Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Huffing, she enters the house, and as she crosses a mud room full of black boots caked in mud, coats, and sweaters, we hear voices, loud and boisterous. Panic is in the air, and I feel Silvera’s ears perk up as she slowly walks around a corner and into the large living area.
Four people stand in the room. Two are next to each other, Maeve and Rowan, and two of them are face to face, shouting. Killian and Juniper.
“I don’t know where the fuck he ran off to, now lay off!” Killian barks in Juniper’s face.
“Why would you let him out of your sight?” Juniper demands, shoving his chest. Anger seizes Killian and he stands taller, trying to intimidate Juniper, but he fails. “We told you not to let Caz out of your sight, and you let him go anyway! He isn’t in the right state of mind right now! You never should’ve let him go to Moren!”
“I can’t control Caz, and I’m not his keeper! We told him it wasn’t a good idea, but he wanted to deal with Moren right away, so we went with him.”
“You are his keeper! We all are!” she shouts back.
Maeve steps up to them, pressing a hand to both their chests. “You two shut up and sit down,” she orders, but Juniper and Killian don’t back away from each other. They’re stubborn, refusing to be the first to move.
“Mum, if we don’t find Caz, he’ll hurt himself. I know it,” Juniper pleads.
“Okay, but what comes of barking in each other’s faces?” Maeve demands.
“She started with me,” Killian growls.
“Oh, grow up, you big baby,” Juniper shoots back.
“Sit. Down.” Maeve says the words through clenched teeth, and Killian shakes his head, turning away and sitting in one of the steel chairs, while Juniper folds her arms and sits on the leather sofa. “Now, which direction did he go?”
“West, from Moren’s home,” Rowan answers. He’s standing in a corner, arms folded across his chest. I’d think he doesn’t care about Caz’s whereabouts if it weren’t for the look in his eyes. It’s not fear, more so worry. Just like Juniper.
“Have we tried his transmitter?” Maeve demands.
“Yes. He left it here,” Killian responds.
“Damn it,” she hisses. She turns and notices Silvera standing near the entrance of the room, and her brows pull together. “Is that Willow’s wolf?”
“Yes. She comes and goes,” Juniper murmurs.
“Do you think she’s still connected?” asks Maeve.
“I’m not sure,” replies Juniper. “It doesn’t seem like it.”
“So why is she still here? She’s a wild wolf. They don’t stay around humans for long…not unless they need to.” Maeve walks toward Silvera in her long black gown, dropping to one knee and stroking the top of her head. “Once a wolf is connected to its owner, it stays with the owner. Which must mean Willow is still here somehow.” Maeve looks deeply into Silvera’s eyes—my eyes—and cocks her head ever so slightly.
“Are you here, Willow?”
“Mum, you’re wasting your time,” Rowan mutters.
“Silvera, give her your paw,” I order.
Silvera does as told, lifting a paw and placing it on Maeve’s arm. Maeve blinks down at the paw, stunned. “You’re still here,” she breathes. “You didn’t give up.” She says the last part to me. “You’re still here.”
My heart beats faster, and as badly as I want to cry, I bite my bottom lip and hold it in. “We need you back, Willow. We need you to find Caz.”
Silvera barks, pulling away from Maeve, and Maeve stands up straight.
“Wait—Silvera, stay! Stay, girl!” The urgency drips from my voice, but she leaves the room anyway. I’m losing control of her now. Where is she going?
Silvera runs back out the door she came through. It’s misting outside, and the micro droplets cling to her fur. I feel it on my skin, as if I’m there, but she’s leading me, and though I’ve lost control, I sense she knows what she’s doing. I trust her, so I stay quiet and let her go.
She dashes toward the forest where I dropped, paws pounding into the soil, until she stops in the same spot I was taken to before—where my portal is. Then she looks up and howls, and her howl echoes through me. It’s loud and deafening, and when she stops, footsteps sound behind her.
Maeve, Rowan, Juniper, and Killian stop abruptly, about a foot away, staring at Silvera, and a sharp gasp falls from Juniper’s lips before she cups her mouth.
“Willow?” she whispers. It sounds like she’s in my room. I hear her voice, so close to me. I slowly open my eyes. I’m still seated on my bed, legs crossed, but my bed is now in the middle of the forest, and there is Caz’s family, staring at me.
I look down at the purple haze radiating off my body and my bed.
“She’s not physically here,” Maeve says, taking a step closer. “But she is mentally. And she can go with her wolf.”