Mina shook more. “I’m sorry.”

I lifted a brow.

“For insisting we do this,” she said.

I caught her hand in mine and tried to offer a reassuring smile. I’m pretty sure I failed.

We stared at the opening of the cave at the same moment that something clicked loudly and repeatedly. It took me a second to realize the noise I was hearing was my teeth chattering. After a few long, tension-filled minutes, I exhaled slowly, some of the fear leaking out of me.

The wolf had apparently run off, deciding against chasing us into the cave. It felt like a huge relief until a small tickle in the back of my mind had me wondering why it wouldn’t follow us into the cave and out of the storm. Did it know something we didn’t?

“Why didn’t it follow us in?” I asked.

Mina glanced at me like I was nuts. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Be happy it didn’t.”

“You don’t think it’s afraid to come in here, do you?”

Mina turned slightly. “Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m just glad it’s out there somewhere and not in here eating us.”

“Good point,” I said, trying to push away the doubt creeping in.

We continued to watch the mouth of the cave, waiting for the wolf to reappear, change its mind, and kill us. When nothing happened, I eased back some, releasing my sister’s hand.

I shivered and tried rubbing my arms to produce heat. “Is it me, or is it way colder in here than it should be?”

“It’s a cave in a mountain,” returned Mina as if that explained everything. “And it’s storming out. Of course, it’s cold in here.”

I shook more.

A worried look came over her as she lowered the backpack of doom. “I have waterproof matches in here somewhere. We can start a fire or something.”

“With what?” I asked, motioning to the mouth of the cave. “The wood is out there, getting rained on.”

“We could burn pages from your book,” she offered.

I narrowed my gaze on her. “Try it, and you’ll wish the wolf ate you.”

ChapterThirteen

Willa

Mina easedup closer to me. “Are you sure we can’t burn pages from your book?”

“Seriously, I’ll take that stake you’re carrying and use it on you,” I warned.

She grunted. “Fine. We’ll just freeze to death.”

“Oh, now you’re worried about our well-being,” I mocked.

She grunted. “I’m really close to stealing your glasses.”

I groaned.

There was a growling noise from outside of the cave, and we spun around—at the same time, in opposite directions—colliding in the process.

“Ouch,” I said as we knocked foreheads.

Mina grunted but grabbed my hand as we looked out of the mouth of the cave.