“We have more important things to worry about than my lack of skill in the kitchen,” Dakota said, exasperated.
“No we don’t,” John said indignantly. “We might starve.”
“Or break a tooth,” Sailor added, yawning.
By then, Anders and Jefferson and half a dozen other pack members were hurrying towards them. Baldwin scowled at her, and Dakota stared at him in shock. Baldwin was the most mild-mannered shifter she’d ever met; she’d never seen him mad before. And now he was mad at her? Could this night get any worse?
“Miles turned wolf after you left, and he can’t turn back,” Baldwin said grimly. “He’s trapped inside himself. When anyone tries to talk to him, even me, he lunges and snarls and drives us back.”
“Oh no.” She felt a tidal wave of fear overwhelming her. “I had no idea. Nobody told me. Why didn’t someone come get me?”
Baldwin made an impatient gesture at her; she’d never seen him so stressed. “Sarah ran away from the bear’s territory,” he told Anders.
“Fucking A,” Anders swore. “We need this like a hole in the head right now. And you…” He glared at Dakota. At that, Naomi stamped her foot.
“You guys!” Naomi said indignantly. “It’s not her fault. She didn’t even know. And she didn’t make him go feral. You both said it was a long time coming. I heard you.”
“She ran off when he needed her!” Baldwin growled.
“He drove her off!” the normally meek Naomi growled right back.
“Hey, hey, hey. You guys should never fight,” Dakota said. “If someone can just go find Sarah, I’ll talk to Miles.”
“I’m on it,” Anders said wearily.
He and Jefferson and three other shifters piled into Miles’s pickup truck and drove off.
Baldwin took a deep breath and let it out, long and slow. “I’m sorry,” he said to Dakota. “We kept it a secret about Miles because if anyone knew, it would invite attacks on our pack. And after we took out the Clearwaters, things were just starting to calm down around here. There hasn’t been a death challenge since then.”
He pointed at the woods behind his pack. “He’s that way,” he said.
Dakota nodded, but as she started to go, Naomi grabbed her arm. “It might not be safe,” she protested.
Dakota shook her head. “If he were all the way gone, he wouldn’t just lunge and snap at anyone who tried to talk to him; he’d kill them. He’s still got some control left.”
And she turned and ran into the dark before anyone could try to stop her.
She jogged through the woods in human form. Would she be better off in wolf form? She wanted to be able to talk to him.
The woods were dark and dense. She glanced up as she passed through a small clearing, and saw smashed-glass scars scattered in a pale ribbon across the sky. Out here in the middle of nowhere, the night sky was spectacular. But the pale, thin starlight was quickly swallowed up as she pushed her way further into the trees.
She smelled the rich mulch of the forest floor, wet leaves and the spoor of small animals. The foliage rustled as a rabbit darted away, and she caught the brief white flash of its tail. She stopped and turned on the spot, sniffing the air, tasting it for any trace of Miles.
She scented him quickly; he was pacing around in a grove of pine trees, eyes wide and crazy. He turned and let out a low, threatening growl as she approached. Miles was growling. At her.
“Miles, it’s me,” she said, her heart breaking. “Come back to me.”
He crouched low, and the hackles on the back of his neck stood straight up. Slowly, he stalked over to her. God, he was massive in wolf form. He was the size of a small horse. It was unreal.
A sane woman would have run.
“Miles. I am not going anywhere. I need you.” Saliva dripped from his mighty jaws. “Miles. I love you. If you’re going to kill me, I want you to…to forgive yourself.”
She put everything she had into opening up her heart and her mind and letting him in. Letting him feel the love she felt for him, letting herself admit that she loved him. She imagined her love flowing in waves from her body, wrapping around him.
He stared at her for a long, long moment, and then shuddered hard, his whole body shaking. And he changed back. He was crouched there, naked and shivering. Shifters barely felt the cold, especially Alpha Primes, but his whole body was shaking and his hair was matted with sweat.
He stood up slowly and stared at her, a look of confusion on his face.
“Did I hurt you?” His eyes were fever-bright.
Relief rushed through her, and she strangled on a sob. “Of course not. You would never.” She held out her arms, and he crushed her to him in a fierce hug. She felt her bones creak. “Ooph. Okay, you’re actually hurting me a little bit right now.”