Rab frowned. “That’s a hard call, but a strong one to make.”
I nodded and faced him. “You should take everyone there and get them in the bunker too. Join the city wolves and regroup. Then when I get down there, we can all come up with a—”
“Join the city wolves? Leave our land?” he scoffed. “Is this the kind of alpha you will be? One that runs underground at the first sign of trouble?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “First sign of trouble! You saw what happened last night. We nearly got a bomb dropped on us. Then the Ithaki attacked us. If it gets like that here, you need to get our people into the bunker!”
He sighed, and something dark crossed his face. “I’ll leave it as a last resort. I sent three thousand more men to help Sawyer this morning. Surely we can win the war with that.”
Three thousand more? That was great, and a lot, but I just didn’t know if it was enough. “Maybe.”
Rab placed two hands on my shoulders. “It will be my honor to call you alpha when you return. Just remember … giving up isn’t an option.” He squeezed my shoulders and I smiled.
That was all I was going to get out of him.
Astra hugged me as Rab stepped aside. “I’ll pray for you every day.”
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly as love and respect filtered through our bond. When she pulled back, we both wiped our eyes, and then Sage was standing before me. I’d thought about this moment, this goodbye, all morning. Reaching onto my left hand, I pulled off my wedding ring and slipped it onto Sage’s ring finger. “Keep it safe for me?”
Her lips pursed into a thin line as tears ran down her cheeks, and she nodded quickly.
“Hurry back, bitch. I love you.” Sage pulled me in for a tight hug and we both broke into small sobs.
When we pulled away, I wiped her eyes and she wiped mine. “Sage … If I’m not back—”
“No,” she growled.
I sighed. “Just take care of Sawyer, okay?”
She nodded, and I knew that I couldn’t delay this any longer. Backing slowly into the Dark Woods, I raised my hand and waved to them.
“I’ll be back in three days!” I shouted to everyone. Rab just gave me a look that said:Yeah, right, but Astra and Sage nodded, waving me off.
I got this. Anyone could endure three days of hell.
Right?
Three months later…
Today markedthree months of being in these godforsaken woods, trying to find that damn magical cave. I had underestimated this task. Rab was right, these woods were cursed, haunted,alive.Every night while I slept, the trees rearranged themselves so that I couldn’t memorize any path or visual markers to get out of here. I missed Sawyer so fucking much. Sage, Raven, my parents, the Paladins, people in general. Was the war over? Did we lose? Was Sawyer dead? My mind went wild all day long. The second I’d walked into the woods, I’d lost my ability to talk to him or even sense anything through our bond. I was completely cut off, but that was the least of my worries.
I looked down at my slightly bulging belly and whimpered.
My period was late. It wassofucking late that I was pretty sure I was about three and a half months pregnant. I think I’d pinned it down to when we’d made love after Sawyer proposed. We’d had sex on the kitchen counter, on the bed and then in the shower. The condom probably broke in the shower. Neither of us would have noticed.It didn’t matter now; what mattered was that I was three months freaking preggo and lost in some magical ghost woods that hated me.
Alone.
Being pregnant, alone and lost in creepy killer woods, was not ideal, but by some saving grace I’d stumbled upon a bushcraft cabin on my fourth night here. It was full of handmade tools, clay pots, a small cot, and a fireplace. There were letters too, tons of little notes written on hand-pressed papyrus and scrolled with a burnt charcoal stick.
Run, Red Moon, Buffalo, and many before them had all added to this special place in the hopes that the next alpha would find it during their trial and have a place to stay while looking for the cave.
The notes kept me sane, made me feel like I wasn’t alone, like I was just on a vacation reading a diary. I ran my fingers over the black chalk and read the note in my hands for the fiftieth time.
To my future kin,
The woods seem to change at night, don’t go looking for the cave without a sure way to trace your way back to the cabin.
We are one with this land, don’t forget that. When you feel frustration, so do the woods.
