The creature snarls and reveals its pointed, yellow teeth. Drool drips from its mouth, and it creeps a few steps closer. To my utter horror, it’s not alone. Two more beasts prowl through the trees, one coming from my left, the other from my right. Oh, gods. They’re hunting me.
And just like that, I feel like a fool. I have supplies and money, but I don’t have any weapons. Papa carried several knives, which he always kept strapped to his waist and pant legs.I shouldn’t have left Hollins without at least swiping a kitchen knife from the inn. Not that a kitchen knife, or even the larger, sharper knives that my father carried, would help me fight off the fearsome wolf-bears that keep prowling closer.
The first creature growls again and rises on two feet. It towers over me, casting a large shadow through the ussha glow that surrounds us. The other two beasts continue inching closer.
I turn and bolt off the path, rushing through the trees.
An earth-shaking snarl resounds behind me, and I hear the beasts giving chase.
I scream and run faster.
Please, gods, please.
Please protect me just one more time…
CHAPTER 4
GIDEON
As the lightsof another human town come into sight, I pause, beating my wings while hovering as quietly as possible in the night sky. Beneath the sound of the wind, I hear the scampering of forest creatures below, the distinct hooting of snow owls, and the faraway snarl of a wildcat.
A growl builds in my throat, but I don’t release it. I remain silent as I listen to the nighttime forest and try to feel the growing bond with my fated mate.
Since I departed Braemar, nearly a fortnight ago, I’ve continued dreaming about the golden-haired female each night. I’ve also started to detect her presence, and I’ve allowed my senses to guide me as I travel through the countryside going from town to town. She’s so close. I can feel her, I can smell her lilac-sweetness, and I can feel the warmth that emanates from her as though she’s right next to me.
My gaze narrows on the human town, but as I start to fly closer, the feeling begins to dissipate. But when I fly to the south, away from the town, it grows stronger.
Worry causes my heart to race faster. My mate is down there somewhere in the ussha-blessed forest in the middle of the night… when forest predators are most likely to be prowling about. Finally, I release the growl that’s been building in my throat.
I fly closer to the treetops, desperate to find Isabel. I think that’s her name, though it’s still possible she’s not the female that King Theron tasked me with finding. But I’m certain it’s my mate whose presence I sense in the forest below. Her warmth and her lilac scent fill my senses, as well as her strength and stubborn determination, a whisper of her essence.
Mine. She’s mine.
Can she sense me too? Does she know I’m getting closer?
I hear a deep, feral growl, then a scream suddenly rends the night. I swoop down into the trees, pursuing the sound of running and snapping branches. Multiple growls soon follow, and it sounds like the eerie, deadly growls of direwolves.
Fucking fires. I fly faster, determined to save my mate.
I land in a small clearing directly in front of a panicked human female, but I don’t vanish my wings as I usually do upon landing. I suspect we’ll have to make a quick escape.
The golden-haired female’s eyes flare wide as she tries to avoid barreling into me, but she ends up running straight into my open arms. I scoop her up just as a direwolf comes into sight, quickly followed by two more of the creatures. Wasting no time, I clutch the woman close and bolt into the sky.
She screams and thrashes in my arms, but after she peers down at the forest below, she goes utterly still and whimpers.
“Don’t be afraid, little moth. I’ve got you.” Warmth fills me as I finally utter the nickname I’ve been using for my mate during the time I’ve been searching for her.Little moth… for her golden hair that resembles the delicate wings of sunmoths.
As I snuggle her closer and take a deep inhale of her lilac-scented hair, I decide the endearment suits her even though I can’t quite glimpse the brilliance of her golden hair in the darkness.
My mate doesn’t speak as I fly beyond the town. She trembles in my arms and emits a soft whimper every so often. Gods, it feels good to hold her. Finally. And it’s a relief to have her in my possession where I know she’ll be safest.
To think that she almost got torn apart by a pack of direwolves…
The mere prospect of harm coming to her prompts my arms to tighten around her, and I can’t help the sudden growl that emanates from my throat. Anger ignites within me. What in the fires was my mate doing in the forest all alone in the middle of the night?
Is her name Isabel Sinclair? And if so, where is her father?
Gods, did the direwolves get him first? I suppose if her father was naught but skin and bones, the beasts might’ve continued chasing her down in hopes of a second meal. My anger starts to fade, and I remind myself that I don’t know the exact circumstances that led to my mate’s presence in the forest tonight, though I resolve that I will soon find out.
