“It’s all my fault,” Sarah said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I read the tide table wrong. Then, in my rush to get help, I lost control of the car and it went into a ditch.”
A rookie move for sure, but not unusual. And then there was the unexpected storm rolling in, which undoubtedly contributed to the tidal surge. “Stay here. I’ll send someone for you.”
Without waiting for a reply, I shifted back into my wolf form and charged through the trees.
Jada!
Where are you? I thought you were right behind us.
Through the bond, I told her about Sarah and where she could find her.Take her back to the ranch. I’m going after Daphne.
Want me to send someone to help you?
No, I’ll be fine.
And frankly, I didn’t want to wait for reinforcements. Icouldn’t. I needed to get to Daphne—now. If anything happened to her, I’d never forgive myself.
I was still a few miles from the coast when I scented them—three wolves from the Crutchfield pack on the other side of a small clearing. Coming to a halt, I lifted my muzzle and inhaled deeply. Thank fuck, I didn’t detect Daphne’s scent on any of them, otherwise this encounter would be a blood bath.
The oldest, a scrawny twenty-something named Leon, shifted into his human form. I wasn’t an idiot, however, and remained as a wolf. Individually, I was bigger and stronger than each of them, but it was still three against one.
“Hey, Travis,” Leon said, daring to look me straight in the eye. “How’s the contest going? Find a mate yet? A cute little filly to fuck?”
One of his packmates gave a little yip.
“Shut up, Ed,” he snapped.
I gave a low growl, all the hairs on my back raised, ready to spring into action. Although I was unable to verbally communicate with him, he understood me perfectly.
I dropped my head slightly, took a menacing step closer, and his two brothers backed away.
Leon ran a hand through his mullet. “I heard you need to be mated by the next White Wolf Moon. What a shame you could lose the ranch.”
Who the fuck told him about the will? Merrick? His wife?
Teeth bared, I lunged at them, sending his little brothers running off, their tails between their legs.
Leon tried to shift, but I was faster and had him by the throat. The will wasn’t an issue anymore, but it pissed me off these assholes knew about it in the first place.
“I was just curious,” Leon rasped. “That’s all.”
I bit down, enough to leave a mark, then let go and pissed on his leg.
“Asshole,” he said as I bounded into the trees.
By the time I reached the coast, the rain slashed in sideways and gray mist had turned the sea stacks into faint shadows. Although the storm had washed away Daphne’s scent from the beach, it didn’t take me long to find her. There were only so many caves along these cliffs, and my wolf had a very powerful nose.
Huge waves pounded the shore as I leapt into the surf and swam to the opening about fifty feet away. Dark water and foam churned around me as the current tried to batter me against the rocks, but the moon had healed my knee, and I easily made it through the mouth of the cave.
Once inside, Daphne’s scent was stronger, and I prayed I got to her in time. Sarah had said she was okay when she left her, but that was a while ago. A lot could have happened since then.
When my paws touched the ground, I bounded out of the surf and found Daphne huddling on an upper ledge, alone. My thoughts had turned dark on the way here as I imagined what I’d do if I found the rival pack had been here, but I smelled none of them.
“Daphne!” I shifted into my human form and scrambled over the rocks to her. “Are you hurt?”
Huddled on the cold rock, knees to chest, she lifted her head. “Travis?” She squinted into the darkness, teeth chattering. “What are—? How did…?”
I dropped to her side, waves of relief coursing through me as I pulled her onto my lap. I needed to feel her sweet, soft body against mine to ensure she was okay. Thank the moon, I didn’t smell blood or see any bruises. Wrapping my arms around her, I rubbed her back vigorously. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
