Page 2 of Eclipsed Heart

I craned my neck and saw Stevie pass on the other side of the tree before easing herself back toward me. Pieces of her dirty-blonde hair had fallen out of her braid, and her dark-brown eyes were locked forward. There were rips in her pink pajama shirt that hadn’t been there before I fell.

My throat constricted, and my blood boiled. She might be the very person who’d gotten us into this mess.Where’s Theo? Shouldn’t he be protecting her?

He’s in front of us, keeping an eye out.Bodey rolled his eyes.I’m hoping a wolf takes him. He’d make a good sacrifice if it allowed you, Mom, Stevie, and me to get away.

A deep laugh bubbled into my throat, which made the throbbing intensify, so I cut it short. I had to be delirious to think that was funny. Theo wasn’t the best person in the world, but it was hard to be thoughtful with a dad like his. Zeke had a way of forcing his pack members to follow his instructions, even if it meant hurting a six-year-old girl to make a point to his son.

The pain began to recede, and my lungs started working better. Bodey having to carry me was slowing us down.You can put me down now. I’m good to run.

He shook his head, not even pausing.You’re still in pain. I feel it.

So are you.I lifted my chin, though the action didn’t contain quite as muchoomphwhen I was being cradled against a damn sexy chest.

You’re not slowing me down.His displeasure coursed between us as another man linked,Ten wolves just headed toward where the advisors parked.

A knot formed in my stomach.

You need to let me down.If more wolves were coming, then we needed to prepare to fight. “We all need to shift.”

Stevie’s head jerked in my direction. “You can’t. You sprouted fur and then it disappeared.”

Her words were like a punch to the gut.

“She was inagony,” Bodey snapped, the skin around his eyes tightening. “Have you ever tried shifting while thinking you were dying?”

She tripped over her feet, which shouldn’t have happened since the ground was mostly bare. “She thought she wasdying? How would you know?”

“Because they’re mates,” Janet said from the other side of Bodey. I couldn’t see her since she was near my feet.

Stevie gasped.

We didn’t have time for this.

Babe, please.I hated begging, but I didn’t want to fight him physically on this and delay us more.I might not be slowing you down much, but we can move even faster if we all shift into wolf form.

He scowled but slowed. I could sense that he didn’t want to release me, but the logical side of him knew I was right. He placed my feet on the ground.

I expected the world to spin, but it didn’t. If anything, I could see even better—even the individual pine needles on trees about a hundred yards away from me. The crispness was a little unnerving.

Bodey’s eyes flicked to my neck and chest. I was about to ask him why, but I heard the padding paws of the ten wolves charging toward us.

“They’re getting close.” I hated that I was the cause of this. Thanks to my meltdown, I’d not only left Samuel open to attack but slowed us down dangerously, even if Bodey didn’t want to admit it.

Theo spun around, his brows furrowing. He’d plastered his caramel-brown hair to his head with gel, probably trying to look sophisticated to match the black suit he wore. But he’d been tugging at it all day, and it was now a pale and sweaty mess. His topaz eyes narrowed. “I don’t hear anything. What wolves are you talking about?”

“Someone from Lucas’s pack informed us that ten wolves just headed this way.” Bodey nodded in the opposite direction. “If Callie says she hears them, then she does. You should know better than to question her.”

I smiled. Questioning and ignoring me were two things that my childhood pack had always done, but Bodey had never done either.

Then his words sank in, causing my lungs to seize. How hadIheard Lucas’s pack member?

“Her chest.” Janet placed a hand over her mouth as her indigo eyes bulged. The sun cast a halo around her strawberry-blonde hair, and she looked like an angel. The skirt of her royal-blue halter dress had been ripped on one side.

“Which is why we’re going to shift and run like hell.” Bodey removed his jacket and tossed it onto the ground.

I wasn’t sure what my chest had to do with running, but I’d deal with that later. Too much was coming at me all at once, and my wolf howled in urgency. “But we won’t be able to communicate like that.”

“We’ll be fine. We’ll be able to plan our counterattack,” Bodey reassured me, a stony expression crossing his face as he glanced at me.I promise.

---