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My dad gave me the side-eye. He put both hands back on the wheel and flexed them before curling them tightly until his knuckles turned white. “You do have a level head, Sawyer. I’ll give you that.”
Good. Maybe he was finally seeing reason. On the plus side, I’d bought Sloane and Lincoln some time. I’d have to warn them to leave her pack lands. Soon. Right now, I needed to keep talking my father down.
“Dad, we can’t afford to make any mistakes right now. I think we need to take a couple of days to regroup. We need to come up with a really good plan, and we need to wait for those reinforcements and the wolfsbane. Then we make our move when we’re ready. With our extra men and the wolfsbane, they won’t stand a chance against us. It will show our power and reinforce our position with the men in our ranks.”
My dad sighed, and his shoulders slumped as he finally relaxed. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.”
He smiled and patted my shoulder like I’d done a good job. “The moment we get home, we’ll begin to plan. Our next attack will be swift and precise. We will eliminate the enemy, and this should hopefully be the final nail in the coffin for any resistance we might still be meeting.”
My heart tightened, making it hard to breathe. Luna help me, what I had just done?
My dad looked at me expectantly.
I swallowed and forced a smile. “I agree. This next attack needs to be brutal.”
I turned my attention back to the window and tried to control my breathing. Dad was on the warpath, and I couldn’t talk him out of it. The only thing I could do was help Lincoln and Sloane prepare and escape.
The full force of Pack Wolf Blood was coming.
Seventeen
Sloane
My stomach did a flip-flop as we plunged over the edge. A scream bubbled up my throat, but I never had a chance to voice it. The murky water swallowed me whole. I sank beneath the surface, the current pulling me under and taking me down the stream.
I clawed at the water, trying to find the surface, but I couldn’t tell which way was up and which was down. Everything was so dark and frigid. The water rolled me, making it impossible for me to catch my bearings. My fingers skimmed across the silty dirt at the bottom, and I knew I was facing the wrong direction.
My lungs screamed, and hysteria crawled through me. I couldn’t breathe. My mouth popped open, and water flooded my mouth, making me gag. My chest constricted, trying to draw in a breath that wasn’t there. Darkness clouded my vision.
I needed to surface, and quick. I was not going to drown today.
I did a somersault and kicked my feet as hard as I could. I stretched my arms high above my head, tearing at the water. I hit the surface and gulped in a large breath of air, filling my lungs.
The water churned around me, splashing in my face and mouth. I coughed, sputtering, trying to clear my lungs.
I moved my arms and kicked my feet, treading water like my dad had taught me so many years ago. I twisted, looking for Lincoln. I didn’t see him.
My heart stopped. Where was he? What if he was just as confused as I had been? What if he was still under? He could be drowning.
“Lincoln? Lincoln?” I called his name repeatedly.
When he didn’t respond, I sucked in a deep breath, holding it, and then dove beneath the surface again. The water stabbed at my eyes, but I kept them open, searching for him. Where was he? I had to find him!
It was hard to see anything. The water was a murky green color and had thick sludge in it. My lungs screamed in protest, and I had to resurface.
The moment I emerged, I sucked in a giant breath and was just about to dive back under when I heard a voice.
“Sloane?”
I turned in the direction of the voice. Lincoln was there. I laughed as tears pricked my eyes.
I swam against the current to him, or I tried. It didn’t feel like I was going anywhere. Thankfully, he let the current carry him towards me. We collided in the middle, and we wrapped each other in an embrace.
He cupped my face with his hands and stared at me. “I thought I lost you.” Emotion filled his voice.
“I thought I lost you, too.” I surged forward and captured his lips as we continued to be carried downstream.
He chuckled softly. “You aren’t getting rid of me that easy.”
