Outliers

Thirty Two

"He must have had help," Adriel said, his scowl never lessoning. His hair was loose from it's usual tied back style, the blond shoulder-length hair soaked and sticking the length of his neck; small strands were plastered to his jaw and face as the wind picked up and changed direction, assaulting our faces with rain. "It's unlikely Russo and his mate were able to overpower them alone. But we've had no sign of trespassing wolves on the territory."

I stepped closer to Thane, shamelessly using his large stature to shield me from the rain.

"How many of the trainee's stayed behind? Who didn't attend the Mating Rotations?" I asked with a frown, drawing Adriel's attention, as well as the surrounding enforcers.

"You think it was one of the trainees that helped them?" An enforcer I didn't know spoke up.

"You're missing three Nevada trainees right now." I gestured across the field over to my training group. "Only one of which I recall seeing at the Rotations."

"Daniel," Thane muttered beside me, neck arched over to trainees as he scoured the group with a glare of his own, looking just as sombre as his Beta.

I had seen how much Daniel cared for Riley first hand - and I had seen the anger he felt towards Russo for threatening Riley's safety. I couldn't believe he would do anything to aid his escape. Yet... he was unaccounted for.

"Shit." Adriel cursed, shoulders slumping in exhaustion. "What an absolute shit show. What do we do?"

"Send everyone out," Thane sighed, nodding at the enforcers. "Including the trainees. I want everyone searching for Russo, his mate, and the three Nevada wolves. Search in groups. Enforcers out searching the outer boundaries of the territories, trainees searching at the inner boundaries with Taron, Zahra and Lorcan. You, me and Sandra will split up an head in opposite directions. Sandra takes lead."

Adriel nodded firmly, already turning towards the enforcers as Thane grabbed my head and pulled me towards the house, only glancing behind us to call out towards Nero and gesture for him to follow us. As we grew closer, I realised Riley was sat on the porch with three enforcers surrounding him. The young boy seemed shaken —clearly concerned about Russo's whereabouts —but was otherwise unharmed.

"I need you to stay inside with Riley and Nero, okay?" Thane murmured, pulling me into his arms with his head stooped towards me. Rain battered against his face, the wind whipping his wet hair violently. There was a deep tension locked in his jaw. His eyes were hard, and his mouth was set in a thin line. He seemed furious... no... not furious. Worried.

"Because it's safe?" I asked, cupping his jaw in my hand. He leant into the small gesture of affection, eyes closing as he allowed himself to sigh and arch his shoulders further into me.

"No," he said, arms tightening around my waist. "Because I trust you more than anyone else, and I know you place similar trust in Nero. Riley is untrained and vulnerable. I need you to protect him."

I smiled at that, heart warming at the knowledge that he had genuine respect for my skills as a fighter, that even though we were mates he didn't want to hide me away to keep me safe.

"I'll see you soon," I assured. Leaning up to place a kiss against his cheek.

He offered me a bitter sweet smile and moved quickly to capture my lips with his own before I could move away. It was a short kiss, one I didn't want to end. Not when I knew he was about to run out into the woods in search of Benjamin Russo and whoever aided him.

"Stay safe."

***

The three of us —Riley, Nero and I —sat in Riley's bedroom in absolute silence. Riley was on his bed, knees up against his chest, eyes set intently on the window that gave him a view towards the tree's where the majority of the enforcers and trainees had disappeared. Nero was laying down on his back in the middle of the room, arms and legs spread like a star as he stared up at the ceiling and I sat by the closed door, my back against the adjacent wall, twirling my knife in my hands as we waited. Waited, waited and waited for someone to return, or for Russo.