Bound to the Alpha(17)

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to stay strong. She didn’t believe in fate or destiny, but she did believe that Cain loved her and Caim. One way or another, he would find them.

More gunshots tore her from her musings. They were accompanied by a short, sharp cry—the unmistakable sound of an animal in pain. A look of pure panic washed over Jewel’s face, and she scrambled to climb from the ravine.

“What are you doing?” Sarah demanded, grabbing for the pelt Jewel wore.

“That was Grace,” she said, her voice steeped in desperation.

A chill swept through Sarah’s body, but she remained reasonable. “You can’t go charging out there. It’s dangerous—”

Jewel smacked Sarah’s hand away. “You don’t understand. My family is out there.”

Sarah stood, watching helplessly as Jewel climbed out of the ravine. Her arm was still stinging a few moments later, when the guns fired again.





Chapter 12





“Sarah,” Snow said, giving a half-hearted tug at her guardian’s hair. “Want food.”

At three-years-old, there was only so much peril Snow could process before it all just became par for the course. Sarah envied Snow’s resilience, especially since she felt like she could crack at any moment.

If it were just the facts that she was hungry and cold, her pack and her mate may have been massacred, and she was lost with two small children, she probably could have held it together, if only for the sake of said children. But the icing on the entire crappy cake was that she couldn’t see a damn thing.

Never in her life had she been so frustrated by her bad eyesight. After Jewel left and the guns had been fired again, Sarah hadn’t waited around. She had a family to protect too, and she didn’t feel guilty about not sticking around.

Without Jewel to follow, the forest had been an obstacle course of tree roots, branches, ice, and holes, all conveniently disguised by a heavy layer of snow.

Caim was her savior. He led the way through the forest, making sure the path was safe and alerting her of any obstructions.

Sarah had had no particular direction in mind when she ran away. Her only goal had been to get herself and the children as far away from danger as possible. That had been at least an hour ago, and now that the sun was up and the woods were quiet, it seemed like a good time to stop and regain her frame of reference.

Putting Snow down, Sarah stopped to sit on a fallen tree trunk. Caim climbed up to sit beside her as she began to dig through her supplies.

The deerskin bag wasn’t actually hers. When they’d abandoned the campsite earlier that morning, she’d thrown the nearest supply bag over her shoulder, knowing they would need food. To Sarah’s dismay, the bag contained nothing but the children’s clothing and a spare pelt.

Snow put her chin on Sarah’s leg and gave the bag a forlorn look. “No food,” she said sadly.

“I can hunt,” Caim offered.

“Not a chance,” Sarah said flatly. “You’re staying right where I can see you.”

“Then what will we eat?” Caim asked, scowling at her. For a moment he looked so much like his father that Sarah’s breath caught.

Keep it together, she told herself.

Swallowing, she said, “Well, I’ll just have to think up a plan, now won’t I?”

His eyes slanted with skepticism. “Perhaps we should wait for my father.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” she chided, wrapping an arm around him.

Sarah considered all of her options. If they picked a spot and hunkered down, it was very likely that a member of the pack would be able to sniff them out. That plan hinged on there being a pack left to find them. While Sarah held out hope that everyone was okay, she wasn’t sure she was ready to bet Caim and Snow’s lives on it.

The other option would be to head for the safe place they’d initially been heading for. Clover had said it was beyond the northern river, and that there was food stored there. It would be the best place to wait for the others. The only trouble would be getting there.

“Have you ever been to the safe place before?” she asked Caim.

Caim’s brow wrinkled. “Once, when I was a pup.”

Taking a shot in the dark, she asked, “Any idea how to get there?”

He shook his head. “I remember it was between two big hills. There was an oak tree that was struck by lightning, and a pond with lots of bullfrogs…”

Caim went on to describe the area to the best of his recollection. She was very impressed by how much he remembered, but without knowing how to get there, it wasn’t much help.

“Hm,” she said, tapping her chin. “I guess the best thing to do would be to head for the river.”