Page 45 of Wolf Crowned

Luna, help me!

I’d never been one to pray to our moon goddess. Mother had.

If she were watching over us now, she would be appalled. Her children had been her world.

“Sawyer,” Sloane and Lincoln said my name at the same time.

Did I will them here? Or had Luna answered my call for help?

Sloane and Lincoln peered down at me. Their fear wrapped around me like a vise. They were yelling something I couldn’t understand. They shook me, but I was weightless now. Unable to move or speak.

I had to fight for them. We were going to get our happily ever after. We had to. This was what we’d all been fighting for and I’d been foolish, staying with my dad for far too long.

I was an idiot.

Snap out of it. Fight!

I blinked, their voices crystal clear. Their hands warm against my gnarled flesh.

Get up.

I ground my teeth. Pain sliced through me like daggers as I pushed to my elbows. My vision darkened. The world buzzed.

Don’t you dare pass out. Not now. You need to run.

I rolled to my side. White hot heat scorched through my body. I panted, staring at the blades of grass peeking up through the dirt.

The tree line was so close but seemed miles away.

Warm hands pressed against my face, and I flinched. These weren’t angry hands. Sloane’s scent hit me first, bringing me back to reality.

She rocked me back and forth in her embrace. “Sawyer, you have to get up for us, please. They are coming.”

Lincoln tugged on my arm, rolling me and then yanking me to my feet. I grunted in protest. My knees buckled, and I would’ve pitched forward if Sloane hadn’t caught me.

Lincoln hitched my arm over his shoulder. “Come on. We are getting you out of here.”

Sloane took my other arm, and the two of them took a step forward, dragging me along with them.

She curled her fingers around mine. “How far to the waterfall and cave?”

I wasn’t sure if she was asking me or Lincoln. I tried to answer her, but only a croak came out.

Howls erupted. Glass shattered. My father‘s voice boomed, echoing for every enforcer to find me and drag me back to him.

The hunt was on. And I was almost out of time.

I stumbled, tripping over a rock. My leg was broken. I could barely put any weight on it. The wound on my shoulder was burning. I half expected to see flames coming from it. I’d been doused with wolfsbane multiple times. This was different.

I could hardly breathe. My chest hurt, making it impossible to draw in a deep breath.

I shouldn’t be hurt this badly. The fall was high but not horrible, and the fight hadn’t been overly debilitating.

I stumbled over the uneven ground. “I’m never going to make it.”

Sloane squeezed my hand harder. “Yes, you are. We’re going to get you there. Just keep moving.”

Lincoln took more of my weight and sped up. “She’s right. We’re not letting them get you. We’ve come too far, Sawyer. We are all walking away from this together. Now come on!”

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