Page 28 of The Pack

Her eyes fluttered open, hazy and unfocused. She blinked up at me, confusion flickering across her face.

“What…” Her voice was hoarse, barely audible. “What happened?”

I met her gaze, holding it for a moment. “We broke your heat. That’s all you need to worry about for now.”

She looked away and frowned, her body tensing slightly in my arms. “Put me down.”

“Not until we’re somewhere safer.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted, though her voice betrayed her exhaustion.

I let out a low chuckle. “Sure you are. That’s why you can barely keep your eyes open.”

Her cheeks flushed, and for a moment, the fire I’d seen in her earlier sparked to life.

“I can walk,” she said, her tone sharp despite the rasp in her throat.

“Not a chance,” I said, adjusting my hold on her as I stepped over a fallen branch. “You’d fall flat on your arse before you made it two steps.”

Her glare was fierce, but I didn’t miss the way her body relaxed against mine, as if she knew she couldn’t fight me on this.

I glanced at Magnus as we reached the edge of the clearing.

“Where to now, fearless leader?” I said with a smirk.

Magnus wasn’t officially our alpha, but I kind of thought of him as one, although I would never tell it to his face. It might go to his head.

He didn’t answer right away, looking off into the distance instead. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet but firm. “We’ll head west. There’s an old castle near the cliffs. It’ll give us some cover.”

I nodded, shifting Zara’s weight slightly as I followed him. The others fell in line behind us. As we moved, I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was about to change.

For better or worse, Zara had just become ours. Our mate, part of our pack, the mother of our future children.

The path westward was rough and winding, the terrain growing more treacherous as we neared the cliffs. The moonlight cast eerie shadows through the dense canopy, and the distant sound of crashing waves grew louder with each step.

Zara had fallen asleep along the walk and stirred slightly in my arms, a faint murmur escaping her lips. I tightened my grip around her, ensuring she wouldn’t slip. Right now, her vulnerability was a stark contrast to the fierce determination I’d seen in her eyes earlier, and it only made me more protective of the little bundle in my arms.

I squeezed her a bit tighter.

I wasn’t going to let her go.

Not now.

Not ever.

A few hours later, Zara was still dead to the world, her body slack in my arms as I carried her through the forest. Her head lolledagainst my chest, her breath warm and steady, the remnants of her earlier struggle fading with every step. She looked so small like this, fragile even, though I knew better. Anyone who could survive what she’d been through out here wasn’t fragile.

“Still out cold?” Magnus’s voice broke the quiet, his silver eyes flicking over his shoulder at me.

“Aye,” I replied, adjusting my grip on her. “She’s still got some fight in her, though. Give her time, and she’ll probably be swingin’ at us again before sunrise.”

Magnus let out a soft huff of amusement. “Can’t blame her for that, considering whatever she probably went through out there.”

“Or what we just put her through,” Callum added, his tone carrying that hint of softness he always had when he was feeling guilty.

“Careful there, Callum,” Tobias said dryly, his brooding tone laced with sarcasm. “Don’t drown us in your bleeding heart.”

“Bleeding heart, is it?” Callum shot back, his gray eyes narrowing as he turned to his older brother. “Maybe if you had one, you’d understand why she ran from us in the first place.”

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