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Finally, my desperation gets the better of me. Sierra, I am coming for you!
As I push through the bushes, determined to release her or die trying, I do not see the danger until it is too late. Someone grabs me and drags me down.
Cursing, I grapple my assailant, but I am weak and am easily overpowered.
“Get off me,” I yell, thrashing in his grasp. And the realization dawns on me that it is not a dark elf.
“Be still, you fool,” growls another Zvori as he leans on my chest. “You will get us both killed if you continue your shouting.”
“Fuck, who are you?” I demand, a mixture of confusion, anger, and hope welling up inside me.
“I’m Lorganus,” the stranger tells me. “You can’t just march into a dark elf town. You would suffer a lingering death at their hands.” He sniffs me. “Was that your mate that they took in there?”
“Yes,” I tell him. “Sierra. I was tracking her. I have to get her back.” My eyes flit desperately toward the town.
“How did they get hold of her?” Lorganus asks.
“We were attacked by dark elves. They wanted to claim her as their property. They nearly beat me, but I managed to fight them off and escape. In the struggle, they injured me rather gravely.”
“The filthy scum,” he replies. “I bet they poisoned their weapons, too.”
“They did. They nearly had me. Sierra saved my life. She took out the poisoned tip of one of their swords.”
“You know they forge their weapons that way? So that they break off in the wound and fester. If she hadn’t got it out, you would have died for sure,” Lorganus tells me grimly.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I reply. “We hid in the old caves, but she went out against my advice to gather herbs. That was when the filthy bastards took her. I want to kill them all.” The urge to run into the town and find her is overwhelming.
“I bet you would, what with her carrying your cub.”
I stare at him, struck dumb.
“I smelt it on her. That’s how I knew it was her you were following,” he tells me by way of explanation.
His words send me reeling. I had assumed that it was the strong scent of our lovemaking that I’d been smelling. I sniff the air, taking in the scent from her trail. Lorganus is right. She is carrying my child. My heart leaps, and I feel myself swaying.
“You didn’t know?” he asks, holding out a hand to steady me.
“I had no idea,” I admit. “I’ve been so weak. I’ve spent most of my time since the attack delirious or asleep. I thought she smelt of me because of our closeness in the cave. Fuck. I have to go in there and get her.”
It’s only Lorganus’s restraining hand that holds me back.
“Think clearly,” he tells me sharply. “You are in no state to take on even one elf, let alone fight your way in there and expect to return with her alive. You’ll get yourself killed.”
“I don’t care what happens to me. I just have to rescue Sierra and my cub,” I tell him. He must understand that.
“Stop and think,” he tells me. “If you go storming in there, then they will know you’re mated. Do you think they’ll let her live with your baby in her belly?”
A low, despairing moan escapes my lips. Sierra, I’m so sorry. Be strong. I will find a way to get you.
23
SIERRA
As I regain consciousness, the smell of rot fills my nostrils. I instantly remember where I was the last time I was awake, and my eyes fly open, wondering where I am now.
Before I passed out, I was still being dragged through the forest. For what felt like forever, that elf pulled me by my hair, and at some point, it must have gotten to me.
I look around at the dark, musty room they have me in. It’s small with only one window. By the look of it, it’s nighttime.
