chapter 50

Heather cocked an eyebrow. “You’re very protective. I like that fierce side of you.”

“A lot of good it did. I thought I’d gotten through to her. I guess not.”

He sat down beside her. “Don’t you dare blame yourself. What you did out there was close to a miracle. If anything, you’ve given her a better chance of finding herself.”

“Let’s hope it was enough,” she said.

That night, as soon as David fell deep asleep, Heather slipped out of the room. She tiptoed out of the house and shed her clothes just outside the main door. As soon as she hit the ground on all fours, she ran, using her heightened shifter senses to aid her. There was only one thing she was looking for. Last time, she’d found the she-bear, so she could do it again. Heather wouldn’t risk anyone in her new pack because of the unstable bear, certainly not her own mate. This was her mission. She’d gotten through to the bear, even if briefly.

Heather believed saving the bear was her chance at redemption. She couldn’t save herself from her fate, but she could help this girl. Give her some semblance of a future. Show her she wasn’t alone in the world. What if Heather’s entire pack had been killed by the rogue bear? Her sister and uncle victims along with her parents? She’d be truly alone, wandering, afraid, and desperate—just like the young bear.

The forest was growing more familiar, but it still wasn’t the same as her old stomping grounds she knew so well. This was her new home, new pack, and she planned to make it work. David would soon be her official mate. She wouldn’t let another full moon pass them by.

She traveled for hours, searching, pawing the ground, testing the air. It wasn’t so easy to find the she-bear this time. As soon as she swore she caught a scent, it was gone. She grew weary, her body in need of rest.

Regrets began to cloud her mind. She shouldn’t have snuck off without telling David. Heather slowed her pace and finally settled down on a bed of thick pine needles. It felt good to rest her muscles. She curled up, wrapping her lush tail around her body as she closed her eyes. She’d have a light nap, then return home. At least she could say she’d tried her best to find the girl.

Heather woke up in a state of chaos, her body being tossed and rammed against metal. She opened her eyes, finding a mix of blinding lights and flannel. The stench of alcohol burned her nostrils. Panic flooded her system when she realized she was surrounded by bars—a cage.

The men laughed as her cage was slammed into the back of a pick-up truck.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before the rangers find us.”

She heard a door slamming shut, along with the tailgate. Heather was breathless, trying to escape her confines. What would they do with her? Hunters usually wanted pelts, so why was she still breathing? She couldn’t shift and give away the centuries-old secret of shifters.

Why couldn’t she have stayed home in the warm bed with her mate? Why was she allowing demons of her past to control her actions? She couldn’t save everyone, and she had to realize her life had to go on even though it would never be the same.

Any realizations she had were pointless now. She was a caged wolf with more than half a dozen illegal hunters. Her fate was mapped out, and it wasn’t looking good for her.

If she could cry, she would have. Instead, her wolf thrashed in the cage until her muscles and bones ached. Would she get a chance to escape? All she needed was for them to have a second of weakness, then she could find her freedom again.

She noticed the moment the truck began to slow down. Panic overwhelmed her. It didn’t make sense for her to still be alive. Hunters killed for pleasure or reward. No one wanted to see a wolf in a zoo. To most humans, wolves were a menace to be dealt with.

Two men grabbed a side of her cage and hoisted it out of the truck, dropping it unceremoniously to the ground next to an old wooden cabin. That was when she heard the growl. Heather noticed two other cages in the near distance. One had a mountain lion and the other had a bear. Her thoughts went to the young she-bear she’d been unable to find earlier.

What the hell was going on?

“This is going to be good,” said one of the men.

“I want in for five hundred,” said another.

“Keep them agitated until they have the pit ready.”

Someone prodded her with a stick, making her wolf yelp. Then she whirled around, on high alert, swatting and lunging at anyone near her cage.

She wished her pack was there, her mate. Then again, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to them by rescuing her. This was her doing. No one knew she was gone or where she’d been taken. Maybe her death would be a cold case, leaving David and her family forever wondering what happened to her.

They used a metal hook to drag her cage along the forest floor. Some spotlights had been set up and dozens of men hooted and hollered around her. It was pure madness.

“I can’t believe you trapped a wolf. They’re usually hard to get in this part of the woods.”

“This one was asleep.”

“Plain good luck. Make sure you bet big on that one.”

She began to piece together what was happening. Especially when the crowd cleared enough for her to see the pit. They were going to force them to fight each other. Heather had no clue what other animals or shifters they’d captured. She didn’t want to kill anyone or anything.

They couldn’t force her to fight. She wondered what would happen if the she-bear lost control and shifted into her skin in front of the humans. It would be front-page news and the beginning of the collapse of their entire society of shifters.