I suck on my teeth then cut her off. “You didn’t hear me,Mamá. I’m not moving. I only have a few months to live, and I want to live the rest of my short life on my terms, not yours.”
2
Logan
We run, nothing more than a blur in the thick canopy of trees, the winding forest trails as familiar asa second home while we hunt for our next meal. The pine-scented air fills my snout and ruffles my fur as fallen leaves and branches crunch under my paws. I look at her. At my mate. Her wolf form is a sight to behold. Sparkling blue eyes and a beautiful coat of golden fur that shines in the silver light cast by the full moon. She stops all of a sudden, making me halt and turn around. Her snout lifts, and she starts sniffing the air.
“Over there,” she says through our mental link as her head points to the trees a few feet away. Following her lead, I start running again. It doesn’t take long to pick up the scent of thestag we’ve been following since the full moon took sentry in the night sky.
“Rise and shine, little bro!” My sister’s voice breaks through my dream as something wet and cold assaults my head.
Groaning loudly, I turn around, open my eyes, and blink a few times in order to adjust to the bright light. “Was this really necessary, Em?” I mumble grouchily as I push myself up from the forest floor where I have fallen asleep after running with the pack last night. A few leaves stick to my naked body, so I brush them off. Then, I shake the water from my wet hair and throw my sister a dirty look.
“Dude, can you at least cover your junk before you turn around and flash me with it?” she screeches and uses her forearm to shield her eyes as she throws clothes at me.
“Really, Em? You’ve seen everyone from the pack naked like a thousand times before. How is this any different?” I roll my eyes at her as I start dressing in the jeans and T-shirt she brought from my closet.
She turns around so her back is facing me. “Um, eww. Are you for real right now? You’re my brother; that’s how this is different. I really, really don’t want to see your junk.”
Well, now that I think about it, I don’t want to see my sister naked either. It’s a miracle we haven’t seen each other without clothes until now. Being a wolf shifter means you have to be in the nude a lot more than one would think.
The happy trill of bird songs fills the air as the morning sun warms my back. “Did something happen?” I fall into step with her, and we start walking toward my truck as pine needles and fallen branches crunch under the soles of my boots.
She heaves out a deep sigh and turns to look at me. Emily is not only my sister; she is my twin. She has the same deep amber hue to her skin—though a little darker—honey-colored eyes, and ash-brown curls that are longer than mine touching hershoulders. Her features are softer and feminine, her lips a little fuller, and she is much shorter than me. “Yeah…it’s Josh’s son. He’s not waking up. I think it’s the weakness. You can’t ignore your responsibilities. You can’t keep running away.”
My nostrils flare. “I’m not running away.”
She arches a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at me. “C’mon, Logan, be real. This is the fourth time this month I’ve come to get you from the forest. You always wander off after the pack run. The pack needs y—”
“I know, okay?” A muscle thrums in my jaw as I cut her off. “I just…I feel like I’m not doing enough. Like I’m disappointing everyone. I need to find her, but I’m running out of time. This is the only way I know how. I dream about her, when I fall asleep by myself in my wolf form after our runs.”
She bites her lip pensively. “You need to search for her in the real world. Not in your dreams.”
I huff and push at a semi-wet curl that falls over my eye. “And how do you suggest I do that? I haven’t seen her in her human form yet. All I know is the color of her eyes and hair. That’s all. Besides, the mating bond should have made her come to me; that’s how it works.”
“Yeah, but the bond must be faulty or something, since she hasn’t shown her face. If you only stay in our community, you’ll never find her. Mom wants to throw some kind of old-fashioned ball and invite the packs from all over the country. She said that’s how she and dad met.”
“I know. She’s only mentioned it like a hundred times,” I grumble.
“She wants you to take a chosen mate, a Luna, for our pack.”
Instead of replying, I round the hood of my new Hennessey Mammoth truck and stop at the driver’s door. “Aren’t you going to toss me the keys?”
“Nu-uh, I’ve been looking for you for two hours. The least youcould do is let me drive us back,” she says as she pushes me away, unlocks the door, and opens it.
“Fine. But take it slow on the potholes, okay? This is not your beat-up Kia.” I circle the car again and settle into the passenger seat.
“Hey, don’t you dare insult Rusty!”
I snicker. “I don’t even have to. That name is enough of an insult.” Before I can even close the door on my side properly, she peels off at warp speed and then pushes on the brake so hard I almost take a bite out of the dashboard. “What the hell?” I yell. Throwing daggers at her with my eyes, I fumble with the seat belt and snap it in place as fast as I can. My sister is a freakin’ maniac.
She belts out a deep belly laugh. “Told you not to insult Rusty,” she singsongs.
“How bad is it?” I ask after a few beats of silence. My question is overshadowed, though, by terror for my life. I grip the edge of my seat. “Slow down. You’re going to crash into a fucking pine tree at this rate, and I just bought this car.”
“Oh, stop being a sissy,” she chuckles out. But her smile dies quickly on her lips as she looks at me briefly, her forehead crinkled in worry. “It’s pretty bad. It started with a high temperature and a headache a few days ago. Layla thought it was just a cold.”
“What the fuck?! Wolf shifters don’t get sick like humans do. Layla should have known better and said something.” My jaw locks with anger.
