Page 66 of A Sunwoven Ascent

But the cold would not allow it.

Evelyne shifted slightly and instinctively reached for the warmth of wool or leather. For the steady heat of Kaldrek beside her. But her hand met only grit.

Her breath snagged in her throat and she blinked into the dark, willing her wolf-sight to take hold, but nothing emerged. No outlines. No movement. Just endless black.

Where in the hell was she?

The last thing she remembered was running. Running toward her brother, toward the pack, and then… the wall of shadow. The teeth. The sickening pull as her blood was taken from her. Her stomach turned.

Oh gods.

She tried to move, and metal clanged in the dark.

Iron circled her ankles.

Chains.

She reached down, fingers brushing the links, and felt something hard threaded through them, something pulsing. She tore her hand away in revulsion just as the smell hit her.

Bloodroot.

No.

She kicked wildly, feet striking stone as the bindings rattled and scraped. The sound echoed too loudly in the confined space, exposing her.

“Holden!” she cried.

A wave of frantic whispers answered her.

“Shhh!”

“Quiet!”

“Stop!”

“Settle yourself,” an unfamiliar male voice hissed from somewhere ahead. “You’ll alert them.”

The fear woven into his tone was enough to silence her. But who was he talking about?

“I’m here,” Holden rasped softly from her right. “I’m right here, Evelyne.” His voice sounded raw and drained.

Kaldrek?

She reached desperately across the mate-bond.

Kaldrek!

The bond remained hollow. The warmth of him, the steady presence that always drew her back, had thinned to a frayed ache, as though something had gnawed at the thread between them.

Was he hurt? Was he here, somewhere in this dark?

Or worse.

She squeezed her eyes shut and dragged in a slow, shaking breath, fighting the hysteria rising in her throat. The air burned on the way down.

Something brushed her skin.

Evelyne jerked upright, alarm flashing through her, and the movement sent a fresh wave of cold crashing over her. That was when she realized she was naked. Of course. She must have shifted back. At least that explained the brutal chill working its way through her body.