seemed to be just as surprised by Sarah, and hastily stumbled into the river. Caim’s head whipped around to deliver an accusatory glare.
“You scared him,” he said.
After several attempts to formulate an intelligent response, Sarah settled on, “Are you insane? Get the heck away from that bear!”
Not budging, Caim said, “I was going to ask him if he has seem my father.”
As the bear moved farther into the river, Sarah advanced on Caim.
“I think he was about to shift,” Caim said. Raising his voice, he called out, “Come back!”
Arriving at Caim’s side, Sarah clamped a hand over his mouth. “Don’t say that,” she hissed.
Caim squirmed away from her grasp, his eyes narrowing. “He could have helped us.”
“He could have eaten you,” she said, trying to get a rein on her racing pulse. “How can you even tell he’s a shifter?”
Caim looked at her as if that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard. “Bears sleep in the winter.” He pointed towards the retreating bear. “Now we will never get across the river.”
Sarah took Caim’s hand, tugging him away from the river. “I promise, I’ll figure out a bear-less way for us to cross.”
He shook her off again. “My father put me in charge.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose, taking in his obstinate posture and reddening face. Given that the bear showed no sign of turning back, she decided it was okay to take a moment to soothe Caim’s tantrum.
“Look,” she said, putting her hands on his small shoulders. “I know that you’re scared, and I know that you miss your dad, but you’re going to have to trust me. You know why?”
He looked up at her, but stubbornly remained silent.
Sarah said, “You have to trust me, because I’m the only one in the world who wants to get you back to him just as much as you do.”
For an instant, Sarah thought she saw his guard drop. His small body seemed to sag with acceptance.
Bang.
The sound was so jarring that Sarah didn’t react immediately. Then, she saw the bear. Almost to the other side of the river, he abruptly slumped over, dead.
Galvanized, she seized Caim’s hand and turned back towards the forest. Snow stood just a few feet away, her back to Sarah. She was staring up at the man who was pointing a gun at them.
Chapter 14
B etween being lost , encountering a bear, and being held at gunpoint, Sarah felt like she was reliving a nightmare. Only this time, there was no big, powerful werewolf by her side, just two frightened and relatively helpless children.
The man stood at the edge of the treeline, just close enough that Sarah could see his combat fatigues, but not close enough that she could make out his face. The inability to get a read on him made her feel almost as vulnerable as the gun he had pointed at her.
Caim and Snow were frozen in place, and Sarah tried to make a move to stand in front of them.
“Stop right there,” the solider commanded, staring at her through the scope of his gun. “Hands up.”
Sarah did as she was told, while her mind worked overdrive to formulate a plan.
A slight drawl to his voice, he asked, “You one of them?”
“One of what?” she asked.
“A werebear .”
She remembered how Cain had lectured her on the word when they’d first met, and for one, hysterical moment, she almost laughed.
Regaining her composure, she said, “No, I’m not a bear, and neither are they. Please, just put the gun down and—”
“We are wolves,” Caim blurted.
His loud proclamation seemed to echo through the forest, and Sarah felt the last of the blood drain from her face.
“Please,” she said, taking a step closer to the children.
“I said stop.”
She froze, but was unable to stop the stream of words that flowed from her mouth.
“My name is Sarah Harper. I’m from Florida. Mind if I ask where you’re from?” She kept talking as he began to slowly advance on them. “That’s okay, I’m great with accents. Let me guess, Atlanta? I had
Sherry Thomas
London Casey, Karolyn James
J. K. Snow
Carolyn Faulkner
Donn Pearce
Jenna Black
Linda Finlay
Charles Sheffield
Gail Bowen
Elizabeth Chadwick