Page 152 of A Luna's Dynasty
Where was Asher? She couldn’t hear the battle at all anymore. She caught the nervous glances of those around her. She had to ignore them. Her world faded for a moment, but she just shook her head. She couldn’t black out now. He needed her.
They continued to follow the blood trail. The forest showed signs of the intensity of the battle. The trees and shrubs were bent and broken, with blood splattered throughout the area. The ground was disturbed by deep claw marks. There was nothing, though. She couldn’t smell him … she couldn’t smell either of them.
They came to a small clearing as they continued to follow the gruesome blood trail, where it suddenly came to a stop right at the edge of a waterfall. Mira ran up to the edge and looked across the river. It hadn’t been disturbed. She looked down the falls that crashed into a raging river of heavy rapids.Oh no.They went over the falls. Before she could say anything, the two kelpies jumped, crashing into the river below. A soft whimper left her throat. Even in the best of conditions, the river would be a challenge. She had no clue what shape Bo was in when he went over the edge.
You need to rest.Grayson’s soft voice sounded in her mind. He had noticed the nonstop trembling from her body. Her blood dripped steadily onto the ground. She was going to die if she didn’t stop.
Mira turned and glared at him. Rest? He wanted her to rest?! She snarled at him and then leaped over the hillside. She tumbled down the steep hill, following the river. She was going to search for her mate. She could hear the frantic calls and steps behind her. She didn’t care. There was only one thing that mattered.
A blaze of light landed in front of her. Seraphina blocked her path. She knew that Lita was running on fumes and had nothing left. In the short pause as Lita met with Seraphina’s eyes, she felt her world drift away. At first, she lost her sight. Then she collapsed onto the ground, her world spinning. She tried to push herself, willing herself to stand. Her body ignored her. As the darkness of unconsciousness overtook her, she transformed back into her human form. Seraphina disappeared, along with her awareness. One last, frantic thought was left.Asher, where are you?
Chapter 89
Pain. The first thing she felt when she started coming around was pain. She squinted her eyes, trying to put together the foggy pieces.Asher!She shot up, wincing from the pain as shedid. Her body was healing but wasn’t fully healed yet. This pain was different, though. This was pain past the point of exhaustion. She had been away from her mate for too long. She was wearing a long shirt, and someone had put shorts on her. She glanced around, spotting Rosa and her two boys. They were safe. She felt arms on her and turned to look. It was Caspian.
“Lita? How are you feeling?” Caspian’s calm voice called out to her.
“Where’s Asher?” Lita looked around. He wasn’t there. Grayson and Caden were also gone. She winced as she felt a rippling pain inside her body.
“We haven’t found him yet. Caden and Grayson are still looking. Rowan and his mate are searching the rivers while Caden and Grayson are searching both sides of the riverbank.” Caspian’s voice was quiet. He was worried about Lita, knowing she needed Asher.
“Caspian, undo the block.” Lita looked at him and then noticed his worried look.
“Lita, I … I already did.” Caspian’s voice was barely above a whisper as Lita held her hand up in a gasp.
She couldn’t feel him. She couldn’t hear him. Maybe he was unconscious, but she should still be able to feel him.
“Maybe he’s too far away.” Caspian tried to reassure her, seeing the distress in her eyes.
“Momma!” The two boys echoed out as they ran into her arms.
Lita scooped her arms around Chasen and Brody. “I bet you two were so scared. I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“Rosa kept running and running and running. She was really fast!” Chasen said excitedly.
“She ran until she couldn’t anymore. Then she climbed us up a cliffside and hid us in a small hole. She said we had to stay there no matter what. Even if she left us, we had to hide there.Then Caden finally came and brought us back,” Brody explained to Lita.
She smiled as she rubbed their backs. Pain was coursing through her body, but she refused to show it. She didn’t want them to worry.
“Is Daddy dead? Did we lose another daddy?” Chasen finally whispered out what he was afraid of.
“Why would you say that? Your daddy’s strong.” Lita felt her chest tighten as her voice constricted with her words.
“That’s what I heard them saying. They don’t think Daddy made it.” Brody looked over at the centaurs and wolves in the distance.
Lita squeezed her hands in anger.How dare they give up on him?!He was fine!They didn’t even know how strong he was. He was out there waiting for their help, and they had given up on him. She snorted out an angry gush of air.
“Don’t worry. Your daddy is fine. In fact, Mommy is going to go and bring him back. You be good boys and stay with Rosa. I’ll be back soon.” Lita motioned for Rosa. “Please watch over them a bit longer.” She kissed both boys on their heads and gave them a gentle push into Rosa’s arms.
“Lita, you still need to rest. On top of your injuries—” Caspian began but was cut off hard.
“I know about my condition, Caspian. You think it’s going to get any better just sitting here waiting for him? It won’t.” She then softened her voice. She didn’t mean to lash out at him. “Caspian, if I was missing … if Merida was missing … would you be sitting here waiting around?”
“What if we miss them? What if while we’re out looking, they find him and bring him back? Then we’re out there searching while he’s back here,” Caspian protested weakly. He knew he would be out there looking, too. In fact, he wanted to be out looking for Asher, but he needed to be by Lita’s side.
“Surely we can be reached by a mindlink. Honestly, anything is better than waiting around here. I can’t not look for him. He’d be looking for me. You know he’d be out there looking for me. He’s always keeping me safe …” Lita frowned as her bottom lip began to quiver. She walked away and out toward the river. Caspian stayed at her side. “He’s always protecting me. The one time he needed me, and I couldn’t be by his side. I don’t even know where he is.”
The soft sounds of clopping came up behind her. “We don’t heal as fast as you guys do. A lot of my men are wounded. I’m good enough to help you search, though.”
