Chapter 18
*Josh's POV*
I grabbed the collar of his shirt with both my hands. A growled rumbled from my chest and I felt my fingertips begin to turn into claws.
"Tsk tsk tsk...kill me and how would you ever find your precious friend?" The disgusting smile that his mouth turned into made it almost impossible not to shift and rip his head off. But he was right. Without him we had no leads. I forced myself to take a deep breath and push my wolf down but refused to let him out of my grip.
"What do you want Henry?"
"I want the pack that I deserve. The pack people like us deserve."
"With an alpha that has to kidnap people to get them to join?"
He shrugged and broadened his smile flashing his canines. "Sometimes you have to what's best for the future. I'm here with a proposition."
"What could you possibly offer me?"
"Rank, power, money, a life, a chance at the mate that should have been yours." He brought his hands up and gently pushed my hands off of him.
"She's not mine to have."
"She could be. All we need is to get the big guy out of the way. You are close to him. It'll be easy to take him out."
I laughed dryly and crossed my arms. "That's your big idea? Take the future Luna of one pack and take out the future Alpha of another? I hate to tell you...actually I don't. Your idea is shit. What about this is supposed to appeal to me?" I was hoping Noah would circle back around or I could at least keep him talking long enough to reveal something about where he was keeping her. At the very least when he left, I could follow him.
"A small piece of it. The larger picture though Josh. That's what I want you to see. Right now, you don't really fit into either pack, or why is that? Lily. We would be a pack for the ones who didn't 'fit.' How much wasted talent is there that just gets pushed under the rug because they aren't a member of the inner circle?"
"Yeah, a group of traitors right in the middle of two packs. You won't last a month."
He raised his hands as if to show me some large object in the middle of the empty parking lot. "But we already have. We have done that and so much more. All under the noses of your 'strong' packs. Besides, we won't have to be here much longer."
My stomach dropped. They couldn't leave. Not with her.
He turned and waved a hand to me. "I'll know where to find you. Consider my offer." He shifted and trotted across the lot towards the small, wooded area. He wouldn't be able to travel long on foot. There weren't enough woods. A car would have to be waiting a few miles down.
I made a step forward preparing to shift, but two wolves emerged from the trees. Both small and dark. Their eyes were almost black. If it was night, they would have been invisible. They waited around five minutes before slowly backing into the woods behind their leader.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pressed my thumb against the sensor to unlock it. Maybe Noah was still close enough to catch something on the other side.
*Adam's POV*
I punched the closest tree and yelled in frustration.
"How are we coming up blank again? How does his scent always just go in circles? And who the hell are those two new wolves?"
I couldn't understand why I was always two steps behind this guy. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that I was never going to find her.
Josh had yet to shift out of his wolf form. I could still see him shaking. I wasn't sure if it was pure rage or guilt, but he couldn't sit still. Noah had shifted back to his human form along with me and was standing a few feet away making phone call after phone call.
By time Noah had circled back around there was no one to be found. By time I was able to arrive at the small, wooded area it was just pure desperation.
"Josh, you can't tell us fully what happened until you shift back. All we know is he showed up with two other wolves."
He made two small circles growling softly before shifting into his human form. He tugged at the bottom of his shirt and picked up his backpack. "There's not much more to tell. He's living somewhere between the two packs. He's delusional."
I had an uncomfortable feeling that he was being vague. Henry wouldn't just pop up and risk himself for nothing. He must have felt my suspicion and continued. "Listen he didn't say anything of value. He wants to create a pack for outcasts. The 'forgotten talent' of each pack. He wants me to join him. He thinks we can help each other accomplish what 'we' want."
At this he shifted his weight between his legs and refused to meet my eyes. "What does he want from you?"
"To take out you. And as many of your inner circle as possible."
*Lily's POV*
He pulled the door open, and it closed behind him. A smell followed him, but it wasn't normal. I stayed as still as possible listening for another voice. I only heard one set of feet shuffling, but I smelled him. I could smell Josh.
Henry seemed to be in an abnormally foul mood. He didn't bother too much with the small talk like he normally did. He went straight to the cell door and swung it open before locking it behind him. He didn't say a word as he unlocked my wrists. He stepped away from me and stood in the corner of the room.
I sat up slowly and rubbed my wrists. My feet swung over the side of the table, and I searched for Henry. Most of the time I couldn't fully see him. I could catch glimpse on occasion, but this was the first time I had fully seen him since he grabbed me from my hotel room.
He looked slightly more muscular, and his hair had grown longer. The eyes were just as shocking in the dim room.
"You can stand if you like." His voice was almost...kind.
I pushed myself off the table and tested my legs with a little weight. They instantly buckled and I gripped harder onto the table to pull myself back into a sitting position.
"I have made a decision about how I am handling you. Clearly my methods are not effective for you. You will die before you join me this way."
I nodded. The realization that I would die soon if the days drug on like this. "Listen Lily my cause is noble. A place where people like us can truly lead."
"I was already going to lead. I was already poised to make a difference. A difference that you robbed me of."
He stepped forward and reached out to place a bundle onto the table. I scooted to the opposite side as quickly as I could. He moved back with his hands raised and then waived to the bundle. He turned his back to me as I held up new shirt and sweatpants. I removed my soiled closed and my body was covered in the warm scent of his laundry detergent. As I changed, he continued to speak.
"Yes, you would have led a great army, but you would have hidden the entire time. Why can't you see that? You wouldn't be free, and in turn your pack wouldn't be free. I am trying to create something better here, and we need you. We need your strength and ability. With you we would be unstoppable."
He walked to the cell door and hit one of the bars with the key creating an echo through the tiny building. The front door opened, and a man brought in a tray. It was gently sat in front of the door before the guard turned and walked out. I could feel the cup gently rattling in anticipation. Water.
Henry opened the door only enough to slide the tray in before closing it again. He laid the tray on the table next to me then turned to leave.
"How is he?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. He had said so little, but the change in behavior...the smell. Something was happening and I was just locked in this room.
"He is falling apart. Caught between two families without the one person that made them family." With that he walked out and left me with my now unappetizing plate of food.