Ashlee gasped and bent over to touch her hurt paw. “She’s injured.”
Tristan made a growling sound in his throat and the other male wolves followed suit, which caused Faith to back up. “Did you do this to her?”
Faith shook her head. “She was injured when I grabbed her and took her out of that terrible place.”
Tristan narrowed his eyes. “You’ve been inside and came out again?”
Faith nodded. “I find kidnapped victims and bring them home. It’s my job. I’m good at getting in places I’m not supposed to be.”
“I don’t smell Cullen in your vehicle. I take it you don’t have him too?”
Faith wrinkled her forehead. “I don’t know what that is. I don’t even know who she is and I’m getting the impression you people are wolves too. But not from that place?”
Tristan shook his head. “Very different wolves. What did you say your name is?”
Ashlee started to stroke Summer’s head which Summer was immensely grateful for. She never would have guessed she was the type of person to need human contact but being trapped like this was teaching her all sorts of new things about herself. “She hasn’t said, Tristan.”
Faith cleared her throat. “My name is Faith Anderson. Look, she obviously belongs with you. I’m just glad I got her out of there. I’ll leave her with you now.” Faith turned around.
“Wait.” Tristan called after her. His voice an order and as with most things Summer found true to be of Tristan, he was obeyed. Faith stopped moving. “I want to hear more of how you got in and out of that place.”
“Tristan.” Ashlee interrupted whatever it was Summer’s brother-in-law was going to say next. “I don’t think Summer can communicate. I’ve been trying to speak with her telepathically and I don’t even think she can hear me.” Her sister was right. Summer had no idea Ashlee was trying to speak with her. “I think she’s stuck like this.”
Tristan crossed to Summer and bent down to look at her. He took off his glasses and Summer heard Faith gasp. Tristan’s eyes would do that to anyone who wasn’t prepared for them. Summer looked up to see Faith struggling to get out of Gabriel’s grip.
Tristan followed her gaze and took in the scene. “There’s no need to restrain her Gabriel. I’m sure Ms. Anderson won’t leave until we tell her it’s alright.” Amazingly, Faith stopped struggling and Gabriel let her go. Even non-shifters were listening to Tristan now.
“We have nearly the whole pack here.” Tristan’s eyebrows curved downwards as he spoke. “It’s not ideal but we’re isolated out here. We’ll have warning if anyone comes along.”
Michael shook his head in confusion at Tristan’s words. “We’re not following you Tristan. What are you going to do?”
Summer would love to know that too. Her paw ached, she was hot, itchy, and sweaty, and she was dying to get to Cullen. Her heart ached as she let herself even think his name. Was he okay? Had they harmed him because of her disappearance? He needed her. She could feel that much in her soul. He’d lived too long without her and this was far too long a separation so early on in their mating. She wasn’t sure why she was so clear on this, except that she held his soul with her own and there were some things about Cullen that Summer just knew. The agony she felt at their parting was nothing to what he was suffering without her.
Tristan cocked his head to the side. “I’m going to call back her wolf from whatever spell they’ve placed on it and then I’m going to return her to her human form.”
Michael cleared his throat. “You’re going to do this here? In the middle of the jungle?”
Tristan nodded. “No time like the present. We need to know what happened, Summer can’t tell us, Cullen could be hurt somewhere and he’s not tagged so we can’t find him, and my wife is going to freak out if I don’t restore her sister immediately.”
Really? Ashlee was that upset about her absence? Something about that statement made her feel warm inside for a moment. She blinked. In her wolf form she couldn’t cry but that didn’t mean she wasn’t feeling the emotion or the need. In fact, she felt like she might explode from all the unexpressed tears she had inside of her.
Gabriel stepped forward. “What should we do with the girl?” He motioned his head towards Faith.
Tristan shrugged. “Leave her. Ashlee will wipe her memories before she leaves. It’ll be like the whole thing never happened.”
Behind her Faith startled. “Wipe my what?”
Tristan faced her, his eyes intense, his gaze intent. “Come to me, Summer. I call you and your wolf back to my pack.” Summer felt the air stir around her. Tristan called on powerful magic to help them. As the Alpha of the pack, he was the only male who could perform this kind of ceremony, with most mystical abilities belonging to the female members. Summer had only felt similar sensations once during Tristan’s Alpha ceremony three years earlier.
Summer felt a jolt of electricity fill her body. She jerked on the ground and felt herself start to pant. What was Tristan doing to her?
Tristan’s voice got louder, stronger and the temperature around her seemed to drop instantly. “Come back to me. I call all members of my pack within hearing distance to adhere to my call. Come back to me Summer. All members of my pack will answer my call.”
I am here.
Her wolf! She could hear her voice again. Even in her furry state, Summer had to swallow past the lump that formed in her throat.
He calls to us.
Yes he does. Return me to my human form. You are the magic within me. Put me back. You can undo whatever it is that they did.
Summer stiffened as the change came upon her. Her body vibrated. What had been painful her first time, now felt natural and easy. Her bones, muscles, and skin reshaped with no complaint, as if she were no more than a piece of clay being remolded into a different form. Behind her, she heard a scream of agony but she could not turn around to look as her body acquiesced to her Alpha’s command. She fell to the ground with a thud, her injured ankle giving out beneath her. In some corner of her mind, she noted that there were some benefits to being in her wolf form. She was protected from a great deal more pain that way.
“I don’t believe it.” Summer looked up from her position on the ground to see both Ashlee and Tristan staring with their mouths open behind her. She followed their gaze and sucked in her breath.
Where Faith had stood, was now a dark black wolf. The wolf howled and rolled on the ground, clearly in distress.
“She’s a wolf?” Summer looked up at Ashlee for assurance that she hadn’t cracked her head open when she fell and was now seeing things that weren’t there. Ashlee nodded, her mouth still shaped like an O.
“She’s one of our missing.” Tristan stepped forward away from Ashlee and Summer, toward the howling wolf. Summer could remember the feeling from three years earlier. It was excruciating to go through the first change. Summer didn’t envy the girl but she had other things to focus on.
“Ashlee, help me up.” Summer finally wrenched her sister’s attention away from the newly transformed wolf. She looked down at Summer, her eyes wide, then seemed to get hold of herself and focus on the task at hand.
“We need to fix your ankle, hold on.” Ashlee knelt down beside her and laid her hand gently on her ankle. Summer flinched at the pain but tried not to cry out. Ashlee closed her eyes and muttered some words Summer didn’t understand. She was really going to have to get her sister to teach her how to do some of the healing stuff. A wave of relief flooded her body and she realized her ankle no longer panged. She took a deep breath and stood up. The pain was gone, as if her injury never happened.