AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I didn’t recognize the noises, but I was pretty sure there were at least a few people in the hallway. My sense of hearing was vastly different than when I had “regular” human hearing. I wasn’t sure how to interpret it, or what sounds really meant anymore when they now had so much more detail.
I’d just gotten up, about to approach the door, when it burst open in a wave of heat. Fear coursed through me as I took a step backward. My nose prickled, and I realized I could smell somethingburning.As a hooded figure entered my cell, it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t the guards who’d started the fire. There was another yell from further away, and it was all I could do, in my blind terror, not to let my wolf have complete control.
Who are you?!I wanted to ask, but when I opened my mouth, all that came out was a whimper.
I couldn’t see the figure’s face, but from the way they tipped their head, I could’ve sworn they smiled, seeing me hunched over there. “You better run,” they said. Their voice sounded raspy, as if they were masking it somehow.
I couldn’t identify anything about them. Hell, I could barely get my head around what they’d said before they left. They disappeared, just like I’d seen Sabine do before, but the room was so hot that the burst of air as the figure disappeared didn’t even feel that cold.
I’ve got to get out of here.
It was the one thing running through my mind, and thankfully, my wolf seemed inclined to agree. As we bolted through the door, the full power of the blaze hit us, almost knocking us backward. The air was so hot that it outright reeked. I couldn’t see anything beyond the bright flames, and with that awful, burning stench…my stomach rolled, and I knew I didn’twantto see any further down the hall.
I gave myself a firm shake and bolted in the other direction. I had no idea where I was going, only that I wanted to getawayfrom the awful, crackling heat. I rounded corners and almost fell down the stairs, hitting the tile with my knees, but I didn’t look behind me.
I saw a door up ahead. Fear mixed with a fresh burst of adrenaline rushed through me, and I galloped over, rocking back on my hind legs to slam my paws against it. To my surprise, it swung open, and I fell forward, landing in a heap. The cold air hit me like a slap in the face. I gasped, choking on my shock as I forced myself back up.
You aren’t safe yet.
I had no idea who that hooded figure was, or if they’d set the fire. Were they trying to help, or was I incidental? Would they come back for me?
I whimpered as the snow bit at my paws, but I couldn’t stop now. I had to get as far away from here as my legs would take me.
Chapter2
Fenris
Alaskan Wilderness
Arctic Circle
This time of year, nights in the far north were almost endless. There were a scant few hours of light, and for the rest of the day, we were enveloped in darkness. It certainly suited my current mood. Even with the help of Walter and Val, I’d found no trace of Celeste. We’d been searching for my mate for two weeks, and all I had to go on was the tenuous thread of connection us fated mates shared.
Fed up with our lack of progress, I’d left Walter and Val in a small human village hours ago. I hadn’t caught the name of it, but it didn’t matter to me. The mortals needed to sleep. They struggled at night, even when they weren’t tired, but I was used to the dark. Iwasthe dark.
For once, I embraced my wolf’s most savage thoughts, the snow churning beneath my paws as I stormed a hostile landscape dotted with shrubs and little else. The environment, however, hadn’t been entirely abandoned. I stopped to eye a fox’s trail, and I could hear rodents digging beneath the snow. The distant scent of a shifter prickled my nose as well, but I couldn’t afford to be distracted. Someone had taken Celeste, and they were insistent on keeping her hidden from me.
Something had changed in our bond. I didn’t know what it was, but both my wolf and I assumed the worst. Sabine had gotten into Celeste’s brain the way she had Abi and Cody. Celeste felt different to me because someone was interfering with her.
We would not—no, wecould notstand for that. Whoever took her would pay. They would suffer, and I would see to it. My wolf wanted little more than to rip them limb from limb for daring to hurt her, and I had no reason to stop him.
It was nice not to fight him back for once.
I had no idea how long I’d been running when I felt a ripple in the bond. I came to a halt, pushing the dull ache in my muscles to the furthest corner of my mind, my nostrils flaring as I tried to focus on the feeling. I didn’t knowwhatit was, precisely, but it was definitely stronger than before. My pulse quickened. There was only one thing that could mean.
I was getting closer.
Maybe I was close enough to reach out to her.
I forced myself to stop panting, trying to calm myself so I could focus on the link between Celeste and me. I had to rein my wolf in, but even he sensed the importance of this. Anything to get us closer to her.
Carefully, gently, I reached out to her mind, but Celeste didn’t respond. I knew she was there. I knew it was her. Her mind felt familiar, even at this distance, but something felt…off. Unstable, as if the warm home I associated with her mind had been placed on a crumbling foundation.
Rage pulsed through me, and it was all I could do not to let it spill over into the bond. I wasn’t angry with Celeste, and the last thing I wanted to do was frighten her more when she was clearly so off-kilter already.
I growled and retreated, not letting go, yet no longer pressing on her. I didn’t want her to run, not from me, but I was also starting to run out of options.
I could smell at least one other shifter in the area, and that probably wasn’t the only paranormal creature living out here. Here, where there were fewer mortals, there was more room for a supernatural being to live their life without constant worry. I bared my teeth in frustration, knowing that calling out to them would certainly expedite things—it might even call Celeste to me, if she could still tap into her magic—but there was an equal chance that I would summon whoever had taken her as well.
