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I drop my head back against the wall behind me and squeeze my eyes shut.
I’ve heard of this…we all have, of course. But to find it this way? It’s fucking insane.
And now, there’s a good chance that it’s all going to end before it can even begin. The threat outside is unmistakable. My jaw clenches with renewed determination.
I’m getting us out of here. I don’t care what I have to do to get it right. My mind races with the options – not that there are many. But if I have to rush out there and take down troops, Rambo-style, I’ll do it.
I stop my mad thoughts as I feel an odd shift in the air…a ripple.
“Barrett?”
I suck in a breath and look down. The wolf that had been resting against me is gone. And in its place is the woman. My hand is resting on her head. I don’t move it.
“Cedara,” I whisper the word with something like reverence. She’s curled on her side, her cheek resting on my thigh. Her skin glows in the morning light. She pushes herself up onto one palm, golden hair falling over her shoulder in a wave. There’s an immediate tightening in my groin, which I fight down.
Jesus, she’s beautiful.
“Who were you speaking to?”
“Jagger. My Alpha.” I can’t stop staring at her.
Shit. How much did she hear?
Chocolate-colored brows pull together, forming a tiny groove between them. I stare at that, too. It’s perfect. She’s perfect.
“I… I’m back,” she murmurs, looking down at herself, confused. “I couldn’t…” She shakes her head.
“You couldn’t shift.”
“I don’t understand.” Her face clouds. “I tried everything, but I couldn’t. But now…I’m here. What did I do?”
I’m wondering myself, but I’m not complaining. “Let’s not overthink that. What matters is that you’ve suppressed the wolf.”
She pulls in a breath. “I tried to hurt you again!”
I put a finger over her lips, shrugging aside the intimacy of the gesture. “Don’t worry about that now. You need to get dressed. We can walk out of here if we’re both human. But…” I pause because something is occurring to me. “But we don’t know how long this will last.”
I don’t know what makes her shift into her wolf, but the fact that she can’t turn back is a fuck up. If she does that while we’re out there-
I stop my train of thought. “We have to move quickly,” I say, abruptly rising. Putting distance between us feels like a physical pain. I stride to where I dropped the duffel bag last night and reach into it. “Put these on.” I toss the clothes toward Cedara, keeping my eyes averted as she pulls them on.
“We need to move fast,” I tell her again, my voice coming out gruffer than intended. “Those searchers aren’t going to give up easily.”
Her movements are quick and efficient as she buttons up the shirt I provided. I risk a glance at her face and find her watching me intently.
“Barrett…” She hesitates, uncertainty flickering across her delicate features. “About last night…when I attacked you. I’m so sorry. That won’t happen again. She trusts you now. My wolf, I mean.”
I hold up a hand to stop her. As much as I want to reassure her, to try to explain the magnitude of what’s happening between us, now is not the time.
“We’ll talk about it later,” I say, meeting her gaze steadily. “But right now, we need to focus on getting out of here safely.”
Cedara nods again, seeming to accept my words for the moment. I hand her a spare jacket.
“Stay close to me and do exactly as I say,” I instruct. “We’re going to move quickly and quietly through the woods, then back toward Steel Lakes.”
“Steel Lakes?”
“My packlands. We’ll be safe once we get out of these woods, but if you shift, we may be in trouble. There’s no telling how far the news of this attack has spread. We might be dealing with a kill fest – every yahoo with a shotgun could be looking to bag a wolf.”
