Her brothers would’ve lectured her for hours and threatened to lock her up if she’d risked her life like that again.Although her brothers, cousins, and male friends would’ve done the same, endangering their safety to save someone who needed help.
Now that she’d stopped, the discomfort in her arm distracted her.The creature had broken her skin and drawn blood.She swallowed hard and ignored the throbbing injury.Once they reached the summit, she’d need to deal with this.Reveal a secret she’d hidden from Ransom.
The child patted her on the face but remained silent.How did the Trolleris communicate?She guessed she’d learn—if this wound didn’t kill her.
Scarlett forced herself to tackle the sloping climb to the flat ridge at the top.Below in the valley, howls and screams continued to ripple and resound through the mountains.She wasn’t certain whether bringing the child with them was an ideal solution.This quest became more problematic by the day.Her arm smarted, and each tortuous step reverberated through her body to her arm, where it kicked with a stinging twang.
The child turned into a heavy lump, a burden she could no longer bear.Numbness seeped through her shoulder, and all she could think was it was lucky Ransom had volunteered to carry her pack.
Somehow, she compelled her legs to function, taking one step after another.On reaching the hilltop, she dropped to her knees.
“Scarlett!”Ransom’s shout held alarm.
“Look after the kid,” Scarlett muttered.She set down the child.
“I smell blood,” Ransom said, dumping the two packs next to the kid.“Grata!Scarlett, he bit you.Why didn’t you say?”
“No time.Help me.”Weakly, she loosened buckles, and the shrinkton leather her sister-in-law made them with gave, allowing her feet to slip with ease from her black boots.She wrestled with her tunic.
“Let me.”Ransom whisked the tunic over her head.
Scarlett unfastened her bra and groaned as she wriggled free of her trews.
“Stop moving,” Ransom said.“Let me see the bite.”
“Help me.”Scarlett panted.Tears burned her eyes as she struggled to push back her distress and center her mind to call her feline.
“Scarlett, let me check your wound.”
Despite her lightheadedness from the pain, she managed a strangled laugh.“Immune.Your alpha crap doesn’t work on me.”
“You can’t die.”The anguish in his tone cut through her bluster.
“Need to shift,” she muttered.
“What?”
Scarlett ignored the shock in Ransom to push off her panties.Then, she stood, her body wavering, and a shiver worked through her as the fresh mountain air frisked her skin.
She closed her eyes and pictured her feline—a sleek black leopard—holding the image tight as her parents had taught her.Her shift took longer than usual, but finally, her limbs acquired the contours of her other form, her bones cracking and reshaping at a lazy pace that worried her.Determinedly, she forged onward until her animal burst free.
The pain eased but didn’t cease.Frying fungus, she hoped this worked.No way in hell did she want to suffer like the Trolleris.She sat, breathing hard, and waited.Ideally, it was best for her to stay in this form, but that wasn’t practical now that they had the child to carry along with their packs.
Ransom sat back, eyeing her with concern, his eyes more dragon-like than usual while he was in his humanoid form.“Is the shift helping?”
He wasn’t going to shout and rail at her for keeping secrets?Interesting.
At least her shift was dulling the pain.As for healing, she wasn’t sure and couldn’t communicate that to him.
The child cooed and pushed to his or her feet.Oh!Heambled toward her, and on reaching her side, he cuddled against her fur.
“It’s a boy,” Ransom announced the obvious.
A girlish giggle burst through her mind, and a purr erupted from her feline.That was interesting too.While she didn’t want any man—and indeed not a bossy alpha—it seemed she’d found one.The sex had been a mistake.She’d known that, yet she’d forged ahead, anyway.Yes, he was dominant, but he also had a soft side.He’d understood her need to rescue the child.But still, should’ve made a list first.Ransom had become a bad influence, and she was reverting to her impulsive ways.She must halt this.Must fight or bad things might follow.
“Can you move?”Ransom asked and plucked the little Trolleris from her side.
The kid groaned in protest until Ransom hoisted him onto his shoulder.He pressed the child against his hair, and the Trolleris cooed and cuddled closer.
