Heart : Animal Senses Series Book 1

Chapter 28

It felt like an hour passed as he struggled against the weather to reach the door, but finally, he managed, shifting with lightning speed and darting inside the building. He stood there leaning on the door and trying to catch his breath. Water dripped from his hair into his eyes as he swatted at it to keep it off his face.

He unclipped the pack and dropped it to the floor as he went to the small window to see if he could spot the canoe. He couldn't see anything; the rain ran down the window so hard it was like trying to look through a waterfall. He was just going to have to wait it out. Devin didn't like it, but he wasn't presented any other options. As he'd barely made it this far, he knew he wouldn't be able to scout along the shore and look for her in any form.

Pulling his jeans on, he stood in front of the window and waited. Was there a chance she had made it back and was sitting this out in her car? Again, he'd have to wait until the wind died down to check out that possibility, but for now, he was going to try to convince himself of that so his heart would get out of his throat and stay in his chest where it belonged.

He listened to the pounding rain on the roof and tried to hear if it was letting up at all. Closing his eyes, he focused on listening, the wind wasn't howling as loudly, at least that's what he heard. He opened his eyes again to look out the window. It might sound like it was easing up, but it didn't look like it. Something caught the corner of his vision and he pressed his face almost against the glass. Devin couldn't decide what he was seeing through the streaked window.

Moving back to the door in two strides, he whipped the door open and held himself steady by holding onto the frame. His eyes strained to make out the movement out in the lake, his heart stopped when he realized it was the canoe. From where he was standing he couldn't see if anyone was in the canoe. Was she lying in the bottom of it? Can I get out there to it?

Taking two steps, he stopped. Drowning as he tried to reach it wasn't going to help. Backing up until he was inside the building he stood without taking his eyes off the canoe that the wind was slapping around. She had to be all right, he wasn't going to accept anything else.

It felt like an eternity had passed while he stood there watching. As soon as it was closer he was going out, wind be damned. If she was still in it, he wasn't going to leave her there until the storm burned itself out.

He tried to occupy his mind. How was he going to find out if Rayne knew about her heritage? He knew she hadn't had her first shift, or he'd smell it. Females didn't shift as early on as the males. Males shifted at the onset of puberty and then the rough lessons of learning to cope with shifting began. Woman didn't usually begin shifting until they were closer to their first estrous—or, simply put, were ready to breed. Which meant that if Rayne hadn't reached that point, she might not even be aware of what she was. She had to be close, which would make her somewhere in her twenties.

Why hadn't her parents registered her in the archives? That question brought another, where were her parents and why was she here alone? Did he bring the Alliance in to see if they could find her parents? What bothered him the most was how, or why, she had driven all the way from Illinois, according to her license plate, to here? Was it some sort of test she had to pass before reaching her first shift, sending her out into the middle of the wilderness? He'd heard of some odd rituals of that sort in some packs, but had never known anyone to go through it personally. Did someone from her pack know she was here, or was it fate's way of getting his attention? He needed to speak to his father again, but regardless of answers, he still had to find her.

The canoe now floated fifty feet from the shore. His patience gone, Devin stepped out into the vicious wind and started for the water. His wolf may be able to fight the wind and repel the rain, but his man was a stronger swimmer and had hands to grab the canoe. He ploughed right into the lake, not hesitating. The wind pushed back against him to stop him from going out to the canoe, Devin leaned forward, trudging through the water. At the speed the wind was pushing in the canoe, he'd only have to swim a short distance when the bottom beneath his feet dropped away. Swim, walk, run he didn't care how he reached it, just as long as he did.

The strength of the wind choked him, he had to put a hand over his mouth to take in a breath. Another ten feet and he'd have to swim. His muscles clenched in anticipation as he gauged where he was in the lake and how much further he could go before the bottom dropped off. The water splashed up against his chest as he tried to balance his footing as long as possible. The canoe was getting closer as the wind shoved at it. Then, taking a deep breath, Devin pushed out with as much strength as he could find and began to swim through the choppy water in the direction of the canoe. His mouth filled with water more than once as he fought the waves to reach the boat.

Devin had just a few more feet to go when a strong gust of wind spun the canoe and he had to go under to avoid being blindsided by the spinning canoe. When he surfaced again, he gasped for a breath and spit the water out. The canoe had gone right over his head and was heading towards the shore without him. He dove under in an attempt to close the distance and resurfaced close enough to reach up and grab the side, careful not tip it. If Rayne was in it, he didn't want to flip her out into the water, she'd have had enough of the water right now. Walking his hands back along the side, he moved behind it and started swimming with determined kicks towards the shore. She had to be all right.