The Minx

The next day, Kieran transported the three of us to where he left off in Colorado. Aspen took over trying to sniff out clues and smell for his mate. We wandered through the mountains for quite a while. We had to take breaks and change directions, but by nightfall, we were starting to see signs of civilization. Kieran was the first to spot it. He silently pointed out a camera hidden in a tree. Luckily, we were far enough away from it that it hadn't caught us yet. We stayed in the blind spot as we stopped.

"We should take out the camera," Aspen said quietly.

"No. The second they notice, they'll know something is wrong. We'll just have to avoid it," Kieran stopped him. Kieran was right, of course. If one of their cameras suddenly stopped working, it would cause suspicions. Kieran looked around carefully before grabbing my hand and leading me through the brush nearby. Aspen followed closely behind. It was like walking through a maze. We had to be extra careful. For every camera we avoided, we encountered another camera or motion sensor. Finally we saw a building that was partially hidden by trees. We had a plan before coming. I would blast through a wall with my weaponized fox flame and we would go in full force. With Kieran and Aspen protecting me, I would keep using the fox flame to get through any solid obstacles while the two of them killed anyone they came across. We would find Caitlyn and get out of there. As soon as we killed all the scientists, we would blow up the facility and Kieran would teleport us back to Silver Bullet's territory.

I built up my adrenaline before pushing the fox flame through my hands towards the building. As soon as the wall crumbled, an alarm began blaring noisily. We ran in and encountered three people almost immediately. Aspen and Kieran sprung into action, moving too fast for normal eyes to track. We swept through the whole building as fast as we could until we came upon an enforced door. It was my turn again. I powered up my fox flame before shooting it out. It took two or three tries but the door finally fell. The room was dim and cold. Inside the room, se finally found her. Caitlyn was strapped to a table and unconscious. It was eerie how much she looked like me, but I couldn't stop to think about that now.

"Start heading out. I'll double check and make sure I got everyone," Kieran said urgently. We nodded before he left quickly. Aspen I did the straps and gently cradled Caitlyn in his arms. The alarm still blared as we started heading out the same way we came in. At least we knew there wouldn't be any surprises if we walked out a wall that had been blasted open. When we finally got back to the forest the blaring seemed significantly quieter. I turned my attention to Aspen and Caitlyn. Her breathing was shallow and she was still unconscious. Aspen watched her, worried. It was a moment before Kieran joined us.

"The charges are set. Let's get out of here before this place blows," he said before putting a hand on both of us and transporting us back to Aspen's house. As soon as I saw we were inside, I let out a sigh of relief, but Aspen didn't, and neither did Kieran. Both of their attention was on Caitlyn.

"Take her to see your pack doctor, now. She's fading," Kieran said to Aspen. Aspen nodded before running off. Kieran sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. I found myself touching his arm gently.

"Is Caitlyn going to be okay?" I asked unsurely. Kieran shook his head.

"I'm not sure. She wasn't in good shape to start with. From what I heard, her heartbeat was faint. Whatever they did to her there, she's already on the brink of death. It all really depends on her luck now. I think Aspen should prepare for the worse," Kieran explained. I instantly felt bad for Aspen. Originally, I wanted to get Caitlyn back to pay him back to reclaim my own freedom to be with Kieran, but now, it was like I was forcing him to watch and feel his mate die all over again if she didn't make it. I could only hope she could pull through. I felt exhausted. I yawned as my eyes grew heavy.

"I'm going to check on Nabi," I said tiredly. Upstairs, Nabi was already asleep next to Avery. I smiled softly at the two of them before closing the door back gently. I would leave it alone for now, seeing as they looked so peaceful. I went to my own room that I shared with Kieran and took a shower before getting in the bed. It was a waiting game for Caitlyn. I'm sure if anything changed, they would let us know. For now, I was exhausted, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Kieran wasn't too far behind me. He sighed before wrapping his arms arms around me and placed a kiss on my head gently.

"What do we do if Caitlyn doesn't make it?" I asked softly.

"We've done our part. We've done what we could. We gave Caitlyn back to her mate. The rest is up to him. You should be free to live your life now. After some sleep, we'll take Nabi back home," he promised. I was ready to take our daughter back home and get back to our normal lives. I was stabilizing, and I was out of immediate danger for now, but my fox bead hadn't turned blue yet. Now that Caitlyn was back, we could finally focus on my issues as a hybrid.