That final sentence was the wrong thing to say. I felt like I was reeling in a rope only to fumble at the last second. Sorrel’s ears flattened and he wrinkled his nose.
“You don’t know anything. He protects us,” Sorrel stated, his expression growing sharp. “We oweeverythingto him!”
My stomach swooped with dread. I was losing him.
Fear turned my blood to ice as I imagined my youngest brothers in Sorrel’s place. Aurum, Saffron, or Thystle... The twins had each other, but Thystle was as dramatic and heartsick and stubborn as Sorrel. It terrified me how easily I could imagine him in this situation—and how difficult it’d be to shake him free of it.
“Sorrel, please listen to me,” I muttered urgently. “It’s dangerous here. For all the omegas, but especially you.” I lowered myself, knees in the dirt. “I’m begging you to come with me and Poppy. Please.”
Sorrel’s eyes rounded with confusion and a million other feelings. He stood there for what felt like an eternity while anxiety clawed at my chest. The longer this took, the more unsafe it felt to be here.
Finally, Sorrel frowned and asked, “How do I know you’re not lying about Poppy? For all I know, he could still be in Konrad’s private quarters.”
“Poppy’s scent is all over me,” I replied, trying not to sound impatient. “He’s safe right now, in a secret place away from the clan.”
Sorrel took a whiff of the air, then went quiet. I figured he had no argument. But I couldn’t tell if he was any closer to accepting my offer. I felt balanced on a precarious edge where a single gust of wind would knock me down into an inescapable pit below.
“Hell, I’ll take you to Poppy if you want,” I suggested. “You two can talk about it together. But we have to go. It’s not safe to stay here.”
Sorrel’s fur bristled. “I can’t do that! This is myhome!”
I winced at his raised voice. But before I could urge him to keep quiet, an earth-shattering roar boomed across the air.
“Where is Poppy? Where is my omega?” Konrad snarled.
In the dawn quiet, his thunderous voice carried across the entire clan like a loudspeaker. It rattled me to the bone. I instantly knew the source of his rage. He’d returned to his home to find Poppy missing—and he was about to make it the entire clan’s problem.
It was no longer quiet. The other two alphas burst out of their quarters, summoned by Konrad’s roar. They shouted orders at the shifters pouring out of every building. The manhunt for Poppy was on—and for the intruder who’d stolen him.
My stomach sank as low as my knees on the ground. I was out of time. I had to get Sorrel out now.
“Sorrel, I’m fucking begging you,” I said in a rushed whisper. My hands instinctively hovered closer, itching to grab him and go. “Come with me before Konrad—”
But I’d lost him. Sorrel grimaced as he backed away, his sidelong glance wary and distrustful.
“You should get out of here,” he muttered.
Regret swamped me. I wanted to smack my head against the wall for how badly I’d fucked it all up.
I couldn’t leave Sorrel. I wouldn’t. Even if I had to be the bad guy.
I lunged forward to grab his scruff. He yelped in shock as I dug my fingers into the loose skin, determined not to let go until we were far, far away from this wretched place.
I grunted apologetically as I readied myself to shift. “Sorry, but—”
“Help!” Sorrel shrieked.
The ground shook with a huge thud behind me. I whirled my head around just in time to see a massive, snarling white bear gear up to strike. In the milliseconds it took me to recognize Rorik, my world had already gone dark.
When I opened my eyes,I wished I hadn’t.
Agony struck me the second I saw daylight. A starburst pain at the back of my skull throbbed, and the copper tang of blood filled my mouth. I spat it out only to realize it was trickling down from my nose, too.
When I tried to move, I couldn’t budge. Not easily, anyway. My wrists were tied with scratchy rope to a wooden post behind my back.
When my swimming vision finally came into focus, I looked out at the tundra clan’s main clearing. It was disturbingly empty. All the omegas were gone. Were they locked back in their quarters after Poppy was found?
My stomach clenched.
