Resisting the Moon (Royal Shifters #2)(14)

“You ready?” he asked, rolling his sleeves up.

I nodded. “Let’s go.” We took off into the woods, and he stayed by my side as we ran. The closer we got to Amelie’s house, the sicker I became. The scent of blood permeated the air and was almost overwhelming as the house came into view.

Sebastian stopped and held out his arm. “Wait. I don’t like this.”

Neither did I, but I had to get to my family. “They’re hurt,” I cried, dread settling in the pit of my stomach. “I don’t sense any other wolves around.”

Taking a deep breath, his eyes flashed as he scanned the area. “I don’t either. Stay close.”

We approached the cabin, and unlike my aunt and uncle’s place, there were definitely signs of forced entry. We walked inside and the place was ransacked, blood everywhere. And not just Amelie’s. But I couldn’t smell the other scents.

“She didn’t make it easy on them, whoever they are,” he mentioned.

The splatters of blood trailed out the back door, which was wide open. “Should we shift?” I asked.

He peered into the woods and shook his head. A look crossed his face but I couldn’t decipher it. “Not yet.”

“You know something, don’t you? What are you not telling me?”

Sighing, he looked down at my hand and grabbed it. “Are you sure you want to go out there?”

By the look in his eyes, I knew what he was thinking. “You’re wrong,” I growled in denial. They were still alive; they had to be. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed back, his gaze sad. “Either way, I have to see for myself.”

He nodded once and guided me down the patio stairs. I didn’t even bother letting go of his hand. I needed his touch, especially now. The smell of blood grew thicker the farther into the woods we traveled. We were close.

“Why would anyone want to hurt them?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I’m guessing they were after Amelie. Maybe a wolf wanted her as a mate and she refused?”

Memories of the battle against Vincent’s wolves flashed through my mind. I’d barely gotten out alive. “I know all too well about that,” I whispered softly. Brows furrowed, he glanced down at me and started to speak, but then stopped, quickly turning his attention to something in the distance. “What is it?”

His royal abilities far outstretched mine. Everything I could do, he could do three times better. “Death,” he said. “Why don’t you stay here while I take a look?”

I shook my head, eyes burning. “They’re my family, Sebastian.”

Still holding my hand, he pulled me the rest of the way. I could hear the bugs flying and the vultures ripping away at flesh. If there was ever a time I didn’t want wolf hearing, it was then. Swallowing hard, I averted my gaze, knowing their bodies were right under my nose.

Sebastian blew out an angry breath and bowed his head. “I’m so sorry, Tyla.”

The vultures scattered and I gagged. My eyes were blurry, but I could see the carnage as if I was looking through a microscope. Slapping a hand over my mouth, my body shook and I fell to my knees. So many emotions whirled through me, I didn’t know which one to hold on to. “Oh my God.”

There were four wolves, all dead; pieces of their bodies strewn about. Whoever had killed my family had enjoyed it, and made sure to make them suffer. I prayed Karma would be a bitch.

My aunt and uncle were on the ground. Still in wolf form, they were barely intact and gutted, their insides stretched across the dirt and leaves. The only relief to be found, was that my cousin was not there. It looked like after my family ripped the others apart, there were more that came in and devoured them. I could see their tracks, but couldn’t smell them.

“Why can’t I smell the other tracks? Is it just me?” I asked.

Sebastian let go of my hand and kneeled, touching the tracks. “No, it’s not just you. But there’s a reason why.”

I turned to him. “Why?”

He huffed, jaw tense. “Magic. Whoever did this doesn’t want to be found.”

“Magic? Are you talking Maret kind of magic?” Maret was a powerful witch I’d helped kill just a few months back. It had happened during a rescue mission for Bailey. I could still taste the foulness of her blood in my mouth. When Sebastian nodded, I groaned. “I didn’t think there were any other witches out there like her.”

“There must be.”

“Why are they trying to hide?” It made no sense. Wolves were all about territory and making themselves known.

“Don’t know, but I sure as hell don’t like it,” he growled.

“What about Amelie? If she’s not here, they had to have taken her. How are we going to find her?”

Amelie wasn’t a fighter. When we were younger, she’d been the soft-spoken one who chose to pick flowers and search for beautiful rocks instead of climbing trees and playing in the mud. We were the perfect balance together, and the best of friends. The thought of what was being done to her made me sick. It felt like a rock was being wedged in my throat. I couldn’t breathe.

Sebastian clutched my cheeks in his hands, turning my face to his. “Calm down, Tyla. We’ll find her, I promise. We just need to track her scent.”

I tried to turn to the carnage, but he held me firm. “What about my aunt and uncle? We can’t just leave them here.”