Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart (Fated To The Wolf #7)

22. Dakota

22

Dakota

D akota waited anxiously for Sadie to show up. He really needed to talk to her about him leaving in a week. He knew that she would be upset and he just wanted to get it over with.

Seven came and Sadie didn’t show up. He thought she might be running late, so he waited half an hour before he texted. There was no answer. He called. Her phone went straight to voice mail.

Fear gripped his heart. There was no way in the world that she would ghost him. That wasn’t in Sadie’s nature.

Dakota jumped in his truck and raced to Sadie’s house, breaking the speed limit as he drove. Her car was still in the driveway.

His breath caught in his chest when he saw that her house was dark except for the kitchen light that she always left on. He knocked on the door. There was no answer.

He had no idea how to get ahold of Sadie’s family or Matthias, so he called Zac.

“Hello, Dakota. What’s up?”

“Hi, Zac. I’m worried about Sadie. I don’t know how to get ahold of her people. We had a seven o’clock date and she never showed. I texted her and didn’t get a reply. I called her and it went straight to voice mail. I’m at her house now. Her car is in the driveway and her house is dark. She’s not answering the door.”

“Do you think that she would have shifted and gone out?”

“Not by herself. However, she might go with Talia. I guess I could call her and see if Sadie is with her. I know Sadie, though. She wouldn’t blow me off.”

“I agree. Let me call Talia and I’ll get back to you.”

Dakota drove back home. An icy chill flooded through him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He knew that there was something wrong. They had parted on very good terms.

Ten minutes later, Zac called him back. “There’s something wrong. Talia didn’t answer her phone so I called Sebastian. Sebastian said that she was missing and was two seconds from calling me. She didn’t pick up the baby from Hollie and Owen like she was supposed to, and no one has seen her. He went to the mountain. Her car is there and there’s no sign of either woman.”

“Damn. I’m heading there now.”

Dakota’s heart raced as he sped toward the mountain. The fear that had taken hold early threatened to overwhelm him.

As he approached the mountain, he saw several vehicles already in the lot. Members of the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack, as well as members of Sadie’s clan and the dragon shifter clan, were at the base of the mountain.

Dakota walked up to the group. Zac and Sebastian were clearly leading the search and rescue operation. Matthias and Lucious stood next to the two men.

Matthias nodded to Dakota and showed him a map of the mountain. “We’re going to go to the spot where they normally shift. You and Sebastian should be able to pick up Talia and Sadie’s scent easily.”

He looked meaningfully at Dakota, who nodded. Dakota was well aware of what Matthias was implying – that Sadie was his fated mate. He could no longer deny that she was.

“We’ll move up the mountain. Once we figure out where they’ve been taken, we’ll spread out and surround them. Once the rest of us have caught them off guard, you and Sebastian can go after the women. The rest of us will make sure that this is the last time this particular group of hunters hurt anyone.”

They didn’t bother shifting in the woods. The men and women started undressing right where they were and stashing their clothes in bags.

Dakota felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. He didn’t want to be humiliated in front of everyone by being unable to shift. It took him a minute, but he focused on Sadie and soon he was in his wolf form. This was the easiest shift he had ever achieved and if the situation wasn’t so dire, he would take a minute to think about that.

They all picked up their bags and carried them in their jaws as they followed the trail they knew Talia and Sadie would have taken. Dakota and Sebastian howled when they caught the women’s fresh scent and started to run.

As they climbed the mountain, Dakota’s sense heightened. He could smell Sadie and Talia, but other scents were mixed in.

“There are five hunters,” Dakota telepathically told the others.

It didn’t take them long to find the small clearing in front of the cave where the hunters had gathered. There were seven of them just outside of the cave, passing around a bottle.

“We didn’t catch the scent of two of them,” Sebastian said.

“Good, they’re drinking,” Zac telepathically said. “That will make them even easier to take out.”

All of the shifters quietly dropped their bags of clothes behind trees.

“Zac and I will approach first. Once we have their attention, the rest of you guys move in.”

Although Dakota knew that Matthias’ orders were part of the plan, rage made him want to rush the hunters. He took a deep breath and waited for Matthias’ and Zac’s signal.

“Holy shit,” one of the hunters yelled as the large grey wolf and grizzly bear walked up to the group.

All of them jumped up, dropping the bottle to the ground.

“Robert. You said you wouldn’t call them until morning,” one of the men said.

A tall man with a jagged scar that went from his right eye all the way down to his chin, growled. “I didn’t call them.”

Matthias roared loudly and Zac bared his teeth and growled.

“You two aren’t very frightening. Shift.”

One of the hunters started reaching for his gun and then the others followed suit. Matthias and Zac shifted.

Matthias stepped toward them. “You have our family members. We want them back.”

“How did you find out so soon?” one of the hunters asked.

Robert glared at her and she shrank back.

Zac growled. “We look out for each other.”

“We won’t give them back until we talk to their alphas.” Robert crossed his arms over his chest and looked defiant.

Matthias grinned at him. “You got us. We want the women.”

“I don’t think so. My boys might want to have a little fun with them. They’re injured because the little bitches thought they could fight off five of us, so they won’t last long, anyway.”

One of the hunters held up his arm, which had been viciously bitten by a wolf. Another had four claw marks across his chest. They were deep and would have been painful.

A red haze clouded Dakota’s vision. He growled, ready to launch himself at the hunters. Matthias’ and Zac’s forms blurred as they shifted back into their animal form. The forest came alive as dragons, bears, and wolves exploded from the trees, rushing toward the seven hunters.

Dakota charged forward, all of his fear, anger, and worry fueling his movements. He had one goal – get to that cave and save Sadie. As teeth snapped and claws slashed around him, Dakota barreled through the mass of fighting bodies.

One of the hunters raised his gun, but Zac’s powerful jaws snapped down the hunter’s arm. The weapon thudded to the ground as the hunter yelled in pain. Zac knocked the man down and ripped out his throat.

Matthias stood up on his hind legs. With one powerful swipe of his paw, he sent one of the hunters flying through the air. The man crashed into a tree. Matthias went after him.

Dakota and Sebastian rushed toward the cave. Two hunters jumped in front of them. One of them was pointing a gun at Sebastian, who was the bigger of the two wolves. The other waved a knife in Dakota’s face.

Without thinking or stopping, Dakota put his head down and hit the man squarely in the chest. The hunter hit the ground hard, his knife skittering across the ground. The man with the pistol got a shot off at Sebastian. He ducked and launched at the hunter, going straight for the man’s throat.

The battle continued as Sebastian and Dakota rushed into the cave. Dakota was furious when he saw the two women huddled together against the cave wall. Both of them barely moved when Sebastian and Dakota got to them. The two wolves shifted immediately.

“The hunter said you were hurt,” Sebastian said. “How. Where?”

They moved and Dakota could clearly see that both women had bled profusely. “I was shot in the hip. I’ll be okay. Sadie was stabbed in the side. She hasn’t moved in a while.”

“I’m alive.” Sadie’s voice was very weak.

“I’ll fucking kill them all,” Dakota roared.

“I feel you, Brother, but they’re being taken care of. We have to get them off this mountain and to the doctor.”

Dakota nodded. They picked up the women and walked back to where they hid their clothes. After quickly dressing, they picked up their women and carried them back down the mountain. Dakota knew that Sadie and Talia must have been in excruciating pain, but neither of them said anything. He was certain that Sadie passed out shortly after they started back to their trucks.

Fear and fury consumed him as he and Sebastian moved as quickly as they could in the dark. A guilty thought nagged him as he carried the woman he loved. “How could he leave the woman he loved now? But how could he not, when there was a chance of a lifetime waiting for him?”