As I came to, my vision was blurry, and my mind was foggy from the tranquilizer.
"Clay man, come on, you gotta get up."
I groaned as I sat up, then looked around the room as my vision slowly returned. My heart sped up in a panic when I noticed that someone was missing.
"Little Bird," I called out, but there was no reply, "Eve, baby?"
I stumbled to my feet, nearly falling on my ass, but thankfully Asher rushed to help me.
"Where the hell is Eve!?" I slurred, still feeling messed up from the drug. How much was in that damn dart?
"Clay dude, you need to get your shit together," says Asher as he shakes my shoulders.
Smack!
A smack to the face cleared the rest of the drowsiness, but I could barely control myself as I half-shifted in a rage and lunged at the closest person, who happened to be Asher.
"Fuck Clay, we don't have time for your shit right now!" Asher growled, then shifted into his half-form as he tried to get the upper hand.
"Where the fuck is Eve!" I growled as I pinned him to the floor.
"I have been trying to tell you, dammit! Let me go, and I will tell you!"
"Is this what he is like when Eve isn't around?" I heard Gray ask Shelby.
"This is nothing; if you don't want to see how bad he can get, I would shut up now before he hears you," she replies.
I ignored their words, then stepped away from Asher, "Now tell me what happened."
"She was taken, Clay," he said, bringing me to my knees with just a few words,
"Who took her?"
"It was Elder Payatt; he is the one who took Eve," Shelby explained, sitting off to the side with Gray and Waverly.
"I can use my bond with Eve to find her, but right now, I can't use my magic until this tranquilizer is out of my system," I said as I rose to my feet, then headed for the door, "We need to return to the school to talk to Mr. Okhmhaka."
"Do you think Elder Payatt was the one killing the students?" Gray asked as he followed.
Shelby shook her head, "No, I think the killings were entirely different."
As soon as my feet touched the snow-covered ground, I shifted into my wolf, then hurried back towards the school, but when we got to the school border, I was shocked to see that the protection magic wasn't there.
This was not a good sign….
I gagged from the scent of blood and the bodies of students and teachers scattered throughout the forest as we made our way toward the school.
"What the fuck happened here?" Asher asked through our pack bond.
"I don't like the looks of this," Shelby whimpered as she followed close behind Asher.
"Whoever is responsible for these deaths is the same person who killed Harmony and Lincoln," I stated as I recognized the arrows and the purple lips.
"Lincoln is dead too? Why are they only going after wolves?" asked Shelby.
I hadn't even realized it until now, but all the dead students and teachers are wolf shifters.
When we finally got to the edge of the forest, the four of us froze when we saw a woman in a half-cougar form holding a bow in her arms as she shot at wolves as they ran into the trees. Standing beside her was a familiar priest I never wanted to see again. The sick fuck smiled from ear to ear as he watched the bloodbath.
His henchmen were walking around shooting students with bows that looked identical to the one the half-cougar lady was holding.
When the half-cougar woman turned toward us, I recognized it was Headmistress Tocho.
I scanned the clearing until I spotted a familiar gray and white wolf, and of course, it had to be my old pal, Shawn. I remember what that fucker did to Eve, but now wasn't the time for old grudges.
"Psst, hey, Shawn!"
"Clay, is that you?" he asked as I watched him scan the trees.
"Yes, it's me; I just returned to the school after going out for a run beyond the border. What the hell happened here?" I asked.
"Why did you go beyond the border?" he asks.
"That's not what is important right now; I want to know what happened."
"It all happened so fast, Clay, one minute we were all just doing our thing, then out of nowhere, Miss Tocho starts shooting everyone with those arrows," Shawn explains, "I heard her say something about how it's time for the cats to be on the top of the totem pole, and what makes things worse, that damn priest that took Eve is here too."
Damnit! I don't have time for this!
I needed to look for Eve, but I couldn't leave everyone here to die.
"I can't risk getting shot," I said to Asher, "If I die, Eve will die too. I think it's best to leave and look for a way to contact our parents."
"I ahh, I have a cellphone in my bedroom; we can use it to call our parents," says Shelby.
I shook my head and said, "It's not worth fighting through all these poisonous arrows to get to your phone. We must go to the nearest town to find a phone."
"If you guys are leaving, then I'm coming with you!" says Shawn as he approaches us.
"Fine, but don't slow us down," I growled, "And don't think I haven't forgiven you yet for what you did."
"I understand, Clay; for all it's worth, I'm sorry for what I did."
"It's not me whom you should be apologizing to," I stated. With one more scan of the scene before me, I backed away and then turned to hurry back the way we came.
"What happened to Eve?" asked Shawn.
As we hurried through the pine tree forest, Asher and Shelby caught him up on what we were doing.
"Damn, I'm sorry, Clay. I hope we find her soon."
"Me too, Shawn, me too."