Chapter 18

Zane’s POV

“Are you all right?” I asked Chloe, whom I had protected in my arms as the rocks fell.

“Mommy?” she asked. Her face was covered in dirt, but there was no blood. She was trembling, but I could tell she was trying to be brave. “Where’s Mommy?”

It was hard to see with so much dust in the air. Emergency lights flickered on, and I peered through the debris, looking for the rest of my family. The two guards approached me, one with a bleeding cut on her forehead and the other looking dazed but determined.

There was no sign of Sarah or Grace. My heart froze in my chest. No, it wasn’t possible. I looked around, feeling my way over the piles of rocks.

Sarah. Grace. The thought of losing either was equally as terrifying. I had to push the thought of it from my mind to function. Besides, others who had been exploring the mine with us had been trapped. My memories ticked over the faces I had seen: grandparents, parents, children, a blind pup with his dog, a couple who looked to be on their honeymoon.

Fortunately, my basic alpha instincts were coming to the fore. I knelt down to comfort Chloe, who was crying. It struck me that she only ever cried when Sarah was in danger. I hugged her fiercely, promised her I would bring her mother to her, and had the female bodyguard take her out of the cave. She didn’t want to go, but I insisted, explaining I had to know she was safe so I could concentrate on getting Sarah and Grace out of there.

Next, I got on the phone, praising the goddess that reception inside the mine was good. I supposed there was a router somewhere inside.

I reached my head of security and ordered everyone to the mine. I was assured the nearby fire stations had been alerted, as well as search and rescue, before I hung up.

“Make way! Get some lights over here!” I heard a beta woman’s authoritative voice ring out. Soon, a she-wolf sheathed in a white bodysuit made her way to me. I could smell her urgency and genuine concern.

She greeted me: “Alpha Zane. I’m the manager of the park.” She signaled behind her, and several others in white bodysuits made their way to the main cave-in area to set up portable lights. I saw ropes and stretchers and first-air kits with their red crosses.

“Expect me to sue,” I said, scanning the ground and bringing up my sense of smell to track my family.

“Understood,” she said. “Please be assured that finding your party is our top priority. We’re looking for your daughter and her goddess-mother, correct?”

I forced myself to answer, “Yes, but it would be unfair to concentrate on my family. Everyone trapped is of equal priority here.”

“Of course, Alpha Zane.” She turned and yelled out instructions for the rescue crew. I wondered how long they had been worried about the safety of the mine to be so organized in this S&R, and I knew I’d be having it investigated as soon as I had my family safe. Somewhere, a heartbeat was fading, and the smell of blood was growing thicker in the air.

“Found one!” a rescuer called out, and soon an elderly man with a bloody face was being pulled from the rocks. He was secured and strapped onto a stretcher with a neck brace before being carted out. Next, two children, miraculously unscathed, were found and taken out. A service dog managed to claw its way out of some debris, then alerted the rescuers to the location of her owner.

And yet there was no sign of Sarah or Grace. I pushed down rising panic and tried again to find their scent.

I was drawn forward to the scent of Sarah, but all I found was the Polaroid of the family, dirty and torn. My soul felt torn apart, and my wolf was trying to come out, clawing at the cage of my mind as though the moon were full overhead. I felt my nails elongate and my teeth drop.

I welcomed the strength this brought me. The wolf wanted to find Sarah and Grace, and I let it out enough to easily move some of the larger rocks and part of the broken wooden beam. All around me, betas and gammas were letting out their own wolves and doing the same.

The dog managed to find her owner, yelping in fear and joy as she licked his face. It was the blind child I had seen earlier. I could hear his heart beating strong and turned my attention fully back to my task.

There. Wait. I heard it. A faint cry that sounded like Grace.

I leapt in that direction and pulled several rocks from a pile to reveal the dusty, bruised arm of a human female.

Almost full wolf now, I pulled off the debris, flinging it behind me carefully so as not to hurt my fellow rescuers. There! I saw black hair, and then pulled off more debris and uncovered Sarah’s bleeding face. She was unconscious, but her body was still sheltering Grace, who looked terrified but unharmed as she cried out for me.

It was easiest to pull Grace out first, and after a quick, fierce hug, I handed her to our male bodyguard, who ran with her outside. “Save Mommy!” she shouted back at me, her voice harsh with dust and dirt and fear.

Carefully, I lifted Sarah into my arms and pressed my face into her neck, feeling her pulse and smelling her almost werewolf-like sweetness. My wolf howled inside me.

Sarah’s POV:

I was dreaming, and it was odd because I knew I was dreaming, yet it felt like more, like a memory, though I didn’t think I had ever just stood there, absolutely still, in the main room of my apartment.

In my hand was my acceptance letter from Hamilton Prep, telling me I would be spending my first school year as a teacher’s assistant and would then be promoted to teacher pending my review. I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to tell my boyfriend, Joseph. My life was truly coming together in ways I had never believed possible.

I looked around my apartment, which looked oddly empty. Something important was missing, but I couldn’t tell what. Its absence hurt my heart.

A knock on my door sounded like thunder, or more like a monster pounding to get inside. I started shaking. I didn’t want to answer that knock. I didn’t want to see who was standing on the other side.

I had to force my feet toward the door. The pounding came again, and I felt it up inside my head. I saw my own left hand, the one not holding the letter of my future, reach for the doorknob.

“Go away!” I shouted. “Go away and leave me alone!”

The pounding resumed, unending and horrible. I opened the door, and the silhouette of a tall man stood there.

“This is your burden by birthright,” the man said, and he held out a small wicker basket.