Lost and Found (A Werewolf Wars Novel Book 4) (2 page)

“Anything’s better than sitting here, waiting for them to find us,” she exhaled, sitting up. Dizziness overwhelmed her as a sharp spasm sliced through her head causing her to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. The numbness left her body and was replaced with white-hot pain—everywhere.

Vincent took off his shoes and threw them into the river. “Give me your jacket,” he instructed as he finally reached her. Without waiting for her reply, he ripped it down the center sending the buttons flying into the mud.

“Hey!” she gasped, reeling back, perturbed by his action.
What is he thinking? Does he know how cold it gets at night?

“Sorry. We need to throw it in the river. If we’re lucky, they’ll find it and think we drowned.” He pulled back and she quickly slid her arms out of the sleeves.

Vincent grasped her jacket in his hands and launched it into the raging rapids. He then grabbed her hand and tugged her to her feet.

Sarah stumbled on the uneven, wet ground. “What—” she started as he dragged her into the water.

The air whooshed out of her lungs as the icy water surrounded her. Goosebumps rose up on her flesh as she clenched her mouth shut to keep her teeth from chattering. She hoped Vincent knew what he was doing because getting wet like this with a chilly night coming wasn’t a good idea.

Vincent grasped onto a rock as he led them through the waist deep water. Sarah clutched his hand tightly, using her free hand to hold onto a log. The water pushed and pulled her in every direction, and she knew if he let go, she’d go careening down the riverbank.

“The water will help conceal our scent,” he explained. He led them into a small cove with rocks and logs around it. “Come here,” he said, drawing her closer.

Vincent pressed his back against a rock and pulled her into his chest in an effort to conceal them from their enemies. His arms snaked around her middle and she nearly screamed as he sunk down into the water until just their heads were above the surface.

Sarah shivered as the icy water surrounded her; her bottom lip trembled uncontrollably as she tried to speak.

“Stay still and quiet,” Vincent instructed, out of breath.

“I told you they were down here,” a man’s voice said a few seconds later.

“So what, it’s just a shoe,” another, deeper voice could be heard.

“Does it matter, Chip?”

“Yeah, dad wants a body or a living person,” Chip said, annoyed.

“You think they drowned?” the deep voice queried.

“Not until I see a body,” Chip snapped back annoyed. “It’s imperative we find them. They are the Alpha's brother and his mate’s sister. We’re at war and they are valuable hostages. With Fernando Juarez dead, the Gulf packs need a leader. There is no way dad is going to sit back and watch that kid, Malakai, take the reins.”

“Then why did dad make it look like they were dead?”

“So the Harris’ wouldn’t look for them,” Chip replied nonchalantly. “There is no sense in risking your life for a body. You rescue the living, not the dead. Besides, we don’t want the focus on us right now. Let them chase down Malakai while we rally our troops. We just need to keep the wolf and the girl alive and then wait for the opportune time to strike.”

“You want to head down river?”

“Yeah, you go on ahead. I’m going to call in another favor to Sherriff Morris; he certainly owes us enough favors. I’m going to have him lock down all the streets and exits out of the state. They cannot be allowed to leave.”

“He already gave us that girl’s body,” the unnamed man said, nervously. “How much more is he going to do without question?”

“If he doesn’t want his dirty secrets out, he’ll do everything we ask,” Chip replied. “Let’s go down stream. They’re around here somewhere.”

Sarah shuddered in Vincent’s embrace as leaves crunched beneath sneakers, signifying the departure of the two men. She sighed and leaned her head forward on Vincent’s shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay,” Vincent said quietly.

“They think we’re dead. Our family thinks we are dead,” she whispered, peering up into his green eyes. “They’re not even looking for us, Vincent. How is that okay?”

“It’s not okay. But we have to use the information we do have to come up with a plan. We know we can’t trust anyone until we get far away from here. As long as we stay off the highways and out of sight, we’ll be fine. We’re going to get home, Sarah. I promised Dev and Lark I’d take care of you. I’m not breaking that promise,” Vincent said with conviction.

Sarah shivered. “First, we have to get out of these woods.”

“It’s going to be dark soon, we’ll find a spot to hunker down and hopefully get some food. At least water shouldn’t be an issue,” he said, chuckling. Vincent removed one hand from her torso and used it to scoop up water. He slurped loudly, waggling his eyebrows as he downed the liquid.

Sarah scoffed and shook her head, unable to stop a small smile from slipping over her face. “You know it’s not really safe to drink that. You could get sick,” she pointed out.

“Well, we either drink this or become severely dehydrated. We need water.”

She took a tiny drink herself. It tasted okay, but that didn’t mean anything. Vincent did have a point; they didn’t have any other choice. He gave her a lopsided grin as she took another sip.

She tore her eyes away from Vincent as she looked at the vast forested landscape that surrounded them. For miles it appeared to be nothing but the trees and the river.

The water splashed onto her face as her wet, blonde hair floated in the stream. The sun was beginning to set and they were both drenched. It was going to be a long, cold night, but hopefully Vincent was right and their situation would start to improve.

“I mean it, Sarah,” Vincent said quietly as he pushed matted, wet hair from her face. “We’re going to get home.”

***

V
incent grabbed a handful of red, ripe berries and plopped them into his mouth, nearly swallowing them whole. He trusted Sarah when she said they were safe to eat. She hummed contently next to him, her rosy fingers reaching out to pluck more from the bush.

The tart juice from their treat slid down his throat and filled his empty belly. Perhaps it was all in his head, but as he consumed the food his eyes seemed to focus more and his ears tuned in to the woodsy noises surrounding them.

An owl hooted to the right and wildlife scuttled through the dirt in front of them. For the first time in two days, he was starting to feel like himself again.

“We should find a place to hunker down for the night,” Vincent suggested.

Sarah nodded and finished chewing before asking, “Did we lose them at the stream?”

Vincent closed his eyes, focusing on the noises around them. “I don’t hear anything...human. With any luck they’ll follow the water looking for us while we continue on in this direction. We should smother ourselves down with dirt and leaves to keep our scent masked.”

Sarah sighed as she wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her hands up and down her creamy flesh. “We’ll need to find some sort of shelter for the night—boulders or low-lying branches. Our biggest issue is the cold and still being wet.”

Vincent ran a hand through his matted hair. His short mass was mostly dry, but Sarah’s long, tangled, flaxen locks were another story. Her black tank top and camouflage pants were drenched as well. His clothes were no better; the waterlogged jeans and green tee still clung to his chest.

“If we can make it through the night, we should be okay. The days are still warm. We’ll probably have to use each other’s body heat though,” Sarah prattled on as she picked another handful of berries.

Body heat?
A smirk slipped over his face at the thought, but he quickly shook it away. She hadn’t meant it like that. Not to mention, she was his deceased friend’s girl; that would be wrong.

“We should keep moving until we find shelter. It will keep our bodies warm and blood flowing,” Sarah continued as she picked the last of the berries. She divided them between her hands and offered him a handful. “At least we know they want us alive. That will give us an advantage if they find us.”

Vincent nodded, holding out his hand as she deposited the fruit into his palm. “I never pegged you as the outdoorsy type,” Vincent observed. While he hadn’t spent a lot of time conversing with her at the ranch, he had seen her daily. Sure, she went on the occasional horseback ride, but she was mostly inside, and always wore cutesy, girly dresses and tops.

Sarah shrugged. “I don’t mind being outside. I’d prefer a camper with a bathroom and shower, but I’ve roughed it before.” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she shifted back and forth. “My dad was really into hunting. He’s the one who taught us to shoot. We used to go camping at state parks two to three times every summer,” she sighed, blinking her hollowed blue eyes.

He used her distraction as an opportunity to appraise her injuries. She had cuts and bruises all over, but none of them appeared to be bad. Her pale skin was ghastly white, and he wondered how much longer she could go without proper food and rest.

Sarah snapped out of her trance and met his eyes. “We should keep moving. If we stand around too long, our muscles will get stiff and we’ll be too tired.” Sarah plopped a berry into her mouth as she spun on her heel and continued on.

They walked in silence for several minutes before stopping in front of a steep hill. “Could you climb that as a wolf?” she asked, pointing.

Vincent followed her gaze. The cliff up was a steep ninety percent incline and too narrow for a wolf to climb up. Anyone who attempted the slippery, twenty-foot climb would have to do so by hand. “No.”

“We should make camp up there,” Sarah explained. “It looks like it will be hard to access the area from any angle. We could both get some rest. If the Lunas find us, at least we’ll hear them ahead of time. It would give us the upper hand. Plus, it looks like there’s a tree up there we could use for shelter.”

“All right. Let’s head on up,” Vincent shrugged.

Sarah surveyed the wall for a moment before maneuvering to a different area. “I think this is the best spot to climb up.” She reached up and gripped onto a ledge with her hand and began to hoist herself up.

Vincent watched, impressed by her fluid movements. She really seemed to know what she was doing. He waited for her to get a safe distance ahead before following her. He spent a lot of time outside, but climbing, as a human, wasn’t something he practiced often. Sarah, on the other hand, had already covered half the distance.
Damn, she is fast.
He grasped the rock she had started on with his fingers and hauled his body up.

“You do lots of rock climbing with your parents?” he asked.

“A little, but mostly camping and stuff. We never did anything too serious,” Sarah chirped, grunting as she hauled herself over the top. She turned and looked vacantly down at him. “The year they died, we were in the process of planning a trip to Yellow Stone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite.”

“Did you still go?” Vincent asked.

“No, I didn’t want to.”

Vincent reached the top, using his upper body strength to pull himself up. He stood erect and shook out his tired arms as they both took in their new surroundings. Sarah looked to her left, her jaw set firmly.

Sensing that she didn’t wish to continue the current conversation, he looked around the top of the ledge. It was small, but there was no other way up other than the way they came. A tight trail led down the other way, but from what he could see, the path was miles long. It would be safe for now.

Sudden movement to his right caught his eye. A rabbit scuttled through the brush, causing Vincent’s still hollow belly to grumble.

The wolf in him tugged at his consciousness and fought the urge to shift. Crouching down, he stalked forward toward the creature. It sat tucked behind some brush, nibbling on a nut.

He moved forward silently towards his prey, lunging and capturing the small animal in his arms. At least they would have some form of nourishment tonight.

***

S
arah blinked her eyes, trying to control her emotions.
Why did Vincent have to talk about my family?
She didn’t want to think about them—she couldn’t. The pain was too fresh and made her numb. Too many people she loved were dead. If it weren’t for her, Preston would still be alive.
Stop thinking about them!

She cleared her throat, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and spun around to see Vincent clutching a gray ball of fluff in his arms.

“Dinner?” he asked, laying a rabbit at her feet.

“Is a fire a good idea?” she questioned.

“A small one, just enough to cook over, maybe dry our clothes off a little. We have to eat. Those berries helped, but we need real food to sustain us. I don’t know how long we’ll be out here. We need to keep our strength up.”

Sarah nodded. “I’ll grab a few twigs for kindling.”

They worked together in silence. Sarah gathered wood and brush for a small fire as Vincent used his claws to prepare the rabbit.

“How do you think they took out Juarez?” Sarah asked curiously, dropping down as she positioned the twigs in a pile.

Vincent set the rabbit on a makeshift spit and plopped down across from her. “They probably took the fight to them as originally planned. I’m glad they carried on with their plans,” he said as she struck two rocks together and started the fire.

Sarah blew gently on the tiny sparks until they grew large enough to engulf the twigs in flames. She picked up an extra stick, twirling it between her thumb and forefinger. “Yeah. I just wish we could have been there. I wanted him to pay.”

“You want revenge?” Vincent asked, surprised.

“Don’t you?” Sarah shot back.

Vincent shrugged. “To be honest, when this whole thing started, I was just looking out for Em and Marcus. I never imagined it would turn out like this. I want to make things right, but there is a right and a wrong way to do it. If we lose ourselves in the process, then aren’t
we
losing, too?”

Sarah dug her nails into her palm in an effort to keep her emotions at bay. His depth surprised a part of her, yet the other was infuriated by his words. She wanted the Gulf packs to pay for what they’d taken from her—for what they’d done to her.