Page 59 of Ensnared
Ty has his phone out and is scanning the trees, tugging me into his chest as though he wants to protect me.
“Come to Skye’s immediately,” he barks into the phone.
I don’t know who he spoke with, but moments later, Aiden and Jack appear from around the Lodge’s corner at a full run.
“What happened?” Aiden demands. “Is she okay?”
I nod, even though the question wasn’t aimed at me. “My dog is missing.”
Ty presses his lips together. “We don’t know that yet.”
I turn to face him. “If she was in there, she would have come out,” I argue. “Unless she’s…”
A horrible thought occurs to me, and I start back toward the front door, but Ty’s still holding me.
“Don’t,” he says, his voice rough. “Jack and Aiden will check.”
They go inside, both cursing because of the perfume, and return several minutes later with grim faces.
“Princess isn’t in there,” Jack announces. “She must have gotten out when this happened.”
I inhale a sharp breath. “Or someone took her!”
The guys exchange a serious look.
“There’s little chance of that,” says Aiden. “The dog would make a racket, and people would notice it. The entire village has seen you walking Princess Penny. They’d know something was up.”
“So she’s fine, right?” I ask with hope in my heart.
But the three serious faces staring at me tell a completely different story.
Twenty
Skye
“I needyou to go inside and see if anything was taken,” Aiden says. He’s trembling with fury, and sparks of warmth dance along his arms, as though he’s seconds away from shifting. “We’ll figure out who did this.”
“We need to find Princess first,” I insist. “She could be anywhere. What if she gets out of the bear fence? She could get seriously hurt.”
I know it’s ludicrous that I’m putting my dog’s safety above mine, in a way, but I was responsible for her, and I let her down. Rationally, I know I couldn’t have predicted this situation, but the guilt gnaws at me anyway. I should have taken her to Maya or someone, asked if they could watch over her while I was gone. But it didn’t even cross my mind: she’d been walked, fed, and had plenty of water to last her through the day. This is what Princess Penny did best—she was an amazing house dog and didn’t need constant attention.
In the Alaskan forest, however, she was out of her element. If nothing else, she could freeze to death overnight, especially if she got wet. Her soft, fluffy coat was by no means enough to withstand the chill of a fall night here in the wilderness.
Jack steps toward the trail. “Aiden and I will search for the dog. You and Ty go through your things.”
“I can do that on my own,” I protest and turn to Ty. “Will you help them search?”
If Aiden was a cartoon character, his head would explode. He forcibly brings himself under control and strides toward the Lodge, out of sight. I raise my eyebrows at Jack. He shrugs; apparently, this isn’t normal Aiden behavior.
But Aiden returns immediately and shoves a small box in my hands. “Here.”
It’s a new smartphone, a model similar to the one I fried in the woods, complete with a pretty pink case.
“It should work immediately,” he’s saying, “so turn it on and program in our numbers. I want you to call me—”
I launch myself at him, phone and broken arm forgotten, and hug him as best I can. For a startled moment, he stands stiff and uncomfortable, then his arms tighten around me, squeezing me to his chest.
Hell, he gives great hugs. He holds me close, one hand on the small of my back, the other between my shoulder blades, and I wish I could stay here forever. In his embrace, I’m safe, and the world doesn’t seem so overwhelming.
