Page 50 of Nanny for the Wolf Daddy

She grumbled to herself. “This is so damn stupid! I made it out of the cave. I should be able to figure my way out of the woods. But here I am, walking in circles like an idiot, unable to figure it out.”

She was being harsh on herself. Anyone would struggle in her situation, but what else was she to think? She felt like she’d been walking forever and had gotten nowhere.

The wind shifted directions, and she smelled the rain coming. The clouds were rolling in, and while she wanted to find shelter, she couldn’t hide. Nox was looking for her. She curled her arms around herself, trying to hold onto the heat she did have.

“Nox? Are you out there?” She’d been calling to him since she got out in hopes anyone would hear her.

She’d walked forever, and the moonlight followed her, but it was dimming as the wind blew the clouds over it. She would soon be in the dark, just like the pitch dark of the cave.

She was confident that Nox would find her, or at least she was trying to hold onto that confidence. It was growing harder the longer she walked.

She stopped by a tree seeing she needed to head up a mountain. She didn’t have the strength to do it, though. She had walked so much already, and her body hurt everywhere. Her side burned from her cut, and her feet felt like they were covered in blisters.

She was having a hard time catching her breath, and she was exhausted. She just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep forever. This didn’t include the ravaging hunger and being thirsty enough to drink a lake dry.

The wind whipped up, and she heard a howl. It sent a thrill over her body, and she knew that Nox was searching for her. She just needed to keep moving, and soon they would find each other.

She couldn’t give up. He was going to find her, and when he did, everything was going to be okay. She just had to keep pushing herself.

“Okay, just up this hill, Kelli,” she tried to talk herself up, motivating herself enough to do it. “We got this. There may be a storm, which may suck, but we’ve dealt with worse things than it. We’ve been shit on, literally. We’ve listened to screaming kids for hours and extremely bitchy parents. We can handle a little weather.”

The rain started to pour as she hit the top of the mountain, glancing around. The Blue Ridge Mountain certainly was named correctly. The place was tough terrain to master.

“Okay, Kelli,” she sighed, rubbing at her thighs. “It’s just rain. Nothing bad.”

She shivered uncontrollably and tried to warm herself again. She scanned the space, unable to see as the clouds had blanketed the sky.

She squinted and skimmed the surface, hoping to see anything, even the smallest sliver of someone who would help her.

“Nox!” she screamed his name, hearing it echo over and over into the air. No response. The wind blew harder, and the rain soaked her slinky outfit. The water came down in sheets, and every part of her was wet.

Tears lined her eyes as she didn’t see a way out. If she stayed in the rain much longer, she was going to get hypothermic, and if Nox didn’t find her, she had no idea what she would do.

She took a step, and the rock she stepped on rolled, and she lost her balance. She slipped, slamming the back of her head hard on the ground. Her body slid as she couldn’t catch herself, and she went hurtling down the mountain.

She tried to slow herself by grabbing at rocks, but they scratched at her skin, slicing into her hand. Her blood stained the rocks, and she was unable to slow herself. She tumbled quicker, screaming as she went.

She slammed into tree branches and boulders, and cuts and scratches ripped at her flesh. Screams tore from her dry, scratchy throat. She was falling down a mountain, and she wasn’t able to stop herself. She could only pray she didn’t go over the edge, free-fall through the air, and die at the bottom. Her heart quickened at the thought of Nox finding her body busted and smashed at the base.

She finally crashed into a tree. All of the air in her body rushed out, and she lay unmoving. She stared up at the sky, taking in the moon and the rain. Mud and blood coated her body, and another shiver ran over her.

Her body felt safe for a second then a sharp pain rolled through her entire system. She had twisted her ankle and had possibly broken ribs. The pain grew ten times worse as she realized where she was. She was at the bottom of a ravine, and her hope of finding Nox dwindled. How would he find her here? How would he hear her when she cried? How was he going to save her?

She lay on the cold, wet ground, trying to control her breathing. Glancing at her leg, she noted it was already turning purple, and the pain from her ankle grew. She looked up to the sky, watching the rain fall. She couldn’t climb the muddy bank, and even if she wanted to, she couldn’t stand on her leg.

She pulled her arms close to her body and tried to think of a way out, but she couldn’t. There wasn’t one.

THIRTY-FIVE

NOX

They’d been searching for hours with no luck finding Kelli. He was angry and scared. They should have found her by now, and to know that she was hurt meant he was running out of time.

Nevel had been hunting with him, and they had covered a lot of terrain with no luck. Nevel shifted into his human form and ran a hand over his face looking grave.

“ Nox, we are losing her scent, and the rain has started to pour. Is there any chance she stayed in the cave? Should we look at all the other entrances again? Maybe she backtracked?”

He didn’t see her doing that. Kelli would have kept moving forward. He knew that much. But he honestly didn’t know where she could go. If she knew he was out here, she would look for him.

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