Did I surprise you guys??  Better hope Ren is okay :)

Chapter Quote:
“Just as a fever makes cold feel colder, love can make loneliness feel lonelier.”
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Chapter 12: New Dawn Rose

Arya 

Shiloh and the pack avoided Arya after their meeting with the Nightshade group.  She’d fallen into a foul mood, barely restraining herself from punching something (or someone) on the way back to the hotel.  Once back inside her room, Arya slammed her fist onto the bed.  She had to get her anger out someway and the rational being she was, she went for the bed so she wouldn’t injure herself or damage the hotel.

The Lightwood pack had traveled all over Colorado in search of Ren, with minimal luck.  They would receive a lucky break by getting a whiff of his scent or by finding an article of clothing, but otherwise, the alpha remained MIA.  Arya began to convince herself that searching for him would end in a futile attempt, that he didn’t want to be found, that he didn’t want to be with the pack anymore.  One thing kept her from believing all this.

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts.  She huffed over to the door, trying to hold back the frustrated tears threatening to spill over.  Upon opening the door, she stood in shock.  Two of the Nightshade pack shifted uneasily in front of her. “Ansel, Neville, what on earth are you doing here?”

“We want to help find Ren,” Neville blurted.

“Thank you, but is that okay with Calla?  Does she even know you’re here?”

“No, but I wouldn’t care if she told us not to.  Ren was my-”

“Old alpha, I know,” Arya finished, giving Nev a smile. “He told me about you, Mason, Dax, Fey, Cosette, Sabine, Ansel, Bryn, and Shay.”

“He did?” Ansel queried.

“After he talked to you on the phone one time, he started explaining who everyone was.  He never talked much about you guys, but whenever he did, he always smiled.”

“At least he smiled.  Before we help, we want to know about his disappearance, if that’s okay,” Neville said.

“Of course.  Come on in,” Arya insisted, moving out of the doorway. “Sorry about the mess.  I’ve been… preoccupied.” She sheepishly moved stuff off her bed and threw them in her suitcase.

“Can I get you anything?  Coffee?  Tea?  Hot chocolate?”

“You know, you’re a lot nicer than I thought you’d be,” Neville commented.

She smiled. “Pardon my language, but I’m only a bitch to other bitches.  And Calla, she was being a bitch.”

“Ren’s a touchy subject for her.  The entire pack avoids talking about him,” Ansel confessed, scratching the back of his head. “It’s the fact that he just left with no word and never contacted any of us, it irks her.”

“He had reason.  He had no pack and the girl he loved fell for another guy,” Arya remarked.

“He did have a pack!  He had me!  He had Sabine!  And just because Calla chose Shay does not mean she didn’t love Ren!” Neville argued furiously.

“You went off with Calla when she came and rescued her pack when you could’ve stayed with Ren.  Cosette and Dax died.  Sabine did the same thing as you and then turned human in the end.  And when it comes to girls, I don’t think Ren likes sharing his woman.  I’m just putting it out there.  I’m not wanting to argue, especially with people who want to help me find my fiancé.  Oh, by the way Neville, I think you and Mason are an adorable couple.”
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Neville

He blushed at the comment.  Not many people came right out and said stuff like that, especially after only knowing him for a few minutes, let alone to a guy who came from her fiancé’s ex-flame’s pack.  While it angered Neville to no end, he knew Arya was right.  He’d chosen Calla over Ren.  Calla had chosen Shay over Ren.  Sabine chose being human over Ren.  Dax and Cosette chose the Keepers over Ren.

Ren left with no pack and no life.

And he found a new one.  He found a pack needing a male alpha.  He found a girl who would die for him.  He found a girl who would search the ends of the earth for him, a pack too.  Arya trumped Ren’s old life.  Neville knew why Ren stayed with her.  Perhaps a bitterness within his old alpha prevented him from calling, and although Neville got pissed whenever he thought about it, he also felt it hard to blame Ren.

“So what happened?” Ansel queried.

“Ren left on his own accord, but he was accompanied by two others.  We were in Denver when it happened, a charity event. “A ghost of a smile appeared on her face.  Neville wondered vaguely what occurred at the event. “He’d gone out to get some fresh air.  I’d stayed at the table with some of my pack, eating dinner.  When Ren didn’t come back for twenty minutes, I went looking for him.  He was nowhere to be found.  The only clue I got was from another member of the event who said he saw Ren go off with two burly guys.  They’d apparently been having a heated discussion, but the guy didn’t know about what.  I got my pack together and we tried to follow his scent, but we lost it at the road, so we figured he’d gotten in a car. We went back to our hotel and… let me ask you this.  Do you believe in psychics?”

The question took Neville aback.  Why shouldn’t he?  He’d experienced weirder things. “I guess so.”

“My omega, Melinda, she collapsed onto the ground, holding her hands to her head.  Naturally we all flipped, but she got over it and told us where Ren was.  He was in a black Escalade with two dark-haired men.  She didn’t know where they were going though.  My pack and I changed and drove back to Estes.  That’s our territory.  From there, we worked out what we were supposed to do.  Melinda had another vision a day later.  She said Ren was in Salida.  It’s under a four and a half hour drive so we thought we could catch up to him.  We asked around about him; turns out he’d left the day before we arrived.  Melinda had another vision.  This time he was in Wray, which is on the other side of the state, really small town, practically to Nebraska and Kansas.  It took almost five hours.  We sort of speeded or else it would’ve taken six hours to get there.  We stayed a few days, searching around.  His scent was all over the place.  Thing was, I smelled another scent.  I found it familiar.  My pack mates didn’t.  I decided to ignore it.  After five days, Melinda had a vision.  She saw Ren fighting security guards.  He got injured but escaped.  My pack mate had seen the name ‘John McConnell Math and Science Center.’  Shiloh, my second, looked it up.  Ren was in Grand Junction.  Another six hour drive.  We were alternating driving to get enough sleep.  I didn’t get much.  Stress… anyways, when we got there, we learned from the security guards Ren had fought that he’d skipped town only hours before we’d gotten there.  At this point, I wanted to punch a hole in the wall.  To make a long story short, we’ve followed him from Grand Junction to Fort Collins to Durango- which was a hell of a scary drive- to Las Animas to Maybell to Snowmass and finally to here.”

“You’ve been all over the place.  Why did it take you two months?” Ansel queried.

“We stayed in some places over a week.  At one point, we stayed two weeks.  That was Snowmass I think.  He stayed there a while.  We never crossed paths with him.  I found something out, however.  Ren was recruiting people.  I don’t know what for.  I don’t know who they were either.  The townspeople were pretty quiet about it.  I think they might be other Guardians he’s recruiting.  Just why, I don’t know.  I wish I did…”

“Let’s go searching now.  That coffee shop I saw you at earlier, I smelled him before you entered.  I say we go check it out,” Neville offered.

“Is it still open?”

“Should be.  They don’t close until ten on weeknights.”

“Then let’s go,” Arya said.  The three of them left the hotel, walking quickly into town.  Thankfully, the hotel was centrally located so it didn’t take long to get there.  When the trio entered, the barista that had been serving earlier was still there.

“Didn’t you three come in earlier?” she asked sweetly.

“Yes, we did.  Just couldn’t stay away from your coffee.” Arya ordered a white chocolate mocha.  Neville and Ansel ordered plain coffee. “So, this might sound like a strange question but have you seen a tall, black haired guy with really blue eyes?”

The barista thought back. “Come to think of it yes.  A couple actually. Why?”

Arya pulled out her phone, sliding through some pictures.  She chose one of a close-up of Ren. “Did any of them look like this?”

“Oh yeah!  I remember him!  Hunk of a man.”

“When was he here?” Neville questioned, attempting to hold back the excitement in his voice.

“Just a few hours before you three, actually.”

“Is he still here?  Do you know?” Arya inquired.

“I think so.  He was on the phone after I took his order.  Said something about being here for another few days, that he was having trouble getting to the person.  Sounded weird but I didn’t ask him about it.  I could hardly get a word into him with all the girls pining over him.”

“Oh really?” Arya replied nonchalantly.  For a girl who was really upset about her fiancé missing, and hearing that girls were all over him, Neville thought Arya kept her cool very well.

“Yeah, but he just gave them smiles and told them he was engaged.  That made them stop but they were obviously upset.  I tried not to laugh at them.”

“I would’ve to be honest.  Well, listen, if you see him, here’s my number.  Give me a call.  But whatever you do, don’t tell him I’m here, okay?”

“Sure.  Is he in trouble or something?” the barista questioned, wiping her hands on a towel.

“To be honest, we don’t know.  That’s what we’re trying to find out.  Say, did you happen to see which direction he took when he left?”

“I believe he went to the left.”

“Thanks for all your help,” Arya said sweetly.  The three Guardians sat down at a table away from everyone.

“Let’s finish our coffee and then head out really quick.  I want to check something out,” she informed.

“Where?” Ansel responded.

“I want to check out the hotels, see if we smell him in any of them.”

“Sounds good.  You know, if people were overhearing this conversation, they’d be wondering what the hell is wrong with us,” Neville laughed.

“No kidding,” Arya snorted.  They finished their drinks as fast as they could, although they didn’t want to go outside.  It was freezing, but they had to.  The group walked down the sidewalk slowly, trying to get a whiff of Ren’s signature leather and sandalwood scent.  Nothing came their way.

“Maybe he’s not staying in town.  Maybe he’s staying with someone,” Ansel suggested. “He might be staying with an old professor or something.  It’d be worth checking out.”

“I’m so desperate I’ll do anything,” Arya confessed. “I wish we could change into wolves.  It’d be so much easier to get around…”

“I feel you.  You know, we could change in the forest.  It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve roamed around town.”

“Let’s do it.  God let’s do it.”  The three ran as fast as they could to the forest.  Arya beat them.  She was really light on her feet, able to dodge pedestrians more easily than Neville and Ansel could.  They were laughing though, enjoying themselves.  It started to snow as they reached the woods.

SNOW! Ansel shouted into Neville’s head as his brown wolf from pranced around gleefully.

Dude, it’s too late at night to be shouting. Neville grumbled back.

Come on, I smell him! Arya insisted, running through the snow.  She was heading away from the houses of Vail, but that didn’t matter.  All that mattered was Ren was near.

Dashing through the snow, on my four feet as a wolf. Ansel sang.

Up the mountain we go, howling all the way! Arya joined in.

Oh my god you two. Neville chuckled. You’re not even rhyming!

My tongue lolls out my mouth. Ansel continued.

My tail goes side to side. Arya added

What fun it is to howl and pant and run during the night!  Ooooooh! Ansel howling slightly at the last bit.

You two are nuts. Neville remarked, but he was laughing.

Hey, this is the most fun I’ve had in ages.  Thank you Ansel.  I-

Arya skidded to a stop.  Neville barely managed to avoid crashing into her.  Of course, Ansel still goofing off, failed to see his comrade had stopped and ran into him hard.

Ow! Neville grouched.

Sorry Nev. Ansel apologized sheepishly.

Do you smell that? Arya questioned seriously.

Ren.  He’s been here, and if I’m correct, only a few minutes before us. Neville exclaimed, unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

Neville, call your pack and mine.  Howl.  Loudly. Arya commanded.  He decided not to disobey her.  He lifted his head high and let out a long, loud, low howl.  It must’ve been his longest howl yet.  Within a few minutes, his pack responded.  They were on the other side of Vail, but their message was clear: they’d be there in a few minutes.  Only a couple seconds after the Nightshade pack announced their coming, Arya’s pack responded.  Neville’s pack sounded dangerous, but Arya’s pack sounded deadly.  He was glad he was on her good side.

As they waited, a single howl echoed throughout the night.  Neville picked up multiple emotions in it: love, anguish, pain, longing, and… warning?

“Ren…” Arya whispered.  Neville looked over at her.  She’d transformed into human form; she leaned heavily against a tree. “Where are you?”

Arya shifted back to wolf form and howled.  The message came out crystal clear: Please come back.
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REN IS BACK!  Will they find him?  How will Calla and her pack react to Neville and Ansel helping Arya and her pack?  Please review :)