Read Online Built for Lust by Alice Gaines - Free Book Online Page A

sensing Tommy. Worry wouldn’t help. Better they think all was well.
    As much as Cara would have denied it, she didn’t have her normal strength and was beginning to tire. Gray slowed his pace to stay with her, and his silver eyes showed concern. Screw that. She wouldn’t let him be right about telling her to stay behind, so she kicked into high gear. Fighting for breath, she surged ahead. She had to prick up her ears to catch the sounds of the rest of the pack in the distance, but eventually, she got close enough to spot them.
    The other five stood in a moonlit clearing, their chests heaving as they panted for breath. Ilse’s black fur stood almost on end over her shoulders. A sure sign of extreme upset. Cara trotted up to her, and Ilse’s eyes showed pure terror. She’d lost Tommy -- couldn’t sense him at all -- and there was only one reason for that. The worst had happened.
    His mother, Ruth, let loose a terrible howl. A cry of mourning, of a heart tearing apart. Joe snarled at her and prowled back and forth, the way he always did when he couldn’t control something. For a moment, Peter stood with his snout raised, sniffing the air in all directions. Finally, he lowered his head, and his shoulders sagged.
    No. This could not be happening. They couldn’t have lost Tommy. The pack’s oldest child, the reason for such celebration at his birth. Old wolves died, not cubs. He was the next generation, their link to the future. They couldn’t go back without him. The death would kill their mother, figuratively if not literally. Cara couldn’t have life inside her body only to lose the first-born and maybe her mother as well.
    Desperately, she searched for Tommy’s scent. Even if Ilse’s ability had failed them, the child had to have left some evidence of having come this way.
    Now, what had felt like weakness turned to strength as another being inside her -- another new spark of love and life -- united with her. Somehow, she and her cub together searched for Tommy, systematically turning a step at a time as they sampled the air. Gray watched out of silver eyes as she did it, his gaze wary. He couldn’t understand and wouldn’t until he held the child in his arms. Maybe she’d explain later, but for now, her mate’s worry didn’t matter as much as finding her brother’s son.
    There! She caught it. Just the faintest whiff, but real. Tommy. No doubt about it. She charged off. Although Gray tried to catch her hind leg in his teeth to stop her, she got away and ran, all the while testing the air for the right direction. Her mate came crashing after her. Fine. He could help, but he couldn’t stop her.
    Now, she flew like the wind with no thought or sign of weakness. Her whole life, she hadn’t added anything unique to this pack. She’d been a sister and a daughter but nothing more. Tonight, she’d do what the rest of them couldn’t. Not the healer nor the fire starter nor the visionary could find their wolfling, but she could. She crashed through underbrush but kept going at top speed. She might run smack into a tree with bad luck, but she’d take the bruises and keep going. For once, she had a real purpose, something she needed more than the others. Maybe even more than Tommy.
    The scent kept getting clearer. Either her sense had grown stronger, or she was getting closer to the child. Either way, she was headed in the right direction. She pushed on harder, exceeding her own maximum speed. The run took on a life of its own -- forelegs pulling at the ground and then hind legs shoving her forward. She was flying, honest-to-God flying. Dashing from light to dark and then light again. She bounded over a log and entered deeper darkness. Here, she couldn’t make out anything in front of her. Suddenly, the ground slipped out from under her feet. She struggled for balance and lost, rolling and skidding downward.
    Ravine. She’d tumbled into a ravine. Tommy had fallen here before her. The knowledge seared into her