Chapter two
Stay With Me
“Listen, woman, I need you to do something for me, okay?”
She’s gone. Too far gone.
This will never work.
But she stirs softly as I set her gently down on a smooth boulder at the base of the slide where she tumbled. It’s the perfect height.
“Hey, stay with me.” I set one hand on her shoulder, over the strap of her purse. It’s the kind that goes across her body. No backpack. No water. Who the hell hikes way out here with a purse instead of a backpack? But that’s not important right now.
Neither are the flat canvas shoes she’s wearing. The kind with no tread. They’re caked in mud and certainly soaked through. No wonder she’s frozen. It’s cold enough out here already, the air tastes like it could snow.
God. It’ll be a wonder if her toes don’t have frostbite.
“Wake up,” I repeat, a growled command echoing from deep within my chest. A command that doesn’t just come from me—it comes from my wolf.
If I were an alpha, maybe she’d sense it, maybe her body would respond. Even humans can sense an alpha’s command. They respond to it on instinct, though they don’t fully understand what it is.
But I’m no alpha. I’m a sigma. I have alpha blood, but I rejected the pack I was born into. Cedar Run took me in, but I still don’t belong. That’s why I live way the hell outside town. Not part of Blood Claw, not part of Cedar Run, just in the nowherelands.
I like it that way. Most of the time.
“Wake up,” I growl again as she slumps to the side, this time channeling my wolf on purpose. I know it’s futile, but it’s all I’ve got. I need her awake if this crazy plan has any chance of working.
To my shock, she stirs, sitting up straighter, and her eyes finally snap fully open.
They’re dark brown but oddly bright, fierce in a way I wasn’t expecting. Or maybe that’s just the terror reflecting in them.
“Where…am I?” she asks, trying to stand—and stumbling forward.
I swear under my breath, catching her and setting her back on the boulder. “Don’t try to move. You’re injured. I’m going to get you out of here, but I need your help, okay?”
She nods, eyes still wide and fearful as she stares at me like she doesn’t remember how she got here. Like she’s too cold to remember.
I crouch so I’m looking at her eye-to-eye. “This is going to sound crazy, but I need you to hear me out: I’m a shifter. Do you know what that means?”
She stares blankly. It’s the look of someone half-alive, and that chills me to the bone. I’ve got to get her out of here.
Strictly speaking, I am breaking about a bazillion rules right now, but I don’t even care. This is an emergency.
If the Cedar Run alpha wants to beat me the hell up for this later, he can give it a damn try. Not that I ever intend for him to find out.
“Can you hear me?” I ask, holding her shoulders so she won’t fall. “I’m a shifter. And I need you to listen to what I’m about to tell you.”
“A shifter?” Her voice is hoarse, but there’s recognition there. A spark of something, almost hope, almost like she’s already familiar with that word. And am I crazy, or do I detect a hint of relief?
But she can’t be from Cedar Run. I’d recognize her. It’s not exactly a large town.
“Yes. And I’m going to take you to my cabin. But you’ll need to hold on to me. Okay?”
She nods warily, and I’m not sure if she’s really following, but it’s the best shot I’ve got.
“Okay, climb on my back, then I’m going to shift.”
Without giving her time to think about it, I turn around, letting her wrap her arms around my shoulders.
