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I ran both hands through my hair as I looked from the wolf to the opening of the tunnel. I was losing daylight. How the hell would I get the wolf out of here?
You could leave. The thought hit me suddenly. You’ve done all you can here. You could take off and go see Mom. You know she must be freaking out about you.
I decided that now was as good a time as any to sort out my thoughts on escaping, on heading home. I missed Mom so badly that my stomach ached, but I couldn’t see myself going back there. Not willingly, anyway. The way Troy treated me and his threats—which I knew he intended to make good on—were too frightening. The Wargs pack had made me feel welcome and had given me a place I felt with increasing certainty was my home.
I dropped the idea of trying to find my way back to my mom. I knew I would be miserable leaving behind all the relationships I’d formed with the Wargs, especially with Pax, Jasper, Tavi, Dom, Violet…and even Night.
I’d made my decision to stay, but now I needed to figure out what to do about the large problem snoozing at my feet. It was getting dark, and soon there wouldn’t be enough light for me to find my way back. My only options were to leave the wolf behind and get help or to stay and get stuck here overnight. I can’t do this on my own. I need another shifter to help me—
A low growl sounded from deep in the cave, sending chills down my spine. I turned toward the entrance of the tunnel as the scuffling, snuffling sounds of enclosing predators came closer. I backed against the wall of the cave, standing next to the sleeping wolf. I knew that the wolves that were drawing near were not friendly. Their growls were foreign and wild.
I searched for a possible weapon and found a stick near the hole that the wolf had fallen through. I grabbed it with both hands and crouched next to the injured wolf. I held my breath, hoping against hope that they would move on.
I heard their claws scratching against the cave floor as the wolves crawled toward us. Their eyes peered out from the darkness of the tunnel, followed quickly by sharp, gleaming teeth that dripped with saliva.
That was when I knew that I was about to die.
26
NIGHT
I was looking through the reports from the sentries on my dining table. They still hadn’t found Vince, and as the hours went on, I became less and less sure that they would find him alive—if they found him at all. As I sat there worrying, pressing a hand to my throbbing temple, I heard quick footsteps rushing toward my front door. I was already standing by the time Mom burst inside, her face the white of a corpse.
I was at her side in a flash. “What’s wrong?”
“Bryn is gone.”
The words sounded like a foreign language. “What did you say?”
“I—” She paused and took a few deep breaths. When she spoke again, her voice was calmer but laced with worry. “Bryn and I were in the gardens when I went back inside to rest. I wasn’t gone for more than half an hour, but…but something felt off. I went to check on her, and she was gone!”
“What do you mean she’s gone? Did she run away?” Part of me knew that Bryn would never be dumb enough to venture out into the woods to attempt the four-day trek to the Kings, no matter how badly she missed her home. But a larger part of me was immediately pissed off at the thought that she might try.
After all that had happened, with only ten days until the next full moon, would she really try and head back to the Kings? After all the connections she’d made and after the gentle conversations that Bryn and I had shared, would she willingly return to Troy’s clutches?
“Night, focus!” Mom took my face and made me look at her. “She didn’t run away. I know she didn’t.”
She couldn’t know that. She hadn’t seen how hard Bryn had tried to run home the days following my kidnapping her. But now wasn’t the time to argue about this. I needed to figure out where Bryn was. Now.
“How do you know she’s not somewhere on the compound?” I asked. “Maybe she’s in the library.”
“You don’t understand. When I got out there, she hadn’t finished harvesting the vegetables. She’d left her gloves on the ground, even though she always makes sure to put them back in the crate. She’s the tidiest creature I know—she would never leave a job half-finished. She would never leave a mess.”
Now that my rage had started to fade, the dread began to creep in. I already had a wolf missing—what if I lost Bryn too?
What if Troy had sent someone for her?
I raced out of my cabin, calling for my mom to stay put. In my mind, I called for Dom as I rushed toward the garden. I found the gloves where Mom had said, lying by themselves in the dirt with the unharvested plants. I inhaled deeply, catching the remnants of Bryn’s scent on the air, but she’d obviously been gone for a while.
Dom ran up seconds later, followed by Tavi and Jasper, of all people. My wolf was clawing at me, desperate to get me to shift so he could search for Bryn. But he was too manic, too desperate; I didn’t think I could trust him to make any real progress.
“What’s going on?” Tavi demanded.
“Bryn is missing,” I said through sharpening teeth. “I don’t know how, but she’s fucking gone.”
Tavi gasped, covering her mouth as tears shone in her eyes. Jasper snarled, and Dom released a growl. The three of us shifted into our wolf forms while Tavi remained as a human. Jasper started moving toward the tree line, and my wolf snarled at him, a challenging growl. Thankfully, Dom’s wolf bumped mine, pulling my mind away from Jasper and onto Bryn. Now wasn’t the time to cede control to my wolf, who seemed eager to challenge Jasper—Bryn could be in trouble.
I put my nose to the ground. The moment I picked up her scent on the soil, I launched into the forest, eager to follow it before it dissipated.
