Page 60 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

“Nightmares?”

She perked up, looking at me with fascination. “Actually, no. I haven’t really had a nightmare since…”

Her gaze drifted along with her focus. She stared off into the woods, a breeze lifting the ends of her hair and brushing it back away from her chin.

She shuddered while hugging her shoulders. “Well, I haven’t had one in a few days.”

“That’s good.”

“It’s something.”

I studied her stern features, wondering where her sunny disposition had gone. Well, anybody with a less traumatized mind would have lost their shit by now. Kylie was made of the toughest steel. And even so, she was still subject to the highs and lows of being hunted.

A moment of silence passed. She didn’t bother moving her hair out of her face when the breeze whipped it about. Something in her brain was keeping her occupied. I wished she would tell me about it.

“They’re probably freaking out,” she whispered. “We need to get to them before they send a search party.”

I nodded. “We’re Oscar Mike.”

“On the move, soldier.”

Before I could say anything else, she shifted into her wolf form and shook out her fur, poshly trotting forward to stand under the glorious moon. White light shimmered over her auburn coat as the scent of roses filled the air. She gazed at me quietly with her hazel wolf eyes, blinking slowly as if to inform me she was growing impatient.

I took a deep breath and shifted, stomping my paws against the ground to get the blood flowing properly through my body. While three hours was a decent time for rest, it wouldn’t be enough to face any danger.

I just hoped we would make it without much of a fuss.

Kylie bowed her head.Lead the way, soldier.

Quiet pride coursed through me as I stepped ahead of her. Neither of us argued or fought along the trail as I led the way to the safe house. An entire hour went by without her commentary about me getting in her way. Another hour passed without any joyful quips to shine a light ahead of us.

Nothing. Nada.Zip.

I wasn’t sure what had happened to Kylie. I wasn’t sure what was in her head. But I knew it had to do with me. And that thought alone made it even harder to push on to the finish line.

***

Five hours of hidden trail and lush forests later, we arrived in a small pasture of tall grass and delicate flowers. Trees rustled in the breeze as we marched through the gorgeous, waist-high green grass on the way to a dimly lit cabin just on the other side. In wolf form, the grass tickled my nose. I trampled it down as I marched through it.

I stopped for a moment to sniff the air.Liam.

Kylie yelped and ran ahead of me, dashing right toward the light that beckoned us home. This was a moment I would remember forever, how her demeanor went from sullen to eager in seconds. She stumbled into the yard, shifted right past the parked white van, and fumbled to get up the steps on shaky legs.

The door whipped open. Light flooded the porch. “Kylie!”

Liam wrapped a blanket around his sister to cover her shivering body. She slumped into his embrace as the Blondes stepped onto the porch, Karla with a matching gray blanket that I assumed was for me.

As soon as I reached the steps, I shifted and scaled the steps in one hop. I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders.

“Dear sweet goddess, it’s sohot,” I groaned as I dropped to my knees. I shuddered under the wonderful warmth of the blanket, gratefully tilting my head back to look up at the Blondes. “You guys heated it in the dryer, didn’t you?”

“Yep,” Cora replied with a toothy grin.

Long blonde hair reached her thick waist while blue eyes studied the horizon. Karla looked a lot like her, with a short pixie cut and green eyes darker than mine. The two stood at comically different heights with Karla standing at five foot eleven and Cora barely tipping five foot three. Even so, they got along beautifully and made a hell of a team in close combat.

Karla patted my shoulder hard. “You worried us, kid.”

“I did my best.”

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