Page 61 of Rescued

She played it over and over in her head, expecting to be horrified, but somehow, she… wasn’t.

His wolf was so beautiful. All black, like midnight, magnificent and wild. But also… sad in a way that hurt her heart. All that rage, but he hadn’t really tried to hurt her, no matter how dangerous he said he was. She felt a connection to him, like she’d felt with the wolves this afternoon, but much stronger. As if she could feel what he was feeling.

And she knew one thing.

No matter how much he said he wanted to be alone, he was lying.

Breanna went into the cabin. She knew there were flashlights in the kitchen drawer—it was dark in the forest, where the moonlight didn’t penetrate. She found one that worked, and then set out to follow Switch.

All she had was the direction he’d gone when he jumped off the roof. She wasn’t out ten minutes before she realized that he could have gone anywhere. And she was lost.

Her feeling of certainty evaporated. What the hell was she trying to do? This was wilderness. She didn’t know where Switch was, or where she was, or how to find her way back to the cabin.

And there were other wolves besides Switch out here. Some were her friends, but they were all upset from today, and some of them might be in a worse mental state than Switch.

As soon as she had the thought, a rough voice came out of the darkness, making her jump.

“He’s headed up the mountain.”

She whirled around. Sanchez was standing there, his eyes gleaming faint gold in the darkness. Mercifully, he wasn’t naked.

“Oh,” she said in relief. “It’s you.”

“People don’t usually say that like it’s a good thing.”

She smiled faintly at him. “I’m glad Cisco’s going to be okay. I don’t suppose he’s well enough yet for cookies?”

“You got any?”

“I made some last night, while you all were on the mission. It kept me from worrying so much.”

“About Switch.” Like he took it for granted nobody would worry about him.

“About all of you. I’ll bring them over tomorrow, or you can go by the cabin and get some. You should microwave Cisco’s, though, so the chips go all gooey the way he likes.”

That actually brought a tiny smile to Sanchez’s face. “Don’t tell me there’s some in your freezer for Téo, too?”

“Of course there are.” Matéo liked them frozen. Sanchez liked to dip his in bourbon. “Don’t steal all Switch’s bourbon, though, okay? He might need some.”

Sanchez gave an amused snort. “No promises.”

Breanna said, “Do you know where Switch is? Can you take me to him?”

“Why do you want to go? He’s a crazy wolf.”

“I know. But…” She didn’t know how to explain the complex feelings inside her. Finally she just said, “He shouldn’t be alone.”

“He wants to be alone.”

“He thinks he does, but he really doesn’t. And he shouldn’t be.”

That got a tiny huff of laughter. Almost nonexistent. “You’re not like any human I’ve ever met.”

Breanna didn’t know what to say to that, so she just waited.

Finally Sanchez said, “Come on.”

He led her what seemed like miles through the woods, uphill all the way. The terrain was so rough, it took her a while to realize that he was actually taking the trouble to find the easiest path for her.