Page 27 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

What if something happened to him?

The thought pulls me from the warm bed.

My toes curl up at my first contact with the chilly stone floor. It’s so cold that if I didn’t have a reason to climb out of bed, I wouldn’t. I’d stay cozy and warm. But Shay is outside somewhere, and I need to make sure he’s okay.

When I put pressure on my twisted ankle, it doesn’t even twinge anymore, so I know I can take the bandage off.

But after. Once I know where Shay is.

At the door, I pause, hesitating about taking the fur with me or shifting so I can move faster.

He’s okay, so you don’t need to shift. Just take the fur and go.

So I pull the door open and step outside into a bright and crisp morning.

The bite in the air chases away the last remnants of sleep, and I’m fully awake as I scan the forest. With the ground still wet and raindrops dripping from the trees, it doesn’t take long for me to work out that Shay probably would have had to venture further into the forest to find dry wood.

But that’s okay. His scent is easy to track, and if it wasn’t, his large footsteps point to the right, so that’s where I head.

My feet sink into the wet earth as I retrace his steps. The soil isn’t unpleasant, just cold, so I move a little faster. Minutes later, rustling up ahead tells me I’m not far.

The closer I approach, the louder the rustling and the deeper my frown, because collecting firewood shouldn’t produce that much sound.

And then I smell them. Wolves. But no ordinary wolves. Shifters.

Panic grips me. I drop the fur and run, hoping I’m not too late.

As I run, my footsteps merge with several wolves' paws stamped on the soft soil. There have to be four. Maybe five.

In seconds, I emerge from the forest and into a small clearing.

The sight of a white-gray wolf in a fight for his life against five others stops my heart.

But as I watch, the snarling white-gray wolf lunges. The wolves retreat, but only a step. All too soon, they regroup and spring at Shay. One darts for his shoulder, but Shay jerks out of the way and delivers a devastating bite that the brown wolf can’t dodge fast enough.

The brown wolf stumbles back, blood pouring from his throat. He manages a few wobbly steps before dropping heavily to the ground. Once he’s down, he doesn’t move again.

Shay killed him.

With one wolf dead, the others are now more wary of Shay, but they don’t run away. They continue to circle him, their lips pulled back from their sharp, glinting teeth.

A black wolf darts toward him. Shay swipes a paw, and his claws open up the wolf’s throat. Bright red blood flows, and the wolf staggers back.

I release a slow breath.

It’s okay. He’s going to be okay.

No sooner has the thought crossed my mind than I spot a dark brown wolf slinking out of the forest opposite me. One glimpse into painfully familiar blue eyes and I stop breathing all over again.

Dead blue-green eyes.

Shay dead.

I’m going to watch my nightmare happen right in front of my face.

Suddenly I’m breathing too hard, too fast, and I can’t stop. My eyes dart from the creeping wolf to Shay fighting, his back to the wolf, and then back again.

He doesn’t know. Shay doesn’t know Aron is there.

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