Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Mercy Thompson characters. BUT THIS STORY 'LONE COYOTE' IS MINE! GRRR…
ADAM'S POV
Fuck the Pack, Fuck Me, Fuck anyone with Mercy.
A soft growl escapes my throat as I let my muzzle hit the air one more time.
I HATE PANAMA. The air felt so wet and hot I can taste it. Fuck you Panama.
I've become the Big Bad Wolf. Every nerve in my body wants to kill, fight, maim, and destroy. I can't think straight, eat, or sleep. The day I stormed into that damned Hospital ready to tear Sam's head off for blowing my cover, it hit me. I must leave-I must leave my pack, my daughter, my home temporarily and look for Mercy myself. I must hear it from her own lips that she doesn't want me, wants nothing to do with me—that is the only way I will stop searching and hopefully it will make me stop acting like such a monstrous dick. The moment she says this, I will leave her alone. I will live in TriCity without a mate ever again and hopefully I can return to the normal dick I once was. These past weeks, I've made everyone around me miserable. Right now, I'm too volatile and dangerous to have my pack or members of my pack near me. I'm slowly obliterating my life and anyone in it.
That night when I stormed Sam's Hospital after Mercy disconnected the call, I was unrecognizable…Sam said later that he thought I was going to kill everyone in that entire hospital. I had stormed straight to him threatening and yelling obscenities. I remember him backing away from me, pleading that he did everything he could to keep her on the line and that was when I lunged for him. I had him by the throat and all he said over and over again was that he shouldn't have called me. Sam said I had ruined his only chance to bring Mercy back and he said it was my fault. The moment he blamed me, everything around us evaporated and Sam was my sole target – I wanted to rip his throat out. The nurses who hovered around us whimpered and one nurse in particular-a tall lanky nurse-placed her hand on my shoulder and demanded me to release the precious doctor. Lucky for her, I instantly sensed all the sick innocent patients and immediately focused on all the possible innocent carnage I would create. Sam used my distraction and immediately went into action apologizing and stating something about a private family matter and escorted us into a private room. Sam reassured each nurse that this was a family matter and that security should not be called. Once we were safely secluded in a small exam room, we immediately were arguing that turned into a struggle which then turned to actual combat fighting. Two broken noses, dislocated joints, a lot of bruises, and a destroyed room later, we both cooled down and thought of our next plan—Phone Tracing.
I called all the big guns on this trace, from the outside looking in it seemed like we were tracing the leader of Al Qida. It took seven minutes, twenty Intel agents, and serious equipment to trace the call to PANAMA.
Fuck you Panama.
I'm glad none of the intel agents came with me to Panama because I can guarantee that I would kill them right this second. Mercy is not in Panama. Her scent is not here or anywhere in a 500 mile radius. NOT ANYWHERE. BUT, this is the location that we scanned out.
When I was in Tri-City, I was hovering over my Intel-Specks, like a psychotic nursemaid, watching their every step while they did the tracing and I saw that Panama was the site hit—this phone in particular is that phone—The phone I'm looking at right now—but there is nothing, no scent, no MERCY, it's as if she was removed from the face of the earth.
All the anger and aggression that I've been containing since Mercy left suddenly implodes and my wolf body crashes into the side of the phone booth. I hear a mixture of screams, sprinting feet, and cars peeling out all around getting away from me-but I will not stop until this booth is completely destroyed. My teeth get a hold of the phone receiver and the loud crack between my teeth confirms that it's crushed into a million pieces.
Where is she? What will I do if I never find her?
I rack my brain – How could she disappear? I have the best agents around, it couldn't have been a wrong site hit.
How could…?
MAGIC!
Magic, maybe it's Fae magic? Maybe they have something to do with her vanishing off the face of the earth.
I let out a bloodcurdling howl and run towards the Panama Canal. I'm getting the fuck out of Panama. If Mercy stopped here then she was heading East by boat. I quickly glance toward the phone that I just destroyed, and growl. I should have thought this through. Now I need to find a new phone damn it. I need Zee's help if the Fae are involved—I need money. I need money wired to me as soon as possible. If I can't get a ride on one of these boats then I will just have to buy one. But first I have to think of where the hell I can get some clothes.
Mercy's POV
Two weeks of training was all Emi gave me. He taught me how to heal, fight, and shield with my magic. The training was relentless, grueling, and yet came natural to me. I also became part of something I never expected to be apart of. He officially initiated me as part of his pack, although my inner independent stubborn self fought through the whole shifting ceremony. My ceremony was emotional, I mourned the childhood I never had with my fellow shifters and I mourned the childhood I did have being raised by were's. The second I became part of his pack I finally felt safe. I have never felt like I belonged anywhere and I purposefully became an outsider, but the moment I became pack I felt not alone anymore. I felt truly needed-I belonged to a unit. It feels like I can truly depend on someone without feeling like a helpless-dependant.
Before my training officially ended on training day 15, Emi collapsed unexpectedly during the training. For a brief second Emi had felt a shifter's Ma'iitsoh Daha'diijid magic (death-state magic). Emi and I were combat magic training when it hit him. I was about to hit Emi with some physical magic but before I even made contact, Emi let out a loud yelp and hit the ground. Ana rushed over to Emi, flanking his left and growling at me like I had did it; Mewok and Joseph flanked behind Emi looking around for the danger and Cal flanked my left. All this happened in milliseconds. The non-shifters rushed to the longhouse and Matty protectively growled from inside. Matty's job is to safeguard the women non-shifters. During this whole ordeal, I felt the strong pack magic—I was instantly protected and I knew the location of each of my fellow packmates. It was nothing I've ever felt before. We were all connected. I felt all their emotions and I could hear their thoughts when they would open their mind to me—unexpectedly I also felt the humans and they felt safe with Matty. The only void in the pack was Emi. As I looked at him he remained motionless but the look on his face made us restless. Not knowing what was going on made me nervous – it was completely unavailable to any of us, even Anna-and she was not happy about it.
After a few seconds, Emi came to. The look on his face spoke volumes. I instantly felt his emotions and his thoughts were jumbled together in both English and his language. Emi let out a tired gasp and we felt the shifter's death. Emi stumbly ran to get his sage and burned it quickly chanting something in his language. Cal whispered to me that Emi was using his Alpha magic to locate the shifter who sent the Ma'iitsoh Daha'diijid with his sacred chant – sage was used to cleanse his area. Each of us knew that whoever released it was dead, but Emi didn't give up on the shifter. In that instant, Emi immediately ended my training, he needed to focus on this shifter. With this news Cal took the opportunity to state that he would personally train me whenever I needed him to; giving me a mischievous grin.
*...*
It took twenty minutes of chanting for Emi to locate a general area and it took us one minute to say our farewells leaving immediately. Matty and Joseph stayed at the village to protect the women. Emi, Anna, Mewok, Cal, and myself headed northwest toward our vague target. The moment we stepped out of our protected village shield, we heightened each of our senses. We ran southeast. When we reached what looked like an empty fancy garage in the middle of nowhere with only trees as neighbors we stopped and shifted. I looked around puzzled but the moment Emi opened the garage door I was in heaven.
*...*
We drove through towns by car and in human form. It was a 1952 two-door Chevy Belair – it was beauty - it ran perfectly. Cal said they rarely used the car as we run much faster, but for the nonshifters like Willow (the newest addition before me) enjoys car rides. Mewok also likes to use it to take Jay (the other human) out. The car was mainly for the humans. They don't realize how slow and dreary a vehicle can be for us shifters. Emi was proud to say that he had bought it in 1952 - New. I let out a nervous laugh and was unable to think of anything else but that he was OLD. Anna growled at me and demanded me to shield those demeaning thoughts about our Alpha. I gave my apologies which Emi just laughed about, but I instantly made a mental block on any private thoughts only allowing pack business out. Cal shook his head at me as I cut HIM mentally off, which I was glad to do. I snuggly glared at him, nmy inner thoughts and desires should be private damnit.
Mewok drove for the entire northwest Texas journey. He made the hours tick by in laughter as he had the funniest jokes and stories. Unfortunately, his funny stories involved embarrassing moments about Cal. Cal growled at Mewok several times-he even attempted to nip him, human-style. This was also the time when I heard Mewok's story, which I was super interested to learn. Jay, his mate, is 92 years old and they met when they were both 5 years old. Jays clan, the Bear Clan People, went to the Hawk Clan territory to trade, sell, and buy merchandise, but also for possible marriages of some of their members (Mewok said it was forbidden to marry within your clan – Bear Clan cannot marry another Bear Clan). Jay and Mewok became instant friends and whenever their clans would visit they would always look for one another to play and explore their territories. This happened until Mewok and Jay turned 15-years-old. This was when they didn't want to play anymore – the playing turned to kissing and loving touches. At 16, they could no longer be without each other and visiting each other during certain seasons was not soon enough. This was when Mewok asked Jay's clan mother that he wanted to marry Jay. Mewok the strong, handsome hunter would be a great provider for his family so it was a no-brainer for Jay's clan mother who gave her consent immediately. Mewok became Bear Clan that night (males moved in with the female's family – unlike Chinese culture, Onondaga people wanted female children so they would bring in the warrior son-in-laws).
I admire Mewok and his love for Jay. Unfortunately, I can read on his face that she will die someday and he cannot do anything about it. I inwardly mourn for his unending love for his childhood sweetheart. I wanted to ask more questions like if they have children and why aren't they here with us, but this subject I can tell is not something Mewok wants to speak about. As if on cue, Mewok changes the subject to another funny Cal story and the entire car roars in laughter.
Although, the mood in the car quickly changed when we all saw what county we entered, we all froze in anger and hatred. I couldn't help but notice that those Laboratory bastards chose a mocking location for their next horror lab – we are about 10 miles away from the small town of Littlefield and in Lamb County—LAMB COUNTY—I bet these bastards think it's amusing to choose such a county to reside in. I feel this will be a long visit.
*...*
I quietly sigh as the early hint of sunlight from our motel room wakes me from my restless sleep. I drag my sore legs off the motel bed and rub my eyes – this is a record I think - I got a good 2 hours sleep.
The scent of this damp, dingy, smoke smelling motel room makes my nose itch and I rub my nose several times. Emi didn't want us sleeping outside au naturel as coyotes. Emi had chose a small quaint motel. He wanted to keep a low profile. He didn't want us shifting in this area. We don't know what we are up against or even know how these laboratory monsters catch shifters. The moment we entered Lamb County we hid our shifter scents and became "normal" humans.
I quietly let out a low whimper as I raise my sore arms above my head to stretch but find that my achy muscles didn't like this movement. With all the amazing magic Emi taught me, I still can't master the gift of curing my sore achy muscles. It turns out that shifter magic is much like were'magic—a little rest and we are like new. Myself on the other hand, I don't rest—so in turn I don't recover as fast as my shifter family. I attempt to ease my body off this ancient old squeaky mattress not wanting to wake the pack. From the relentless shifter training, to searching most of the towns near "the laboratory," my sore-tightened muscles have been unable to mend. I let my toes touch the hardwood floor and the cool surface feels wonderful. I glace down at the bed and softly giggle. Emi, Anna, Cal, and myself shared a bed, Mewok chose the loveseat and fit perfectly. I peaked down at Cal who cracked open his eyes and began patting the area I just raised from. I shake my head and make our normal hand gesture for "going out for a run." I look to Cal's left and Emi is lying on his back with his head resting on his hands. He looks like he is lying out in the sun at our village just relaxing gazing at the clouds, but I know him better now, I know inside his head there is turmoil. He too is looking at me. Anna to his left is sleeping soundly, or at least it appears as if she is. My soft giggle turns to a full on grunting laugh. Four Indians fit in this small bed and a terrible not funny joke instantly appears in my brain—one of those "Four Indians walk into a bar and…" I shake my head at myself and stand up. I instantly regret it. A low growl escapes my lips at my sore muscles. I rest my hands on my hips and slowly bend my back in all directions, finishing the stretch with touching my toes.
Cal lets out a soft whine. Still touching my toes I glare at him and growl showing my teeth this time – he again pats the area I was sleeping on and flashes his mischievous grin. I growl louder toward him and Princess Anna growls back. Emi let out a laugh. I roll my eyes and grab my running shoes swiftly forcing them on. I loudly head for the door, open it and slam it behind me. I take the stairs four at a time and hit pavement in seconds. I full on human-run along the deserted main road. It's about 5am on Saturday and not a person in sight. We've been in Littlefield for two days and have remained completely low key attempting to blend in town. The reason we are staying here is because Emi says this was the closest town where he had "the feeling." Emi thinks that more than one lab is nearby. He has tried to inwardly call to any coyote shifters but has come up with nothing. He thinks they are heavily medicating these shifters.
As for this town, it looks like any other small town in a rural area. The people are nice and hospitable but Emi has warned us not go get too friendly.
The sound of my pounding feet against the pavement snaps me into attention. I love running – I run human speed because it relaxes me. Emi and Cal have commented that running for leisure is a waste of time. They said calming myself comes from within not from outside sources. They are right of course but I love running, it's good therapy.
Unexpectedly, my legs slow a bit. I immediately focus - my senses feel something not normal.
I was about 10 blocks away from the motel when the mental shock hit me. Instantly my legs freeze and my body becomes unbending – my legs, arms, and head become stiff – I can't move. I let out a blood curdling growl as I feel the pain instantly.
I gasped at what images flash before me for a few seconds and then everything goes black.
