Bound to the Alpha(19)

Without another word, Cain headed towards the ravine. It was as Alder had said. As soon as he neared the area, he could smell faint traces of Snow, Caim, and his mate. Her scent was a painful reminder that she was carrying his pup. He had never stood to lose so much all at once.



* * *



Sarah’s sixth sense tingled, causing her to stir from her nap. Her limbs felt leaden, and in the contradictory manner she was growing accustomed to with her pregnancy, she felt both famished and nauseous.

Sleep tried to pull her back into its clutches, but the sense that something was out of place had Sarah forcing herself to open her eyes. When she finally did so, she was looking up at a coral-colored sky.

She stared at the sky in a daze, trying to remember if there was a correlation between the color of the sunset and the weather.

As she came fully awake, memories of the past day flooded back to her. The gunshots. Being separated from Cain. The trek to the river. For a few blissful moments, it had all seemed like a bad dream.

Remembering the uneasiness that had awoken her, Sarah sat up and looked around. Snow had somehow managed to curl herself in a ball between Sarah’s legs. She could hear the little girl’s breathing was slightly labored, and Sarah was glad that she’d had the good sense to keep the inhaler handy at all times.

The space beside her was warm, but predictably empty. If there ever came a day when they were safely reunited with Cain, she was seriously going to throttle his son.

Sarah tried to move carefully so as not to disturb Snow, but she woke anyway. She sat up, her pudgy hand rubbing at her eyes.

“Want to go home, Sarah.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Sarah said, her heart constricting. She leaned down to Snow’s eye level. “Just let me find your silly brother, and then we’re going to cross this stupid river, and then we’ll be there in no time.”

She could only hope things would be that simple.

Caim’s tracks led back towards the riverbank and then veered to the left. Snow followed her closely, making a game of hopping in Sarah’s footprints.

When she rounded a bend in the river, Sarah instinctively screamed. Caim stood on the riverbank, his chin raised as he calmly stared at a hulking black bear.

Why, why, why, did it always have to be bears?

The bear seemed to be just as surprised by Sarah, and hastily stumbled into the river. Caim’s head whipped around to deliver an accusatory glare.

“You scared him,” he said.

After several attempts to formulate an intelligent response, Sarah settled on, “Are you insane? Get the heck away from that bear!”

Not budging, Caim said, “I was going to ask him if he has seem my father.”

As the bear moved farther into the river, Sarah advanced on Caim.

“I think he was about to shift,” Caim said. Raising his voice, he called out, “Come back!”

Arriving at Caim’s side, Sarah clamped a hand over his mouth. “Don’t say that,” she hissed.

Caim squirmed away from her grasp, his eyes narrowing. “He could have helped us.”

“He could have eaten you,” she said, trying to get a rein on her racing pulse. “How can you even tell he’s a shifter?”

Caim looked at her as if that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard. “Bears sleep in the winter.” He pointed towards the retreating bear. “Now we will never get across the river.”

Sarah took Caim’s hand, tugging him away from the river. “I promise, I’ll figure out a bear-less way for us to cross.”

He shook her off again. “My father put me in charge.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose, taking in his obstinate posture and reddening face. Given that the bear showed no sign of turning back, she decided it was okay to take a moment to soothe Caim’s tantrum.

“Look,” she said, putting her hands on his small shoulders. “I know that you’re scared, and I know that you miss your dad, but you’re going to have to trust me. You know why?”

He looked up at her, but stubbornly remained silent.

Sarah said, “You have to trust me, because I’m the only one in the world who wants to get you back to him just as much as you do.”

For an instant, Sarah thought she saw his guard drop. His small body seemed to sag with acceptance.

Bang.

The sound was so jarring that Sarah didn’t react immediately. Then, she saw the bear. Almost to the other side of the river, he abruptly slumped over, dead.

Galvanized, she seized Caim’s hand and turned back towards the forest. Snow stood just a few feet away, her back to Sarah. She was staring up at the man who was pointing a gun at them.





Chapter 14





Between being lost, encountering a bear, and being held at gunpoint, Sarah felt like she was reliving a nightmare. Only this time, there was no big, powerful werewolf by her side, just two frightened and relatively helpless children.