My Female Alpha

FORTY TWO

emery

The acrid smell of smoke wakes me up. I don't remember falling asleep, but now I wonder how long it's been. I roll over and try to stand, but the blankets tangle in my legs, sending me to my knees.

"Get off," I grunt, kicking them away.

Dani appears at the front of the den with a wild glaze on her face. "Get up!" She runs over and lifts me out of the blankets, even though she's about the same height as I am. "We have to go. Come on!"

When we step out of the den, all I see is a gray haze. The bolt of color from flames climbing up the surrounding trees barely peeks through the smoke. Dani grabs my hand.

"Squat down and don't let go," she orders.

Because I'm afraid of burning alive more than running away, I do as she says. She leads me through the haze. My lungs burn and I start coughing.

She curses but hurries her step. I try to keep up, but she jumps over a fallen trunk that I don't see and trip.

"Damn it!" Dani growls. She turns back to help me up but a blur shoots out of nowhere and tackles her to the ground.

I scream at the sight of a wolf on top of her. It bites her neck and tears it from her body. Blood sprays everywhere, including my legs. I'm still staring when the wolf turns on me. Scuttling up to my feet, I take off. I can't see and I have no idea where I'm going. I just know I have to get away from that beast or I'll be next.

Of course, I don't get far. I'm stumbling through the smoke like a blind idiot when the wolf slams its head into me and I go tumbling to the ground. Rather than feel its teeth around my throat, I hear the noise of shifting over the crackle of spreading fire. I flip onto my back with ragged, hoarse breaths. My head feels like it's floating, detaching from me, and each breath feels like a saw dragging up and down my throat.

When I blink, Denver's familiar face is there. He scoops me up without a word and starts running. I bobble in his arms like the deadweight I am. Although I feel myself steadily losing touch with consciousness, I fight to stay awake as long as possible. I almost don't let myself believe it's him. Maybe I'm just hallucinating.

I stay conscious enough to see us escape the reaching haze of the fire. The air becomes clearer and I can now see the trees around us. Denver looks around before setting me down. He holds my face up so that I have no choice but to listen to him speak.

"I'm shifting," he tells me. "You have to hang on to me. We won't get out of here unless you hang on. Okay?"

My head nods. It feels like a balloon glued to the base of my neck. It's going to pop off and float away at any moment.

Denver's ash-gray wolf licks my cheeks. He nudges me to my knees until I'm able to grab onto the thick fur covering his shoulders. He pushes me up by my ass and then I drop my leg on the other side of his body. My fingers clutch onto his coarse fur just as my head departs from the rest of me.

:: | ::

There's a fire. There was a fire. There was a fire.

I fly up into a sitting position, my eyes snapping open as a cough is expelled from my lungs. All I see are burning trees. Their limbs and leaves are devoured in orange flames, smoke billowing around them and everything. The smoke bites at my eyes and rubs my throat raw.

My ears seem to pop and suddenly I hear, "Luna! Luna! It's okay!"

The burning forest fades from my vision along with the smells. I blink and Caden's blue eyes are leering down at me. My gaze travels down to where he's gently but firmly holding my wrists.