Between Packs (book 2) COMPLETED

Chapter 16 Adam

Sam just got the call and three of the other teams were a mile out for my old camp. They were staying in their cars till we reached them. It would be another 10 minutes or so. We made better time than I thought we would. Amanda calling in the food early was a big help. It was not enough to get us all back where we needed our energy level where it should be but it helped. Nikko did not look as optimistic as he did a while ago. I think he knew this was either a dead end or we missed them. I wasn't taking any chances and still had the teams move in quickly. I couldn't risk him being right when there was a chance he was wrong.

Those last few minutes felt like an hour. Both Grayson and Jarek, still in their wolf forms whined and tried to pace in the back of the Humvee. There was not enough room for two wolves their size to do it. I think the only thing that stopped them from busting out the window and going the rest of the way on four paws was the fact that they knew they needed to save energy. Plans in place, as soon as we drove by the other teams would all move in.

Up ahead we spotted the cars, flying past them they were on our tails immediately. There was also a few teams in place on the far side of the camp. I was hoping it was enough to block the enemies in. Fishtailing on the dirt road Sam only slowed down a bit so not to lose control. The kid could drive. Halfway down the road we slowed enough so Grayson and Jarek could jump out without risking any bodily harm. Our wolves on four legs would be going in quietly while we made as much noise as possible. Hopefully distracting our enemy enough for the others to move and get Hunter.

I knew as soon as we hit the huge parking lot we were too late. It was too quiet and there looked to be fresh skid marks on the pavement. I was pretty sure we all knew but that did not stop us from going in with full force. Jumping out of the Humvee we all crotched down and listened. Nothing. We heard nothing but we could all smell the other wolves. There was a quite a few here and not even 2 hours ago. Just in case we decided to move ahead but with less noise. We made enough noise coming down the road so know it was time to stay silent and possibly catch something that didn't want to be caught.

"Adam, I'm..." Nikko started to say before I cut him off. The sorrow in his voice was answer enough.

"I know Nikko. I know. Let's see what we can find." I replied.

And that is what we did. We started off at the Office cabin and went from there. I hated the fact that other wolves rummaging through our things. Not that we left anything but this was our territory. They had no right. James' scent had my anger reach the boiling point. The reminder that we had a trader under our nose for who knows how long pissed me off. I didn't know how I never seen it before.

Just like we did they used this room as their main meeting room. We kept our groups small and walked through the room taking in each of the different scents and holding it to memory. I had wolves down at the beach and walking through the woods to see if they could pick up anything. Hunter's scent was faint in here. I was positive that she had not come in this cabin after we left this camp together.

"Adam? I think they found were Hunter stayed," Nikko said after talking to one of his own outside the door. Without saying a word I stepped out and we followed Nikko's wolf deeper into the cabins where the older kids stayed.

We passed Hunter's old cabin and went to the boys side of the camp. I knew where we were going to end up before we hit the right cabin. C.J.'s. I didn't need to walk in the cabin the smell Hunter. Her scent lingered on the porch, it was only hours old. Walking in the cabin her scent was stronger but different. It had a sickly sweet hint added to her own scent. She was sick or whatever they gave her was making her sick. Closer to the bed I caught a few other scents: C.J., James, and someone who had a scent that was familiar but not. There were a few others but faint. So I knew they spent little time in here.

Lowering myself down closer to the bed I inhaled deep and tried to figure out where I knew that scent. It wasn't coming to me but the sickly smell was stronger. A lot stronger.

"They are dosing her with high levels of wolfsbane. In those levels it keeps her drugged and it hurts are chances of finding her through less conventional methods. It will also keep her from using her gifts. James must had told them about it and that I was the one who found her when she took off. They probably do not know how I did it but are covering their bases." Nikko answered everyone's unanswered question on the sickly sweet smell that almost over powered everything else. "It...it is also suppressing Luna." I knew there was more to it than that but now was not the time. Too many ears around and emotions were already high enough.

Two hours of searching and we came up with nothing. We knew at least a dozen scents now and we know that Hunter was being held here. That was something but unless we came across these scents they did not do us any good. That left nothing for us to follow. It was wishful thinking that they would to begin with. After their well thought out plan on Hunter's kidnapping I highly doubt they would have left us anything that may had given us some clue on where they went.

"Adam, I was wondering if we should move everyone back here. I remembered when Hunter said we should have stayed here and that leaving was a mistake. I am wondering if that was more of a premonition than her not wanting to leave to begin with." Nikko said while he looked out towards where the lake was hidden behind all the trees.

She did mumble that a few times in the car when she fell asleep on the way to the new location. I wonder now if that was a mistake to begin with. No point going down the road that cannot be changed. "What do you think? Honestly, Nikko I do not know what to think right now." It was never wise to admit your weakness but Nikko knew what I meant. My ability to make a decision when it came to Hunter was on shaky ground.

Nikko never looked back at me, he continued to look out at the woods. It took him a couple minutes before he answered. "I think we need to be here. I think this is where we are the strongest. I will call my pack to let them know. I figure they all can be here before sunset. This will also be a better place for your other quests." Nikko stared off towards the mountains. He stayed like that for almost an hour. I wasn't sure if he had a vision, sensed something or if he was just going by his gut but the more I replayed his decision in my head the more I believed he was right. That was also when I noticed that the ones that were already here seemed more calm, more at peace. We needed to be here.

It took almost three hours before the rest of our pack was back at our original camp and settled in. Food was served and bellies were full. Now back in the main office we sat down and talked about what to do next. What we knew was they brought Hunter back here and we missed them by a couple hours at most. They had vehicles so that broaden the search. We were all pretty sure that they would stay isolated and most likely a couple hours from any city. They would not risk being seen in a public place.

The last time Nikko or his son "heard" Hunter was hours ago. We knew we couldn't just wander around the woods. It wasn't productive and was warring everyone out. No one was happy about that decision but until someone came up with something we were going to wait for Sam. I spoke to her after she got off the plane and she said she had an idea but would explain when she got here. Approximately 4 hours since the last time I looked at my watch.