With a growl of anger, she jumped forward and thrust the sword through the vampire’s neck. When he fell to the ground, she used it like an axe to chop off his head. Blood sprayed on her sh
oes and bottoms of her jeans.
Damn it
felt good.
Pounding and more crumbling behind her made her spin back around.
Sorin was punching the wall, making the hole bigger. He pounded hard while rock flew all around him. When the gap was big enough for her to fit through, he turned and motioned for her to go.
The fight had died down for a moment. The sunlight streaming through the wall made the vampires rethink their plan. Bu
t the ceiling was starting to sag. He’d punched through an arch. At the top was the keystone – the wedge that held up part of the building. If that fell, the whole side of the building would collapse. What was he thinking?
She shook her head. She wasn’t leaving him again.
Anger grew in his eyes. He couldn’t talk in this form, but the message was clear. His patience snapped when a throwing knife went whizzing by her head then bounced off the stone wall beside her.
He grabbed her by the arm and shoved her toward the hole.
In order to go through it, she’s have to sort of climb over the bottom half of the wall then slide through because the crack wasn’t very wide, otherwise he’d have pushed her outside himself.
The top of the wall started to crumble.
More vampires appeared in the tunnel, skirting the edge of the sunlight. Another throwing knife whistled through the air and missed.
Sorin
stepped toward her with a threatening growl.
“Okay, okay.” Even though he was her mate, he was still fucking intimidating.
With a sigh, she obeyed and slipped through the wall into the outside air. He would pound the wall a few more times then follow her. She didn’t need to worry.
As she took a few steps back, she kept her eye on his figure through the hole.
Come out, Sorin.
He reached up.
Come out!
She started to panic.
He swiveled and ducked his head to view her through the hole. With a last longing look, he pulled down on the keystone.
“No!” she screamed.
It was too late. The wall collapsed, the stone ceiling fell, crushing anything beneath it.
She jumped back. Stone and dirt flew as it crashed to the ground. When the dust settled, she moved toward the debris.
“Doesn’t mean he’s dead,” she told herself.
He was strong. He could survive almost anything.
She would
pick through every last rock until she found him. It was hard to estimate where his body would be in the giant pile of rubble. After studying it for a moment, she started just in front, confident he’d have tried to move toward her while it fell.
On the other side of the mountain of rock, something stirred. She looked up. Two vampires stumbled out from behind a pile. Another one came from h
er right. More in the distance.
Shit.
They hadn’t seen her yet but would smell her in a matter of minutes. She looked down at the debris Sorin was buried under. Nothing stirred.
Fuck. She groaned. There was no ch
oice. She had to leave.
Bones cracked then slid
into place in a different configuration as she shifted to lupus form. She turned and fled into the thick wood behind her. There was no pursuit. The vampires were weakened by the sun. They would find shelter and she could go back and unbury her mate.
She waited in
the wood, staying in wolf form. The surviving vampires took off in the several cars that didn’t sustain damage from the collapse. When all was still, she crept to the ruined building.
Nose to the ground
, she sniffed along the rubble. His scent was weak but distinct. Whining, she pawed at the rocks, but they were too big for her claws to dig through.
She shifted to hu
man form and shivered as the cold air hit her naked flesh. Sharp edges stung her knees as she knelt on a pile of rocks and began picking through them. One by one, she tossed them aside. She sensed no movement from below. Panic started in her chest. She dug harder, faster. Blood from her fingers dripped on the stones as she moved them. Tears fell and mixed with the blood.
Her heart pounded so loud she could hear nothing else. Time passed but she barely made a dent in the mountain of stone. She was frantic now. With each passing second, life could be leaving him, if his lungs were crushed, or his neck severed. She could barely think.
Her fingers stung from the cold and peeling skin, but it didn’t stop her. After some time, when she had no more tears, warm arms wrapped around her.
She tried to throw the
m off but they were strong. A soft whisper was at her ear. “Shh. Let us take over.”
The arms were insistent. Though she fought, weakly, they dragged her away. She was passed to someone else who wrapped her in a blanket and sat her on the bed of a pick-up truck.
“Harmony,” Rafe said.
She looked up and he shone a flashlight in her eyes. Her body shook from a bone deep chill.
“Are you okay?”
Finally
, she peered around her. The haze lifted. Her pack was on the scene, already moving large boulders. Mathias handed her a sweatshirt. Numbly, she took it with a soft “thank you.”
She pulled it over her head
and it reached her knees. The shivering decreased a bit. Rafe poured water over each of her hands then sprayed something that made her hiss in pain.
“It’s to p
revent infection,” he told her.
When he went to bandage them, she pulled away. “
Sorin needs you. I’m fine.”
“I’ll go to him just as s
oon as they find him,
querida
. You need me now.”
She stared at the ground while
Rafe bandaged each finger. The bleeding had stopped at least. She barely registered the constant ache. Her toes were starting to sting from the cold though. She brought her knees up and tucked them under the blanket, careful not to flash anyone.
“
Rafe!” someone called from the rubble.
Her gaze jumped to
ward the noise. Three men pulled out a limp body. It was naked and mangled, but her heart knew it was him.
She started to get down from the truck, but
Rafe stopped her. “Stay here, Harmony. That’s an order.”
He was higher in rank
, both as a ranger and in the pack. She scowled at him.
Apparently doubting her
ability to obey, he called Marcus over. “Make sure she stays here,” he told him.
Marcus
nodded and blocked her way. Rafe ran toward the men carrying Sorin’s broken body.
“At least let me watch,” she snapped.
Marcus gave her a long look then stepped to the side. Rafe was already checking him over as they carried his body to the first-aid vehicle. She yearned to touch him, hold him.
“
You’ll only be in the way,” Marcus said. It must’ve been obvious that she was barely holding back from jumping over the side of the truck and running after him.
Mathias drove the vehicle
Sorin was in while Rafe sat in back. Marcus and Harmony jumped to the truck seats and sped off, following the jeep.
After
several moments of silence, Marcus dropped a hand on her knee. “He’s alive.”
She nodded. “I know.” His heartbeat was the first thing she listened for when they
’d pulled him out. It was weak but there.
“
Your mate is strong. He’s survived worse.”
Worse?
What could be worse? God, she was going to end up as protective of him as she was of her. She wished she’d told him she loved him, even just one time. So he knew, as he healed, that there was something worth fighting for.
Back at camp, Harmony wore a path in the dirt, pacing in front of the medical building. Inside the cabin, Rafe and a few medical assistants had been working on Sorin, snapping bones back in place, giving him fluid through an IV. But ultimately, what it came down to, was giving his body time to heal itself.
The door opened and
Rafe came down the front stairs. “He’s awake. He’s asking for you.” He chuckled. “No. He’s
demanding
you.”
Too worried to smile, she ran up the stairs. “Thanks,
Rafe.” She gave him a quick hug then walked into the cabin.
Sorin
was lying on a bed in the first room. His head was propped up with a pillow and an IV tube ran from his arm to a bag on a stand next to him. His lower half was covered with a blanket, but the top half, other than a few bruises and one puffy eye, looked like him. Her mate.
Frozen in the doorway, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. It was hard not to run to him but she was afraid to hurt him or bother him
. But he was alive. He’d be okay. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
“Why are you crying, love?” His voice was hoarse and he rubbed his throat.
“You’re okay,” she blubbered.
He went for a derisive snort but it came out a raspy cough. “Of course I’m okay.” His eyes narrowed, zeroing
in on her bandaged fingers. “Are you hurt? Did Rafe see you yet?”
“I’m fine.” In fact, she’d healed already.
His gaze swept over her before stopping at her legs. “Good god, woman! Where are your clothes?”
She looked down at her bare feet and le
gs. Her cabin was too far from Medic for her to risk leaving him to get pants and shoes. She peered at Sorin then shrugged.
He sighed. “Come here. Get under the covers.” With only a small wince he scooted to the left and pulled back the blanket.
Hesitantly, she walked to his side. “I don’t think –”
“I don’t care what you or
Rafe think. I need to hold you.” He patted the bed. “Come on.”
After a quick peek at the door
way and finding it empty, she slipped into the bed.
“
Ahh!” He gasped.
She tried to jump off but he grabbed her wrist.
“No, it’s okay. Your toes are just cold.”
“Sorry!”
He pulled her against his body and wrapped his free arm around her. She settled into his chest, careful not to touch him too much.
They laid in silence for a bit. The rise and fall of his chest soothed her. Her e
yes were heavy. How long had she been gone? It felt like weeks. Those questions brought more. How had Sorin found her in the first place? She was in such a panicked daze on the way back to camp that she hadn’t paid much attention to where they were driving.
“I can’t believe you found me,” she said. “I was in the middle of nowhere.”
He gave her a squeeze then kissed the top of her head. “I will
always
find you. Nobody fucks with my mate. I’m just sorry I couldn’t get there sooner.” His fingers grazed her neck where she’d been bit.
“How?
How did you know where I was?”
Sorin
heaved a deep breath. “Your friends. They used some kind of geek technology on that phone you’d taken from a vampire to figure out where it had been. It was amazing.”
“
That’s Darla. She’s a tech genius.”
“I had no idea. That’ll teach me to underestimate women.” He chuckled then groaned in pain
.
“Don’t laugh! You’ll hurt yourself.”
“How did you get that phone anyway?”
“It’s not important.”
Not after everything they’d been through. Not to mention it had saved her life.
“I say it is.”
She rolled her eyes. Stubborn. “Sorin, I…” It was cruel to bring this up now while he was hurt, but it had to be sorted out sooner or later. “I’m not the kind of woman you want. I won’t lose my wolf to sit at home barefoot and pregnant.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about the kind of woman I want.”
She turned her head to look up at him. “You don’t want a woman. You want a pet.”
Smiling, he stroked her cheek
. “Aw, now don’t say that, pet.”
“I’m serious.”
“I’m serious too.” He ducked his head and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips, chaste compared to their usual passion. “I want you just the way you are, my brave little troublemaker.”
“We really have to work on your choice of nicknames.”
He purred, “
Puiule mea, frumos mea, draga mea,
…my baby, my beautiful, my dear. If you’re going to make me say it, I will. I love you.”
S
he pushed to her side so she could face him fully. “You love me?”
“I do.
” He planted another soft kiss on her lips. “But Harmony, you should know there’s not a romantic bone in my body. I don’t compose poetry or sonnets. I’ll always be rough around the edges. But I’m willing to learn. And even if it takes forever, I’ll try my best to make you happy.”