She blinked back tears. She couldn’t think like that. Declan was going to be fine, and when his body was done healing, he was going to wake up, and they were going to get out of this jungle and go home. Together. And they would make it home. Fate would never be so cruel as to finally allow her to find the love of her life only to lose him.
Chapter 11
“There was an ass load of hybrids on their trail,” Clayne said. “Half a dozen, at least.”
Angelo swore. Now that Clayne and Ivy were following the orchid scent Declan and Kendra had been using to hide from the hybrids, they were finally making up ground. If they kept this pace, they could catch up to the pair by tonight or tomorrow. But the ass load of hybrids Clayne had mentioned threw a kink in that plan. They’d been lucky since the ambush yesterday, but if there were half a dozen hybrids out there somewhere just ahead of them, it was going to slow them down.
“Any chance it was only a random pack going in the same direction as Declan and Kendra?” Angelo asked.
Clayne shook his head. “No. The hybrids’ trail is laid down right over Declan’s and Kendra’s. They were tracking them.”
“How long ago?” Tate asked.
No one in the group had slept much since they’d started this risky mission, but Tate looked the worst. The anxiety was tearing him up as bad as the guilt, not to mention the lack of sleep.
Shit. It was hard to imagine Declan and Kendra getting away from that many hybrids.
“Declan and Kendra have stayed ahead of them this long,” Landon said as if reading Angelo’s mind. “We have to believe they were able to keep it up.”
Clayne looked skeptical but didn’t argue. “I’m going to catch up with Ivy and Tanner.”
The wolf shifter turned to go, but Landon caught his arm. “Be careful. And go slow.”
Clayne nodded, then turned and ran. Angelo didn’t have to ask what Landon had meant by that warning. If the pack of hybrids had already taken out Declan and Kendra, the rest of them could be walking right into another ambush. Everyone else must have been thinking the same thing, because they spread out without being told.
Clayne, Ivy, and Tanner led the way up a lightly wooded slope before disappearing over the crest. Angelo would have picked up the pace to catch up with them, but Landon ordered them to stay back until he got to the top of the hill and gave the all clear. But instead of waving them forward, Landon held up a clenched fist, then spread his hand wide. Angelo immediately dropped for cover. Around him, the other men did the same.
Angelo scanned the slope. Shit. There wasn’t a tree or a rock big enough to hide behind within two feet of any of them. Not exactly the best place to get caught out in the open. He tightened his grip on his M4, ready to pull the trigger.
Up ahead, Landon glanced over his shoulder and waved them forward. Angelo jumped to his feet and ran up the hill, Tate and the others on his heels. Twenty minutes later, they were following Landon into the jungle to where Ivy, Clayne, and Tanner waited.
Angelo stopped and stared in amazement. The six dead hybrids lying on the ground around them were easy enough to figure out. What had him stumped were the six shallow graves that had been dug near the river.
“What the hell happened here?” Tate asked.
“Declan happened,” Clayne said, a hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.
“Yeah, I figured that,” Tate said. “I meant the graves. I seriously doubt Declan hung around to bury the bastards after they tried to kill him and Kendra.”
“So what are the holes for?” Derek made a face. “Damn, are those flowers in there?”
It was Ivy who answered. “Yeah. The same ones Declan’s been using to cover their trail. I think the hybrids hid in the holes so they could ambush Declan and Kendra.”
“The orchid smell is so thick, Declan would never have been able to smell them,” Tanner added.
Clayne growled. “Fucking bastards. Didn’t matter, though. Declan kicked the shit out of them anyway.” He nudged the hybrid closest to him with his boot. “He smashed this one to a pulp, and just about ripped the heads off those two over there.”