Chapter 85

Jaxon and Darian shared a look of terror, Leon had taken all of his piercings out after training yesterday and for some reason hadn't put them back in.

For someone who always wore the silver piercings, he had chosen a really bad time to decide to not wear them.

Before they could say anything though, Ian was already talking. "What the fuck?" He cursed.

"What is it?" Jaxon questioned impatiently.

"He has to be in a car because nothing else could be going that fast, hell it's a miracle for a car to even go this fast..."

"Where the fuck is he? Enough yammering." Darian cut him off.

"Going west..."

Theo perked up. "That makes sense, if you're trying to hide, especially with someone else that most likely doesn't want to be with you, heading for the cluster of small towns at the other extreme of the forest is your best shot." He started to explain, well versed on the matter.

"Most of the folks there are shut-ins, there's a good number of werewolves but most are humans wanting to stay away from society." He continued. "Without that tracking device we would never have been able to find them."

"That's more than what we need to know." Darian said decisively, taking Jaxon's wrist who readily stood up with him.

"Wait, where are you going?" Alpha Noah asked in surprise.

"To get Leon back." Jaxon was kind enough to grace them with a reply before Darian tugged him out of the office.

"I'll get the boys out, might take a while to round them up." Sheriff Brackett pushed to his feet with a huff, making his way out.

"We're not going to see him are we?" Theo murmured after the door shut. "You should have gotten rid of him and replaced him with a were, then they would have been able to send information to the Sheriff of whatever town Ethan decides to go to, to keep an eye out."

Alpha Noah just sank deeper into his chair, looking like he aged a couple decades since he first sat down.

"I want to rest my head a bit, Theo." He murmured, placing his head on the table.

Theo sat down quietly, keeping him company while he grieved. He couldn't offer sympathy but he could offer support.

"We could get a helicopter out to get there faster." Ian said to Jaxon who still had the phone up to his ear while Darian pulled him along.

"Doubt Leo would appreciate that." Virgil interjected.

Ian sighed heavily, visibly worried about his twin. "He wouldn't like it if we came down to Cone either." He admitted.

They had gotten to the car again so Jaxon put it on speaker once more.

"Keep the chopper on standby, we'll call if we need it." Darian said, knowing that they wouldn't, at least he hoped they wouldn't.

"Sure, I'll share his location with you." Ian decided.

"And I'll have a long talk with Alpha Noah." Virgil muttered darkly.

Jaxon hung up and for the first time since they woke up, they were alone again.

Darian stepped on the gas like he wanted to smash the pedal, Jaxon keeping a sharp eye on the map.

Ethan had passed a couple towns and after a while Jaxon was starting to worry if Theo had guessed wrong and Ethan would just keep going.

He stopped soon after, slowing down as he made his way into a town.

"He stopped at Camden County." Jaxon said with as much relief as he could spare.

Darian found solace in the thought that Ethan had no idea that they were onto him, it meant that he would take his time when he thought he was safe.

"You knew about the Alpha's mate." Darian said in a level tone, it was neither a question nor an observation, he was just stating it.

"She was blatantly flirting with him when I bumped into Ethan at the kitchens, she had no idea I was there too." He explained. "Didn't realise it ran this deep."

The car fell silent after this, nothing to fill the space between them but a shared worry and dread.

"You knew it was Ethan, didn't you?" He asked Darian, looking at him.

Darian shrugged, looking steadfastly at the road, he didn't realise how hard it would be to lie to Jaxon when he confronted him head on.

"He felt off to me but I didn't want to mention it without proof, he's your friend after all." He said dismissively, hoping that Jaxon would let it go.

He didn't...

"That's not what I'm talking about." Jaxon insisted, staring at him with unblinking eyes.

"Suspicions don't hold a grain of salt..." He started to make excuses.

"Bullshit." Jaxon cut him off. "Keep shit like that from me again and I'll break your teeth in." He muttered darkly.

Darian fell silent at this, not doubting Jaxon one bit.

A pissed Jaxon was hot and terrifying, a mental note to store for later.

He was right though, keeping things from each other had only led them to this point, with one of them kidnapped by a possible psycho.

The mental image of the teeth marks on Leon's shoulder made him push past the speed limit and then some, he didn't need to be worried about oncoming vehicles anyway, very few people traversed these roads.

Although he still hadn't told Jaxon everything that he knew, he figured out that Ethan was the cause of Leon's violent mood swings.

He wouldn't need to though, soon enough Jaxon would get to see for himself. He didn't like the thought of that but he would rather keep all his teeth.

The car silently ate up the tarred road, trees and shrubs whipping past them.

Darian kept his eyes on the road, keeping his gaze on the white line to stop his thoughts from distracting him.

Jaxon kept his own gaze on the screen of his phone, the blinking green dot on the map distracting him but not enough to keep the panic at bay.

He tried to convince himself that it was Leon, that most likely by the time they got there, he would be casually waiting for them, Ethan knocked out beside him.

But that only amplified his terror, it was Leon, you never know when he needed help because he hid everything very well.