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I laughed and pressed my forehead against his. “Good. I can’t lose you.”
He pushed my matted hair out of my face and gave me another chaste kiss before meeting my gaze. His expression softened, and he swallowed. “I love you, Sloane.”
My heart swelled at his admission. “I love you, Lincoln.”
I’d thought it a few dozen times. Why had it taken me this long to say it to him? I would tell Sawyer how much I loved him the next time I saw him too. My mates needed to know how I felt.
Lincoln murmured in my ear and rocked me in his warm embrace. We clung to each other, trying to catch our breaths.
We stayed curled together for a while, neither of us saying anything, just enjoying each other’s company.
The current began to slow. My feet dragged against the bottom, and Lincoln was able to plant his feet, stopping us in the middle of the river. I stood on my own for the first time in what felt like forever and closed my eyes, letting out a relieved breath.
I rested my forehead on his shoulder. “Do you think you can shift now?”
Lincoln rubbed his hand up and down my back. “I think so. We’ll move faster on foot anyway. I’m pretty sure we’ve already gone a few miles thanks to the water. The distance will help.”
I looked over my shoulder at the direction we’d come. He was right. The waterfall was far enough away that I could barely see it now.
Lincoln took my hand, and we trudged through the water to the shore. It was even chillier now that we weren’t submerged all the way. The icy air bit into my skin, and I looked down at the purplish color it had taken. I rubbed my free hand against my other arm. I couldn’t feel my fingers or my toes.
Panic set in. What if we’d gotten hypothermia?
Lincoln walked me out of the water, and our feet slapped against the muddy rocks as we made our way to shore. My right shoe got stuck in the mud and slipped halfway off before I shoved my heel back in and curled my toes.
We walked until the ground turned more solid beneath our feet.
Lincoln let go of my hand and pushed his hair out of his face. His gaze went to the sun, and he looked around while taking in our surroundings.
He pointed. “We need to go that direction to get towards the town. We can find a house to get inside and maybe find some fresh, dry clothes there.”
I hugged myself as my teeth started to chatter again. “What if someone’s there?”
Lincoln frowned. “We’ll just have to hope no one is. There’s a decent chunk of houses in this neighborhood, if I remember correctly. I’m sure we can find one that’s vacant.”
I rolled up my tank top and took it off before shoving my pants down. Taking sopping wet clothes off was not easy. Neither was tying them into a ball to carry. My sweater was gone, lost somewhere in the water. I could have rolled it all up in that.
I made sure to tie everything up in a tight ball using my shirt’s sleeves to carry in my mouth. If I dropped something, it would give Mikey and his goons a head start on where to find us.
I set my bundle down and dropped to my hands and knees. It was hard to focus on my wolf when all I could think about was how freezing cold I was. Gooseflesh pimpled every inch of my skin, and I couldn’t stop shivering.
Focus!
I closed my eyes and did my best to control my breathing. I pictured my wolf and called out to her. She bubbled to the surface, and my bones began to snap and realign. The change happened in just a few seconds, and then I stood on all four paws.
Warmth spread through me as I stretched out. Every muscle in my body was tense and tight from the events of this morning. I shook out my coat and let out a long sigh. I was still cold, but at least I wasn’t shaking anymore.
I shifted on my feet while I drifted my gaze to Lincoln. He had stripped down and was naked on all fours. His eyes were closed, his face contorted. A fine sheen of sweat beaded his brow, and his breathing was labored.
I gulped. The shift was going to be hell for him. I could feel it. He cried out as his back cracked, snapping and starting to realign. I whined, knowing that I had to stay back and couldn’t help him.
His right arm gave out, and he fell as it popped and then started to shift into a paw. Hair slowly sprouted over his body, and the rest of his bones started to crackle, slowly moving and realigning until he lay on his side, panting as a wolf.
I rushed toward him and nuzzled his face. Are you okay? Can you run? I asked him through our link.
He was silent for a long moment, and the only thing I could hear was the hum of our connection.
When he finally answered me, he sounded breathless. Give me just another second. Then we will run.
