32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

J ax could sense the Hunters before reaching the edge of the woods. The sense of evil was so overbearing that it reminded him of himself. Was that how other wolves felt around him?

He shifted back to his human form and kept to the shadows of the trees with his senses wide open. He could sense more than usual. Feel more. Whatever Layla had done at the hotel against the Circle had made her stronger; he could feel the changes.

The seedy motel across the road was as empty as it usually was, and the man in the front office was asleep. He'd always been able to tell by listening to his heartbeat, but now the picture in his head was more precise. The soft snores, the strong scent of alcohol. The man had passed out.

He'd taught Layla how to use her senses to see and feel what was around her, but she'd since surpassed his expectations. He couldn't imagine what Layla would be able to do when she learned how to use her full strength. He wanted that for her. Not for himself, not for the apparent benefits he got from sharing some of her abilities through their bond. But he wanted Layla to be able to protect herself so he never had to worry.

The road was empty, so he left the cover of the trees and crossed it quickly. One of his cars was at the back of the motel, away from any prying eyes that would notice that it was always parked there. It was also a blindspot for all the traffic control cameras. The motel's security cameras never worked— he knew that because he owned the damn place— but it was broad daylight; he couldn't take any chances.

The beat-up car was still where he'd left it, and next to it was the truck that the scouts were supposed to have used. Either they hadn't bothered with it, or they'd been taken after they had already returned it to its parking spot. That wasn't good. If the Hunters had tracked them to this motel, then it wasn't safe anymore.

He rushed to the back and unscrewed one of the loosened screws on the license plate. The car keys fell to the ground. As he unlocked the trunk and pulled out a pair of sweats, his senses still told him no one else was around. But he couldn't trust that. The Hunters had to be doing something differently to have evaded detection by the scouts.

He took the go-bag into the car and started it up. It took all his willpower to stay within the speed limit, and the closer he got, the more dread filled his stomach. Everything felt different. Uncertain. Why had the Hunters taken his people?

And Faith... She knew how to defend herself, like any other wolf in his pack, but she was the gentlest Omega. His fists tightened around the steering wheel, and the red haze sharpened his vision. No, he wasn't going to go there. He wouldn't think about what the Hunters were doing to her.

He slowed down when he joined the traffic going down the road in front of his hotel and rolled down his windows. Even with the scents of the city assaulting his nose, he should have been able to catch the scouts' scents this close. But, like at the motel, he didn't get anything.

He saw a few regulars coming out of their cars and the valets serving them. The concierges held the doors open as usual, and there weren't many guests. Not a Hunter in sight, but their stench was even more pungent there. Miss Townsend had been right, but this felt like more than just a meeting with his Head of Security.

‘There are too many of them,' Cain growled. ‘It's a hunting party.'

The last time they had come into town, they'd parked all their trucks in the underground parking lot. Trucks full of ruthless Hunters and weapons that could annihilate them all. It had been hard to even breathe surrounded by their aura. It wasn't the same now.

‘Not that many,' he answered. ‘But we still need to be careful. Keep calm.'

The last thing they needed now was a bloodbath like the one they'd left for the Circle. Humans were everywhere, and anything they saw would spread like wildfire over the internet.

He went around the block several times before driving to a spot at the back of the hotel, another blind spot that the hotel security couldn't see. The Hunters had taken his people, so he was sure Mr Ambrose would use the hotel's security equipment to be on the lookout.

He had no idea if Mr Ambrose had seen Layla's eyes the day they'd come to see her father, but that old drunk could have rambled and given her away. And that was probably why Mr Ambrose had called them back to Wolfdale. Perhaps it was time he stopped trusting humans so easily. No matter how much money he paid them, there was always someone in their midst who gave in to human nature. They were always greedy. Always selfish.

‘The scouts aren't here,' Cain said.

But they couldn't be sure about that. His bond with the four missing scouts was just as muted as his bond with Faith, but they had to be close. It didn't make sense. It hadn't taken him that long to get to town; he should have been able to sense them more or even catch their scents outside the forest by now.

"We have to go in and check," he decided.

He ruffled through his bag and pulled out a little revolver. Not the best thing to use against Hunters, but the best he could do with so many humans around. He checked it was loaded and the safety on before he stuffed it down his waistband and covered it with his t-shirt. When he got out of the car, he moved closer to the wall just a few metres from one of the secure back entrances.

There was too much of the Hunters' dark aura to know if anyone was watching him, but he kept his head lowered when he reached the door and slid open the security panel. The door clicked open the second he placed his palm on the screen. If anyone followed him, they wouldn't be able to come in through the same door and would have no idea where the door led. The hotel was as much his domain as the forest was.

He kept his senses open as he looked around the little side room. One door had access to the stairs and his special basement, but if he went that way, he wouldn't hear anything through the soundproofing. And it would be a lot quicker to use the elevator.

He scanned even wider, picking up the sounds in the restaurant, the busy lobby and the occupied rooms above him. And there was the soundproofed room on the second floor that felt like a void in his head. Someone was in there, probably the meeting Miss Townsend had warned him about.

Cain's anger started to rise. His heart thumped loudly as his muscles tensed and his claws extended.

‘We can crash the meeting with Mr Ambrose,' Cain said. ‘If we go up there—'

‘No! We're going in blind, Cain, don't do anything stupid. Layla is waiting for us.'

That calmed the beast right down.

He had only two objectives now. Try to track his scouts and also take Gerald out of the hotel. Layla's father would be the first person the Hunters would interrogate.

He took a second to make sure Cain had calmed down before he opened the door that led out to the staff area. There was hardly anyone in the hallway; the two cleaners standing near the Housekeeping cleaning closet didn't even look at him when he walked towards the elevator. They didn't stop their idle gossiping.

"...some sort of convention, but it's so weird that we have to stop working while they're up there," one of the women whispered.

"But what sort of convention is it? Something to do with the military?"

"They're being so secretive; it must be. I wonder if there's some sort of threat in the city."

"I don't think so. Mr Ambrose said they won't be here for long."

He listened to the gossip until the elevator doors closed. That only confirmed what he had already suspected—the Hunters weren't hunting. He kept his senses open as the elevator started going up, searching each floor. Ambrose hadn't shared which room he had kept Gerald in, but it seemed the Hunters were mainly on the lower floors.

He didn't stop the elevator until he'd passed them, but the hotel security would have already seen him. All the elevators had mirrored walls and cameras. He had to move quickly.

The moment the doors opened, he closed his eyes and let Cain take over. The master hunter. He caught Gerald's scent almost immediately, but he was on the wrong floor. Another floor up, and he was still no closer. On a whim, he took the elevator to the top floor, his penthouse floor, and Gerald's scent was the strongest there.

Ambrose had put that fucking drunk in his suite.

The complete disrespect of that bastard! Gerald had been covered in piss and vomit, and that asshole had dared to put him in the penthouse suite?

He marched out of the elevator and only just remembered to grab one of the flower pots to wedge the elevator door open. Below him, he sensed the movement. The sense of urgency as the Hunters realised where he was. He didn't waste another second on his anger. The penthouse door opened with his fingerprint, and the overwhelming stench of alcohol met him.

Gerald was sitting in front of the TV with a beer in his hands, still dressed in the same clothes they had left him in. Ambrose hadn't bothered to get him cleaned up as he'd requested.

"We need to leave."

The older man spluttered his drink as he stood, and his eyes widened.

"I haven't done anything wrong. Is it Layla? Did she ask you to kill me? Please don't kill me."

He grabbed the rambling man by his collar and pulled him out of the room. One elevator was moving up, and there were footsteps in the stairwell. He shoved Gerald into the open elevator and kicked the pot out of the way.

"Please. I didn't know she was like—"

"Keep your mouth shut," he growled.

He sensed more Hunters in the hotel than when he had arrived. Like wolves, Hunters were limited in what they could do in front of humans, and that was his only advantage. A few floors before the ground floor, he stopped the elevator and pulled Gerald out.

"Mr King, I promise I won't come back. Please let me go,' Gerald continued while he dragged his feet.

He whirled around and grabbed Gerald's neck, easily lifting him off his feet.

"I'm trying to save your life."

When he dropped Gerald back to his feet, his eyes were glued on the revolver he had exposed under his t-shirt. The scent of fear filled the air.

"Move."

Gerald didn't resist when he dragged him to the end of the hall. The Hunters were already closing in on them when he opened another panel and put his palm against it. Another hidden door slid open, and then it shut behind them just as the Hunters burst into the hallway.

The sounds in the hotel were silenced behind the walls, but the danger around them increased. On every floor. Outside the hotel, even where he'd parked the car.

They were surrounded.