Faith

by Viola Rivard

“Everyone thinks I’m stupid for feeling lonely,” Snow murmured. “Mom’s the only one who ever listens to me and she’s always so busy with the pups. Sometimes I feel like I’m a bother to her.”

  Taylor put a hand on Snow’s back, lightly patting it. “Is that why you left home?”

  Snow shrugged. “It’s one of the reasons. I guess I just wanted to be with someone who was just mine.”

  “You mean, Alder?”

  “Yeah. He’s my only real parent, and I’m his only real child. We should have always been together.”

  Taylor wanted to explain to Snow that parentage was about more than just who supplied your genes, but it felt like anything she said would just be meddling for her own selfish purposes. She could see the situation becoming more convoluted by the second, but there was nothing she could do. No matter which way she looked at it, Taylor was the intruder in this scenario, not Snow.

  Taylor sat in silence as Snow poured two cups of warm mint water. Thanking Snow, she sipped at the water. It did nothing to quell the uneasiness that had taken root inside of her.

  Before Snow could engage her in a one-sided conversation, Taylor heard a loud bark from outside. She turned, looking out the door in time to see Caim standing up. Nervous that he was going to go after her quail, Taylor stood and raced to the door.

  To her relief, Caim seemed to be interested at something in the woods. In an impressive display of speed, he took off, a blur of black disappearing into the trees.

  “Hm,” Snow said, appearing beside Taylor with her hands on her hips. “I wonder where he’s off to in such a hurry.”

  “Not sure. Is he always like that?”

  “Wolfy? Yup.” Snow gave her a cheeky grin. “He’s probably caught wind of something. If I had to guess, it’s a turkey. Up for a turkey chase?”

  Taylor was about to say no when her stomach growled voraciously. She pressed a hand to her belly and frowned. It was the second day in a row that the mention of meat had her salivating.

  “Um, are you hungry?” she asked Snow.

  “Eck, I hate turkey meat. Let’s hope he found something bigger.”

  With a beckoning wave of her hand, Snow flounced off after her brother.

  “Be right there,” Taylor called.

  When Snow was out of view, Taylor glanced down and gently poked her abdomen. “This meat thing is all you, isn’t it, little man?”

  Little man.

  Emotions surged for a few moments, but Taylor was able to rein them in. Silently, selfishly, she hoped that her baby would be a boy. She knew that it wasn’t fair to put such a heavy burden on an unborn child, but all she could think about was giving Alder a son. His very first and only son.

  Taylor shook her head as if to dispel the thought. She knew it was going to take a lot more than that, but she didn’t have time to work through her issues at the moment. She set off after Snow, but pivoted on the porch steps before turning back to grab her bow and arrow.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Snow and Caim were long gone by the time Taylor made it to the forest. Unable to tell which way the duo had gone, Taylor considered turning back but didn’t like the idea of leaving them in the forest alone. Caim seemed capable enough and she knew that there were guards posted around the area, but she’d hate to have something happen to Snow under her watch.

  It had been a while since Taylor had been in the forest during daylight hours. Even after her guards had been posted, there was always too much to do around the cabin in the afternoon. She decided that even if she couldn’t find the wayward teens, a walk might do wonders to clear her mind.

  The air was charged with ozone, but it didn’t look like it would rain anytime soon. Leaves were beginning to fall from the trees and they blanketed the dirt path in yellow and gold. Many of the birds had already begun departing for warmer climates, but the crows stayed. They watched her silently from the branches of high trees, their faraway bodies like black dots against the gray sky.

  Taylor followed the path for a while until she noticed a disturbed patch of land that veered off, deeper into the forest. The earth had been dug up by what appeared to be large paws and several small branches lay broken on the ground. Nearby brush held a thatch of black hair.

  Caim and Snow must have been through there, she surmised. Still, she took her time following after them. On the opposite side of the brush, something caught her eye. A small cluster of whitecap mushrooms. Her stomach growled again, but as she reached down to pluck them up, she was assailed with nausea.

  Had she eaten anything yet that morning, Taylor would have most certainly retched her guts up. Instead, she leaned against a tree, clutching her abdomen as her body was racked by a slew of dry heaves.

  She waited a few moments, sucking in fresh air and allowing the cool breeze to calm her. As the nausea began to ebb, she let go of her grip on her belly and gave it a few pats.

  “I wasn’t going to eat them, I swear.”

  Taylor didn’t see how she was going to get through this pregnancy on a vegetarian diet. As miserable as she felt, she couldn’t be bothered with guilt over that. She was just glad the baby wanted meat and not chocolate.

  “Turkey, quail,”—she shuddered—“venison, whatever you want, we’ll eat it. Just stop making me sick.”

  The sharp-pitched cry of an animal hardly startled Taylor. It wasn’t unusual for her to hear such noises, especially around the hunting hour. Given that it would still be a while before the pack awoke, she had to assume that it was Snow’s brother making a kill. Reluctantly, she regained her footing, grabbed her bow, and went off in the direction of the noise.

  Putting her body on autopilot, Taylor’s thoughts turned inward. Overnight, her life had become a hot mess again, though for once, it was through no fault of her own. Then again, if she hadn’t agreed to go through with the mating thrall, Snow’s arrival would have been infinitely less jarring.

  I should have taken the time to get to know Alder better.

  She had told herself that she’d have plenty of time to get to know him during the nine months that she was pregnant. Now, she could see how ridiculous that was. Even though her baby was probably the size of a pea, it was already changing so much in their lives.

  Taylor was snapped out of her musings when she tripped, nearly falling over an obstruction. Swiftly regaining her balance, she looked down to see what was in the way. Her hand flew over her mouth, muffling a scream.

  A lithe, coppery wolf lay sprawled out on the ground. Taylor stepped back several feet, not bothering to check for a pulse. The wolf—Penny—had had her midsection torn open. Her insides lay spilled on the ground and her glassy eyes stared out into nothingness.

  Taylor’s grip tightened on her bow. She felt no nausea at the sight of her dead guard, only a cold trickle of dread that ran down her spine. She had to get out of the forest.

  As her eyes scanned the area, searching for the quickest route back to the den, she heard another sound. This one was far more distinct. Shouting.

  She cautiously proceeded in the direction of the voices, hoping to see one of the alphas or, at the very least, Glenn. She found none of them.

  In a small clearing were four shifters, two men and two women, all in their human form and all arguing. She recognized the two women, but without any measure of relief. The first, predictably, was Tulip. The other was the Whiteriver wolf that had confronted Taylor and Alder on their trek across Mount Ezra. Taylor only spared her a brief glance, as she was more focused on the slight girl that the she-wolf was holding by the throat.

  Snow.

  Swallowing hard, Taylor stayed as low to the ground as she could, peering at them from over a cluster of shrubbery. As she was downwind of them, it was unlikely that they’d be able to catch her scent, but as close as she was, even the smallest sound could alert them to her presence. Provided they could hear her over the sound of their own arguing.

  “You never said they had a sister,” one of the males said to Tulip.

&nbs
p; She gave a weak shrug. “I didn’t know.”

  “They don’t have a sister,” the dark-haired woman snapped. Taylor saw her grip tighten around Snow’s thin neck. “Who are you?”

  Snow, bless her heart, served the woman a glare. “I’m the daughter of Alder, alpha of Halcyon, and if you let me go, I might ask my father to at least kill you quickly.”

  For all her bluster, Taylor could see that Snow’s courage was hanging by a thread. Her skin was pallid and tears streaked her face. With a stab of remorse, Taylor noticed that on the far edge of the clearing, a large, black wolf laid motionless, blood pooling around him. Had they gotten him first, or had he been trying to protect his sister?

  Taylor was tempted to notch an arrow and send it flying right for the she-wolf’s face, but she knew that the situation was hopeless, at least for her. Even if she could manage to hit one of the wolves, the others would converge on her before she could notch the second arrow.

  As much as it sickened her to leave Snow behind, there was only one real solution. She had to go get Alder as quickly as—

  Large, rough hands grabbed her from behind, one over her mouth and the other around her waist. She was dragged to her feet unceremoniously and pulled against a hard body. Her captor lowered his mouth to her ear. His foul-smelling breath clung to her skin.

  “Hello there, mommy.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Caught her snooping around in the bushes,” the burly male declared as he hauled Taylor into the clearing.

  At the sight of Taylor, the dark-haired female passed Snow off to one of the males. She sauntered up to Taylor and gave her a quick once-over.

  “Nice of you to join us. Thanks for saving me the trouble of finding you.”

  Taylor said, “I don’t know what your plan is, but—”

  “You’re right. You don’t know anything. So shut your mouth.”

  In a quavering voice, Tulip said, “Olivia, we have them both. Let’s just go.”

  Olivia scoffed. “Not a chance. We don’t need them both.”

  The male holding Taylor asked, “Want me to gut her? String her up for them to see?”

  For a moment, Taylor completely detached from herself. The situation—listening to the talk about killing her—it was all too unreal. In the next few seconds, one of them could rip her apart and there was nothing she’d be able to do to stop them.

  “We should just take them both,” Tulip said.

  Olivia spared her a glance. “I don’t remember my brother putting you in charge.” Her gaze shifted to Snow. “Besides, if we’re going to kill either of them, it’s going to be the girl. No reason to keep Alder’s bastard alive when we have his mate and pup already.

  She turned back to smirk at Taylor. “Or is it Hale’s pup? I suppose you wouldn’t know, would you?”

  Taylor felt herself snap back into her body. Rage blistered over her skin—not at the insult, but at the mention of her baby. In her mind, she freed herself from the burly man’s grasp and punched Olivia’s teeth out. In reality, remained supplicant in her captor’s hold. When she spoke, her voice was calm and even.

  “I may have been with Alder before, but make no mistake, I’m Hale’s mate. I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish, but if you want bargaining chips, you’d better take us both because Alder’s not going to come after me.”

  Olivia arched a brow. “You expect me to believe that? Tulip’s told me everything. I know that you’re Alder’s mate and you’re fucking Hale on the side.”

  Snow shouted, “Taylor is Hale’s mate, not my fath—”

  Snow’s captor silenced her with a hand over her mouth.

  Olivia gave Taylor an expectant look.

  Taylor sent a silent apology to Snow. Right now, she had to say whatever it would take to get them out of this mess.

  “Alder didn’t tell me he had a daughter. I ended things with him when she showed up.”

  Olivia remained skeptical. “You think I’m going to believe that you broke up with Alder just because he had a pup he didn’t tell you about?”

  “No. That was only part of it. I’ve always wanted to be with Hale anyway. All I did was take an easy out.” Taylor pressed her lips together. “Look, I’m only telling you this stuff because I owe it to Alder not to let anything happen to her. If you want Hale and Alder, you’re going to need us both.”

  Olivia scrutinized Taylor for a long moment. Taylor kept her expression neutral, but inwardly, she wondered why they were acting as though they had all the time in the world. Taylor hadn’t gone that far from her cabin. The Whiteriver wolves were deep in enemy territory and Halcyon could find them at any moment.

  God, I hope they do.

  A slow smile spread over Olivia’s face. She looked to the man behind Taylor.

  “Let her go.”

  The man complied at once and the sudden release caused Taylor to stagger. Olivia caught her with one arm.

  “Thank—”

  Taylor was cut off by a hard blow to the side of her face. White hot pain seared her cheek as she fell to the ground, hard. As she reeled with shock, she was only vaguely aware of the others talking.

  “Make sure she bleeds, then scrape her up off the ground and let’s go.”

  ***

  Her words must have swayed Olivia, because when Taylor came back to awareness, she could see that Snow was still alive. Like Taylor, one of the males was carrying her over his shoulder and she appeared to be disoriented.

  The side of Taylor’s face throbbed with pain. She brought a shaky hand up to touch it. It was slick with blood. Nausea assailed her, but she took comfort in it, as it was a sign that, at least for now, her baby was okay.

  As she became more aware of what was happening around her, Taylor realized that the man who was carrying her was running, as well as the other Whiteriver wolves.

  Evening had just begun to set in and there was a light rain falling. She could hear the wolves talking in hushed voices and from their tone she, could sense an urgency to their tones. As she collected herself, Taylor began to tune in to their conversation.

  She heard Olivia hiss, “They were supposed to be gone until nightfall.”

  Tulip sounded defensive. “She promised me she’d keep them busy. Something must have gone wrong.”

  Somewhere within the forest, a wolf howled. It was obviously not one of Whiteriver’s, because all of them skidded to a halt.

  The male carrying Taylor spoke first. “What the hell do we do now?”

  Olivia pressed two fingers to her temple. “We have to split up. They won’t be able to track us both, not in the rain.” She nodded at Tulip. “You and Gren take the human. The rest of us will go with Alder’s bastard.”

  Gren apparently didn’t like that idea. “Why the fuck do we have to take her?”

  “Why the fuck to you think?” Olivia asked, getting up in his face. “She’s bleeding all over the place. They’re going to be able to track her no matter what we do.”

  “She’s bleeding because of you,” Tulip pointed out.

  Olivia rounded on her. “I wouldn’t have cut her if I’d known you fucked up. Now go! Take the river. It’s your best chance.”

  Taylor could only watch, helpless as they made off with Snow. Gren and Tulip faltered for a moment, before taking off in another direction.

  Branches whipped and scratched at Taylor’s body as Gren ran through the forest at a breakneck speed. She moaned a few times, but was too weak to put up any real protest. Once, she implored Gren to let her go, but her request went ignored.

  The rain picked up, and before long, they were running amidst a downpour. As they made their way down a muddy hillside, Gren lost his footing but managed to regain it at the last second.

  “Please,” Taylor said. “Let me go and I promise they won’t chase you.”

  Gren’s reply was sharp. “Why don’t you shut your mouth before I fuck up the other side of your face?”

  Taylor winced, both at his tone and at
the knowledge that her face was probably as bad as it felt. Would she have a scar? Was she going to be disfigured?

  A familiar shriek from above was music to Taylor’s ears. Even with all of the pain she was in, she managed to feel a moment of pure euphoria as Fenix swooped down from the sky. His powerful talons were embedded in Gren’s face before the werewolf knew what was coming.

  In his panic, Gren flung Taylor from his shoulder. She hit the ground for the second time that day, this time landing on a rotted tree stump. Pain lanced her back as a piece of splintered wood pierced her flesh. She cried out, but could barely hear herself over the sound of raindrops pounding against fallen leaves.

  After a brief spell of confusion, she managed to stand. Gren had shifted to a large, gray wolf, while Fenix had taken his human form. Fenix called out to her, saying something she couldn’t discern, but was soon distracted by Gren, who lunged at him from behind.

  While Taylor looked around for something to aid Fenix with, Tulip arrived at her side. She latched a hand onto Taylor’s arm and began to drag her from the clearing. Taylor tried to resist, but even when not suffering from blood loss and disorientation, she was no match for the shifter’s strength. She tried calling out for Fenix to help her, but when she looked back, she saw that Gren had Fenix pinned beneath him, his huge jaws snapping at the hawk shifter’s neck.

  It was the last Taylor saw of Fenix before she was dragged farther into the forest, at the mercy of Tulip.

  Taylor said nothing as Tulip dragged her down to the river. Instead, she offered no resistance whatsoever, allowing Tulip to become complacent. When they reached the bank of the river, Taylor gave her hand a hard jerk. As she’d predicted, Tulip didn’t react quickly enough.

  Knowing there was no way she could outrun Tulip, Taylor opted to outlast her instead. She dashed to the nearest tree, wrapping her entire body around it as tightly as she could.

  Tulip stormed over to her. She managed to wrench both of Taylor’s hands free, but had no way of holding her hands while also loosening her legs. Growling in frustration, she gave Taylor’s leg a hard kick.