(3) Painstaker

Twenty-Nine: Search

My heart fell. It smelt like Jack's blood.

Planting my hands on his shoulders, I forced his attention on me alone. "What's going on?"

Tyler's had shook slowly. His skin, usually dark, was paler than usual. His hair was longer than when I'd left. Tyler's lips moved lazily as though he were mumbling.

I shook him slightly. "Talk slowly and clearly please. I can't hear you."

The fact that he didn't look the slightest bit confused set warning bells off in my head. "It's Alpha," he finally said. "He started going crazy when Jack..." Tyler's eyes squeezed shut. "Jack was doing the usual procedure on Alpha. He's had to do it a lot more lately. Alpha attacked him, then went on a rampage."

Oh no. My eyes scanned the field beside the house, not far off was the forest. "Where is he?"

"He ran off. We've been trying to find him for hours."

"Summer?"

"Helping Jack. He's not doing too well." There were tears gathering at the corners of Tyler's eyes. I was never sure if Tyler and Jack were true mates, or whether they simply chose to be. Either way, it was obvious how much they cared for each other. Even as kids, they never left the other's side.

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Summer is good," I reassured. I wanted to say that he would alright, but I hadn't even seen him yet. "Are they upstairs?"

He barely nodded, eyes already staring off into space.

"You should rest, Tyler. I'm assuming all of the trackers are out looking for him."

Another nod.

I squeezed his shoulders again. "Do you want to come in? See him?"

A tear rolled down his cheek. "No," he said with trembling lips. "If I do... I'm afraid I will think horrible thoughts about my own Alpha."

I understood what he meant. I'd gone through the same thing with Alpha Henry. "Go home and rest. When you're feeling better, come back and see me, okay?" I lifted my head, seeing a guy around Tyler's age. From what I'd gathered, they did hang out from time to time. "Danny, can you take Tyler home?"

Danny stepped forward, saluting at my request. He swung his long, thin arm around a shaking Tyler and began leading him toward the forest.

When I felt a hand settle on my hip, I automatically stepped closer to him. Zeke used his index finger to turn my head up. "What do you need me to do, love?"

Turning around to face him completely, I linked my fingers with his, soaking up his momentary affection. "You should come with me inside. Summer... she'll need a friend." I pulled at his hand, leading the two of us into the house. I brought us to the room meant as a small version of the pack doctor's office. This room was where Jack gave Carter his treatments.

Walking inside, I felt as my throat thickened. A frantic Summer, along with a few others, were scrambling around the room, blood up to their elbows. Jack laid on the single bed in the room, pale as the sheets he was sprawled on. There were deep, dark gashes peeled open from his right shoulder down to his left hip. I couldn't hear him, but I could see how he bowed off of the bed, mouth open with screams ripping through.

Summer barely acknowledged us. She was too busy trying to stitch him up. Jack's mother, a frail old thing and doctor of both the pack and humans, clasped Jack's trembling hand to her chest. There were tears running down her cheeks and sweat causing white hair to stick to her forehead, but she continued to try to console her son.

Zeke must have said something, because everyone in the room looked up at us. Everyone was talking. Literally. My eyes zigzagged to every single face in the room, some of them looking at me. With so much chaos, I didn't know where to look. My heartbeat sped up, and I could feel sweat beginning to form on my forehead.