Wolf mate

Chapter 7

Castle couldn't stay at the loft. When his partner had left he had hugged his daughter tightly, whispered comforting words, not really knowing if it was his daughter or himself he tried to soothe. After a while he suddenly remember what the detective had said. I got a murderer on the loose. She was going after him. She was going after John Walton. Alexis had told him she would go to bed, and so he told her he needed some air and would go out for a while. He could tell his daughter didn't truly believed him but she didn't stop him, just told him to stay safe and kissed his cheek. Before he walked out he'd switched to a pair of black sweatpants and a black shirt, hoped the dark outfit could hide him in the dark of the night. Then he'd followed her scent, started following it from his door and out on the street. He hadn't needed to smell one of her things first, he knew her scent, could easily pick it out amongst all the other scents circling in the air.

It didn't take long before he was back at the store Hannah had worked at, where he saw the cops had taped off the ground and their lights were still blinking red and blue. He stayed out of the way, made sure no one saw him as he searched the perimeter. Thanks to his heightened senses he didn't need to go close to follow her movements. She'd gone into the store, into the storage to be more exact, and had most likely stopped at the pool of his blood on the ground. He had no idea how long she'd stood there or exactly what she'd done in there but once she'd gotten out again it had been through the back door. He could tell he'd decided the opposite way of their walk to her car earlier. He followed her trail and saw the things she'd seen. John Walton must've had his car there, had driven away as fast as he could if the marks in the road were any indications of it. Taking deep breaths Castle followed as she must've continued her search on foot.

He couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't taken her car, or a cab, but was thankful for it, it made it easier for him to find her. Maybe she wanted him to find her? Though he doubted it. That fear in her eyes, those tears, he had a feeling she wanted nothing of the sort. Her last words had been 'Don't follow me', and he knew he was violating her wish but the killer she was after had killed a werewolf. The guy wasn't scared of a cop, and that was what feared Castle. The guy wouldn't stop at firing another bullet and if he wasn't there to step in front of her...

"Damnit Kate, where are you?" he mumbled into the darkness of the night.

His eyes searched the road as his feet followed the scent of her. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a car hidden amongst the bushes and trees to his right, across the road. Taking in a few deep breaths he could tell she had seen it too, her scent was leading him right to the car. Before crossing the road he made sure no car was driving on it. Getting closer to the car he prayed he wasn't too late. John Walton must've parked it there on purpose because once he got to it there were no indications of an accident. Which meant the killer wanted to park there. His heart beat increased as his eyes started to frantically look around, tried to find her. What if he was too late? He wouldn't survive if he was.

He couldn't see her, or the killer, and when he drew another deep breath he could tell she'd gone further into the forest. He could also tell she'd gone straight into the same trail of another scent. John Walton. Before he was really aware of what he was doing he was bending his back forward, hunching down with his fingers digging into the ground as he felt his bones cracking, his body quickly and painfully changing. It wasn't quite as painful, though, almost as if the pain of his partner leaving earlier that evening had hurt more. It had. His claws dug into the ground now, his ears taking in every small sound around him, his nose immediately taking in every scent filling the air and his teeth clenched in a low growl. If anyone saw him now they would go off running and screaming, but he didn't care. All he cared for was her and finding her before anything bad could happen.