The blood was Ashton’s. There really was no mistaking it. There was so much blood almost dried on the general debris of the forest floor. Ray could have smelt Ashton’s scent from at least half a mile away before getting to the scene. The puzzle however, was why the body wasn’t here.
In the form of a wolf he began walking around. The wolf gave him even better sense of smell but right now he needed to communicate and he needed to be in human form for that. He changed back quickly, forgetting the feel of his bones changing.
“Why is there no body?” Was his first question. He was hoping one of them had moved it to save the distress of one of the women or children finding it but Turner shock his head. The four other wolves surrounding him bowed their own heads and he felt like a brick just dropped into his stomach. “Taken?”
“The blood isn’t just here, they moved his body but then the scent just disappears.”
He didn’t wait for any more of an explanation; he simply changed back into wolf form. He sniffed around the blood and then traced it to where splatters of ruby red liquid had coloured leaves and trees trunks. And when he walked for maybe three minutes, the scent just disappeared. Just like they said. He sniffed and sniffed trying desperately to get the scent into his nose and for the longest of time he didn’t smell anything, until… he did. But it was elusive, it was such a faint trace he couldn’t pinpoint it’s direction.
The frustration of it all had him pacing frantically to and fro, determined to pick it up. To find a brother. He began to get agitated and Turner tried to join him; to take away his frustration with logic. That was Turner job, to keep the Alpha grounded when emotion sometimes got too high but today Turner’s presence was only a nuisance. Ray wanted to be frustrated, he wanted to be angry and he wanted to howl to the moon.
He could not pick up on the scent and instead he vowed that tonight he would see Tendra’s father. He wanted to take out his anger on something and a good for nothing werewolf that couldn’t look after a woman and child classed as ‘something.’
“Ray.” Turner was saying to him. “Ray!”
He heard the voice but he neither recognised it nor understood it, he was frantic still. That elusive scent, it was there but he just couldn’t get a direction on it and it was making him whine. The wolf instinct strong. “We are all worried Ray, we need you to lead us now. What do we do?”
Turner who had seen his Alpha in many a wolf trance, taken over by instinct and trapping his human self inwards, tried desperately to bring him back to reality. To talk to him and try to synch his human ear and thoughts with Turner’s own human voice. But today it wasn’t working. To be fair it hadn’t worked very well on the other wolves who also had paced restlessly and tried to find their fallen brother even when they could pick up on the scent as Ray had done. Ray however, as Alpha, had far more animalistic instincts in him than anyone else. It would be that much harder to get through to him. But he would try.
“Alpha.” He started to use the term of address to a leader rather than a friend. It was a term of respect to try to get through to the leadership skills of the Alpha wolf. “Think of you mate. You need to get back to her.”
That got through. That had Ray stopping still; he heard a voice and needed to hear it again. “Think of your mate.” Were the words, repeated. Of course in his mind Tendra flashed before him. She was without his protection at this very minute and he needed to finish up here and ensure his female Alpha was still safe and secure. He had her protection to sort out, her own personal guard to assign.
As little by little his human thought came back to him his mate was not the only one he thought about. This forest needed specific guarding and careful attention. Protection for his pack was now to be upped a level – or two. He had multiple ideas of who had hurt his brother; it could be one of his pack, it could be a neighbouring pack, it could even be the Sanguis pack, and with every suspect came specific plans though he had an idea while plan he was going to put forth first. He had to put these plans in place to ensure the survival of his pack. Of his family. When the term family replaced that of pack he knew himself to be in his own mind again. To be human and he transformed as quickly as he could so as to make sure he kept that logic.
“Ashton’s body whether dead or alive will be found and brought back to us. For now I want detailed explanations for what protection you have started and first of all I want to see my mate.”
Turner nodded and barked a few orders out to the four stood waiting. They nodded in agreement and let past their Alpha, who still looked far too animal like to them. His brows were still hairier than normal, the hair on his head longer than usual. In time as he calmed down it would return back to normal but until then, he looked angry and fierce. They let him past easily, not wanting to be within reach of him.
Tendra was trying to make tea while Nancy paced restlessly and cried loudly. The kettle boiled and for the shock Tendra had added three sugars into Nancy’s tea. She herself only took one.
“Nancy, come sit down. Until we know, until Ray comes back then there is nothing we can do.”
“My Ashton is gone. He’s everything to me.”
“Come sit down Nancy.” But Nancy didn’t. She continued to pace and her eyes were glazed over, as though she wasn’t quite seeing the world around her. At last Tendra became silent; she had no comfort for the woman. She didn’t know what to say or how to act. Her life, as hard as it had been, she had never been in a position that required her to comfort anyone other than Tim.
Tim who had been sat quietly looked up when Tendra went quiet and he put down his little cup. Looking towards Nancy he, as young as he was, didn’t want her to cry. Tendra was his big sister; he knew that even if Tendra had been a mother to him, he was aware she was his big sister. And he loved her dearly but in Nancy he found a mother. One he had longed for. One who he saw potential in, not just for himself but for Tendra as well. He had been pleased when Tendra ate with him that morning, when she was welcomed as readily as he had been and now looking at that very woman who had welcomed and fed them and who he wanted to be around a little more, he too was sad to see her so upset.
He eluded Tendra’s arms as she tried to stop him and instead put down his cup and walked over to Nancy. He studied her for a little minute until she noticed him watching her and stopped her pacing.
“Ah, Tim, can I get you anything?”
“You’re sad Nancy,” was all her said.
“I am.”
“Ashton hasn’t come home to you?”
“No, he hasn’t.”
“When Tendra isn’t home, I hide under my bed. Until I’m hungry or father shouts for me loudly.”
“Oh Tim,” She cried a little more and went to her knees to hug him but he moved back,
“No Nancy, don’t cry, hiding keeps me safe. I feel safe under my bed. But, there is always a reason I have to leave it. I have to eat or tidy my toys. Or do my spellings or reading for school. I can’t hide forever. You can’t walk in the kitchen forever Nancy. I go looking for Tendra sometimes; I wait at the top of the street when I know she is due back. Why don’t we wait for Ashton, when we know he will come back?”
How on earth had Tim learnt that? Tendra looked up at her young brother, he had knowledge far beyond his years and she didn’t know whether to cry or not. So that was why he stood at the top of the street for her and to think she had shouted at him. But he hadmbeen trying to get away from where he couldn’t stay forever. He was trying to get on with life and that meant finding out if she was going to come home or not. How he must have hated waiting. Hoping for her return and dreading that she wouldn’t. Wondering at how his life would end up if she did or if she didn’t return that day.
“I don’t know when he will come to me Tim.”
“Then there’s no point going to meet him, just yet, we wait until he’s due back. Let’s cook Nancy, let’s make Alpha something to eat for when he gets back. Then he can tell us when Ashton is due back and then we can go wait for him.”
Tiny hands took hold of Nancy’s and tugged on them. She sniffled a little but eventually got to her feet and let Tim lead her to the sink where he reached for the kitchen roll, handed her some and then went for the tap.
“Let’s wash our hands; we can’t cook with dirty hands.” He turned the tap and squirted soap on his hands as a wide eyed Tendra looked at him. Cooking; he always made her cook after her father had got to her and she had bathed. At the time he had said he was hungry and she simply went back to the reality that was raising Tim, but now she saw his eyes and they were very, very different from his voice. His voice as childish and innocent were at odds with his eyes – they were older. His eyes were informed. He was bringing Nancy back to a world of necessity, taking her away from hiding, and showing her that life had to go on, no matter what was wrong. In due time she could find out more about Ashton, but she had cried enough now.
Ray came back to his house and smelled the familiar cooking of Nancy, he was surprised and walked in to find a lasagne sitting on the table with garlic bread and salad. There was absolutely tons of it. Dishes were piled high and the few bottles of pop he had in his fridge were all out.
“I figured the guards who had been on patrol duty today would want food.” Nancy bustling about, handing things to Tim who put them on the table or the worktops. Tendra was dishing up a plate and she placed it down at the head of the table and motioned for him to sit down and start eating. Turner was welcome but he was told to send the message out that one by one the warriors on guard duty were allowed to come for food at Alpha’s house.
Ray went to ask what was with the food and the distracted Nancy but Tendra shook her head, all would be explained later. Nancy finally sat down, and took a bit out of her lasagne herself but that was for show. As distracted a she was, she had no appetite. Ray himself was hungry but he didn’t like taking the time to sit in civilisation when he knew there were things to do.
“Alpha?”
“Nancy, you should know by now, that to you I am Ray.”
“Ray? What of Ashton?”
“He’s gone Nancy, but there is no body,”
“Is he hurt?”
He didn’t want to say. He wanted to keep the awful details from her, to save her the anguish of knowing the truth but her face was on edge - unknowing seemed more painful to her. He nodded his head and she let out a little cry. Tears rolled down her face and she put a hand over them to try to hide them but he still saw. Tim slipped off his seat and walked over to her, climbing onto her knees and throwing his arms around her neck. If anything for a minute she sobbed only harder but eventually she too put her hands around his slight frame and hugged him back. She buried her head in his shoulder and let the little boy comfort her as no other had managed to do as of yet. Tendra looked to Ray.
“What are we going to do?”
“We don’t know where he is, I’m sending some scouts out to search for him outside the forest, incase he is found on no man’s land, or another territory. That in itself is going to be dangerous. I am sending two envoys to the nearest pack to determine if they had anything to do with the disappearance.”
“Only two? You go to accuse and send only two? You don’t think it’s them do you?”
“I’m not sure Tendra.” He looked away from her.
“You’re not going to accuse, you sending friends, wary friends, but a friendly approach none the less. Who do you think has done this?”
“Not now Tendra. Not now.”
“You said that before.”
Nancy had stopped her sobbing and was looking at the Alpha, “Who?” She asked, “Who has taken him? Who do you think has taken him?”
“Calm down Nancy, you know full well, neighbouring packs may have taken him as leverage for land. You know he is close to me, so that puts others in this very pack as suspects.”
“But you haven’t called a pack meeting yet.” She said.
“It’s getting late. I’ve been searching and speaking to Turner for four hours Nancy, it too late in the afternoon to be calling a pack meeting, it would only finish in the evening and it’s too late to send people home.”
“Tell us, who else is on your suspect list.”
Tendra’s insistence was breaking him. She wanted to know but he knew what she would think if he told her. Ashton was a fine warrior. He had been sent on scouting parties many times as well. He saw things, he stayed hidden, he was good. No mere amateur had taken him.
“Tendra, I can not answer you right now, I don’t know.”
“We are mates, I know when you lie.”
Two blows in one. She claimed him as her mate. He would have danced in joy if not for the accusation in her sentence that had dishonoured him. No mate lied to the other.
“The Sanguis pack. I believe he was taken by the Sanguis pack.” Tendra ran for the bathroom.