Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
This time, the beautiful Arctic wolf lunged for the last time. Heather grabbed it by the throat with her teeth, shaking it sharply. It yelped a couple of times before going silent. She dropped the kill, blood pooling out around the freshly dug earth. She felt defeated, heartbroken, and wasn’t sure what would become of her now.
The crowd above her dispersed. Was there an intermission between fights? Would she be taken out, killed, or forced to fight again? Would they send the bear in next? What would she do in that case—save herself or kill a shifter?
Heather curled up in the corner of the pit, wishing she were any place but here. Every time she looked at the dead wolf, a shiver ran through her body. This wasn’t her. She craved peace, connecting with her inner wolf, tradition, and family. Now she was being forced to become wild and kill to survive.
As she cowered in the corner, she heard it, a wolf howled in the distance.
Chapter Nine
David was so pissed off. He hadn’t even noticed when his woman left, and now her scent had almost faded from the forest, and he was terrified.
“We’re going to find her,” Caleb said.
He wasn’t convinced.
Something twisted in his gut, and he just knew Heather wasn’t safe. She needed him and he had to get to her or something bad was going to happen.
The wolf inside him wouldn’t be quiet, nor would he be still.
Without a glance at Caleb, he changed into his wolf, inhaled the air, and ignored all the warnings going off inside his head as he charged through the forest a final time. There had to be something here. There was no way Heather would just leave him like that. There was something he wasn’t sensing.
He had to have missed her scent, or not understood his mate.
Heather would have come out here hunting for the she-bear. She had to have been.
So why did her scent get to a certain point and then just vanish?
David stopped once again in the last-known scent location.
She must have rested, but then what the hell happened?
Changing back into a human, he placed his hand on the ground, trying to figure out what happened. There was no scent of blood. No indication of a struggle.
The fallen tree Heather had slept near was hundreds of years old, and many moon cycles into decay. This made no sense.
As a twig snapped, David succumbed to his wolf and turned toward the direction of the sound, his hackles up and a low growl rumbling in his chest.
Through the narrow gap between the thick tree trunks, he saw him. Joe, and the bear wasn’t alone. He came with a woman.
The she-bear.
He growled and showed his fangs.
At this moment, with his wolf in full control, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. His wolf was pissed and held the she-bear responsible. There was only so much restraint he could show.
Changing back into human, he didn’t try to cover up his nakedness. He had nothing to be ashamed of and, right now, he didn’t give a fuck who saw him.
“You get that thing out of my sight,” David said.
“Enough,” Joe said.
“You think you can come onto our land with that … whatever the hell that thing is and what, think this is all going to be okay? My mate is missing trying to clean up your mess.”
Mika burst out of the house, her volatile energy palpable. “Where the fuck is my sister?”
“Enough!” This came from Caleb. David turned toward his alpha and glared. This was not fucking fair.
“You’re taking his side?” Maybe going rogue wasn’t off the plate. Heather was missing all because Joe couldn’t handle one little girl. It seemed his only ally right now was Heather’s sister. He never expected that gem.
“I’m not taking any sides,” Caleb said. “Arguing is not going to help us find Heather.”
“His mate is the one missing?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, my sister. This is what she gets for trusting strays.” Caleb held Mika back with an extended arm.
David tensed up. “What the fuck do you want, Joe?”
Any other day he’d be happy to sit down with the stinky bear and talk shit out. Today was not one of those days.
“Your mate was taken,” Joe said. “She-Bear she saw it happen.”
David turned his attention to the young woman. She was still filthy but her eyes were no longer as wild.
“You saw?”
She nodded her head. A single jerk.
“You have to tell us everything,” Caleb said. “Every detail.”
The she-bear looked toward Joe, who gave a nod of his head.
David tensed up as she stepped close.
The woman was an untamed beast. At any moment, she could go feral on their asses. He’d already dealt with one, killing a young girl would haunt his fucking dreams.
“Your woman … the pretty one … the one that doesn’t smell like us, she was sleeping. I was … scared.” She stopped, licking her lips. “I watched her. She was so pretty. So sweet. She was the only one who showed me kindness.”