Chapter Four
2169 Words
Tracker sat upright in his bed, he could hear the sounds of the struggle downstairs. He was able to make out the voices of Leah and Joseph. They were arguing with someone whose voice Tracker didn't recognize immediately.
"He's not going with you! I promised Mercy that I would protect them both!" Leah protested. She was terrified that he was going to take the two children she had worked so hard to protect.
"Fine job you're doing! You've been on the run for the past eleven years! He'll be shifting soon and then what? How are you going to protect him? How are you going to teach him how to use those gifts?" His voice held a hint of sarcasm in it, on top of frustration. The man sounded vaguely familiar to Tracker. The deep baritone was teasing the recesses of his mind.
Leah was sobbing, "I'll be able to teach him everything he needs to know! I am a wolf too!" She protested both she and Joseph would be able to help both of the teenagers with their shifting.
The man scoffed, "Are you forgetting what my daughter was?"
Tracker swallowed. That voice belonged to his grandfather! He had a family! He wiped his cheek quickly as he felt the tear trickle a path out of the corner of his eye and down his cheek. He was so excited over the fact that he had a family out there that he didn't what his grandfather had said next.
The old man in the living room leaned in and lowered his voice as he spoke the next phrase to Leah, "Do I need to remind you that she was a werebear?"
The lowered tone of his voice chilled Leah to the bone, she lifted her head. "No."
He stood to his full height, "Good, then I will be back to collect my grandson in the morning?" he asked. The question more of a demand than a request.
She looked up from her seat on the sofa, "What about Jade?"
The man that looked so much like Mercy in a masculine form shook his head. He didn't care what happened to her. She wasn't his responsibility. "I don't really care what happens to her, she is not my family. Tracker is."
Leah stiffened at his harsh words, "That will break both of them."
The old man walked to the door, "I will return at eight a.m. for my grandson." He opened the door and walked out. He wasn't going to risk losing his grandchild, not when he was told his daughter was dead. He has spent the past eleven years searching for the last tie he had to her. Every time he got close, they disappeared, but now he would finish raising his grandson and teach what he needed to know about his destiny.
Leah looked at Joseph and fell into his arms sobbing silently. Her heart was broken at what was about to happen. "How do I tell them?"
*******
The figure walked stealthily behind the old man, unseen and unheard, his hand jabbed out and back. The only thing that was seen was the glint of silver reflected in the moonlight. The man fell silently to the ground, his blood seeping into the dewy grass.
The shrouded figure smirked as he licked the blood from the blade of his dagger. He could see why the vampires loved to drink the stuff. Especially the blood of the royals, it was sweeter and 'richer' than that of his usual targets. He knew that he would be going to the cottage next. He had a mission to finish.
The door creaked as he slipped into the cottage. He had scoped it out earlier during the day and remembered where everything was located. He was about to creep up the stairs when a door opened and Joseph walked out of the bedroom he shared with his mate. The cloaked figure quickly ducked into the shadows and waited. Once Joseph was in front of him he slipped from the darkness and followed Joseph silently. He struck before Joseph had the chance to turn around, his body falling to the floor with a thud.
Leah sat up in bed, she felt the bond break the instant Joseph fell to the floor. She ran to the door and rushed down the stairs. Her mind was racing, what happened to her mate? The cloaked figure had slunk into the shadows. He knew exactly what he had done and relished it.
Leah walked to the kitchen and stifled her scream at the sight of her beloved mate dead on the floor. She fell to her knees, "Oh, Joseph! What happened! Please don't leave me," she begged. "I need you," she cried, her tears falling unabated. She could feel the cloth of her nightgown that was touching Joseph getting wet with his blood. "I can't live without you," she whispered. "I can't do it again," she cried. "Please."
The man silently approached her and granted her wish. As she fell across her mate's body he licked the sword again. "Mm, two for the price of one," he whispered. "Now to tell the Alpha that they are all gone," he said as he walked out the door.
Tracker could smell the acrid scent of blood filling his nostrils, he crept out of his bed and opened the door. The odor filled the air, along with a vaguely familiar scent. One that tickled the edges of his mind. He came down the stairs as the cloaked figure rushed out the door into the darkness. Tracker was about to rush after the man when he heard his cousin open her door. He quickly changed course and rushed up the stairs. He would need to protect her from the sight in the kitchen.
"Jade, we have to leave," he said, pushing her back into her room.
"Tracker, what's going on?" Jade asked, clearly confused. "Where's Leah? And Joseph?"
Tracker shook his head, "There's no time, Jade. This time it's my choice to leave. And I am taking you with me. It's the only way." He rushed to her closet and grabbed her bag pulling it open, he walked to her dresser. He threw a handful of her t-shirts in her bag then moved to the next drawer and tossed in a few pairs of her shorts.
"Tracker, tell me!" Jade demanded, she was getting more frightened by the second watching his frantic packing. Never in all their times of leaving has it ever been this quick or chaotic. "I'll go get Leah and Joseph," she stated and was about to walk out of her room.
"JADE!" He exclaimed, "Do not go into the kitchen. We are leaving," The tone that came from him surprised them both.
She simply bared her neck to him and agreed as if he were an alpha.
They walked out of the cottage with a sad sigh. He shut the door and they didn't look back. He wanted to stay, he wanted to say goodbye to the woman that had raised them. He wanted them to have a proper burial. But he knew that they would have to disappear and now. They rushed to the bus station and bought two tickets to the east coast. He didn't care where. He just knew that they would be safe the further they went.
The cousins sat on the bus in silence. Jade was staring out the window. Her mind was racing at their rapid departure. She turned to Tracker, "Why?"
He sighed, he knew he would have to tell her. "Jade, we are officially alone now," he whispered. "It's just you and me."
Her brows knitted together, "They left us?" She whispered, her eyes shimmering as they filled with tears.
Tracker shook his head sadly, "No."
"Then what?"
"Someone killed them," he whispered so low she barely heard him.
Her jaw fell in shock, and the tears fell down her cheeks in a steady stream. The only family she could remember was dead. "Where are we going?"
Tracker shrugged his shoulders, "A town called Avec." He put his hand on her shoulder. He was doing his best to comfort her while unsure of their future. "I'll protect you."
************
Mercy paused at the steps of the porch of the cottage. She had finally found them. It had taken her almost eleven long years. She turned and looked at her second chance mate. The man that had found her that night all those years ago. He rubbed her back, lending her his courage. He could only imagine the thoughts going through his mate's mind.
"Go on, love," he encouraged her. "I'll wait for you out here."
She looked at him and brushed the imagined wrinkles from her outfit. "I hope I look okay," she whispered.
His gaze softened, "You look amazing. Now go see your friend and find your son." He winked at her. That small gesture giving the ounce of extra courage she needed to pick her feet up to the steps.
She walked up the stairs. Her nervousness was filling her quickly. She knocked on the shut door. As the deafening silence met her, she knocked again. She turned around to her mate and shrugged her shoulders. The vehicle that belonged to Leah was in the driveway. So she was sure that she was home.
"Try the knob," he said. His feet moving towards Mercy. Something deep in his heart telling him to go with his mate.
He fell in step behind her as she turned the knob. The handsome man's heart clenched. He could smell the sour smell of old blood before they even entered the tiny cottage.
"Leah?" Mercy called out cautiously. "Joseph?" She stepped into the well-kept living room. Nothing seemed out of place. It all seemed quite normal. She sniffed the air. The foul smell making her nose scrunch in disgust. She turned to her mate and looked at him nervously. "Please tell me that isn't what I think it is," she whispered. The pained expression on her face shattering his heart.
She walked quickly to the kitchen calling for the group that lived there. "Jos-" she stopped. Her skin turned pale and she stifled her scream of despair. She turned to her mate, her expression said it all. She looked past him and rushed to the stairs. Her pulse beating a dangerous pattern beneath her ribs as she hurried to find her son.
She pushed open the door to the room that belonged to her son, his familiar scent teasing her nose. It had changed as he grew, but it was still him. She took in the state of his bedroom, it looked as if he had left in such a hurry. His bed was unmade and the blankets were tossed to the side. The dresser drawers were half-opened. Her mate was in Jade's room taking in a similar scene. They met in the hallway, her eyes were filled with a mixture of relief and sadness.
"We need to call the authorities about Leah and Joseph," she whispered. He nodded and picked up his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed the local police, telling them what they had walked into.
Before they knew it, Mercy and her mate were surrounded by police. A few of them were asking them questions. While others were investigating the gruesome scene in the kitchen. Not a task for the weak, as the dead couple had been there for a day and a half already.
There were still unanswered questions that had arisen. Who did this to the couple? Why did they do this? Where did the children go?
Tracker was sure to cover his tracks. He had pulled out all the money from the bank atm before they left the station. He paid with cash for their tickets and when they got to Avec he was sure to pay for their hotel with cash as well. He didn't want to leave a trail for whoever it was that had killed Leah and Joseph. He sighed at the thought of the only family he had ever known gone forever. He would have to come to terms with that.
********
The cloaked figure was watching from the shadows as the police finally showed up to see his handiwork. He cursed under his breath when he heard the police questioning the couple that had found them. She mentioned two more people that lived in the house. Who could they be? His alpha wasn't going to be happy about it. He stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"He doesn't need to know, does he?" He would just report to his alpha as he had planned. He wasn't about to risk his own life for this ragtag group of people! No one was worth that much! Besides as far as he was concerned, he had done exactly what he was paid to do. And no one would be any wiser, what could go wrong?
- Writer
