Read Online Daughter of the Moon (The Moon People, Book Two) by Claudia King - Free Book Online Page A

rain or some strange rustle of leaves in the distance. Even when it grew in volume, becoming a churning roar above her, echoing off the cave walls like thunder, she did not realise what was happening until she heard the cries of the others and felt the icy rush of cold water streaming in around her legs.
    Netya's eyes shot open in a flash, the waking world mixing with her dreams in a terrifying stream of confusion. The light of the fire was gone, plunging the cave into blackness as the rising water swamped the warm coals. It was all around her, creeping up her legs and around her hips, chilling her to the bone.
    She sprang to her feet, struggling to back away, but there was nowhere to go. The cave wall was at her back, and all around her she could hear the frightened voices of her pack-sisters as they splashed through the darkness. The only source of light came from the tunnel entrance, a dim glow from outside that revealed a torrent of water pouring in through the passageway.
    A hand clutched at her, and she grabbed hold of it, feeling Caspian's firm grip pulling her to the side. "Hold on to me!" he yelled over the noise of the water.
    She bobbed her head in a panic, not stopping to realise that the motion would be invisible to him in the dark. Over the clamour of voices around them she heard Adel yelling for silence somewhere near the cave's entrance.
    "Over to me, one at a time! Grab the hand of someone next to you, do not use your wolves!"
    The water around Netya's feet was rising terrifyingly fast. Within moments it was mid way to her knees, soaking through her moccasins and biting at her skin with needles of ice. It was so cold she was already shivering, letting Caspian tug her through the darkness as they waded toward Adel's voice. Cold droplets splashed against her face as scatters of water were kicked up by dozens of racing feet. Sodden furs bumped against her legs and threatened to trip her, tangling around her ankles and dragging at her steps. Someone bumped into her hard just at the arch of her foot came down on the sharp edge of a bobbing piece of firewood, sending her sprawling backward into the freezing water with a cry. Her hand twisted free of Caspian's grip, and she lost him.
    The temperature of the water was so low it felt like it was crushing the breath from her body, engulfing her senses for a terrible moment as she went under the surface. She tasted the scummy ashes of the fire, writhing around to try and put her hands beneath her and push herself back up. It was so cold. The water felt like it was freezing her to the spot, stiffening her joints and slowing her heart, tugging her into the darkness. She needed to survive. She had to get out.
    Her wolf surged forward unbidden, the shift so instinctive that it split most of the clothes from her body rather than taking them with her. The glimmer of light at the cave's entrance dragged her toward it, promising safety, promising survival.
    The water was so high now that her paws could barely touch the floor. Ignoring the complicated words that echoed in her ears, she moved as fast as she could in the direction of the light, half-wading, half-paddling as she thrashed her way through the floating debris.
    The freezing torrent rushing down the passageway battered at her body, beating against her muzzle as her legs fought against the current. If not for the strength of her wolf, she would have been swept away in the deluge, but her claws dug into the cracks in the rock, straining to pull her forward a step at a time until she managed to haul her body free, panting for breath as she dragged herself past the lip of the cave's entrance. The water took her then, yanking her off her feet and into the centre of a much larger current. The noise was incredible, roaring down from the ridge above like liquid thunder.
    She caught a glimpse of white spume crashing off the rocks in an enormous torrent where the frozen trickle of a waterfall had once been, then her head was