AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unable to sit in this office any longer with the scent of Adara lingering lightly in the room around me, I make my way into the bar, eager to see if Frank came back from dropping her off at home yet. Stepping through the door, I narrow my eyes as I see his auburn hair bobbing to the beat of the song Lucas’s band plays. “You’re back already?”
He looks up at me, one brow quirked. “Back from where?”
“Gods damn it all, did you drive Adara home?”
“No, was I—”
Shoving through the crowd of people, I stalk my way to the door, not caring about the rest of his sentence. Rathmann is out there, and if she’s caught alone, there’s no chance he’ll let her get away.
You shouldn’t have let her go!
“Shut up, you insufferable bastard!” I snap at my wolf. I shift, storming into the woods, but I can’t pick up her scent.
My thoughts turn dark when I remember her mother coming into the bar, Rathmann lurking in the woods, Aramin showing up at the lake. All these threats, all these gods damn threats, and she’s gone, untraceable,again.
I lope around the bar perimeter a few times, growling as I turn in the direction of my house, hoping she walked home and just wanted the time to think on her own.
If that’s what you think she did, you don’t know her at all.
Growling, I ignore him, despite knowing he’s right. If I could find her scent somewhere between here and there, then at least I can follow it instead of calling out the hunter team again. Something I’d prefer not doing if I have the choice.
I’m just a few yards from the edge of my property, my hope of finding her or her scent dying out, when I hear the sound of wings beating against the night sky. Skidding to a stop, I lift my snout and sniff at the air, trying to find the raven I’m hoping is heading my way. It’s only a second before I latch onto his scent, paws pounding on the forest floor as I chase after him. He caws as I barrel past him, swooping low to fly in front of me. He continues to fly, looking back once to caw again.
My heart pounds in my chest as I run behind him, wondering if Adara is hurt. Did Rathmann find her? Or her mother?
Holding back a growl, I push myself harder, faster, until I’m right up next to Kaylus, encouraging him to fly faster. I have to get to her—now.
The run feels as if it goes on for hours, and for a moment, I find myself wondering if he remembers where to go, frustrated that I can’t ask him. When the scent I’ve been searching for finally hits me, I run past him. Adara sits on the ground, her knees pulled to her chest with her head bent forward, resting on top of them. Sitting with her back to a large oak tree, its branches creaking wearily in the breeze, bending as if reaching to comfort her.
“Adara?”I step toward her, unsure how she could get so lost in these woods when she has Kaylus.
Her head snaps up, gaze finding me, then narrowing as she glares into the branches. “I told you not to bring him here.”
I stop, looking up into the branches to try to find the raven, but it’s like trying to find the darkest part of a shadow in the night.
“I don’t care if it’s stupid!” she says. “Why don’t you understand? It’s theonly way.”
“Hey…”A twig cracks under my paw, regaining her attention.
“You need to go,” she says, looking away.
Anger bubbles up inside me.“Go? You’re telling me to leave you here in the middle of the woods at night?”
Her glare flicks to me. “I’m telling you to leave. I have to do this, and you can’t be here, so just go!” Her hands ball tightly into fists, and silver dots her eyes.
“No.”I drop my ass onto the ground, sitting just a few feet from her.
Brows furrowed, she stares at me. “You don’t even know where we are, do you?” She waves her hands around us. “This is Lockwood Forest.”
I tilt my head at her.“Why are you here?”She isn’t lost if she knows where she is. She obviously isn’t hurt.“Why didn’t you let Frank take you home?”
She scoffs, leaning her head back against the tree trunk and staring at the sky.
“Are you that afraid of me?”
Her eyes dart to mine, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “You’re an idiot. The only reason I’m here is because I… because I… I can’t watch you lose everything.” She climbs to her feet, moving toward a break in the trees that seems to form a path, but it disappears into such darkness even my wolf sight can’t pierce it.
I move around her, cutting her off and halting her.“What are you talking about?”
