“Oh, so what are you going to do? Sniff my ass to confirm?” The embarrassment was clear in Coral’s voice.
“No, I’m not an animal—wait, I am, but not a dog. I won’t be doing that anytime soon,” Beth replied.
“It’s okay, we all do it,” Ivory said sweetly.
“Beth, can you focus on your conversation with Emma?” Annoyance filled Amethyst’s usually warm voice.
“Oh, yeah.” Beth waved a hand in front of her nose. “Sorry, it smells like shit in here … literally.”
“They couldn’t be normal,” Aidan muttered loud enough for only me to hear.
A laugh broke free before I could contain it. “Yeah, I gathered that. What’s up?”
“We’re going to let you lead in case you feel something.” Beth cleared her throat. “Amethyst looked, and she’s slightly north of Austin. With three of you in your car, you may notice the tug before we do.”
“Okay, that makes sense.” I turned to Aidan. “Get in front of Samuel. They want us to lead.”
“Got it.” Aidan nodded.
“Oh, and you three try not to kill each other.” Whatever frustrations they had, they needed to get it out before we started hunting for our girl.
“There are six of us in the car,” Beth scoffed.
“Your point?” I smiled, even though she couldn’t see it. “I’m not worried about Amethyst, Ivory, or Remus.”
“You’ve got me there.” Beth chuckled. “Okay, I’m sure we’ll talk soon. We’ll follow your lead from here on out.”
I ended the call and shook my head.
“Everything okay?” Honor leaned over the center console so I could see her.
“Yeah, just everyone’s nerves are on edge.” I looked over my shoulder. “How’s everyone back there?”
“Fine, if Gabby and Logan could stop sucking face,” Ada growled.
Okay, maybe we were not better off than the other vehicle. I hadn’t been willing to turn around too often for that same reason.
“Hey, don’t be jealous.” Gabby grinned. “I’m sure you’ll find someone.”
“I’m not jealous.” Ada wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want a man. It’s the furthest thing from my mind after that hell we left behind.”
Couldn’t blame her there. “The three of us”—I pointed at Gabby, Honor, and myself—“need to focus. As soon as we feel a tug, we need to alert Aidan.”
“So … how does this work?” Honor bit her bottom lip. “I mean, I’m not sure what to expect.”
“It’s what she said … a tug.” Gabby arched an eyebrow as if that explained it.
Honor’s face fell. “I guess that was a stupid question.”
Aidan linked with me. We’ve got to get Logan’s and Gabby’s attitudes in check. They’re dicks half the time. And after what Logan pulled back there …He trailed off.
He didn’t have to say more. I was just as upset as he was about Logan killing the alpha. At least, that had removed Honor and Ada’s pack connection. They formed a small pack within themselves with Honor as the alpha, so they wouldn’t go too insane. They didn’t have any mates to ground them like the others.
They’ve gotten worse since they mated. They must have begun feeding off each other, so I took it upon myself to make Honor feel better. “It’s not a stupid question at all. Gabby doesn’t like it when others question her intelligence.”
Gabby growled low, but that was it.
“Have you ever wanted something so much it felt like you had to have it? Like you may not be able to survive without it.” It was a hard feeling to describe.
“Yeah, leaving that asshole pack.” Honor pointed at Ada. “We’ve been desperate to leave for years, but I feel terrible for leaving the others behind.”
“Well, it kind of feels like that. You feel a desperate need to be near the chosen girl … if that makes sense.” I didn’t know how else to explain it. “And don’t worry; when we find this last girl, we’ll save your pack. After all, we will be their alphas.”
“Thank God we can save them. Even though the alpha died, all the other men are just as bad if not worse.” Honor ran a hand down her face. “It was so hard growing up there.”
“And they didn’t allow us to bring others in, so recently, family members began mating together.” Ada shivered. “Like at the cousin level, but it won’t be much longer before it becomes closer than that.”
The thought revolted me. “Well, that won’t be a problem soon.”
We were north of Austin, and I began to scan the roads. It was stupid, but I almost expected the girl to just appear on the side of the road, waiting for us to pick her up. Luck would never be on my side like that.
We were nearly twenty miles outside of Austin when something tugged deep inside. “Wait …” I sat straight in my seat.
“You got something?” Aidan glanced at me as his hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Yeah. Do you two feel it too?” I glanced over my shoulder.
Gabby nodded, and Honor took deep, rapid breaths.
“I think I do …” Honor half laughed. “It’s so odd.”
“Turn off here.” A sign to Georgetown popped up on the side of the road. “That’s where we need to go.” I felt it deep in my bones.
“Okay.” Aidan took the exit heading toward the heart of the town.
My phone rang, and I didn’t have to look at it to know who it was. “I’m assuming Ivory felt the same thing?”
“Yup. Just making sure we were all on the same page. I’ll let you go so you guys can concentrate.”
“Sounds good.” I ended the call and put the phone in the cupholder. I opened myself up as much as possible, waiting for the tug to strengthen.
We drove through a cute little town surrounded by trees. That made sense since we were looking for a wolf.
Small, quaint brick buildings lined the downtown roads. They were well kept, and people were bustling through it. The town was very picturesque.
Not even five blocks from downtown, signs pointed to a lagoon and hiking trail. “We need to stop here.” It made sense to begin here.
Aidan followed my instructions, and we pulled into a full parking lot. We drove to the farthest corner, passing by a huge swimming hole crowded with people. Limestone bluffs made the view spectacular, and several people were swimming under a mini waterfall. The water stretched for miles, and deep woods surrounded it.
Samuel pulled beside us, and we piled out of the vehicles, heading to the tree line.
“She’s definitely this way,” Ivory stated as we hurried into the woods.
“She won’t be on the main trail, so we need to be careful.” Luckily, we’d entered into a heavily wooded area not designated for hiking.
Gabby turned to Logan. “Do you three want to shift again?”
That’s not happening this time. Aidan growled through our bond. Right before he could open his mouth to respond, I jumped in.
“How about we all go as human?” If Aidan had suggested it, Logan would’ve put up a fight, and I needed to keep their emotions leveled. “Worst case, the three of you shift again and we carry your clothes back to the car, or, hell, you put on what you have and we go buy another outfit later.”