Lost

Caleb (Ch. 11)

Leaving my cabin around 9pm, I head to The Hound. Pulling into the parking lot, I park next to Christian's mustang. Getting out the smell of rain fills the air, a clear sign a storm is coming.

Inside the music is loud and the small dance floor is filled with bodies pressed together. Looking around, I see the twins playing pool in the backroom. Heading in their direction, I stop at the bar and order a beer. Waiting I face the crowd, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. Seems the Hound got itself a new dj tonight. The bartender taps my shoulder and hands me, my beer. Saying thanks, I continue my way to my brothers.

Saying hey, I sit at a table in the corner, and watch them continue their game. The music in here is different from the main bar and there's less people dancing back here. Theory of a Deadman's Bad Girlfriend comes on at the moment I spot Roni dancing with a couple frat boys. Nodding hi, I continue looking around. Christian joins me, while Damian plays with a couple townies.

"I thought Travis was coming with you," he says, searching I finally notice that my little brother is nowhere in sight.

"No, I figured he was here with you guys? Has he checked in with anyone after his patrol?"

Signaling for Damian, Christian checks his text. Shaking his head, he asks Damian, "Has the runt text or call you at all?"

Checking his phone, he slides it in the middle of the table, 'Going to be late. Might have found something, I'll call if it's usable.'

"He sent that 4hrs ago. Has anyone seen him since then," an arm slips around my shoulders. Roni twirls her body around and lands on my lap. Pushing back from the table I hold her at arm's length.

"What do you think you're doing Roni?"

Giggling she leans forward and licks the side of me neck. Jumping up, she slides off me. "What the f**k. Are you drunk?"

Looking up at me her glazed eyes darken, "What! Am I not good enough anymore for the Alpha Heredis, huh," she stammers.

Shaking my head, "You knew what this was Roni. Don't embarrass yourself like this."

"Yea, Ron. Let's not make a scene." Christian chimes in.

Spinning sharply, "Make a scene, make a f*****g SCENE," she screeches. Everyone shifter and human alike look toward our corner. Bowing my head, I turn toward the restrooms yanking her along behind me, pulling her into the men's room, I look the door.

"I'm only going to say this once, after that you are on your f*****g own. You hear me?" I growl.

Challenging me, she glares at me, fighting my alpha power. I push more of it through the room. It doesn't take long for her eyes to downcast in submission and she nods her head yes, I say, "We are nothing. We will never be anything then what we were. If you approach me in that manner again there will be consequences. Nod if you understand."

She nods yes again. "Good. Now I'm going to ask you once and I want an honest answer from you."

Afraid to answer she gives a small nod. "Have you seen or heard anything about Travis?"

She's silent for a while. I can tell she's still trying to fight my alpha powers, but she will never be my equal even though she's an alpha. I know she hoped to one day be my mate but that was never going to happen. Finally, she speaks, "There's been talk about a bunch of outsiders -- Fae that beat a shifter to near death. I asked my roommate about it when I heard, you know Stacy," I nod for her to continue, "Well she's fae and she said that their king's son was in town but left suddenly after announcing he would be staying an extra day. No one has seen his men or him for hours."

"What are you trying to say Roni."

"Ugh. I'm saying that they probably were the ones to beat the shifter within an inch of his life, but as for who the shifter is I don't know and none of the Fae are talking. Not even the townies. So, it didn't happen in or around town because people would notice a bloodied body."

Standing there, I stare at her I as processes what she's just told me. Tobias the little prick has either killed or badly damaged a shifter in my town and no one has seen or heard from my brother since this afternoon. Storming out of the bathroom I leave her there to find my brothers.

Seeing our table empty, I look to the bar. Damian's getting another drink while Christian chats up a townie girl. Making a beeline for the bar, people move out of my way. "Let's go," I say. Nodding to the bartender, I turn heading to the front. I don't have to check; I know my brothers are following me out.

"What's going on Caleb?" Christian asks when we reach our cars.

"That prick, and his men apparently beat a shifter close to death. Then skipped town."

A growl escapes Damian, "Who told you this?"

"Roni."

"Could she be lying?"

"She's a b***h but she wouldn't lie about something like this," he stares at me for a moment before nodding once.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go looking for our brother, then torture some fae." Christian says hoping into the backseat of my truck. Damian and I hop in, looking out the rearview I spot Roni by a black sedan. An arm reaches out giving her an envelope when she turns around to leave the car rolls away. Facing forward, I turn the car toward the manor. I have a sinking feeling that we are too late in saving our brother. That whoever paid Roni to give me this information isn't done with us yet.

Things are not adding up and Nadia is still in the wind. The night feels tense. Something is coming, I can feel it in the air. I just hope that I don't lose anyone in its wake.

###

We searched for hours. Neither of us coming up with any sign of our brother. Mother is beside herself; father thinks Tobias did this on purpose for not informing them we had a wolf with the sight. I think he's just psychotic. A few hours ago, Christian found lots of blood on the south side of the forest, close to town but still within our territory. It smelt like Travis, but there was another smell. Bear, its scent was heavy. We've been following the scent further north, for hours. Damian and Christian toggle behind me, staying alert is our main focus.

Tobias and his men could still be in the area, doesn't matter that there are reports of them leaving. Can't put anything to chance when it comes to the fae. Stopping I sniff the air, Travis sent seems to fade the closer we get to the base of a mountain. But the bears scent gets stronger. The closer we get to the mountain the more scents we're able to pick up. Shift back, I follow the sound of water. Where everywhere is dense with snow, this area has very little.

"Is this the place?" Christian asks, walking around the clearing. Sniffing the air, it smells like summer and rain. Moving closer to the water I pick up Trav's scent.

"Guys come look at this," I call to my brothers. When they get closer to the pool, they see what I see.

"He lost too much blood. No one would've survived this," Damian says, "Do you think the bear dropped him in the water?" Christian asks.

"There's another's smell, its female. Summer and rain permeate the air. I think this was the clearing she was staying at. The one no one could find but Trav."

"You think the bear brought him here to her," searching around Damian looks for any sign of her. The only things left behind are remains of a fire and the bones of deer.

"I don't know what happened here. The only person who could tell us is probably dead."

"Don't say that," Christian implores, "For mother's sake he could still be alive. She's a goddess, and he has more goddess blood in him then any of us, she would know if he was dead."

"Well, what do you think we should do now. We haven't found a body. It's 3:30 in the morning. Where do you suggest we go? We aren't even on our territory anymore. She did well to keep herself hidden." I throw my hands up in the air. Dragging my hands through my hair I turn away from him and the pool. There must be something here. I don't believe Trav is dead, but odds are not looking too good. Filtering out all the other scents, I focus on hers. There is a small hint of strawberry, hidden deep enough that I know, no one else would be able to pick it up. Following it, it gets stronger near a cluster of pine trees. Walking to the center of them, I see a bed made from leaves and fur.

Her smell mixes with Travis's, off past the bed, I see a pile of white. Picking it up, blood is drenched all over it. He was dying. My baby brother was beaten within an inch of his life. Tobias will pay for this; my family will get our revenge. But first we must find Travis, hopefully he's still alive. For Tobias's sack my brother better be alive. At the bottom of the pile is a phone. The screen is cracked but I take it anyways. Maybe someone back at the manor can find out who she called. Leaving the area, I scoop it once last time for anything else I might have missed.

Back in the clearing, I find the twins looking for any clues. Holding up the dress, their heads pop up in my direction. "It reeks of him," Damian points out.

"He's not dead. Until I see his body, he's still alive." Christian states, he's always been the sensitive one out of the two of them. Where Damian is realistic, Christian is optimistic. It's always been that way. Two sides of the same coin.

"Your right Chris, he's not dead. Tobias better pray he's not. As our Zeus is my witness our mother would burn this state to the ground if he is," Damian tells him, trying to ease his worry.

"We need to head to the manor. Father needs to know what we found and maybe something can be salvaged from this phone," I start making my way out of the clearing, "Also, I need to speak to mother about something."

Following me out, "What do you need to talk to her about?" Christian says.

"I smelt something else in her scent."

"She smells of summer and rain, that's all I smelt." Damian states, catching up to us, we continue to stay alert. Checking to see if we missed something when looking for Travis. Damian, taps my shoulder, looking at him I see him point westward, in the snow are small footprints that disappear into the dense tree line. But that's not the only thing we see, branching away from her footprints are the prints of a bear. Leading away from the forest, running to my truck we drop the stuff in the back seat and head back to the bears tracks.

Following them we're led to another clearing next to a cave. The strong stench of bear flows from the cave. We make sure to stay down wind, so to not bother them. Searching the area, we don't see anything. Turning to leave we hear, "Ahhh," looking around we search for where the noise came from. Something to my left rolls in my peripheral, snapping my fingers, I grab my brothers' attention and point to the object. Making our way over to it, "Ugh," it makes more sounds. Being cautions, Christian and Damian check it while I keep my eyes on the bear cave.

Dusting the snow off, they sigh in relief. Looking over, I see Travis's blonde head. Thank the gods we found him. Helping him up, he groans. Christian and Damian are on either side of him. He's wounds are healing but you can still see the damage Tobias and his men did. I run head to bring my truck closer, we lay him in the backseat and throw a blanket over him.

He mumbles his discomfort, but we must get him home to see how much damage was done. I'm shocked that he was even able to shift back from his wolf with how much of a beating he took.

"Nadia," he whispers.

"No Trav, it's Christian."

"Nadia," he says with more force.

"We need to get him home fast. I don't know why he keeps calling her name," Christian says getting anxious.

Looking over my shoulder, "I'll drive as fast as I can, just keep him still." Trav moans some more, trying to move, he yells out "No" as Christian restrains him.

"Please," he begs, "He can't get her. We must go back! I have to protect her-r," he trails off. Passing out on Christian's lap. Gods, I hope mom can help him. He's all bruised up with scars littering his body. What has this girl gotten us into, checking my rear-view I see a bunch of animals heading into the forest.

"She's right there if you want to go get her," Damian says, seeing what I'm seeing out the side view.

"I know but we have more important things to take care of right now," I gesture toward the backseat.

"Christian and I could've taken him home. You need to find her; don't you feel the pull?"

"I do but I also know that she's not in any danger right now. I'd rather have more information about her before I confront her and she attacks," pulling into the manor's drive. The front doors fly open, mom and dad rush out followed by Ralph and the pack healer. Getting Travis out the car is easier to do with him passed out. Mom's face crumbles as she sees the extent of his injures. I'm thankful most of the bruising healed on the drive over her.

When we finally get into the house, mom makes us bring him into the living room.

"Something is off about him," she runs her hand above his head, a white glow emanates from his body. Her face is scrunched up in concern, the glow starts to fade, and Travis starts to breathe easy.

"What was that?" Christian askes coming closer to Travis's head.

"That was her mark on him."

"I don't understand," I implore. We all look at him, then she shoos us out of the living room. Telling the healer to come get her if his condition changes. We're all waiting for at the breakfast table, when she enters.

Joining us, "What I meant is that the white glow around him was her mark. A calling card of sorts. If another goddess were to check him, they would know that he was healed, cursed, or involved intimately with another goddess. It's how we leave our mark."

"Okay, but what does that mean for Travis?"

Inhaling deeply, "Travis was dying," she exhales, "His soul was minutes away from leaving his body and she saved him."

Grabbing her hand, father asks, "Is that even possible?"

"I want to say it's not, but given who her mother is, it's possible she has some of her powers and more."

"So, she brought Travis back to life," Damian says.

"Essentially, yes. He would've died out there," tears slide down her cheeks, whipping at her face, "She saved his life. She healed his internal bleeding, mended the broken bones," sucking in a breath, exhaling "S-she forced him to shift.

Travis's moans and mom rushes out to check on him. It's hard to believe that I would've been down a brother if she hadn't have saved him. There's a somber feeling in the manor. The weight of this night hitting us all differently. I know we need to find Nadia. It's just hard to make myself want to find her. I can't help but feel that my baby brother wouldn't be in this state if it weren't for her. Everything that has happened is because of her. How can I make myself see past that.

Leaving the kitchen, I go check on Travis. Dad is ushering mom to bed and Damian and Christian decided to go with Ralph for a quick patrol.

"C-Caleb," Travis breaths.

"I'm here man."

"You have to go get her,"

"We're not leaving you man. Once you're well we'll go look for her."

"You don't understand," he sighs.

"What don't I understand," frustration rocks through me. How could he possibly expect us to leave him in this state.

"She gave so much to save me. Risked her only safe haven. She has nowhere to hide now."

"Good, that should make finding her easier."

"What if he finds her first? Would you forgive yourself if Tobias got hold of Nadia again?" Dammit, he has me there. It's bad enough I want to kill the bastard for what he's done to Travis. If he got Nadia who knows what I would do.

Sighing, "I'll go look for her once Ralph and them come back. They shouldn't be gone long." Seeming satisfied with my answer, he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.

When Damian and Christian come back 20 minutes later, I fill them in on what Travis and I talked about. They both agree that we should go look for her now rather than later. Coming up with a plan, Damian goes to inform our parents that we'll be leaving, while Christian stays to help with Travis.

Heading out my mom kisses us each on the cheek followed with a blessing of protection. Gods I hope it's easier to find her now that she's out of hiding. I just hope she's smart enough to stay far from any Fae.