Roan.
A heartbeat later — Rhett.
Jay.
Their scents threaded through the storm, tangled and wild andtheirs.Relief hit so hard my knees almost buckled.
Still, I didn’t move. Couldn’t risk leading them straight into Rylan’s path. I needed to draw him off just a little longer.
I slid forward on my stomach, pushing through wet leaves until I reached the edge of a slope. What had been packed in snow before was all mud, leaves, and debris. Soon, it would be ice slicked and crystalline. Below me, though, was a narrow ravine, swollen with runoff from the storm. Dangerous, fast-moving water, but it would break my trail completely.
Decision made, I exhaled once, hard. “Come and get me, asshole,” I whispered, and threw myself down the incline.
The cold hit like a fist. The current grabbed me, tearing my breath from my lungs as I fought to surface, clawing against the pull of water and mud and panic.
But even through the chaos, I had one thought — one, steady pulse in my mind that burned hotter than the heat still raging in my body.
Find me, Roan. Please. Jay. Rhett. Find me before he does.
The current slammed me against a rock hard enough to drive the air from my lungs. My world narrowed to water and thunder and the raw, searing cold that clawed through every inch of me. I couldn’t tell which way was up. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
Then—impact. A second splash, heavier, deliberate. A shape cutting through the current.
No.
Panic ripped through me, sharp and immediate. I kicked backward, heart pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird. My mind screamedRylan,even before I could see him—his voice echoing through memory, through fear, through every instinct that saidrun.
But then—warmth.
Hands found me.Strong. Steady. Familiar.
I caught a flash between lightning strikes: honey-brown skin, dark curls plastered to his forehead, those impossible dimples half-hidden behind a grimace.
Rhett.
Relief hit so fast it hurt. My muscles went slack for a heartbeat as a choked laugh—or maybe a sob—escaped me.
“I got you, boots,” he shouted, his voice rough and breathless but full of that infuriating, unbreakable confidence.
My fingers caught the strap of his gear, and I kicked hard, fighting the current beside him. The rain lashed our faces, the current tried to tear us apart, but we clawed for the bank together. Every inch forward felt like wrestling gravity itself.
We hit the shallows, half-crawling, half-dragging each other onto slick, stony ground. My body trembled, heat and cold battling until I wasn’t sure which would win. Rhett’s hand stayed on my back, grounding me through the chaos.
Lightning split the sky again—white and merciless—and in that flash, I saw him.
Rylan.
Standing on the shore like a nightmare given flesh, rain streaming down his face, eyes burning with something unholy.
My stomach dropped.
He moved fast—too fast—and before I could shout a warning, he kicked out, boot connecting with Rhett’s ribs. The impact sent Rhett skidding back into the water with a growl that wasn’t human anymore.
“Rhett!” I screamed, scrambling to my knees, fingers clawing at the mud.
But Rhett wasn’t down.
He twisted with the current, teeth bared in a snarl that would have frozen blood, and his hand shot out—grabbing Rylan’s ankle in one brutal motion.
