Page 50 of Rogue Games

Wyatt looks at the competitors in their animal form and nods, not panicking but starting to get really worried. “I can’t link her, she’s too far away, but I can still feel her. She wouldn’t take cover outdoors in this. She hates… she’d have shifted and run home.”

I nod, his reaction confirming my own gut instinct.

Something’s very wrong.

“I’m going back out there,” Wyatt says, turning to head back out on the course.

I reach out and grab his shoulder.

“No, I’ll go. I know the course like the back of my hand. She’s probably just hiding somewhere from the storm, and I’ll be faster on fresh legs.”

Wyatt doesn’t look convinced, but there’s no room for arguing.

“Callum, this way,” I yell, yanking off clothes as fast as I can to make the shift into my wolf a bit more straightforward. Callum does the same, and in no time, we’re standing naked in a storm, ready to go back out in the pitch-black forest, looking for a needle in a haystack.

Lynn is there immediately, cajoling an unhappy Wyatt into sitting on a log and taking a sip of water. He doesn’t want to be left behind, but until he refuels, he’ll be too slow out there. We set off, moving against the tide of shifted animals and bedraggled humans flowing against us.

DEAN: She’s at the bridge. I can feel it.

My beta nods before shifting and standing still as someone straps a length of rope around his torso.

DEAN: And Callum, when we get there, don’t touch her. I’m warning you. I’m barely in control right now.

Avoiding his penetrating stare, I take off, plunging into the dark forest at top speed.

24

JAMIE

Shivering now as the pain in my shoulder gets worse and the adrenaline starts to wear off, I’m acutely aware that going into shock is a real danger. My enhanced healing abilities won’t kick in until my shoulder is back in the socket, so for now, I may as well be human.

Shuffling so my back is flush to the steep canyon wall, I lean back, hissing in agony as each tiny movement causes my nerves to scream in displeasure. My head throbs, and I swipe at the blood-tinged rainwater running into my eyes.

The clouds are black and angry now, dumping their heavy load down right on top of me. With no shelter, all I can do on my exposed perch is angle my face away from the biting wind and take it.

I haven’t heard a sound from above, although with the wind howling through the canyon, I’m not sure I could, even if someone was standing right above me.

Wyatt better have noticed I’m missing and be on his way back with help, or it’s going to be a long night. With weather like this, it’s possible the race has been called off altogether, and until they get everyone back in, they may not realise I’m still out on the course. That could be hours.

Rubbing my bare legs with my one good hand, I try to warm my pale, goose-pimpled flesh. Shifting on this small ledge isn’t an option. My wolf is too big and won’t be able to climb out of here, if and when Wyatt comes back to find me.

Not if, when, I remind myself, trying to stay positive. As another flash of lightning illuminates the canyon, and I get a glimpse of the dark, frothy water below, I jump and slam my eyes closed, heart racing.

I hate storms.

But no matter what, I’m not going into that water either. I’ll sit here and rot rather than face that fall. I try to pretend that I’m not precariously close to plunging to my death but on a golden beach instead. That dream is smashed to pieces though when thunder booms out all around me, and the walls of the canyon seem to shake from it.

Dirt skitters past me and over the edge. My trainers slide on the damp muck, unable to get purchase on the slippery ground, and I slip a few inches away from the wall.

Shit.

Screaming into the rain, I use my damaged arm to push myself further back up the ledge, only to skid back closer to the edge immediately.

Fuck. This is not good.

There’s a gnarled root sticking up at one end of the ledge, and I shove my foot hard underneath it, wedging it into the small gap. With my good hand, I push my body partially behind a rock beside me, so my hip pressed against it stops me from sliding forward.

I’d much prefer to be curled up into a ball to keep warm, but this is the only way I can stay balanced here until help comes.

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