The Survivor ( #2 Eastern Werewolves Pack Series)

The lightning was redirected the morning sky before it ceased. Kaya collapsed to the ground which made Jaxon grunted in annoyance. How many times did she need to faint in a crucial situation like this? Damn it, he thought.

Winston threw a pair of pants to Jaxon. The former Alpha shifted within seconds before putting the pants on. They needed to get going to the rendezvous point while Mira and the others were holding the bad guys behind to buy them some time.

Jaxon carried Kaya into his arms and they set out once more. The next town was about two hours of a drive but with their speed, they could get there within one hour, provided that they didn’t encounter any bad guy along the way.

“Was it her doing earlier?” Mira appeared on his right after fifteen minutes.

“Yes, I saw the silhouette of a man within the circle with her,” Jaxon answered as they kept on running. “What about the bad guys?”

“They escaped,” Jazmine answered instead.

That was too bad. They could have caught one for interrogation. Jaxon didn’t want to risk that either. The shapeshifters knew where Kaya and her daughter were. They must have the ability to track down their own comrades’ location. Or maybe they had been watching Kaya’s family since the beginning.

Mira zoned out for a few seconds before saying, “Cohen found Colin Nickerson. He’s not in a good shape.”

“What about his captors?” Winston asked.

“They reprimanded one. The others died. We must hurry,”

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the safehouse in the next town. Everything was set up. The perimeter was secured. The bad guy was chained in the living room with a chain that had been cast with a spell. As Jaxon settled down Kaya in a bed, he was attacked by a glimpse of dying Zia in his arms.

“Jaxon, help me,” She mumbled with blood flowing out of her mouth.

Startled by the sudden glimpse, Jaxon almost dropped Kaya to the floor. He shook his head a few times to regain his composure once more. He put her in the bed as if she would get him killed at the spot.

“Hey,” Cohen called as he stood outside the room. “Are you okay, Jaxon?”

The former Eastern Alpha nodded, “Yeah.”

Jaxon wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and followed the Southern Alpha to the living room where the captured bad guy was chained. Jazmine was making a beeline to the back of the captive and pressed her palms on his temples. Her grey eyes turned black included her eyeballs. It seemed like she was being possessed by a demon but this was one of her many hidden talents. Despite she had lost all of her strong abilities, she still could read memories just by touching the temples of the person she wanted to read on. This made an interrogation easier. But, not everyone’s memories could be read as easy as that. For example, she couldn’t read Mira’s memories because the redheaded Luna’s demon wolf overpowered Jazmine’s ability.

Once again, Jaxon saw a glimpse of bleeding Zia at the corner. His guilt was haunting him but he never saw her outside his dream like this. He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned silently. He had seen her many times within the span of twenty-four hour. This never had happened. He would only see her in his dream, but not like this.

“Jaxon,” Somebody called his name.

He spun around, facing the wall while still pinching the bridge of his nose. Zia’s voice was ringing in his ears. The necklace around his neck was burning against his skin as if it wanted to tell him he was getting overwhelmed.

“Jaxon, block it!” Somebody shouted.

Someone pressed their palms on his ears as if they knew what he was hearing. Zia’s voice became darker and darker as she called for his name. His wolf growled angrily. What the hell was happening to him?

Chaos happened around him. People were screaming words he didn’t recognize. Someone tried to hold him but he refused. Then, everything went silent. A pin-drop silence.

“Help me,”

His body tensed. The atmosphere around him was colder than before. Jaxon turned around and saw he was surrounded by mists. He couldn’t see further than ten meters from where he was standing. But, he had a clue that he was at a park. Then, there was a little girl, holding onto her teddy bear. She was wearing a floral dress with her hair braided behind her. Her curly hair and blue eyes reminded him of Kaya’s daughter that he saw on the pictures hanging on the wall of her house.

Could this be Camilla?

Where the hell were they?

“Camilla Smith?” He spoke her name softly, fearing he might scare her away.

She nodded. “I saw you met my mommy,”

“You saw I met your mommy?”

She approached him and held his right hand. Their surrounding changed to the living room of Kaya’s house. Jaxon saw himself was standing at the porch while Kaya opened the door. He remembered this. It was this morning when he went to pick his jacket from Kaya.

Jaxon crouched down to meet the height of the little girl, “Camilla, how did you end up in the drawing?”

“I couldn't remember. I was angry at daddy for not coming home. Then, I woke up here. I tried to go home to mommy but they didn’t want to let me go.”

“They?”

She pointed to something behind him. The mist moved out of the direction she was pointing as if she was controlling the mist. There was a golden color door with a lamppost next to it. However, something was guarding the door.

A group of black figures, moving back and forth before the door.

Jazmine pulled the folded drawing from Amanda’s bag while Cohen and Jahan were moving Jaxon’s body to the couch. She observed the drawing for a few seconds before she realized it.

“Camilla drew it at the same night she fell coma,” Kaya told her as they walked to the second floor of her home to pack her stuff before they left the place later. “It was a memory of her and Dave at the park,” She glanced at Jazmine. “But, they never go to the park together.”

"What did you mean?" Jazmine questioned.

"Dave was paranoid about going to public place together ever since we had Camilla. I often brought her to the park without his knowledge. Before we found out about his death, Camilla was drawing at the dining table. She said it was a drawing of her and her daddy at the park. Then, Colin came over to tell us about the news of Dave's death. I never got the chance to ask her about the drawing because she just collapsed and comatose since then."

The man who was holding the little girl’s hand in the drawing wasn’t Camilla’s dad.

It was Jaxon.