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I didn’t answer, my mind full of one singular thought, one specific priority.
Where the hell was Kai?
I made my way through the chaos, staggering at first, then picking up speed as my wolf urged me to continue the way I was headed. That was a seal of approval if I ever needed one, and I ran as fast as my legs would take me.
After so long avoiding the pull of my fated mate, of denying myself what I wanted more than anything else, I let myself be irrevocably drawn to him.
That howl of his echoed in my mind, and I could still sense sheer agony. If I could feel that all the way here, what was it for him? I hated to think about him being in such terrible pain when I couldn’t get there fast enough.
There were blasts all around me, the enemy’s trebuchet apparently having been reloaded since the last volley, but I barely registered them as anything beyond a smokescreen. I didn’t care about any danger, or the heat and debris. I didn’t care when one landed too near to me, threatening to suffocate me with the thick smoke it left behind, but I pushed on. The only thing that mattered was getting to Kai before it was too late.
I was a woman possessed, ashifterpossessed, driven by my need to find my mate and save him.
I winced, feeling a pulse of dire pain drive through my chest,which just made my panic rise even further. What was happening with Kai? Was someone cursing him? It certainly felt like it.
I knew that fated mates were supposed to feel when the other was in peril. It was something I worried about each time I was injured, something I watched whenever Kai was on a mission, worried that it would tip him off about our connection. But never,ever, in all the years since I met him, had it feltsointense. So vicious.
Whatever was happening to Kai was dangerous—deadly, even. Ineededto make it to him no matter the cost.
Blindly, desperately, I made my way through the chaos, the carnage, the pain. Finding Kai wasn't the question but the answer. I felt like I'd go insane just from the sheer cacophony in my mind and raw instinct, but it was so hard to see through the tumult surrounding me. Still, I pressed on, my wolf serving as a compass with Kai as the true north.
I felt frantic on the point of being feral. What if he was dying? What if he wasdead?
That wasn’t possible. Surely I'd feel it if my fated mate had left this mortal coil. No, he was out there, somewhere, being tortured in such a malevolent way that it made me want to commit murder myself.
I didn’t, though. Instead, I just kept running. I tore through the battlefield, not even taking stock of the surrounding fighters.I was blind to everyone and everything, pulled by the inexplicable tether attaching the two of us.
But as I ran, putting the last of my energy in getting to him as fast as I could, I wondered if he was alone. Was Oren there to save him? Or another soldier? What if it was to the point that only I could help?
That wasn’t even just my ego talking. True mates, even if unclaimed, could heal Kai with more power and skill than anyone else. It was a complex mix of hormones, exchanging energy, and mystical transformation that came from our ancient ancestors but still remained with us. It was odd how much something I resented and worked so hard to bury might be the thing that could save Kai right now.
Smoke-tinged oxygen tore its way through my lungs, singeing my flesh and making each breath a gasp for air. I knew the battleground was sprawling, but I’d failed to take into consideration just how wide-flung it was. I was running faster than I ever had, and yet it didn’t seem like I was any closer.
Logically, rationally, I couldn't be certain I was going in the right direction. But instinctually…
I was nearing the front lines, which wasn’t much of a surprise. If there was anywhere Kai would be, it was there, defending his men with all the bravery and skill he was known for.
Finally, the feeling was strong enough that I knew I was close. It was like his heart was beating within my own chest, rapidly and off-rhythm, making me feel sick to my stomach.
“Come on,” I whispered, internally praying to each and every god or religious figure I could think of. “Where is he, where is he?”
I scanned the area, squinting to try to peer through the thick smoke. Somehow, just ahead, I could see a canine shape materializing in the endless, stinging gray. The shadow of it loomed larger and larger, threatening to take the shape of something more material.
Kai?
My wolf growled in response.
No, definitely not him.
Not someone on our side, either.
I gasped, trying to fling myself out of the way as an enemy wolf shifter barreled through the smoke directly toward me. I almost managed to dodge him, but as Darla so often liked to say, “almost” only counted with horseshoes and hand grenades. Still, I wouldn’t have minded having one of those at my disposal.
“Fuck!” I cried as a long, clawed paw slashed the air where I'd just been. I heard the ripping of fabric and flesh before I could feel it, which allowed me to land and roll to safety a few steps away.
When I did feel the pain, it burned through my thigh harshly enough to make me yell. I was so tired from my healing and my desperate search for Kai that the wounded leg came out from under me, sending me toppling to the ground.
I knew how to fall; Idid.I wasn’t the best at hand-to-hand combat, but I’d been trained enough to at least know how to properly handle my weight and disperse force when I was headed toward the ground. Unfortunately, none of that training kicked in, and I hit the earth with full force. My bones rattled, and I bit down on my own tongue as my jaw slammed into the ground.
