Thankful to hear sounds of her fighting her captor, Bosse hoped she had not been badly injured.Hurry, Titan.
We will save her, his wolf assured him. Then he shoved his big body through dense underbrush, crashing loudly as he climbed a hill. Whoever had grabbed her would know by now they were coming.
He did not want Titan to waste time being quiet. This was not the moment to be subtle.
“Get off me!”
That’s our mate’s voice, Bosse told Titan. His insides churned at the thought of being too late. He would rip apart anyone who had harmed her. He hated how frightened she sounded.
What he hated more than anything was the silence that followed.
When Titan encountered the beaten-down trail of smashed weeds and broken limbs, he picked up speed. He finally leaped into an open area at the crest of the hill where a storm had brought down many trees.
Where was she?
Give me the body, Titan. Bosse could not handle waiting a second longer to find her. They shifted so fast his eyes crossed, then he shook it off and started hunting for her. “Alifair! Where are you?”
She made a noise, but it was as if she had her head under a blanket.
He climbed over tree trunks carefully. One wrong move, and he could end up stepping on her. He kept going uphill until he saw a massive body face down. It was covered in black fur. What was it?
He didn’t care. Stepping over the last log, he reached down and yanked on the body. It was heavy dead weight, but he shoved it aside.
A gorilla still breathing but with its eyes rolled up.
Probably a shifter since he doubted gorillas were native to Slovakia.
Staring down, he found Alifair face down between two logs. He carefully moved one aside and bent to lift her up and flip her over. He pulled her into his arms. She was covered in dirt with weeds sticking from her wavy dark brown hair, but she was breathing.
He hugged her to him, jostling her gently. “Alifair, wake up, sweetness.”
Her eyelashes fluttered but did not open.
Had that monster broken something inside her? “Are you hurt? I need you to tell me.”
She mumbled a few sounds, then lifted a hand to her face, pushing hair out of her eyes that blinked open. “Bosse?”
Why did she sound surprised he’d come for her?
His legs were weak from finding her safe. He sat on a log and shifted her to sit in his lap. Using a finger, he lightly brushed dirt from her eyes and face. “Are you hurt?” he asked again.
Still staring at him, she slowly moved her head from side to side. “You found me.”
“Of course, I did.” Guilt smacked some sense into him. He might not understand emotions, but he knew when it was time to come clean. “I’m sorry I was angry about you needing me for your dream. I understand. You scared me half to death.”
With one sweet smile curving her lips, his world rolled upside down. She said, “Thank you, but I didn’t explain about the dreams very well. I’m not good with people, especially not with men.”
He caught her chin. “You don’t need to be good withmen. You are perfect withme.”
He must have said the right thing.
She put her hand on his face, and his body tightened at her touch. She said, “Let me try again. I did not know who you were before I was captured and brought to Krol’s castle, but I began caring when I first saw you battle in the arena. You always seemed to hate being there, unlike some shifters who walked in excited to kill their opponent. That happened before I had the dream where you helped Rez. I lived for those moments when I had to bring food for the guards and shifters, even having to feed that awful Beast. It was worth it every time to see you.”
What could she have seen but a beaten and bloody human when he was not in wolf form? Servants had to leave a scoop of gruel in his wooden bowl, just like all the imprisoned shifters received. He would always have the memories of her leaving extra food and sweets hidden in a cloth she dropped in his cage.
Drawing in a deep breath, she released it softly, but her heart still pounded from her ordeal. “I did not tell you about the dreams before you left because I did not want you to return, not even for Rez. I wanted you to find America and be safe. She was, and is, my responsibility.”
“Ourresponsibility now.” He lowered his head to let her see the determination in his eyes. “Like I told you, I had already decided to come back to get you. I couldn’t face leaving this country without you. Then those shifters shot me full of drugs and flew me across the ocean.”
