Hunt him.
Layna stiffened at her animal’s growl.
Hunt mate.
Could she? Leaving in the middle of busy season wasn’t going to win her any points with her clan, but… she needed her mate. And if she was ever going to show him he was important, she had to choose him over the others.
But what if she did that, and she was still too late. What if she showed up in Memphis and he told her to go home. What if she let her family down only to be rejected?
Layna stared up at the star and tried to feel their bond. It was thin. A fragile wisp of spun glass that couldn’t be felt across the distance that separated them. No one even knew it was there except her, but it had been enough until now. She’d gotten by on his nearness before, living off his smiles, when she could’ve had it all.
So what if he rejected her. So what if everyone got mad at her. She’d always been dedicated to the clan. Worked her ass off for them. They could either understand or fuck off.
She was going to find Ryan. She’d leave first thing in the morning. It was only three hours to Memphis, maybe a little more if she got stuck in traffic. She could be there by noon.
Cougar purred. Yes, this was going to work. Had to.
Excitement and trepidation filled her, but there was also a measure of peace. Tomorrow she would be close to her mate once again, and somehow they were going to work things out.
Somehow.
Layna rolled onto her back, stretching and using the ground to scratch through her thick fur. She kept her eyes on her star, just in case Ryan was watching too, and started planning what she’d say to him.
Her tail twitched with nervous excitement. She hadn’t felt this good since Magic’s announcement that the pact was changed.
Her heavy tail slapped the ground next to her with a loud thump, and she liked the freedom of it so much she waved it to the other side as well.
And then froze.
A soft click was the only warning that things were about to get very bad for Layna. Except it wasn’t enough of a warning because the click belonged to the plate of a spring trap being engaged, and even though time seemed to slow, she couldn’t move fast enough to keep the jaws from springing closed on her tail.
With a thunderous snap, the trap slammed closed and fuck it all, this one had teeth.
Layna’s agony-filled roar pierced the silent night as she jumped to her paws to run. But the pain had her thinking all wrong. She knew not to move with a trap attached. Fighting would only entangle her farther, dig the teeth deeper into her flesh. The anchor chain jerked her to a stop before she could think clear enough to be still.
She roared at the fresh pain of the steel points in her tail and yanked at the restraints uselessly. The tangy scent of blood filled the air and she whipped her head around to see it spraying from her wound with her thrashing.
Shit. She had to push her animal back and think like a rational being or she’d never get out of this.
Easier said than done with the kind of agony a trap like this conjured. Her cougar’s job was to keep her safe. It was why they automatically shifted when they were in extreme pain. It was why their instincts were more attuned to danger.
Breathing deep, she tried to compartmentalize the pain. This was just pain. It wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. Being stuck here until a hunter came back for her was much, much worse.
Deep breathing. Think. Work it out, Layna, or you’ll never get to tell Ryan how you feel. Never get to see your new niece or nephew. Never have any young of your own.
And fuck, being caught as a shifter would blow the world wide open. Most humans didn’t know about them. This would ruin everything for her clan.
Her cougar seemed to understand this was something she could only fix if she let her humanity back in. Even still, there’d be no shifting with that deathtrap latched to her tail. It was impossible to go that far.
Snarling, her cat retreated a fraction.
Good kitty. But the pain blasted her harder without the help of the cat to contain it. Tears leaked from her cat eyes, and her mouth drooled with the excess saliva her body was producing from the stress.
Focus. Think.
Layna forced herself to examine the trap again. It had snapped halfway up her tail, closer to the base than the tip, curving around so the metal bits clamped her in two different places. There’d be no pulling it free. No chewing it off. Not if she wanted to be whole when she changed back to human.
The trap was anchored to the base of a tree with a thick chain, about fifteen feet long. More length than was necessary to hold an animal, but she couldn’t dwell on that detail. She was forming a plan. One that was going to hurt like fuck. There was no other choice, she’d have to bite through her tail and pray to heaven her human body could withstand the injury.