shook his head as the woman didn’t even flinch. The pain of the shot was nothing compared to what her body was going through. “We are going to get you help.”
“Where’s that van?” Taze hollered over his shoulder. Seeing a woman in distress caused a slight panic. It wasn’t as strong as the panic he felt every time he thought of Calla being held by those wolves. If his panic was bad, he had a damned good idea how Calla felt when the memories would come back to haunt her.
“They’re three minutes out,” he replied. “Let’s see what we can find on these males.”
They spent the next few minutes digging through their pockets, and Taze growled low in his throat as he found more and more baggies of Khat. It disgusted him that the alpha was willingly pumping those poor wolves full of the drug against their will. It was cruel.
Kraven Alexander, Hope’s big brother, arrived exactly as he’d said. The woman was wrapped in a blanket and taken to the only cot in the back. The males were cuffed to their seats on the other side of the transport van.
He’d take the female to Harold and the pride after delivering the males to the airport, which was only minutes from their location. The female would stay at the pride until her three days were over. After that, she would be moved to Colorado and given the blood of the alpha there, ensuring Holden Manzelli wouldn’t mind control her either.
“Fuck, this is insane,” Taze said, shaking his head. The wolves were terrible fighters, and it proved the alpha was looking for numbers. He didn’t choose his victims wisely at all. Hopefully, one of the males would be able to give them information on the alpha’s whereabouts. With the mind control, they were brainwashed into not telling the Guardians anything. Holden Manzelli would give them his blood in a darkened room, connecting the rogues to him. He would send out his orders to them through his magic, and after that, they would be pumped full of Khat.
By the time their reports were written, it was close to the end of their shift. The first rays of light were peeking over the horizon, and as Taze drove them back to the pride, he wondered if Calla was awake, watching the same thing.
He was disappointed to see her home still empty when he arrived. Noah didn’t say anything as he left Taze standing in his driveway, staring down the road. He was exhausted, and he had to listen to the healer’s advice. Calla would be back.
Chapter Ten
Ten days…
It took ten fucking days for Calla to return to the pride, and Taze gave no fucks about getting sleep for the day when he pulled into the pride that morning and saw Luna hugging her as they said their goodbyes at Calla’s door.
“Noah, I have to stop,” Taze said as his body began to vibrate. “Evie, I’m sorry.”
“I can walk from here,” Noah replied. Evie nodded but didn’t say anything as he pulled off the gravel drive in front of Calla’s house.
“I’m good to walk, too.” Evie gave him a knowing look as she caught his eye in the rearview mirror.
The two of them disappeared as soon as the truck came to a complete stop. Taze was out of the vehicle and at her porch a second later. Luna gave her a nod and slipped off the porch. Taze didn’t look over his shoulder to see if the female had made it to her house, because he couldn’t stop staring at his female.
“Taze,” she said, stepping away from the threshold so he could enter without accidentally touching her.
His panther snarled and paced inside his head to just touch her. It would only take an instant to complete the bond the animal was feeling.
But instead, he froze on the doorstep, drinking her in like a man who’d found an oasis in the desert. She looked the same. He didn’t scent anything out of the ordinary on her, except for a slight burn of human-made chemicals. He couldn’t place the scent and chalked it up to something she was using for cleaning.
“Do you want to come in?” she asked with a frown.
The awkward silence between them was making his beast agitated. There were so many questions about her disappearance, he didn’t know where to start. She dropped her eyes to the ground and sighed, “I’m sorry. I had to leave the pride.”
“Why?” he growled. He knew his