CHAPTER 44

Embry POV:

I laid there willing my body to move and get up. I was going to be late for school if I didn't get up right now. I finally rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. I had gone to bed like Sam ordered, but I didn't really sleep. I would doze off and on with my phone right beside my head so I wouldn't miss it ring. Why hasn't she called yet? I had this really bad feeling that I couldn't shake. I really needed to hear her voice.

I crawled out of the shower and picked up the phone. No missed calls. I dried off and got dressed and brushed my teeth. I went into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. Just as I went to take a sip, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Shit! I spilled coffee on my shirt. I yanked the phone out of my pocket and flipped it open. "Leah?" I answered anxiously.

"No, bro, it's Sam. I hate to do this, but we need you. We need everyone. Come now." Click. What the hell is going on? I ripped my shirt off and threw it into my room. I pulled my shoes off and ran out the door and headed for the woods.

I ran as fast as I could to Sam's. As I was tearing through the woods I wondered if they found this thing that was terrorizing the rez. Did Dad find someone? Did it kill someone else? I ran faster at that thought. I still hadn't heard from Leah and it was killing me.

I ran up the front porch steps and into the house. The first thing I see is Emily, sitting at the kitchen table, crying. Oh God. I looked around and saw Sue, who was sitting on the couch with Seth's arm around her while she cried. I felt my legs go weak as I scoured the room looking for Leah. "Where is she?" I asked. I walked up to Sam and asked again, angrily, "Where is she, Sam?"

He put his hands on my shoulders and said, "Right now, we don't know. Jake, Jared, Quil and Paul are out there right now. I wanted to wait here for you."

I shook his hands off of me. "What the fuck are you telling me, Sam? Why don't you know where she is?" I couldn't believe what he was telling me!

"She's missing right now. This . . . thing, took her. She and Jake were . . . "

"Took her? What do you mean, 'took her?' How could it take her? You and Jake were with her! You PROMISED me, Sam, that you would protect her."

"Look, Embry, I'm trying to explain to you what happened! " Sam yelled.

"I don't care right now what happened! I want to find her. I WILL find her!" I turned and ran out the front door. Rage was flowing through every part of my body. So much so, I phased as soon as my feet touched the grass, and my shorts exploded into shreds. I took off through the woods trying frantically to find any little bit of Leah's scent I could pick up.

"Embry, I want to help. She's my sister." Seth caught up and ran with me. "Where would this thing take her? And why?"

"I don't know why and I don't care. But I will find her, and I will kill this thing if it's hurt her. Now, if you're going to help then concentrate on Leah's scent, OK?"

We kept our noses tuned and covered the ground between Sam's and the lake. We circled the lake and headed north. I found her scent and this thing's scent where the trail had disappeared before. "This is where she was taken." Seth didn't need to tell me that. We followed Leah's scent as it led us along the cliff and down a path toward the water.

"We haven't found her, yet." That was Jake. "We need help. We found a cave, but it's hard to get to."

Seth and I made our way to Jake. He was there with Quil. "Where's Paul and Jared?"

"I sent them out to scout around the area to see if they could pick up the scent again. It ends here."

We were standing on the shoreline. The tide was up and the waves were crashing on the rocks around us. I looked over to see the cave he was talking about. With the tide up, the water was flowing into the cave. I assumed that when the tide was down, it would be an easy walk inside. We had no idea how big or how deep the cave was. What if it was filing up with water right now? Was Leah in there? Would she drown? I shook my head and tried to push any negative thoughts away.

"I'm going in. If there is any chance that she's in there . . ."

"Listen, Embry. I want to find her, too, but we have to be practical here."

"Jake! What if that was Bella in there? Would you worry about being 'practical?' I NEED to find her – NOW!"

I knew that I was a better swimmer as a human than as a wolf. But I would need the strength and vision of my wolf body when I got into the cave. I would have to swim as a human, then phase back to wolf. I quickly phased into human form and headed for the water. I heard Jake's voice behind me, "Embry! Wait for me. If you're doing this, I'm coming with you." I stopped to wait. I saw him say something to Seth then Seth took off back up the path.

I looked over at him and nodded. Jake was my best friend, my brother. I knew he would go to hell and back for me, and I would do the same for him. "I sent Seth back to tell the others what we're doing."

"Yea, good idea." I took a deep breath and said, "OK, let's go."

We dove into the water and started swimming. We had to fight the current to get across to the cave, and it was strong. I was glad it wasn't far because it took every ounce of strength I had to pull myself against that current. As we closer to the cave opening, we caught the current that was flowing toward it and it swept us inside. I felt my body being pushed along, and my feet couldn't catch the bottom anywhere. I finally reached out and caught a branch that was stuck between two rocks. I hung on and took a few breaths and looked for Jake.

I spotted him being swept inside the cave and I stuck my arm out hoping to catch him. I could see his head was up out of the water, so I shouted, "Jake! Grab hold!" He looked up and heard me a little too late. Damnit! He was swept right by me! I let go of the branch and let the current sweep me farther into the cave behind Jake.

I tried to keep my eyes focused on Jake's head ahead of me. It bobbed up and down in the water until finally his feet must have found the bottom. He rose up out of the water and walked onto the floor of the cave. My feet hit bottom and I did the same. We both plopped down and tried to catch our breath.

"Man, that wasn't the most fun I've ever had," he said with a smile.

I shook my head and smiled. Leave it to Jake to try and make me smile at a time like this. The cave opening was still giving us enough light that I could make out a little of our surroundings. It was bigger than I originally thought, and apparently pretty deep. I really wished I had a flashlight.

Jake looked over at me and said, "I am so sorry, bro. This is all my fault. I turned for a second and she was right behind me then . . . she was gone. I didn't even see it coming."

"What? Where was Sam?" I asked. He said that both of them would stay with her.

Jake looked away and said, "Leah and I sent him home to sleep." I know he could see the anger on my face as he quickly added, "He was dead on his feet, Embry! He hadn't slept in over 24 hours. Leah insisted that he go home."

"He promised me, Jake. He PROMISED me!" I stood up and started pacing as I tried hard to see how far back this cave went.

"Em, look . . . " Jake started.

I cut him off with, "I need to phase and try to pick up Leah's scent." Jake nodded. I think he understood that Leah was my priority right now. I would deal with Sam latter. I stood up and took a few steps and phased back into my wolf body. I inhaled deeply trying to find her scent. My whole body ached with emptiness for her. I needed to find her scent just to have something of her with me. As I was scouting around, Jake phased and joined me.

If she had been brought here, we should have picked up her scent by now. We slowly made our way back into the cave. We hadn't gone far when I heard a whimper. I turned quickly to Jake. "Did you hear that?"

"Yea." We walked a little faster in the direction where the noise had come from. I still didn't find Leah's scent. We heard the whimper again, this time a lot closer. Jake branched out to the right, and I stayed to the left. My eye sight was good in the dark, but it was getting really dark, now, and I was afraid I would miss something.

"Embry! Over here!" I turned quickly and ran up behind him. He was standing beside a girl . . . who was not Leah. I looked at him then down at the girl. She was young, maybe Seth's age, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but it was torn and tattered, and there was some blood smeared on it. She was terrified and crying. I backed up quickly and went a few feet away to phase into human form. I felt bad I didn't have any shorts to cover my nakedness. I walked up behind Jake and said, "I'm taking your shorts, dude." I quickly untied his shorts and slipped them on. I walked back up and kneeled down beside her. "Hey, don't be afraid. We are here to help. Are you here alone?" I asked. She nodded. "Are you hurt?" I asked softly.

She nodded and stuttered, "M-m-m-my leg." She must be freezing! With my high temp, I never realized when it was cold anymore.

"Do you think it's broken? Can you walk at all?" I asked her.

"I d-d-d-don't know. I haven't t-t-t-tried," she answered. I reached around and helped her stand up. She winced and cried out as she tried to put weight on her leg. I helped her sit back down. I kneeled beside her.

"OK, we're going to have to wait this out a little until the tide goes down. I don't think I can carry you through that current," I told her. I looked up at Jake and he walked away to do some more scouting. "Don't go too far on your own!" I hollered at him.

I looked back at the girl and said, "My name is Embry."

"I'm Abby," she got out. Her teeth were chattering.

I sat down next to her and said, "I know this is going to sound weird, but I carry a body temp of 108. I can warm you up a little if you move next to me. I will not hurt you or try anything, OK? It's just to keep you from getting hypothermia." She stared at me for a moment then slowly moved over closer to me. I put my arm around her and heard her sigh as she felt the warmth radiate from my body.

After a few minutes, Jake came back into site. "Did you find anything, Jake? Leah's scent? Something?"

He shook his big shaggy head back and forth and sat down. Shit! I figured I might as well use this time to find out what happened to Abby.

"How did you get here, Abby? Did someone bring you here?"

"Y-y-yes. It was . . . I don't know what." Exactly what I thought. Why was thing praying on women all of a sudden? Killing the men, yet taking off with the girls. Was it a sexual thing?

"Did you get a look at it? Was it animal-like?" I asked her.

"Yea, kind of. Kind of like that big dog that's with you, only not as hairy and it was more human-like." She was warming up already. Her teeth finally quit chattering.

"How long have you been in here?"

"I don't know. Is it day or night?"

"It's mid-morning right now."

She started crying again. I could feel her tears on my chest. "A long time. It was yesterday after school. I was with . . . my boyfriend . . . and . . . " she was crying harder now.

"It's OK, you're safe now. We'll get you out of here as soon as we can and back home, OK?" She nodded and sat up a little to look at me.

She wiped her face and asked, "How did you find me? How did you know to come in here?"

"Well, my girlfriend is missing. And the trail ended on the shoreline. We saw the cave and thought she might be in here. Are you sure you are here alone?"

"I don't know. I was kind of out of it for a long time when I first got here, so . . . maybe it brought someone else here."

"This is going to sound very strange, but, did you see anything that looked like my friend, Jake? A big wolf?"

She shook her head. "No." Shit! Where the hell is she? What did this thing do with her? Did he have other hideouts where he was stashing girls?

"Where were you when this thing took you?"

"Um, we were at this place we go sometimes, to . . . " She was having a hard time getting the words out. I guessed why.

"To make out?" I asked. She nodded. "Yea, I know all about those little places," I said with a smile.

She smiled, too, and I felt her relax a little against me. "It's near the lake. We were making out and before I knew what happened, I felt someone grab me and start running. I never heard anything coming – it just . . . appeared! And it carried me a long ways, and I must have fainted or something, and I woke up . . . in here. I don't know what happened to my boyfriend."

Jake was listening. I looked over at him and said, "Is that what happened to Leah?" He nodded. Damn. What is this thing we are dealing with? I took a deep breath and leaned my head back against the cave wall. Leah, baby, wherever you are, please hold on. I WILL find you. I promise.

Leah POV:

Where am I? I opened my eyes and had no idea where I was or how I got here. I looked around and thought maybe I was in an old barn? I could smell hay. I was laying on a dirt floor, and I was still in wolf form. I decided to stay that way until I figured out what the hell was going on. I laid there still on the ground and tried to see if I was alone. I didn't hear anyone else. I couldn't sense any other heartbeats or hear any other breathing but my own. I slowly lifted my head a little to look around. No one here but me. I finally sat up and took in my surroundings.

How did I get here? Think, Leah. I remembered being on patrol with Jake and Sam. Sam was exhausted and we sent him home to sleep. Then Jake turned and . . . something grabbed me and ran! Now I remember.

I stretched out a little then walked around to see if there was a way out. It was a small barn, so it didn't take long. I pushed against the door and found it was locked from the outside. As I looked around, I figured I could smash through one of these walls if I backed up and ran. I turned to the first wall and started backing up when I heard something from outside. A shuffling sound. I stood still and listened. I could hear heaving breathing, like someone had run fast and stopped and was trying to catch their breath. I tried to catch a scent, but I couldn't pick up anything with all of the hay in the barn. I had allergies as a human, and I guess it was affecting me as a wolf, too. I was afraid I would start sneezing anytime!

I sat there still as I watched the door open. There it was . . . this wolf-man thing! It looked at me and cocked it's head to the side. He closed the door and moved silently inside. It stopped right before me and looked down at me. I stood up and came up to it's chest. He was extremely tall.

He looked into my eyes and I felt . . . not quite so scared. He slowly reached out his arm and put his paw/hand onto the back of my head and . . . stroked me. It was . . . very intimate. I backed away until I ran into the back wall of the barn. He looked at me with a sort of . . . pained look, like I hurt his feelings. He turned suddenly and went back outside. I heard him slide something into the handle to block the door closed. And then he was gone.

Embry POV:

Jake padded back to us and moved his head toward the opening of the cave. I had been dozing, and I jerked my head up when he came up to me. The tide must finally be going out. I looked down to see Abby sound asleep. She was still lying against me. I moved my arm and shook her a little to wake her. She jumped.

"It's OK, Abby. We're going to get up and move to the cave opening now, OK?" She wiped her eyes and looked around.

"Yea, OK," she said sleepily. I stood up and stretched. Man, I wonder how long we've been in here. Was any of the pack outside waiting on us? I reached down and helped Abby to stand up. "How's the leg?" I asked.

"A little better, I think. OW! Maybe not," she said after putting some pressure on it.

"Is it OK if I carry you?" She nodded. I reached down and scooped her up and told her to hold on. The light was getting dimmer, so it must be late in the day. I made my way toward the cave opening and found Jake. The water had receded quite a bit, and we walked almost all the way to the cave opening. I stopped and looked at Jake. There was still water at the front of the cave, but the current wasn't anything like it had been.

"What do you think? Can we walk yet, or is it still too deep?" He waded in a little and started moving out slowly. He made it to the cave opening and barked. Someone barked back. Sam. Shit. I really didn't want to face him right now. I was afraid I would beat the shit out of him.

Abby must have felt me tense up. "What's wrong?"

I looked at her and asked, "Do you have an older brother?"

She smiled and said, "Yea. He's a pain in the butt."

I laughed and told her, "Well, so is mine, and he's out there waiting for me. I'm pretty upset with him right now, and I really don't want to deal with him."

She laughed and said, "Oh, I get that." I thought how she was very cute when she smiled. I didn't know how serious she was with her boyfriend, but I had a feeling when Seth got a look at her, he was going to want to know.

Jake padded back and moved his head toward the opening. I walked slowly through the water and made it to the opening. I looked across the water and saw Sam, Seth and Quil standing there in human form now. Jake looked back at me then at his back leg where his short used to tied to his leg. I laughed. "Yea, sorry, bro! I'll turn around so you can phase."

I turned us around and Abby asked, "Phase? What does that mean?"

"I would love to explain it to you, but I can't right now. Just trust us, OK? We will get you home."

She smiled and tightened her hold around my neck. "I do trust you, Embry. You've been very nice to me."

Uh-oh. I know that smile. I used to love that smile. But not now.

I heard splashing and figured that Jake was running through the water. That's good. That meant I could walk her back to shore instead of having to swim with her. "OK, all clear!" I head Jake holler.

I turned and started walking through the water. It got about waist deep, but I made it through pretty easily. I looked to see Jake was wearing shorts! "Where did you get those?" I asked him.

Seth smiled and said, "I brought an extra pair back when I saw yours rip to shreds."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, bro."

"Seth?" I heard Abby say. I almost forgot I was still holding her! She was so light and quiet!

"Abby? You were the girl in there?" he asked in surprise.

"I take it you two know each other?" I asked.

Seth looked at me and explained. "Yea, we're in the same math class." He turned back to Abby. "Are you OK?"

"Um, yea. My leg is hurt. I can't stand on it. That's why Embry is carrying me." He nodded.

"Hey Seth," I said. "Since you two know each other, why don't you take Abby here up the hill, OK? I need to talk to Sam." He looked at me like I was handing him a Christmas present!

"Yea, sure!" he said with a smile. She smiled at him as she hooked her arms around his neck, and I had a feeling her boyfriend just became her ex-boyfriend. As he turned to make his way up the path, I heard Abby say, "Wow, you're really strong, Seth." I laughed and shook my head. Chip off the old block.

I looked over to see Jake grinning at me. "Was that his birthday present?"

"I was thinking Christmas, but either works," I answered him. He laughed.

I took a deep breath and walked over toward Sam. He looked at me and asked, "You OK, bro?" As hard as I tried to hold back, I just couldn't. I reached back and cold-cocked him, right in the face. Since he didn't expect it, he fell hard onto the sand.

"What the fuck, Embry!" he hollered at me. He went to get up and I stood over him and said, "You promised me, Sam. You told me you would keep her safe. And you LEFT HER!"

"You don't think this is KILLING ME, Embry? I let her talk me into going home and getting some sleep. I wasn't thinking, man. I was exhausted. I should have stayed," he said. He sat there rubbing his face where I punched him and hung his head.

"I will NEVER trust you with Leah again, Sam. NEVER!" I shouted. I walked away and ran my hand through my hair. My stomach growled loudly. I had no idea when I last had food. I didn't really care right now.

Jake walked over to Sam and held out his hand to help him up. Sam took it and moved a few steps away to gather himself.

I walked over to Quil and asked, "Is there anything new? Have you found her?"

He shook his head then said, "We figure he came this way to wash away his and Leah's scent then he went somewhere else. We've been working on the other side of the cave to see if we could pick up the trail again. Paul and Jared are working on that right now. We wanted to make sure you guys made it out alive here. Who's the girl?"

We turned and as we walked up the trail to the cliff, I explained where we'd found her and what she told us. He nodded and asked, "Why is it just girls? Did he . . . do anything . . . you know, to her?"

I looked up ahead at Seth carrying Abby. They seemed to be chatting and Abby was smiling. "I don't think so. I didn't ask, but she was fully clothed, except you saw her t-shirt. She didn't act like she'd been attacked, but that doesn't mean anything I guess. She seemed to trust me pretty quickly. And she seems more than happy with Seth right now," I added with a smile.

Jake and Sam were following us closely. I knew Sam could hear what I was saying, but he stayed quiet. We made it to the cliff top, and I looked over at Quil. "I'm going to phase and work my way to Jared and Paul. I hope THEY found something," I said as I looked over at Sam. He was glaring at me. I knew he was as pissed at himself as much as he was pissed at me for hitting him. At a time like this, we should be pulling together. I just didn't feel that way right now.

Seth turned and asked, "Where should I take Abby? To Emily or should I take her to her house?"

I went to Abby and asked, "Where do you live, Abby?" She explained where her house was. That was pretty far. "Maybe you should take her back to Emily's and have her call her parents from there." Seth grinned. I knew he'd like that answer.

"Is it far? Are you going to carry me the whole way?" Abby asked him.

"Sure, it's no problem. You hardly weigh anything," he answered. She giggled. I rolled my eyes as Seth turned to leave.

"Seth!" Sam called out. Seth turned back, "Yea?"

"I need to know if my dad is at the house. If he is, let me know and I'll come back, OK?"

He shrugged and said, "Yea, sure." He turned and jogged off toward the house.

I stripped off Jake's shorts and bent down to tie them to my ankle. "What's Dad got to do with this?" I said as I finished tying the cord to my ankle.

"I called him and asked him to drive around and see if he recognized anyone. Quil told me he saw him at the gas station talking to some dude. I want to know who it was and if he thinks this is all connected somehow."

I nodded. "OK, I'm out of here." I took off and phased on the run. I ran as fast as I could toward where I thought Jared and Paul might be. "Hey, Jared! Where are you guys? You find anything?"

"Yea, we picked up Leah's scent and we are on the trail right now."

I focused in on them and knew where they were. I ran as fast I could to catch up to them. I needed to find Leah's scent! I couldn't believe the emptiness I felt without her. I was really close to losing it. It was getting harder and harder to keep it together.