Page 46 of Own to Obtain

Shaya pulled back, glaring at him, her eyes fierce. “Yes, he is,” she said sharply. “He ismybeast. Just like you are. And we cannot abandon him.”

Her beast. Something twisted in Kardos’ chest. She called him hers, and from the fire in her eyes, she meant it. With a grunt, he swung her around onto his back, her arms around his neck. “Hold on!” he bellowed. He didn’t have time to strap her to him again, so they both had to hold each other tight.

He ran toward the edge of the island and directly to one of the rowboats. He grabbed the paddles and then searched for a boat that would hold them both. He carefully climbed on, placed Shaya down next to him, and paddled out in the direction of the little wolf. The entire area was so blindingly white it was difficult to tell what was the ocean and what were chunks of land or snow.

Shaya called out for him and listened but there was nothing.

“To heal!” Kardos shouted in Mayaros.

A howling bark came from the right side of them, and Kardos angled them toward the sound.

Shaya was highly alert looking for him, but Kardos’ knew she would struggle in this kind of environment. He stopped rowing and listened carefully. When he heard the sound of paws scrabbling on rock, he reached his hand out and grabbed the wolf’s neck, bringing him back onto the boat.

Shaya exhaled in relief.

“Don’t touch him.” Kardos placed the wolf on the edge of the rowboat.

“But he is cold,” Shaya said. “He will freeze to death if he doesn’t get warm.

“He is out of his comfort zone,” Kardos warned. “He may attack you out of confusion. Do not touch him.”

Shaya nodded, but her eyes were drawn to the wolf in the corner. He shook himself before standing in the corner watching his surroundings, trembling wildly before turning around a few times and sitting down.

Shaya unbuttoned her furs quickly, before Kardos had even noticed and took off one of her layers, then put her furs back on.

Carefully, she placed her layers over the wolf. Yepa watched her cautiously, tension in every part of his quivering body, but when she moved away, the wolf and Kardos slowly relaxed.

“What are you doing?” Kardos said sharply as soon as she was clear. He immediately pulled her back against his hard chest. “Shaya! I told you not to trouble him.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Shaya insisted. “I just put one of my layers on him. That’s all.”

“You need every layer you have, Shaya,” he scolded, frustrated his Omega still did not understand. “Each layer can be the difference between life and death. You will not remove any more!”

Shaya lowered her head. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t see him freeze to death.”

Kardos let out a gruff grunt, and turned back to paddling the boat, keeping his arm around her.

By the time they reached back on land, the blizzard was pounding full force; it was a sight to be seen.

The snowflakes moved together as though a creature, swirling and swaying in the air, violent and rough as it crossed the land.

The blizzard was a monstrous, enormous being, completely out of control unable to exist unless it was moving, swerving, undulating, and twirling. There was something amazingly mesmerizing about it, but Kardos had seen it before. His Omega, however, couldn’t stop staring at it.

Kardos yanked her up into his arms then ran to the carriage, holding the little wolf by the scruff of his neck as he did.

He instructed Denos to stay ahead of the storm before carefully climbing back into the carriage, keeping the animal as far away from Shaya as possible.

“You can put him down,” Shaya said, as the carriage began to move. “I’ve sat with him before and he’s been fine.”

“Absolutely not,” Kardos said sternly. “I know he is special to you, Shaya, and I’m sure that he has behaved well with you before, but that was when conditions were good. He is likely to be afraid and disorientated now, and he could attack you.”

Shaya placed a hand on his arm. “I assure you,” she said gently, “he will be fine. Just put him down. He is not used to being handled and he is more likely to be upset that you are holding him.”

Kardos narrowed his eyes at her, but she was right. Moving as far away from her as he could, to the corner of the strangely shaped carriage, he placed the wolf down onto the floor.

Yepa shook wildly, growling as he did so and then sniffed the air and the ground. As the carriage jolted and rumbled, he growled each time, but eventually ambled slowly over to Shaya and sat quietly nearby.

Shaya looked up at Kardos, her eyes shining and a huge smile on her face; he had to resist the urge to grab her and pulled her into him. She had been right, of course. The wolf was used to sitting with her. That was how she’d managed to use his pack to escape; he should have remembered.

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