He gave her the address of the Steel Brotherhood chapter in Manchester. “You ride straight there and ask for Bear, he’s the Chapter President. I’ll call him and give him a heads up, but he and his old lady will make sure you’re taken care of and will get you home.”
“I can’t go home, Mongo. These people won’t stop, I need to disappear and stay that way.”
He thought about it for a moment. “This have to do with that Victim Protection thing?”
“Yes. It’s better I don’t say anything else.”
I heard a sigh. “They don’t hand those out unless they are needed. Go see the Bear. I’ll ride to your house and let your Mom know what happened. The Brotherhood will keep you safe, I give you both my word on that.”
“Thank you,” she said as she started to break down a little.
“Don’t thank me yet, that chapter probably wants some artwork done. You’ll earn your keep.”
She laughed. “Thank you both, I’m so glad I met you.”
“Us too. You stay safe, Rori.” He hung up the phone and looked at his Old Lady. “They fucked with the wrong girl,” he said with a growl as he dialed a number.
Alpha Martin surveyed the room in barely-controlled fury. The bed was stripped, a sheet tied to a chair that sat on top of a pile of pillows and blankets. The sheet was still out the open window, and everything Rori had brought with her was gone except her phone and a necklace. He picked up the necklace, his sharp eyes picking up the edge of a cover. Playing with it for a moment, he found the latch and popped it open, exposing the button. He read the writing, then put the cover back on. “All she left was her phone and this GPS tracker, which her Mom probably got for her.” He had to give it to his niece, she was clever.
He turned to the guard, who was looking at his feet and shaking slightly. “How does a girl wake up, get dressed, strip the bed, open the window and jump down and the guard RIGHT OUTSIDE HER DOOR doesn’t hear her?”
The man risked a glance up, then quickly looked back down. “I fell asleep, Alpha. It’s my fault.”
“It is. Report to the Gamma for the search.”
“Yes Alpha.”
He turned to leave, but the Alpha caught his arm. “You better hope we find her unhurt, Roberts.” He nodded and ran off. He looked over at his Beta. “Is the border guard ready?”
“They will be, sir. The patrol pair is responding to the access road now.” His eyes glazed over as men reported in. “We have a dozen men in vehicles and motorcycles in pursuit, but she had a four-minute jump on the closest guy. She’s pretty fast on that motorcycle, they won’t get to here in time to keep her off the main road.”
“Make sure they are cautious with her. The last thing we need is for her to crash her motorcycle trying to get away from us.” The Beta walked off, and he sent for his father to meet him in his office. As he walked out of the guest room, he searched for her family link and tried to call her back, but the connection was shut down after a few words. Her mind was figuring out how to block him, and since he wasn’t her Alpha, he couldn’t force his way in.
He got to his office, pouring himself a drink before sitting behind the desk. Rebecca came in, she was worried and sat on his lap to calm him as he tried to figure out what to do next. “We’ll get her back, love,” she said.
His Beta came in, and he didn’t look happy. “Bad news, boss. The border patrol got there before she did, but they couldn’t stop her. She blew right past them.”
“Dammit!”
“Worse than that. They got on the road in wolf form, and that got her to stop. They shifted in front of her to talk, and that’s when she screamed and accelerated past them. It’s my fault, sir. I didn’t warn them not to shift in front of her human side.”
He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, pulling his mate to him and sniffing her hair to calm himself. “The pursuit?”
“Too late to see which direction she went. We are sending men in all possible directions, but they won’t catch her on that Harley of hers.”
“What about the tracker Nathan put on her motorcycle?”
“It’s working fine, she must have found it because it’s attached to Cooper’s motorcycle now. That cost us valuable minutes before we figured it out.” He laughed a little. “I gotta hand it to her, she’s smart and gutsy.”
“She’s alone, scared, and knows about us being werewolves. What if she talks about it? She could expose us all. It’s a freaking mess.”
They waited in the office for an hour, but she had disappeared into thin air. He called Ashley into the office. “Ashley, where do you think Rori would go if she wanted to hide?
Ashley composed herself, she felt terrible that her friend was in danger now. Sure, she had been an assignment, but they had become close friends. “I’d hope she would call me, but I’m not so sure anymore. It was my idea to come here,” she said guiltily. “She’ll call her Mom or Grandma. I don’t know anyone else she would trust outside the Steel Brotherhood.”
“We’ve still got surveillance on her family, and Nathan’s still down there in Florida. Beta, send some men down to her motorcycle club and keep an eye out for her. If they fly down, they should arrive well before she does. Have them capture her as soon as they can, then bring her back home.”
“Wait, you’re going to take her against her will?” Ashley was shocked at her Alpha.
“We have no choice, Ashley. She could expose us, and her wolf NEEDS us. She’s getting stronger, and it only takes once where she shifts in front of people, or in front of a camera, and our secret is out. She needs our help, we can ask her but it’s for her own good.”
“On it, boss.” He left the room.
“We have to get out ahead of this in case she tries to claim we held her captive,” Charles said. “We have to tell her mother she had an episode, and when she woke up she ran.”
“Ashley’s father should do that,” Martin said. “He was in charge of their trip. I’ll call the police.” He picked up the phone and dialed 911. “Yes, I’m reporting a missing person,” he said. “Her name is Rori King, sixteen years old, red hair to her shoulder blades, five-foot-five and a hundred and twenty pounds or so. She was visiting from Orlando, Florida. She disappeared last night, she climbed out of the guest bedroom window and left on her motorcycle.”
The person on the other side talked for a bit, and he clenched his teeth. “I understand you don’t take missing person reports until they have been gone 24 hours, but this isn’t a normal girl,” he said. “She has a history of mental illness, including violent outbursts and blackouts. They are controlled with medication, but she didn’t take that with her. We’re concerned about her well-being.” He listened a while longer. “Thank you.” He gave his address and told her someone would meet the officers by their mailbox.
“You sure that’s the right play, son? Bringing the human authorities in?”
“Dad, we need their help. They are the only ones who can find her now. Besides, what are they going to know? She came up here on vacation with us, had a psychotic blackout, then disappeared from her room by climbing out the window. We haven’t done anything wrong, we’re just concerned for her safety,” he said. “Once they find her, we have a chance to get her back.”
It was just after sundown when Coral’s motorcycle turned onto the long drive leading into the grounds of the Bitterroot Academy. Chase followed her as they wound their way up the hills until they were finally parked in front of the sprawling Pack House. He got out as his twin sister was stretching, no doubt sore from the long ride. A man greeted them at the door. “The Omegas will take your luggage to your room, please follow me. The Councilman would like to see you immediately.”
They followed him to the top floor, down a hallway to the double doors. “This the Alpha’s old office?”
“Yes. Councilman Forrest is the Alpha here. You are aware that all staff will temporarily join his Pack while serving here?”