by Mikayla Lane
Jax looked closely at the black and tan puppy, noting the size of his paws, markings and the size of his mother before answering. “I’d say he’s got some Shepard in him, and his paws are already pretty big…” Jax paused as Reven gently lifted one of the puppy’s paws with a grin.
“So he’s going to be a big guy!” Reven said with excitement before he thought of something. “What would he like to be called?”
Jax looked at Reven in surprise before asking the puppy. “Your new daddy wants to know what you would to be called.”
“I want to be… I don’t know. Will the people who hurt my mommy hurt me too?” The puppy asked, his eyes drifting closed as he started to fall asleep on Reven’s broad shoulder.
Jax sucked in a breath of pain and rage before answering the puppy with a calmness she didn’t feel. “Your new daddy and I would kill anyone who tried to hurt you.”
“Ok… but I don’t want a new mommy. I want my mommy back.” The puppy said before succumbing to his exhaustion.
“Is he ok?” Reven asked, worried that Jax became so sad and angry at the same time the puppy stopped moving.
Jax cleared her throat and nodded at Reven. “Yeah, he’s just exhausted. He doesn’t know what he wants to be called. You’ll have to pick something.”
“Are you sure he’s ok?” Reven asked again, lines of worry creasing his forehead as he turned different ways to try to get a better look at the puppy without disturbing his sleep.
Jax shook her head at the huge man twirling around trying to look at the puppy. The last thing she would have ever expected of this arrogant jerk would be for him to be felled by a little black and tan face and a tiny bark.
“He’s fine; he's just sleeping.” Jax assured him as she filtered through his energy to make sure he wasn’t pretending to like the puppy.
What she found shook her. He was not only genuinely worried for the puppy; he really did like the little guy. He was also nervous though, why she didn’t know.
“What would be a good name for him? I don’t want to name him something he wouldn’t like.” Reven asked, not wanting the little guy to be stuck with a name he would be ashamed of.
“We can figure something out later. Right now, the vets are coming, and we need to head out.” Jax said, moving towards the three SUVs pulling into the parking lot.
Kintaq, head animal doctor of the Alliance, quickly exited the first SUV and met Jax. “What are we looking at?” He asked, looking around for his patients.
Jax turned with him and headed towards the alley, explaining along the way. “I called them here to help us find the girls, but we didn’t expect them to be so hungry and sick. Some are badly injured and barely made it here.”
“The little guy who has adopted Reven,” Jax said with a grin as they passed Reven. “Lost his mother when she knew she had gotten him to safety.”
Kintaq paused at the puppy Reven was holding, doing a cursory visual of him to ensure he didn’t need immediate care. Once he was assured the puppy was fine for now, he followed Jax into the alley and fought back his own rage at what he saw.
With a heavy sigh, Kintaq turned to Jax. “We will do all we can. Call to you anyone able to help, and we’ll give them a quick check and shots for healing before they head out. Make sure to tell them to come back later so we can do full work-ups and get them fully healthy.”
Jax sent a call to her friends in the alley, asking those who were able to help to step to her. Both she and Kintaq had to blink away the mist in their eyes from the bravery and selflessness of the various cats, dogs, rats and birds in the alley as they all tried to take a step towards Jax.
“That won’t work. Give my team and me ten minutes.” Kintaq said as he called his team into the alley and began working on the first dog he came to.
Jax headed back to where Reven was now surrounded by Crator and Bree, who were smiling at the tiny puppy in his arms. “Kintaq says we have ten minutes before we can send them out to look for the girls. So far, the birds and the other teams have had no luck.”
Reven sighed as he looked down at the adorable button nose on the black and tan face of the puppy. “We need to get out there and start looking for them. Will he be ok with Kintaq until we get back?” Reven asked Jax worriedly.
“Kintaq and his team are the best I’ve ever dealt with; he couldn’t be safer.” Jax assured him, kind of piqued that he hadn’t looked at her once since she walked over to them.
Normally, all he ever did was stare at her, this time he only had eyes for the little ball of fur snuggled up to that solid, beautiful chest of his, Jax thought with a sigh.
Kintaq crossed the parking lot to them. “We’ve got seven dogs and twelve cats ready to go. The others will take much longer and some we will have to take back with us. Let me take the little one while you head out. Grai put us up at the motel down the road from yours so you can pick him up later.” Kintaq said holding his hands out for the puppy still cuddled up to Reven.
Reven looked at Kintaq warily for a moment, unsure if he wanted to give the little guy over to him. It was the thought of the little girls, and the fact that the puppy needed food and medical care that finally decided for him.
He gently and slowly pulled the sleeping puppy away from his chest as he stared at Kintaq with narrowed eyes. “I will pick him up from you when we are done. Tell me how he is doing when you know. And how big he will be, so I can choose a proper name for him.”
Reven waited until Kintaq nodded his head with a smile before finally handing the puppy over to him. He almost snatched him back immediately when the puppy cried slightly before falling back into an exhausted sleep.
“He’s going to be fine. You go find the little girls.” Kintaq said as he gently rubbed the puppy in his sleep.
Jax turned to the dogs and cats that hadn’t required extensive medical care and explained what they were looking for. Without any promise of affection or more food or even good homes, every one of the selfless animals took off to scour the city for a pair of human children in danger.
Jax blinked back tears at the compassion and love these animals still had for humans after all the cruelty, neglect and horrible abuse they had suffered. She flinched at the sudden hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll take them all to Dillon if we have to. Every damn one of them. They don’t deserve this.” Reven growled lowly before he walked away.
Although the physical contact had been brief, it had been long enough for her to feel the anger and compassion he had for the animals in the alley, and it stunned her. She had always thought he hated her animals, but here he was adopting an orphan puppy and promising to save all of them.
Shaking her head in confusion, Jax followed him to where Crator and Bree were waiting for her. She didn’t have time to think about the perplexing man right now; she thought. They had two little girls to find. She turned to her team, her tough warrior side taking over.
“All right, we stick with the original plan. Teams of two, one team west, the other east. We’ve lost an hour with the animals, so we need to go double time to cover the ground we need to go over tonight.” Jax said, avoiding eye contact with Reven.
“We’ll take east.” Crator said before he and Bree took off at a jog in that direction. Jax had no time to stop them. She had intended to be paired with either Bree or Crator. She didn’t have much of a choice now, she thought with a sigh.
“I’m ready when you are.” Reven said, giving one last glance towards Kintaq and the puppy.
Jax nodded and sprinted towards the west; Reven easily jogged beside her as her short legs were forced to run to keep up with his stride. It was times like this that Jax wished she’d been taller.
An hour later they had more than made up the time they had lost and Reven slowed to a walk. Jax would never have admitted it; he thought, but he could feel her getting tired. What was a relaxing jog for him, had been a flat out run for her, and he knew she must be feeling it by now.
“Why are we s
topping?” Jax asked, the words coming out on puffs of heavy breaths.
“We’ve made up the time we lost. I wanted to walk for a bit. What do you think of Wolfen?” Reven said, his eyes scouring the neighborhood they were in for any sign of the girls or the red car.
Jax stopped breathing for a moment, her heavy breath from the run preventing her from hearing correctly.
“What?” She asked, looking at him curiously.
“Wolfen. For the puppy. Kintaq finished his exam and said he is part Shepard, wolf and Dane." Reven said, staying to the shadows along the street as they searched for any sights, sounds or energy that was out of place.
Jax wasn’t sure what surprised her more, that he was still thinking of the puppy or that he’d already checked on the welfare of the animal.
“It sounds a bit… pompous. He’s just a puppy.” Jax said, trying to keep her eyes on the homes around them and not his sexy ass in those snug jeans.
“Yes, but one day he will be a big dog and will grow into his name.” Reven countered with a grin that seemed to kick her in the chest. Damn the man was potent; she thought with a shake of her head to clear it.
“Good point. It still seems like a lot of pressure to put on the little guy though. What if he doesn’t want to be tough or live up to such a strong name?” Jax asked, a little stunned to realize she actually liked talking to the irritating man when he wasn’t being an asshole.
They argued and fought so much; she couldn’t remember ever having an actual conversation with him. About anything. It was a lot more pleasant than she expected it would be and didn’t mind continuing, even though she knew he’d piss her off eventually. He wouldn’t be able to help himself; she thought almost sadly.
Jax was so deep in her own thoughts that she almost ran into him when he stopped and turned to her. She looked up into his swirling eyes as he looked deeply into hers.
“He is a scared little boy who watched his mother die in a horrible way. If he is not encouraged to redirect that anger and fear he holds, into personal strength, he will self-destruct or turn mean. I will not allow that to happen to such a sweet boy.”
“I will make him strong, so he will never fear that he will let someone else down again. So he will never have to watch helplessly while someone he loves dies in his arms again.”
Reven stopped abruptly and turned from Jax’s eyes as if he’d said too much. Jax didn’t miss it though. She also didn’t miss the riot of emotions that was bleeding through his energy.
“Wolfen it is.” Jax said as she ran to catch up to the swiftly moving man.
She ran through what he’d said in her mind until she had it memorized. There was much of this man that she didn’t know, she thought. It was about time she learned. Jax ran through everyone in her mind that she could think of that would give her some files on the man.
After careful thought, she sent a call through the Shengari’ to the one person she felt she could trust the most not to say anything about her request. Jax smiled when the reply came quickly, promising information as soon as they could get it.
They continued in silence, covering several blocks as Reven struggled to think of a way to bring back the easy conversation they had shared before he’d become too serious and ruined it all. He mentally kicked himself several times for saying too much when Jax finally spoke.
“We’re at the end of the search perimeter. We need to head back the other way.”
Reven looked around and realized she was right; they had reached the end of the parameters they had set to search. Even with the silence that had stretched between them the last half hour, it had been the most pleasant time he’d ever spent with her, and he didn’t want it to end. Reven stood for a moment, trying to think of a way to extend their time together when he saw an excuse.
“That was not on the map.” Reven said pointing to the new home development under construction at the end of street.
Jax had also noticed it and was eying the entrance suspiciously. It looked like a new home development that had only been partially completed before it was abandoned.
The brick sign out in front of it was weathered and untended. The letter ‘M’ was missing from the ‘Meadow’ part of the Meadow Hills name, only the outline was now visible. The small planter under the sign had also grown wild, with weeds taking over.
The streetlights in the development weren’t working, and the eerie darkness drew them both closer to the sign and the paved entrance. Jax stopped when she was level with the sign and able to look more closely at the development. Reven came to stand right beside her.
“I have an odd feeling about this.” Jax whispered cautiously to Reven as, she pulled her gun and moved into the shadows of the sign.
Reven understood what she meant since he also didn’t feel right about this. There was a sense of urgency that he couldn’t seem to shake. He slowly drew his gun and moved into the shadows on the opposite side of the street from Jax.
Jax gave a silent nod to Reven before running silently to the corner of the first house she came to. Staying in the shadows, she waited for Reven to get into position while she listened for any sound or indication that the children were near.
When Reven was in position, Jax moved quickly to the next partially completed house. She turned to watch as Reven moved to his next position when she thought she heard something. She listened for long minutes to hear it again when Reven gave her a mental nudge to move.
Shaking off her unease, Jax moved quickly to the next home and stopped in her tracks when she heard it again.
“Listen!” She told Reven through the Shengari’ as she stopped her breathing so she could hear better.
Reven’s head jerked up the second he heard the slight cry that barely carried on the night air. Holding his hand up to Jax to stay put, he jogged to the opposite side of the street and a little farther up than her.
Both of them remained still as they listened for the cry again. When it came, Jax looked to Reven, who nodded at her and pointed further down the street from where he had moved.
Jax ran across the street to Reven, and they both walked slowly down the road listening for the cry they had heard to come again. Jax sent a call out to any animals that may be in the small, darkened neighborhood while Reven looked more closely at the homes they were passing, to get a feel for where they were and any limitations they might face if the girls were found here.
This time when the cry came, they were so close they could pinpoint the home it was coming from easily. Using only combat hand signals Reven told Jax that he was heading around back. Jax nodded her head and moved towards the open garage at the front.
She and Reven dove for cover as a beat-up car exploded out of the garage in a squeal of tires and burning rubber. They barely got to their feet in time to see a shock of blonde hair barely peeking over the dashboard. The giggling of a small child drifted back to them as they watched the car skid around a corner before disappearing.
Reven just blinked for a moment before turning to Jax. “Was that…?” Reven asked, not sure what he just saw.
Jax looked up at him, just as stunned. “Yeah, I think we can bet that was the two we’re looking for.”
Reven looked back down the road where the car disappeared. “Sooo, we just got punked by a child and a toddler?” He asked Jax with a grin.
Jax stared at the empty road and nodded her head with an answering smile. “Yup. We just got punked.”
Opening her mind to the Shengari',’ she called to their teams. “Listen up guys, we just had a sighting of the targets. They are driving a beat up, red, late model, four-door sedan. Driver can barely see over the dash and has light blonde hair. Toddler is standing in the back seat, unrestrained, with all of two teeth and two dark curls.”
“They are traveling west of our location. Let’s circle the wagon's guys and see if we can corral them in!” Jax said before grinning at Reven and hitting a full-out run after the swerving car.
They had gone seven bl
ocks and were out of both home developments when Jax stopped abruptly, studying the image in her mind that one of the birds above them was showing her. “Follow me!” Jax yelled to Reven as she cut through a yard and hopped a bike laying on the ground.
Reven shook his head at the excitement he could feel coming off of Jax as he easily kept pace with her. He had no idea where she was taking him, but if there was one thing, he could count on; it was that Jax would find trouble.
He avoided plowing into her by mere centimeters and stumbled as he righted himself. He turned back towards Jax in time to see her draw her weapon and approach a vehicle that was driven halfway into the woods on the side of the road.
Recovering himself quickly, he drew his gun and covered her from the other side of the car, looking inside the empty interior as they passed from the trunk to the hood and back.
