Page 11 of Pack Reclaimed (Blood and Moonlight 3)

Emma snatched me just before I could reach the edge, keeping me from flying over to join him.

“You can’t follow him now,” she sobbed, her voice just as broken as mine was. That was enough for my own tears to break free. Pain clawed at my chest, the thought of losing my mate too much to bear. We’d just found each other, no longer the right mate, wrong time. He’d tried to attempt redemption and my other mates hadn’t seen it. I had plans for all of us, for becoming a cohesive pack and spending our days together.

Now he was gone. Yet again, I had lost someone who meant the world to me. When would it end?

I clung to Emma as I broke down, her soothing words almost incomprehensible as she held me tight and rocked me. My grief was so intense I barely registered as someone took me out of her arms and into their own. Emma caught them up while I fought through the pain.

“We’ll find him, Vanya. You don’t know he’s gone.” Holt’s harsh bluntness cut through and I finally opened my eyes. My breath still came out in quick pants as I fought through the pain and panic. “Let’s go. Together. Now.” He shook me slightly until I was back with him, my breathing normal as I nodded, clinging to the small hope he was presenting.

“Your magic, though. I wouldn’t ask that of you,” I said. He’d already mentioned how he’d hidden it. Refused to use it for others’ gain. It was his limit, and I wouldn’t cross it, even for my mate. Either way, now that he mentioned it, I was ready to scour the ground below.

“You didn’t ask,” he countered. “Come on.”

Since Holt was with us, Callum and I didn’t shift, though Leven and Nyx did.

“There’s an access road not far that winds down to the river,” Callum said. We followed him out of the front gates and farther down the road, keeping up with him easily as he ran ahead, leading the way. I was numb, my mind unable to make sense of the overwhelming fear and worry, and the small bits of hope sprinkled in.

“How are we going to find him?” I asked, pointing out at the river that was flowing by with force as it led to a set of rapids. Dominion River was not known for being calm. Nor was it known for being deep. “And how deep is the water at the bottom of the Bluffs?”

Callum sighed heavily. “Not deep enough. We don’t cliff dive for a reason.” I swallowed hard but didn’t give the thought enough traction to hold me back again. “But there’s a chance he survived. He’s a wolf, not a human.”

We didn’t talk again as we made our way to the river’s edge. The moment the grass turned to pebbled sand, I turned to Holt. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back up. There was a soft red glow behind his irises as he scanned our surroundings slowly. He still didn’t speak as he started to walk, heading right through the river. It was narrow here and not as deep as the rest of it was, allowing us to slip and slide our way to the other side.

Tiny, icy needles stabbed into us with each step of the way. The water was fucking frigid.

“We have to hurry,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else, with chattering teeth. Holt’s hand reached back and pulled me to his side, wrapping around mine in the only comfort he could offer me at the moment.

“We’ll get there, little wolf,” Callum vowed. “He’s one of ours and we don’t abandon our own.”

It was the first time he’d truly acknowledged the union and my heart shattered. The sentiment was right, but it might be too late for it now, and that had more tears flowing, blurring my vision. I was suddenly grateful for Holt’s hand on mine.

The roar of the rapids drowned out our footsteps and chattering teeth as we continued in our wet clothes. We followed the shore and my eyes widened at the water rushing over the rocks, white foam forming from the force of it. If he was unconscious when he hit this part, there was no way he would’ve stayed above water. He couldn’t save himself. Jagged rock after jagged rock poked from the icy surface of the bubbling white water cascading over them.

“Keep going,” Holt ordered when I had paused unconsciously. His steps picked up and I rushed to keep up, stopping him from having to drag me along. He’d gone from careful steps to practically jogging. I felt sick to my stomach, panicked, broken as I followed. The chances of him making it this far were slim, without help, and that thought scared me even more. There were no other wolves around here, unless they’d finally sent another tracker after us again. With the luck that seemed to follow us, I was terrified that was the case here.

As we continued, I couldn’t keep the thought out of my head, that he hadn’t been given a fair fight with the Bluff Pack. Those who didn’t know our history welcomed him like any other. But my mates? Well, he’d lost that battle from the moment they knew how I got my scars. He’d saved my best friend today, he’d helped at every turn. And despite how awful my trauma was, I’d known what would happen when I made those decisions. I’d openly defied my alpha more than once. That meant I had to face punishment. Was it right how they handled it? Of course not. And I’d left that life behind. But Torryn suffered in his own ways. Tradition was toxic when it came to our species, and it wasn’t right he paid for his father’s mistakes.

The river tapered off as it curved around a bend, then getting thin, narrow, and shallow as it split into two. One heading farther around the Bluffs and another into the woods again.

“This one,” Holt said, leading us into a copse of trees. The sunlight was hidden by the canopy above, the trees so thick even the temperature was colder here.

My pulse pounded in my ears as the smell of smoke filled the air.

“Hold on,” Callum growled, taking the lead. Even Leven and Nyx in wolf form paused at his side as he shielded Holt and me from harm.

Leven shifted. “There are voices ahead, at least two different ones.” Callum nodded as my mate shifted back to wolf form.

“Hello?” he called out as he continued forward. “My name is Callum. I’m from the Bluffs.”

I noticed his careful wording, in case the voices ahead belonged to humans. The moment the figures stepped into view though, I knew we were facing vampires.

“I’m Gavin. This is my grandfather, Adam.” He was unlike the city vampires we’d met. His clothes were dirty like he’d been walking for days. Their hoods were big enough to shield them from the sun. Both had long hair and angular features, but I didn’t detect any sinister vibes from them.

“We’re searching for one of our own. I’ve got to be honest though, I’m surprised to see vampires this close to the pack. I thought your kind stuck to cities and heavily populated areas?” His words weren’t said with malice, but the vampires didn’t look amused at the blatant stereotypes. It was a harsh example of the divide between our species.

“We are—”

“Torryn!” I cut off the vampire as I spotted my hurt mate lying just behind their fire. I almost missed him in the bundle of clothes and packs resting around him. I rushed around, ignoring the protests from the wolves and men behind me as I hurried to his side. My knees slammed into the mud as I dropped to his side. “Torryn?” My hand shook as I shoved his sopping-wet hair out of his face and tried to inspect him for wounds. The spot his shirt rode up showed off a black burn and bruising. I hoped he didn’t have internal damage, though with those markings, I doubted that was the case. “Baby, please wake up. You have to be okay.”

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