Chapter 19
“Put your shirt back on,” Caidrik growled as he stalked out of the cave.
Cold hit him hard the second he cleared the rock mouth.
Snow whipped sideways, sharp and stinging, driven by a wind that screamed down the mountain.
He wiped blood off his hands with a short, irritated swipe and shoved the knife back into the sheath at his boot. The metal scraped as it slid home.
How in the hell were there caves like that in the middle of Washington State?
His body ached with scratches and a few deeper cuts. Stupid wolves.
Taryn hustled after him, still swinging her shirt loosely from one hand. She wore tight jeans and boots, her breath puffing white as she smiled like she’d just stepped out of a cozy lodge instead of a blood-slick cave. She didn’t seem bothered by the cold.
“That cave was nice and warm,” she murmured, glancing back toward the dark opening. “We could’ve stayed longer. Made sure we were… compatible.”
“We’re not,” he said shortly, already moving down the narrow trail.
Loose gravel skidded beneath his boots. Pine branches bowed under the weight of fresh snow.
His senses stayed wide open, tracking every shift in the wind, every unfamiliar scent.
He didn’t want anything to do with her, but he wasn’t about to let her get hurt, either. That wasn’t negotiable.
She laughed softly and closed the distance anyway, her fingers brushing his arm with warmth. He disliked the foreign touch immediately. Annoyance erupted inside him, sharp and unwelcome. “Taryn, come on.”
She grabbed his arm and pulled him around. “Be nice.”
He sucked in frigid air. “I’m not a nice guy.” If he tried to yank the shirt over her head, they’d end up wrestling. Something told him she’d like that. “You’re beautiful, smart, and strong.”
“But?” Her eyes twinkled, and she apparently had no trouble standing half nude in the snow as the moon began to rise.
“I choose Nadia.”
Taryn studied him, losing her smile. “Don’t tell me. You watched over her for a couple of months, studied her, and fell hard?”
That wasn’t exactly how he’d put it, but close enough. “I would’ve left her alone,” he admitted. She deserved better than a killer like him. “But Philip was challenged, and I didn’t see anybody who could protect the pack like I can.”
“So do that.” Taryn stepped closer to him as steam rose from her bare breasts.
He kept his gaze firmly locked on her eyes. “I will, but I want Nadia with me.” If she wanted to be, that was. He didn’t know. Not really. “She’s under my skin. Deeper than I would’ve thought possible, and she’s it for me.” He might as well tell Taryn the truth. She deserved that from him.
Taryn sighed. “What if Nadia doesn’t want to be here?” She swept out a hand toward the beating forest. “I’ve talked to many of the pack members about her, and they all love her. She’s apparently a sweetheart.”
“Yeah, she is,” he agreed softly.
“She’s not an Alpha female, regardless of her lineage,” Taryn said reasonably. “Why would you put her in a position, for life, that wouldn’t make her happy?”
Hearing Taryn speak his own doubts into the world pissed him right off. “She’ll take whatever position I want her to take,” he snapped. Crap. He didn’t mean that. He wanted the female to be happy, even if it was in farmland two territories away.
Except then he couldn’t keep her safe. Heat roared through him. What was he going to do?
Taryn’s nostrils flared. “There’s the Alpha I want. I’m your match, Caidrik. She’s not.”
Not true. “Nadia’s kindness is her strength,” he murmured, having seen it over and over. “She’s fierce with family.” He grinned, remembering how she’d defended Emily when she thought her sister was being mistreated. “You’re wrong about her.”
“Maybe.” Taryn shrugged. “But if you’re rejecting me for sure, I’m going to align with Luca, then. Whoever partners up with me will win this thing. You should know that.”
“Huh. Good luck, then.” Caidrik turned and strode through the trees, heading down the lonely mountain.
By the time he reached the bottom of the chipped trail, his forearms burned and his ribs ached where claws had raked him.
The wolves had been real. Rabid. Fast. One had caught him across the shoulder before he snapped its neck.
Another had torn shallow lines down his side.
The wounds were already knitting, but the sting lingered, deep and ugly.
A SUV slid around the bend, tires fishtailing before it skidded to a stop. Snow sprayed up in a dirty arc. Solomon jumped out, hair askew, coat half buttoned.
“I didn’t think you were coming to pick us up,” Caidrik muttered. “You said we had to make it back on our own.”
“Yes. Well.” Solomon glanced from Caidrik to Taryn and visibly recalibrated. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t.” Caidrik yanked open the passenger door and nodded at Taryn. “Get in.”
She huffed but pulled her sweater back over her chest, taking her time with it. “Hey, Solomon,” she said brightly as she climbed in. “We killed the rabid wolves living in the cave.”
Solomon swallowed. “Good. I hope neither of you were bitten.”
“No,” Caidrik said. “How’d they get rabies?”
“There was an outbreak earlier this summer,” Solomon said. “A wild pack caught it.”
Caidrik paused, hand on the roof of the rig. “You’re not just inventing dangerous shit for me to do, are you? To help the pack?”
“No,” Solomon said quickly. “This one was outlined in the grimoire. Something dangerous. Isolated. Testing judgment.” He wouldn’t meet Caidrik’s gaze.
Caidrik felt it immediately. That drop in the gut. The sharp pull of instinct. “What’s the matter?”
“Something happened with Nadia and Luca during their challenge,” Solomon said.
Caidrik’s heart slammed once. Hard. “Is she hurt?”
“No,” Solomon said. Too fast. “They’re not hurt. They’re gone.”
“Gone?” Taryn echoed from the seat.
The world quieted around him as he stilled. “What do you mean, gone?” Caidrik demanded. “You had enforcers on them.”
“Yes. I did.” Solomon’s voice shook. “The scouts closest to them were taken out.”
“Dead?” Caidrik asked, his mind now spinning. Where was Nadia?
Solomon shivered. “Close enough. They’ll survive.”
“Not if she’s hurt,” Caidrik said quietly. His hands curled into fists. “Where were they when they disappeared?”
Solomon swallowed loud enough to be heard over the hissing wind. “Bombay Mountain. They were tracking toward Sweet Cliff. I think they made it to the abandoned mine.”
Caidrik turned and eyed the darkening forest. “Take Taryn back to town, and make sure there are four enforcers on her all night. I’m going for Nadia.”
“The remaining enforcers are forming a search party,” Solomon said, breath frosting the air as the Jeep idled, puffing smoke into the sky.
“I’m not waiting for a search party,” Caidrik said. He’d be much faster in wolf form. “Were the remaining enforcers able to track her?” It’d help if he had a clue which way she’d been taken.
Taryn stiffened, partially leaning out of the vehicle. “Do you think Luca took her?”
“I don’t know,” Solomon said. “If he did, he somehow managed to take out two of our enforcers first. That means he can fight. Very well.”
A new fear slammed into Caidrik, riding hard on the back of fury. His chest felt too tight, his lungs burning as if he’d already been running for miles.
He wouldn’t force her. Luca wouldn’t. Not if he wanted to be Alpha. Unless he didn’t plan on being the Alpha. Unless he planned on killing.
“All right,” Caidrik said. “I’m going to her. Now. Where’s the search party starting?”
Solomon hesitated. “I was going to send them toward the mine.”
Caidrik had memorized every inch of the territory the last two months. Every ravine. Every cut trail. Every abandoned structure. “I’ll go track her from there, then.” Too much time had already passed, considering the mountain was on the other side of the territory.
“I’m coming with you.” Taryn hopped to the ground.
“No,” Caidrik snapped. “Stay here.”
She didn’t even wait. She ran, boots pounding once, and then shifted mid-stride. Fur exploded outward as bone and muscle reformed. A sleek burnished-brown wolf hit the ground running, powerful and fast.
Solomon swore and tore off his tie. “She’s a good fighter,” he said, already shrugging out of his coat. “I’m coming too. Three is better than two.”
“No,” Caidrik said again.
“Too bad,” Solomon echoed, and then he shifted.
It wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t elegant. But it was effective. His body folded and reformed in a rush of motion, landing in the snow as a solid, grey wolf with long legs built for endurance.
Caidrik didn’t argue again. He ran. The shift tore through him in a familiar rush of pain and release. Bones cracked and slid. Muscle reknit. His center of gravity dropped as he hit the ground on four powerful paws and surged forward without breaking stride.
The forest swallowed them.
Snow sprayed behind him as he ran full out, lungs pumping, heart slamming. The air cut cold and clean through his chest. Branches snapped beneath his weight. The world narrowed to scent and sound.
Mine. Slate. Cold iron.
He reached the abandoned mine in minutes and skidded to a halt, nose low. Nadia’s scent hit him like a blow. Fear. Cold. Blood. It wrapped around his instincts and squeezed hard.
She was here. And not alone.
He circled fast as Solomon and Taryn fanned out. Luca’s scent was present. Fresh. Sharp with stress.
And another.
Caidrik froze.
That one he knew.
Ravencall.
A growl ripped out of his chest, low and lethal. He snapped his head toward Solomon.
Solomon stilled, nostrils flaring. He caught it too.
Luca was the Alpha of the Ravencalls. The bastard had taken her.
Lights flickered in Caidrik’s vision as his adrenaline surged. He spun and took off, tearing through the trees, tracking Nadia’s scent with brutal focus. Rabbits scattered. A deer crashed away through brush. The forest blurred past as he angled left, then right, correcting with instinct.
The trail changed, and he smelled oil, rubber, and exhaust. He skidded to a stop on an icy road streaked with dark stains. So they’d taken her by vehicle. Good. He launched forward again, much faster in wolf form.
The road narrowed into a trail and then widened again. Snow thickened the ground as dusk crept in, with the sky dimming through the branches. The other wolves’ breathing grew ragged behind him, but he didn’t slow.
She had to be alive.
He didn’t allow any other thought.
The cold deepened. He should’ve spent the last two months teaching her to fight and not just letting her get acclimated. Fear for her clawed harder throughout his entire body.
So he ran faster.