Chapter 22
*Cane's POV*
I cracked the door open, but Harmony made no movements to signify that she saw me. Her head faced the opposite wall so all I could see were pink tangles. The dinner her mom brought her last night still sat on the nightstand closest to the door. It looked completely untouched.
Normally Harmony's mom wasn't happy about me being in her daughter's room. If she was home, then we needed to stay in a common area or keep the door wide open if there was no avoiding it. Today she had practically pushed me up the stairs to her room.
I pushed the dinner tray with the new breakfast tray so both sat half dangling off the stand. The bed shifted as I sat on the mattress. She didn't roll over until after I kicked my boots off and pulled my feet into a crossed position. Once she felt like I wasn't here to drag her out of the bed she rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. The fan spun in slow circles. Dark curtains were drawn over her bedroom window, so the room only maintained a dim atmosphere even during the brightest part of the day.
Her arms came out from underneath the pale pink comforter and laid at her side making the blanket tight around her upper body. I could see the straps of her flowery tank top. It was the one Lily gave her for her birthday last year.
"If you're not here to give me good news, I don't think I would be good company." I shrugged and picked up her hand placing our intertwined fingers on my knee. Her hand remained limp and malleable. She didn't push me away which was progress, but she also wasn't actively reaching for me. I briefly regrated wearing jeans.
Her room was soft, gentle, and quiet. She was so delicate right now that I worried even the rough fabric of my jeans against the back of her hand would be enough for her to jerk away and draw into herself completely again.
I wasn't really sure how to respond so I just sat there rubbing my thumb over her hand and watching her watch the slow-moving fan. Our bond had grown weaker over the last few months. At first Harmony was deadest that she was going to find Lily. Her future as an investigator for the pack was already in sight so she felt like it was her responsibility to find her within the limits she had.
Lily, Josh, and Harmony made an odd trio. Or more like two duos with Lily crammed in the middle. Josh and Harmony never meshed well despite how many times we all tried to hang out. Harmony had been loud and opinionated. Josh had been revolving around the one person he was meant to protect. In the end she knew that Josh would come before her and that was okay. She had other friends here and there, but Lily was still the only one she really felt like herself with.
Her limits of being able to search ended at the compound fence. She wasn't strong enough to protect herself or from a high enough ranking family to be protected if something was to happen. When Josh stopped coming home from the other pack information was cut off. That was when she locked herself in her room. Without so much as a phone number to get updates from Adam or Josh she just laid in the bed and worried herself to numbness.
"I miss you, Harmony." I didn't mean for my words to come out chocked, but I couldn't push down the knot in my throat enough to hide it.
Her eyes briefly shifted to me then returned to the ceiling. I attempted to try again knowing that I was pushing my luck. "You know she wouldn't want this."
At this comment her eyes darted over and she yanked her hand away to be able to prop herself up on her elbows. The anger in her eyes was canine and her voice shook as she spoke through the growing teeth. She had to calm down. She would be too weak to shift, but at least some emotion was better than none.
"You know who didn't want this? Lily. She didn't want to be kidnapped by some sicko while everyone sits around doing nothing."
I leaned in and kissed her forehead gently. "Then let's do something, but first you have to eat."
She mumbled a curse and pulled herself into a sitting position knowing she had been trapped with her own words. I put the tray in her lap and walked around the room to her dresser. I pulled out fresh clothes before moving to the curtain. I barely opened it letting in a sliver of bright light. She ducked her head until her eyes could adjust and then continued to munch on the food.
When I made no further explanation of what I meant by us doing something she began to probe me. I was hoping I had at least until she finished eating before I came up with that because truly, I had no more idea of what I could do than she did. I had to get her out of this room though.
"We are going to go talk to Adam. They can't just leave us out of the loop. Now finish your food and take a shower so you feel a little better. I'll make up an excuse to your mom, and we'll get going."
I took a deep breath and walked out of her room hoping she would actually listen. It turned out her mom needed very little convincing or explanation. Just 'we are going out' was enough.
Less than an hour later Harmony bounced down the stairs with a fierceness I hadn't seen in her eyes since we got the news. Her hair hung in wet curls that had already started to frizz as she made a straight line for the door. No backing out now.
*Adam's POV*
"I marked my path coming from this direction so that one will be easy to find. You four will go that way." I moved my hand from the map and pointed to Noah, Thomas, Jennifer, and Daniel. I didn't normally like including a woman in these kinds of searches, but Thomas and Jennifer were mates and the best trackers in the pack. Thomas had his hands pressed on the table and was leaning down closely observing the map. He had bright green eyes and short curly hair. He was about 5'7 and one of the leanest adult shifters I had met. We all expected him to bulk out when he turned eighteen, but at twenty-one he was still just as lean. It made his wolf small and agile.
Jennifer stood behind him and ran her hand through her black hair. She kept her hair shorter than most of the males in the pack and stood an inch taller than Thomas. She was a year older than Thomas, but they hadn't had any children yet. It was slightly rare for a wolf couple in their twenties to not have any children or one on the way. It seemed like they were both still content with just focusing on the hunt, and for today it was beneficial to me so I wouldn't complain.
"You three and I will go around the other direction and converge at this lake checkpoint." I pointed to Josh, Zeke, and Jameson. Both Josh and Jameson had already been part of the initial planning along with Noah, so they weren't completely paying attention. Both were standing behind Zeke shifting between their feet and itching to start searching. Zeke sat staring intently at me to try and absorb every detail. Despite being only seventeen the boy was a genius. He already had his GED and spoke four languages. Him and his mother escaped from a tribe in Mexico and made their way to West Virginia where they met up with our pack as it was reforming. His skin was tanner than most of ours and his eyes were a deep chocolate brown. Once we become more stable, he will be leading a campaign back to Mexico to try and save the rest of his family from the violent Alpha that had taken their pack by force.
"Once we get to the lake we'll converge, and rest then reassess how we proceed. I circled the area about a mile out and couldn't find any further scent so I am hopi- "
"I am coming too." We all whipped our heads around to a small girl with dull pink hair. She stood in the living room with her arms crossed over the white t-shirt. The man that stood behind her was definitely taller and bulkier, but neither were really intimidating in any way.
"Who the hell are you?" Jameson stepped up with a growl and the man with the pink haired girl pushed her behind him while taking a defensive stance. Josh threw his hands up and stepped in between the two before things got out of hand.
"This is Harmony and her mate Cane. Harmony is Lily's other best friend." Harmony alternated her glare between the back of Josh's head, Jameson, and me. In that moment I wasn't sure who she hated most.
I stood and waved down Jameson so that I could introduce myself formally to the couple. "Why don't you guys go grab something from the kitchen. Josh we'll go on the porch so we can all four sit with some privacy. We'll head out within the hour." Everyone nodded and scattered while we turned to the porch. I sat down in one of the rocking chairs motioning for her to follow suit, but she remained standing in front of me with her arms crossed. Cane seemed to be apologetic but didn't say anything out of fear from his mate's reaction. He did exchange a look with Josh that was almost pleading.
They were off their pack territory and all but challenging the future Alpha. By wolf rules this was grounds for execution, and Cane knew it.
"Hello Harmony, I apologize that we haven't met sooner and that we are meeting now on such unfortunate circumstances."
"Cut the bullshit formalities. Nobody feels the need to update her best friend," Her eyes cut to Josh, and he looked down sheepishly. "So here we are, and come to find out you are clearly launching a party to go find her."
I glanced between Harmony and Josh not really sure what to say. I didn't even know Lily long enough to meet Harmony, and Josh never mentioned her. He finally stepped forward and sat in the chair Harmony refused to take.
"It's not his fault. I should have been updating you. I just got selfish and only focused on my feelings and finding her. The general consensus of the pack is she's no longer their problem. I grouped you in with them and that was wrong of me."
She nodded her head in agreement, but it was clear all was not forgiven. "Now that we have that out of the way you can tell me what you know and prep us a place in the search party."
My mouth dropped open, and Cane's eyes widened. He grabbed her hand and turned her to face him. "Are you insane? We aren't protected here. If we die, we would be branded as traitors. Think of your mom. We came here for an update, and we got it. I am sure they won't mind if we stay until the search party returns, but going with them?"
She flew her hand out towards Josh. "If he can go then so can I."
"I am not a member of your pack anymore." We all shifted our gaze to Josh, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Today was just not the day for all these revelations. "The decision was made a few days ago. We put off notifying anyone until we get Lily back. It will depend on what we find how the offer is set forth. Ultimately Leo has to approve the transfer, or I will end up demoted to a low rank or forced rogue. It was best not to trouble anyone else until we knew more. But I won't go back there."
I threw my hands up in frustration. "I need to be focusing on finding her right now. Not all this!" Cane and Josh looked down, but Harmony met my eyes.
"I am not just her best friend. I am a future tracker for the pack. My sense of smell is better than any wolf I have met. Since you still haven't found her, I assume you're having trouble tracking them. He must be using something to mask his scent. If I can't smell him then I can smell that. You need me."
I sighed. She wasn't wrong. Finding a scent would be a game changer. I couldn't turn down the chance if it got us closer to Lily. It had taken a few days to plan out this search party. Throwing a wrench in it could be a terrible idea, or it could be just what we need. I rubbed my temples and got up to open the door.
Our pack was small, and I didn't want to take too many of our strongest members. It would leave the pack itself unprotected which could be the whole point. I called Noah onto the porch to brainstorm who else we could bring in and how we could split the groups the most favorably.
Jameson ended up calling his younger brother. Only separated by a year they looked almost identical, except Parker kept his blonde hair longer. His eyes were slightly darker than Jameson's and his temper slightly shorter.
Jameson, Parker, Cane, and Harmony would start at the cabin. At this point most of his scent had probably disappeared due to how many times we had all tried to track it, but Harmony was determined to pick something up. Jameson and Parker would be able to communicate with us and protect the guests if things were to go south. The change left my group one person down, but we still had myself and Josh so we should be okay.
As I updated the rest of the party, I could see Cane trying to convince Harmony to back out. This was too dangerous to be doing outside of their own pack. Harmony didn't care though and followed Jameson out the front door to head towards the cabin.
Cane's shoulders dropped, but he followed.