RiverSomething was wrong. River could sense it before the pain even began. He had left the kitchen and headed outside for some fresh air, trying to clear his head, but the more time he spent walking around in the yard, the more he couldn't shake the idea that there was something going on that shouldn't be.He was standing in the back yard, staring at the forest shrouded in the shadows of day's end when he thought he heard a whisper of a cry for help. It didn't resonate in his ears, though. It was in his head, but not the same way that a mind-link message usually came through. He couldn't even tell who was shouting for him. He just knew that he'd heard his name and the word "help."And then he'd gotten a sharp pain in his back that almost knocked the breath out of him. It made no sense. He hadn't done anything to injure himself.Deciding he needed to check on Ellie since she'd headed for home less than an hour ago, River fished his phone out of his pocket, expecting her to decline the
EllieHitting the water had felt like slamming into a concrete sidewalk from two stories above. Ellie's back hurt so badly, she could barely stand it, but she didn't have time to worry about that now as the rapids from the river washed her downstream.Ellie had always been a good swimmer, but now, with the water rushing at her so quickly, and the breath knocked out of her, she was doing everything she could just to keep her head above water. From time to time, she'd slam into a large rock or a huge tree branch, losing her breath again and suffering scrapes and what were sure to be dark bruises.The current was moving so quickly, she didn't think it was possible for her to make her way to the side of the river, to the shore, especially since the river ran through a ravine here, where the sides of the shore were so high she would have to climb out. For now, she just continued to fight to keep her head above water and fill her lungs with air the best she could as she tried to go around t
PatriciaMother's intuition was a gift Patricia was always glad to have. It had told her when River had fallen at the playground in first grade and broken his arm. It had told her when he got wounded during a battle a few years ago, and it also told her that something was really wrong now. But she didn't think that it was River who was in trouble this time. He had left in such a rush, going out for a drive for a reason she didn't understand, and when she'd used the mind-link to ask him what was going on, he hadn't given her a reliable answer. It left the uneasy feeling she had in her gut eating away at her.Normally, when Patricia felt this way and couldn't settle down, she went for a run in her wolf form, but tonight, she didn't feel like shifting. Rather than going into the woods for a sprint, she decided to do something else, to go for a walk in her human form, to take it slow, and see if she could figure out what was going on that was making her feel so restless.Grabbing a shawl
RiverRunning as fast as he possibly could, River took off for his car, unable to believe what was happening. How had Blade managed to pull something like this off? Was he simply lying in wait, watching for Ellie to leave her village alone so he could attack her?He couldn't believe the other Alpha would be so brazen. He had to know he would pay for this. But then, Blade had always been a hot head who thought he was invincible. He was about to find out that he was far from it.River saw his car in the distance and picked up speed, pushing himself to run even faster. He scooped up his pants as he ran, leaving the rest of his clothes lying where they'd fallen, and shifted as he reached his car, taking only a few seconds to practically leap into his pants as he stretched to open the car door and fall into the seat. River started the car, slammed it into drive, and made a U-turn on the gravel road, shooting up dust and rocks as he squealed his tires and headed back toward his village.Pa
EllieShe'd never been so cold in her entire life. As Ellie had laid there on the shore of the river, trying to get up enough strength to move, she began to lose feeling in her toes and fingers because they were turning numb from the cold water.When she heard Patricia's voice, Ellie knew she would be okay. She was still in a lot of pain, but the fact that she was close enough to River's village that his mother was able to find her meant that she was close to a healer who could help her.She'd allowed herself to drift away to a place where she could no longer feel the pain of all the scratches, gouges and cuts on her body and the pain from her back that radiated up to her neck and down her tailbone. Voices stirred her a little while later. She opened her eyes to slits to try and determine who was in the room with her, but she couldn't focus well enough to see any faces. She thought she recognized Patricia's voice. Then, she heard a male voice that she thought might have been River. I
EllieRiver was standing at the foot of her bed, yet Ellie couldn't even concentrate enough to hear what he was saying. She wanted to. After all, she'd carried on a conversation with her dad, but as he opened his mouth to speak, she felt a wave of exhaustion overtake her, and her eyes were closed again.Some time later, she began to become conscious again, trying to put everything back together, but she was having trouble remembering everything. Something was very wrong. Ellie knew that before she even completely awoke. While she was still drifting back into consciousness, she realized that her body was in a lot of pain. Her back was killing her, her head was pounding, and her stomach was churning. Thoughts of what had transpired came flooding back to her, almost causing her to bolt upright on the bed she was lying on, but she couldn't do that because her back hurt so badly, so she lay there, staring at the ceiling, praying that she was safe now, even though she didn't know where she
River"She's awake again."His mother's words echoed through his mind like a surreal dream, hitting him in the heart like a sledgehammer. He felt his breath stagger as he turned to look at her, not sure what he should say or do.Ellie was finally awake? After all of these hours? He was glad she had woken up, but he also didn't know what to do about it now. He was sitting in a study across the hall from the bedroom where he'd had Ellie moved as soon as she was stable. He'd sat there all through the night, not wanting to intrude on her privacy by being in the room with her but unable to leave either. Michael had spent the night in the room, so he would know if there was a problem. River felt out of place being as close as he was, but he just couldn't seem to pull himself away."She seems to be doing all right. Unlike the last time when she woke up for just a few moments, she's really awake this time."That's good." Words were not his friends at the moment. Michael had come out a few hou
EllieResting was a good idea, but as Ellie lay there reflecting on what River had said, she couldn't get her brain to stop for long enough to fall asleep. She was glad she'd remembered everything this last time she'd woken up. At least she didn't have amnesia. Still, she'd been through so much. To hear him apologize and say he had just been scared to get too close to her made her feel better about their situation in general, but it didn't actually change anything. How was she supposed to trust him with her heart again after he'd let her go so easily?Ellie glanced around the room, trying to figure out what to do since she couldn't go to sleep. She spotted her cell phone on the nightstand. "How did that get here?" she wondered. The last time she'd seen it, the phone had been in her car--and then it disappeared. She wondered if someone had gone out to her car and found it while she was unconscious. That was the only explanation.Picking up her phone, she saw that she had several misse