Steve, the smallest in the pack, stood leaner and far lankier than the others. His dark brown coat had white spattered around his muzzle, and his eyes, although gold, still held their human likeness. I stared, seeing the intelligence behind the animal. Steve cocked his head to the side and I turned away.
I needed to find something to write on.
"We better leave a note," I said. I needed to focus. Of course the woods left little to work with.
Steve grunted and pushed his large wolf body past me. I watched, curious as to what he would do. How could a wolf leave a message?
Steve stopped in front of the large oak tree and pushed up onto his hind legs, resting his forepaws on the bark. Scratching down, his claws sliced letters into the tree.
My jaw dropped. "You can write with your nails?"
Steve gave a wolfy grin and I shook my head. Why should I be surprised? At this point, anything had become possible.
He finished his carving and then hopped down, motioning for me to look. With a deep breath, I approached his art.
'Ty in trouble. Went to Farm.'
"That'll work." I said. "Come on, Ty needs us."
The tremor in her voice still rang in my head. I even forgot about my fear of riding Steve as I hoisted myself up on his back. I did better this time on my mount, and gripped the scruff on his neck. My thigh muscles squeezed his ribs.
"Okay," I said
Steve lunged forward, and I buried my head against his neck. He bounded and moved through the foliage at an ever-increasing pace, his stride more rude and choppy than Liam's had been. I hung on with all my might. Each twist of his hindquarters made my hips slide in the opposite direction. I did everything I could to keep Ty my focus, the one rationale of why I needed to be up there.
My body felt numb when the old weathered farmhouse came into view. Steve's nose gave a short, snarled sniff. A faint mist of breath circled his nostrils as he stopped about a hundred yards from the farmstead. Still under the faint covering of trees, I peeled my hands from his hair, and slid down. My knees wobbled and I almost lost my balance. Steve caught my shirt with his teeth, holding me in place.
"Thanks." I said. My cheeks burned, but he didn't seem to notice. He stared at the house and the dirty, sage colored barn. Most of the windows had been broken and the panes wore thick layers of dust. The place had to have been abandoned for at least a decade. Even the large, rolling barn door leaned half off its hinge, cracks splintering it in more than one place.
In the bleak lighting from the moon, the place gave off an eerie vibration. Everything was too quiet. Not even a bird rustled. A pit formed in my stomach.
Chapter 21
"Come on." My voice evaporated into the void around us, tangling in my throat.
Steve whined a funny sound and shrank back on his hind legs, edging himself under the cover of trees. The hair on his back rose as if brushed with static.
"Steve, what are you doing?"
He whimpered, retreating further.
"We need to find Ty," I said. "Come on. You're the big werewolf. What are you afraid of?"
Steve grunted and motioned with his head for me to back away with him. I stood my ground. "No. I'm not leaving without my friend, Steve. I'll go alone." I turned from him and started across the lawn toward the barn.
"Wait," Steve said. I spun around to see the human version of Steve, hopping after me as he tried to pull on his jeans. The rude change was almost comical given different circumstances, but I was relieved that he decided to join me. "Charlotte, something's not right here. I can smell it."
I groaned. "What can you smell, Steve?"
"Death," he said.
"Death?" I asked. My mind went to Ty and panic flooded over me. I couldn't breathe right.
The ground tipped and Steve caught my shoulder, steadying me.
"Charlotte," he said, trying to focus me. "It doesn't smell like Ty. I don't think it's your friend." I started to shake. "Charlotte, can you hear me? It's not Ty."
I nodded and swallowed hard.
"Look, I know your friend's in there, but something's not right. I don't know Aaron, but wolves don't leave dead bodies around their dens. The scent is human. I think we should go back and wait for Liam and the others."
"Ty is in there," I said. "If she's not dead now, she could be next. She said she thought someone was following her. Oh, my God." My eyes went wide. "It could be too late." Despite the fear rampaging through my body, I knew what I had to do. "I have to go in there."
"Charlotte," Steve said. His palm gripped my shoulder. "Think about what you're saying. We don't know what the hell is in there. We could all die. You could get killed."
"I have to take that chance." Part of me couldn't believe the words coming from me, but I knew I had to.
"Why?" he asked.
"She's my best friend."
The pause following my words felt deafening.
"Then I'm coming with you," he said, dropping his hold on me.
"You don't have to." I didn't want to put his life at stake. I just needed to get Ty back.
Steve groaned. "I'm dead if I don't. I might as well take my odds in there."
"Sorry," I said.
He shrugged, and pulled a warn gray tee shirt over his head. "A pack member needs help. That's the same as if my right arm needed stitching. The pack is a part of who I am. We stick together."
"You really view me as a part of the pack?" I asked. A strange warm feeling knotted in my chest.
Steve grinned. "Always have. Come on." He lifted his nose in the air and started to the barn. I quickly followed.
He moved the sagging door to the side with little effort. A gust of moldy dust brushed the air, making me cough. I couldn't make anything out through the illuminated pixies dancing against the incoming light from the door. I blinked, letting it settle, before trying to see.
Steve stepped around me, his bare feet enlivening the creaky floor. He could probably see fine.
"I don't smell Ty," Steve said. His voice sounded odd in the tight stale air. "Are you sure she said she was at the barn?"
"You heard the call as well as I did."
"Yeah," he said with a grumble. He leaned over a stall door, sniffing. The air had settled and I could see his ears shifting along his head, following sounds too low for humans to detect. "Seriously though," he said. "This is weird. There's not a trace of her."
Stepping through the doorway, I entered the main hull. "She said she was somewhere in a basement," I said. "Do you see anything that looks like it would lead us down?" I wanted to ask him more about smelling blood, but couldn't muster the nerve.
Steve made a low grunt, which I took as a no, so I went to investigate myself. I contemplated trying to pick up Ty's scent in the same way I had heard her heartbeat in the car that afternoon, but chickened out. I didn't want that awful feeling of losing myself to happen again. I shivered at the thought. I needed to stay focused. I needed to stay me.
Trailing my hand along the dusty cow stanchions lining the east side of the barn, the rough coppery layer of rust scratched at my skin. I couldn't imagine how long ago this place had been occupied, werewolves excluded.
I followed the row of milking stanchions down to the far end, when I realized I could see a small hidden area behind them. Stretching my neck through the equipment, I called out. "Ty? Are you in there?"
"What are you doing?" Steve asked.
"Come here," I said, ushering him over with my hand. "I think I see something." I carefully stepped through, pushing the heavy stanchion bars to the side on their chain. The floor boards groaned under my feet.
"What is it?"
I jumped. "Jeeze, Steve. Don't do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack."
He chuckled. "You told me to join you over here."