Page 79 of Season of the Wolf

Still, the thought lingered that that smoke might not have been for warmth, or cooking. It may have been the result of Liam’s ill-planned idea to reconnect with his dragon.

I was beside myself with worry, trying to hold it together as I ran. So hard my chest ached, drawing in surges of air as my fists pumped back and forth to move me faster.

The surroundings became familiar and I recalled the first time I willingly reached out to Liam through our tether when I sought him in the woods. It was the day Nick admitted to his real feelings for me, and also the day I fought mine for Liam the hardest.

My dragon had sent out a distress call to him when I panicked, thinking I was lost, and he answered, leading me to him, soothing me with his confidence and certainty Istillenvied. Now, this time as I ran, it was only me inside my head, praying those days I didn’t realize were so good would return.

I’d been so happy to have him back, but missed our connection more than I would ever admit.

While most of me was pissed to high-heaven he’d done this, a smaller part of me understood. And maybe even prayed it worked. Yes, if he told me ahead of time, I would’ve done all I could to talk him out of it, for fear of the risk being too great. But now that the deed was likely already done … my heart … it did hope.

We were close and the once dense crowd had thinned considerably. The thought crossed my mind that, although most had no idea who I was, didn’t even recognize my face or the role I could assume in the future, they flocked nearby on purpose. Whether that reason was because they had a general idea of where I resided, or if the pull had been something supernatural. Kind of like how a hive behaves instinctively to protect the queen.

Eventually, we hadn’t seen anyone for miles, and there, off in the distance, I recognized the familiar outline of a single-pitched roof—one that had been my refuge on more than one occasion.

Our pace slowed and I knew this was exactly where we were supposed to be. Scanning the perimeter, we inched closer. Within a few feet, I stopped again when my ears perked at the sound of embers bursting as not-so-distant flames crackled in the wind.

A strangely brilliant, crimson light burst from the opposite side of what was once Liam’s home, illuminating the bark of nearby trees. My stomach swam with a fresh wave of dread, thinking we’d arrived right in the middle of the tragic act.

I couldn’t move forward. Not with the terrible images that flooded my thoughts.

Thoughts of Liam’s body burning, the last traces of life leaving him.

A firm hand braced my shoulder and I looked up to meet Declan’s gaze, finding nothing but compassion there.

“I’ll go,” he offered. “And if the deed hasn’t been finished …” His voice trailed off, but I understood, nodding.

Tobias and Josiah followed, leaving Caleb, Ethan, Ivan, Dallas and I to standby, waiting for instructions.

I paced, wearing a path in the tall grass, trampling it down into the damp soil. So many thoughts flew through my head, I couldn’t possibly nail down one.

I wrestled with being angry Liam had kept this from me, to anxiously hoping Declan returned soon to tell me what I wanted to hear—that everything was okay, that things hadn’t all gone to hell this morning.

I paced while Ivan and Caleb watched me closely.

When five minutes came and went, I decided enough was enough.

“Hold on, kid,” Dallas called out, stepping in my path to stop me. “I don’t think you understand what you could be walking into,” he warned.

I stepped around him and his pace matched mine as I trudged toward the house, the strange red light, the crackling that, perhaps, unnerved me most.

“I don’t care,” I stated firmly. “I need to see him.”

“Just wait for Declan to give the all clear,” he suggested.

I shook my head, stepping over a small fence no taller than my knees. The flames blazed louder and I heard voices now. Elise’s, Declan’s I believed. And another noise that was hard to place—something reminiscent of the same warning growl I nearly released on Hilda not too long ago.

The sound of it made me pause my steps again, which Dallas seemed grateful for, maybe thinking I hesitated because he said something that brought me to my senses. Little did he know, I barely heard him now, honing in on that strange breathing.

Liam …

It had to be him, and it sounded like he was in pain.

I have no idea where the strength or the will came from, but I trudged forward again, fully aware of what I might see when I got to him. There was simply no slowing down.

If he was in pain, if he needed me, I—

My feet stopped dead in their tracks, halting at the corner that had once hidden this scene from view. One where Elise, Declan, Josiah, and Tobias kept at a safe distance as the sight before them seemed to leave them all in limbo—torn between trusting that the man they’d known for centuries was still present, but also considering they ought to trust their instincts to run.

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