In the end, it took longer than merely running at full speed toward the coordinates Charlotte had left. Gideon and the others had stopped them on their way out, alerted that their wolf, Chloe, was out of contact, as well.
Fear edged along Bram’s spine, and he did his best to ignore it. He couldn’t function if he were lead by fear alone. Anger and determination he could work with, but not mind-numbing fear. Shane hadn’t said another word after they’d told the Talon Alpha what they knew. Instead, the other man shifted from foot to foot while they waited, and then, in the car ride over, had fisted his hands on his tense thighs, his gaze focused as he went through whatever he needed to in his head.
Bram had seen the man work before, but this was a new kind of intensity. Shane was a soldier, through and through, and now he was wolf besides. Meaning everything he did from now on would have a new power behind it.
They would need that, Bram feared. That and so much more in the time to come.
As soon as they reached the neutral territory, Bram and Shane hopped out of the vehicle. Kameron and Brandon had been in the front of the SUV and were right by their sides.
Another SUV pulled up almost at the same time, and Maddox, Ellie, and a couple of Redwood enforcers, including Quinn, hopped out.
“Where is she?” Maddox asked, his voice low. He was looking right at Bram. “Use the bond if you have to, but find my baby girl.”
“Maddox,” Ellie admonished. “Let’s get to the site before you growl and go crazy.”
Maddox’s nostrils flared, but he nodded once at Bram, then Shane, before turning and following his mate.
Shane met Bram’s eyes, his brows raised. “I guess those are her parents?” Though Charlotte had told Shane of her childhood and mentioned Maddox and Ellie, Shane hadn’t left the Talon den before this to actually meet the Redwoods.
Bram nodded. “Let’s find our girl.”
They ran to the place where Charlotte had last been, and he almost tripped when he saw the body lying in the rubble.
She was the wrong shape, her hair the wrong color, but he’d had a moment when he’d thought it was Charlotte.
Brandon let out a curse and fell to his knees beside the fallen wolf. Chloe. “Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.”
Kameron bent down, as well, his jaw tense. He helped Brandon turn the woman over, and Bram sent a prayer to the goddess for her soul.
“Walker is on his way, got waylaid by a sick pup, but he’d have been too late,” the Talon Enforcer growled. “Damn it. He’d have been too late.” The other man closed his eyes and put his hand on Chloe’s cheek. “Too damn young.”
“What did this?” Brandon bit out.
“Someone left a bomb that wasn’t too cleverly concealed over here. The center of the impact is here, and whoever made it shoved it full of a fuckton of shrapnel. Anyone too close didn’t have a chance.”
Bram looked over at Shane as the other man spoke. “She’s still alive, Shane. We can feel her. But where is she? She wouldn’t just leave Chloe right here out in the open if she could help it.”
“We can feel her too, along the Pack bonds,” Maddox put in. “But where is she? I’m not the Omega anymore. I can’t find her like I used to.” He turned to Bram then. “Find her. Use the bond and find her.”
Bram ran a hand over his face. “You think I don’t want that? I don’t know how. Not all bonds work the same.”
Shane stalked toward them, his hands shaking by his side. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m going to find your daughter.”
Ellie raised her chin, her wolf in her eyes. “I know you will. We all will.” She reached out and cupped Shane’s face, surprising the other man from the way his eyes widened. “The bond is always different, but try at least. Close your eyes and picture the bond. Then travel along that thread, follow each path it takes, and try to sense her. You’re not going to get a perfect picture, but maybe you’ll get a feeling. Your bond is still so new, it’s finding its place amid the bonds of the Pack. It can do extraordinary things right now, and perhaps even more later. Just try, Shane. Find my baby.”
Bram let out a breath, and something caught his eye. Blood stained a large rock that didn’t look like it had come from the bomb itself. In fact, it looked like it had fallen over pieces of the bomb material.
He frowned, kneeling near it. Charlotte’s scent hit him full force, and his wolf came to the surface. A growl ripped from his throat, and his claws tore through his fingertips.
“Someone hit her over the head it seems with this rock,” he bit out. The words were hard to form, and he knew he was far too close to shifting for comfort. He took deep breaths and reined in his wolf. Brandon put his hand on Bram’s shoulder, and though the other man wasn’t his Omega, he was his mate’s, and somehow, the other man helped him. He wasn’t sure if it was some trick of the bonds or the fact that Brandon just had a steadying presence. Either way, he was grateful. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Brandon said softly. “It’s what I do.”