---Carlos POV---

It took my men ages to do something very simple yet they had been gone for days now, never responding to any of my calls when I tried to contact them through our shared pack mind. I was pacing through the forest, the remaining men all squatted down around the fire, obviously knowing that they shouldn't get anywhere near me.

I could almost smell their fear, could see their muscles tensing up whenever I moved. Acting like a cornered prey, prepared to flee at a moment's notice. A sneer pulled on my lips at the thought.

One of them, my right-hand, was observing my movements before he stood up. "Look boss, it's obvious that either they chickened out and ran off or they were found and captured by another pack. What the rest of us need right now is a plan of action."

My wolf snarled through me, using my body and voice as his own. "You really think I hadn't figured that out yet, pup?" My body tensed, the muscles around my neck and shoulders coiling slightly as I paused my feet to glare at the male a few feet away. He had once been my best friend, that much I could remember but that was a long time ago.

Right now, he didn't seem that much intimidated as he just sighed and held his hands in the air, a sign of surrender and submission. "Look Carlos, you lost about four men, the others got away before the pack wolves got on the scene. Let's just send someone there to collect some scents and find out where Kim is hiding."

That appeased my wolf slightly, as I thought everything over before slowly nodding. Gregory had a point...we could use this situation to our advantage. Kim's scent was still lingering around, waiting for us to find it. Once we did, it would be easy to follow it to where she was.

I nodded slowly and snorted slightly as the other three let out a sigh of relief. My wolf was very much in control these days and they knew better than to go against him. With a snarl, I exploded in my grey-brown wolf before heading down to where the others were last seen.

My men were all running in front of me, obviously eager to point me, or rather my growing anger, in the right direction as they scurried towards the mall. Once we arrived in the forest behind the human village, we all shifted before we made our way to the shopping facility.

The humans that were shopping were irritatingly loud and annoying but they all scattered away from us as soon as we stepped inside. It seemed that those people knew when they needed to back away.

I took a deep breath and sniffed the air, following the scent of my men towards a more silent hallway, where the scents mingled with those of three females and three males. My lungs filled themselves again and again until I was sure of what I smelled.

"Seems like the rogue betrayed us. He never came back so I figured he was captured too but no...he came willingly." I stooped down with Gregory a few feet to the side, doing the same as he placed a hand on the floor, waving the scent up towards his face.

"Kim had been here! Right on this spot, along with another female that smells like her...probably family." He clarified once I pushed him away with a snarl and inspected the scent for myself.

He was right...the same scent that clung around Ivan's was also lingering around the faintly familiar scent of Kim. A cruel smirk slipped on my face, knowing that I got the trail that I wanted along with a way to get back to that traitor. The new scent obviously was his mate.

"Uhm, sir? There are two scents of pack wolves here and the scent of the others is being suppressed by the scent of even more wolves. Do you think she has found the protection of a pack?" A low rumble escaped my throat as I walked towards the spot where the man was standing and shoved him aside.

The scents there were as faint as the others but I could detect that they were indeed pack wolves, and strong ones as well. A frown slipped on my face while I tapped my fingers to the ground, thinking about our next move.

"I doubt these packwolves were here with the females. If so, the others wouldn't have attacked...I'm guessing they were here on their own accord and found out that we were rogues close to their lands." I stated before heaving myself up to walk back to Kim's scent.

Glaring down at my men, I took a deep whiff of the scent before stating, "I want each and every one of you to memorize this scent and spread out. As soon as you find it again, you let me know. I want her found as soon as possible, got it?"

They all quickly nodded their heads, rushing to take a lungful of air so they could detect the scent when needed. I smirked slightly before we all made our way out of the shopping mall and split up. I was going to search in the surrounding forests while the rest was going to search in town. It was safer for me to stay hidden, since the authorities were mostly looking for me.

As soon as I was far enough from the humans, I exploded into my wolf, snarling as I rushed into the forest. My paws thudded against the forest floor, tearing it open as I went and pushing myself further and faster away while I kept my senses sharp for Kim's scent, or one of the others.

The fade link between me and my men stayed silent for a long while, the landscape changing as I ran closer and closer towards the city. My nostrils flared slightly at a hint of orchids and I froze, slipping to a halt as my wolf grew exited, sniffing the air for that scent.

I grinned when I smelled it again and started to follow it. There was no need to alert the others to come running, since the scent was very faint, as if several weeks or even months had passed since Kim last passed through this part of the forest.

But still, her scent was here, leading me to a thicker part of the forest before it was joined by another pair of scents. An enraged snarl escaped my mouth and I clawed the nearest tree to cool my anger as yet again, her scent was joined by that of two pack wolves.

And one of them was the same one as in the mall...

My eyes burned with anger as I sniffed and followed their combined trail until it disappeared next to the road, undoubtedly they had left in a car. Growling to myself, I followed the trail back to try and find the source of Kim's scent.

It led me straight to a large mansion like house, though the finding of her home didn't lift my spirits. The scents that came from the house told me it had been deserted for a while now. I sniffed and sniffed again before snarling and jumping out of the cover to rush to the house.

There had been a whole pack in this house, judging by the scents that lingered here. I could smell at least eight werewolves, and yet again that scent from the forest. Maybe my men had been right when they said that Kim had found the protection of a pack. That or she was just friends with one of them...

But why would they come here? And in such numbers? Something wasn't adding up but I couldn't place it exactly...if she had found a mate in the pack than our search would get complicated.

"Sir, we found her scent at a school and it's still fresh."

My ears perked up and I instantly rushed closer to my men, feeling the others do the same. I was fairly close and arrived before the others, instantly edging towards the tree line before I started pacing as I stared at the school, plotting what to do next.

"No doubt those pack wolves are there too so we can't get in to look around. And if anyone recognizes us, we'll be in a lot of trouble..." I mused, snapping my jaws in irritation before snarling at the wolf that accidently stepped in my way.

He whimpered and jumped to the side when I dug my teeth in his haunches before continuing my pace. "We'll have to wait here until we catch her scent or see her. Nobody gets out of cover until I say so. If you manage to find the scent of the male that been around her at the mall, follow it."

---Will's POV---

I was on edge.

Literally, I couldn't sit still for a minute, my wolf was anxious as it growled and paced while I tried my best to focus on the task at hand. A dry cough made me look up at the history professor, who was tapping his feet while he gave me a pointed look. I smiled apologetically and pulled my books closer, trying to find why on earth WOI had started anyways.

"Check page 230 Will."

Glancing at David in the back, I smiled gratefully and instantly searched for the page as I felt my wolf pace once more before huffing loudly and flopping down. David must have felt my distress because I felt him nudge my mind slightly, as if silently asking what's wrong.

"It's just...I'm a bit...tense." I stated halfheartedly, hearing David snort in the back before he lamely covered it up with a cough. The professor glared at him but couldn't say anything because the bell went off at that exact moment. David used the opportunity to throw his stuff in a bag and dash for the door.

The man desperately tried to stop him but wasn't heard above the noise of the other students talking excitedly, since the holidays were just around the corner. Two more hours and then we were free to do as we pleased for two weeks.

"Two weeks of being constantly with our mate..." My wolf purred, relaxing at the thought while he wagged his tail. I chuckled slightly before agreeing, pondering for a moment. "Maybe we can start teaching Kim the finer details of her wolf. She obviously knows the basics and her wolf will take over when needed but she needs to learn more than just trusting her instincts."

My wolf stayed silent for a moment before nodding his head. "I agree, it'll be nice to know that she's prepared for whatever might happen." I sighed when I realized that Kim was going home after lunch while I supposedly had to stay for the remaining hour.

A whimper filled my head and I could almost imagine the sad eyes of my wolf at the thought of losing out on our time with Kim. My hand almost subconsciously reached for the roster in my books before I checked what class I had.

Math. Yuck, I'll pass.

I slapped the book closed with a grin and tucked it away in my bag. I was going to come along with Kim but right now, I was going to put my bag and hers in my car so we could eat in peace before we'd depart towards the packhouse for some lessons.

"Hey Kim, do you need your bags sweetie? I'm coming over to pick them up if you want." I smiled to myself as I contacted her through the link. It stayed silent for a moment before she replied, "Yeah, sure, thanks. Didn't you have another class though?"

Damn...busted. I grinned widely at my mate, probably looking like a lunatic to the other students but I ignored them while making my way towards Kim's art room, arriving just in time to see her step out the room.

"Hey." She smiled warmly, her eyes glancing in my direction before they flashed from one point to another. I smiled warmly, knowing that she was trying to see more than her eyes allowed her to. She had shared a look through her eyes and I was rather stunned by how dark everything was.

When she had told me she could see lights and shapes, I figured the lights would overrule the shadow but it was quite the opposite. If she turned her eye just right, she was able to see the light behind me, faintly seeing my silhouette against the dark background.

Shaking my head, I smiled again and gently removed the bag from her shoulder before flicking it over mine. "Why don't you go along with the others to get us a place? David is waiting for Kath at the Math room in the second hall." She smiled and nodded before leaning in and gently placing a kiss on my lips and then she was walking away.

It wasn't until she turned around the corner that I realized I had been staring at her departing form until I couldn't see her anymore. It made me realize yet again how much I truly loved her.

With an amused snort, I powerwalked towards the car and was nearly running to get back as fast as possible to my mate. Just when I closed the car however, I could sense a presence coming closer, and it smelled like a rogue.

Swirling around, I barely managed to drop low enough in an attempt to avoid the black wolf jumping towards me. I glanced around, realizing that I was parked fairly close to the woods and that a total of four rouges had appeared out the forest's safety. One of them, larger than the others, was standing barely within the cover of the forests' edge, observing the other wolves closely.

I didn't have time to call reinforcements because the three wolves all jumped instantaneously, forcing me to shift on the spot before I was fending them off. The rogues didn't relent and were trying to push me in the woods, undoubtedly wanting to keep this fight as low-profile as possible.

A whine escaped my muzzle as one of the scrawny rogues managed to jump onto my back, his teeth digging into the fur on my neck. I bucked and tried to shake him off while the other two found their opening and bit in my flanks, their leader letting out a throaty chuckle as he walked back in the forest, waiting for me to be dragged in.

Suddenly, the weight was ripped from my shoulders and a deadly snarl erupted from a few feet beside me, accompanied by the pained growls and yelps of the rogue. The other two were distracted, giving me the opportunity to bite in the rust colored fur beside me.

The rogue yelped and jumped to the side, the other one copying its movements before I managed to catch sight of the third rogue...who was attempting to fight Kim off. Her pearly white fur around her muzzle was stained in red while she shook it from side to side, snapping the leg of the rogue in half.

"David, rogues! They're attacking me and Kim at the parking lot, just beside the forest!" I shouted out through the link while spinning around to stop the black wolf from jumping on Kim. Our teeth gnashed together, snarls erupting from both our chests while I felt the pack react to my message.

It didn't take too long before all three rogues were lying on the floor, growling and snarling at the eight wolves that kept a close eye on them while David and Tyler walked towards us.

"Your father is coming over to check things out and to force these three to shift." I nodded my head, panting slightly while I pressed my nose in Kim's fur and inhaled deeply. "There was a fourth one, just in the forest. I think it was their leader."

"It was Carlos...He was here."

Everyone froze at Kim's whispered words before we heard a howl from dad, who was probably close enough to catch Carlos' scent and was in pursuit. Hopefully he could catch the man before he got away. But why on earth would he give away the element of surprise in order to attack me?

Nudging my head against Kim's shoulder, I gave her a smile before cleaning the fur around her nose. "These three must have been the remaining escaped convicts. I want them questioned and bound, but not hurt."

The others nodded and began to crowd the three wolves, forcing them to take the direction towards the packhouse. The forest resounded with the thudding of approaching paws until finally the adults arrived to guide the rogues back home.

Kim's nose nuzzled my neck and I purred before we both started our way back home. David had already let me know that he would take care of my car and for now, I truly didn't care.

I just wanted to calm down beside my mate and try to find out what Carlos' plan was.