Heart's Desire

Chapter 36 - Monty

Dawn comes before we call off the search. It's been clear for some time that there's nothing to find, but no one dares say as much to Dane. Emotions rule over reason in Wolf form, and his are high and fraught with anguish and uncertainty as he fears for his children and his mate.

On the other hand, he'll run himself to death in his desperation, and that won't help anyone – least of all Julian and the twins. And so, as the sun peeks above the eastern hills, and he turns back to go over the same ground yet again, I step in front of him and block his path.

With my head lowered and my hackles raised, I let a soft growl rumble in my chest. It's not a challenge or an invitation to a fight, but merely a wolfish way of saying, 'enough is enough.' I hope he gets the message. In his current state, he might attack me without thought.

His lips draw back from his teeth in a snarl, and his amber eyes blaze with a fierce, feral light. For a moment, I'm not sure what he'll do, and hold very still, so he understands he has the next move. To my relief, he relaxes, the light fading from his eyes and the fur on his back lowering. I relax my stance as well, and wag my tail like a flag of brotherly affection. He shakes out his long, gold-tipped black fur, and snorts at the ground.

Message received and understood.

He trots away, tips his head back, and releases a long, low howl – a signal to the others that the hunt is over, and a call to return home. Then he sets off down the ridgeline towards Sasha's house at an easy lope.

We meet the others there – Noah, Freya, and Darius coming from the opposite direction, and Ambrose, Sasha, and our mom greeting us from the house. After we've all regained our human forms and retrieved our clothes, we regroup inside.

"Where's dad?" Dane asks, first thing.

"Upstairs, resting," Sasha says.

"It seems he was tranquilized," Ambrose adds. "Some sort of fast-acting anesthetic, I would guess, which can be quite dangerous for someone with a heart condition. Whoever did it either has medical knowledge, or didn't care if he died and simply got lucky with the dose. What did you find, anyway?"

"Not a damned thing," Freya says, hands on her hips and a line of worry between her brows. "No unusual scents. No tracks or traces of intruders. Nothing."

Ambrose makes a noise of acknowledgement, a thoughtful look on his face, but says nothing more.

"Where's Kit?" I ask, looking around. Being so newly Mated, it's hard to think of anything but him, and even a short separation fills me with a painful longing. I can't imagine what Dane must be going through right now.

My mom's eyes widen with surprise. "Oh my goodness – I completely forgot! We couldn't get a hold of Martin, so Kit went over on foot. When he didn't come back, I assumed he'd stayed over to help with the kids."

Dane speaks before I can formulate a coherent thought.

"Julian and my children are missing, your Mate was attacked, and when someone leaves and doesn't come back, you assume they're fine?"

His voice is a low, angry growl, but our mom isn't cowed.

"Yes, I did," she snaps. "I was a little preoccupied with your father and with everything else that's happened. Whoever took Julian and the babies isn't going to stick around waiting for you to catch up with them. The danger's been and gone."

"That's assuming it came from 'outside' to begin with," Ambrose interjects mildly.

Dane rounds on him, amber eyes flashing.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ambrose seems to hesitate, his own eyes shadowed as by a troubling thought.