Chapter 5

• Deacon pulled up behind the other van as Jesse got out of it. There was another male with him that he didn’t know, but he was huge, and just looking at him, made Deacon think of a bear. He tossed the chewed toothpick out the window.
• Nox jumped out and slammed the door, then rushed over to Jesse.
• Taking a second, Deacon communicated with his animal, assuring him that their mate was fine, and they would find her. Turning his hat around backward, he got out and headed over to the other men.
• He reached the van in time to see the expression on Nox’s face as Jesse told him to stay with the vehicles in case the others came back. Normally he’d have volunteered to do it, but Giana was out there somewhere and there was no way he’d be able to stand idly by.
• Deacon turned from the others and inhaled slowly. Even after the years that had passed, he’d know that scent anywhere. He could still taste it in his dreams. She’d crossed the road and gone toward those trees. Without a word, he started down through the ditch.
• He may have been invisible from her life, but he’d kept tabs on what she’d been doing. She was smart, he already knew that. The tracking events at the gatherings weren’t easy routes and she’d won many of them. He felt like a creeper, staying out of scent range with binoculars watching her more times than he cared to count. He’d had to do it though to assure his animal and his mind that their mate was fine over the years.
• Her scent led to the thinned-out trees, and he could almost picture her fox darting through them, creating a hard-to-follow trail, he kept his head up and followed the sweet bouquet that smelled of jasmine, floral but musky at the same time. Her, it was all her. He spotted her clothes and went over. Pausing, he picked them up and rolled them into a ball. Jesse came up beside him. He bent down and picked up the boots.
• “The stench of cologne was by the van,” Jesse said in a low tone, “but I haven’t picked it up this way.”
• Deacon shook his head, “they didn’t follow her.”
• “They probably figured we’d picked her up and left the van for the shop to retrieve.”
• Deacon nodded, not wanting to have a long-drawn-out conversation. He jerked his chin, “she went this way.”
• Jesse motioned to the other man to head through the trees.
• With her clothes balled up in his off-hand, he kept his other hovering close to the sidearm strapped to his thigh. He had to keep his breathing level and his animal on lockdown for fear that if he saw anything move that wasn’t rusty orange colored, he might make it a target out of the rage that was trying to consume him. It had been a struggle since Jesse had called and said who it was that was in trouble.
• Someone had gone after his mate. Somehow, they’d followed her and tracked her. Her van dying on the side of the road couldn’t be a coincidence, there was no way. He’d seen the service list for all Alliance vehicles, there was no way it would be run down to the point it just quit. He knew a little about vehicles, he could replace parts, but wasn’t going to be able to prove that theory. It wasn’t even a guess, his gut told him they were behind her being stranded out here, alone and that somehow, they’d followed her.
• He stopped and inhaled again, moving just his eyes through the quiet space. She’d bounced around in the trees like it was a maze, making the trail harder to find. His mouth moved into a lopsided grin, his mate was a wily one, that was for sure.
• Inside him, his animal was pacing, agitated, hard to keep reigned in. He paused again and emitted a low growl, a vocal order to get it together or they’d be in a whole different bad situation. The man with Jesse crouched down and looked around slowly. Deacon gave him a quick shake of his head, “just a warning.” He said mostly under his breath but knew the shifter would hear him from that distance.
• Deacon pointed into the trees telling both other men the direction she went. The warning was for his own animal, the last thing he needed was for her to see what he was. What had Maxton called him before he’d left the group he’d grown up with? Oh yeah, an abomination. His creature was the only reason he’d been able to stay away from her all this time, he knew that was never going to be allowed to happen.
• With long strides he walked in a straight line, he didn’t need to duck around trees and other obstacles. He paused and looked at a rotting tree, with long growth all around it. His animal was suddenly in hunt mode, reminding him of their life before. The best place to find a meal was in a location like that.
• He swept his arm toward the spot and didn’t bother to look and see if Jesse and that other male moved in that direction. He could smell her, stronger than ever. Shaking off a moment of want, he kept going toward it. The large male walked around to the other side of a dead tree and looked in that direction.
• Deacon looked to see Jesse was watching him and not looking around. He motioned to the flattened grass leading under the log. Jesse raised an eyebrow but went over carefully, when he grinned, Deacon knew his instincts had been right and she was hiding in some other creatures’ home.