Page 31 of Crew

Tris looked at the woods beyond where they were, her eyes bleeding to amber. She inhaled deeply and tilted her head in silence for a long moment. Then she shook her head, her eyes returning to normal. “I don’t hear or smell anything, and I don’t see anyone lurking.”

“You have to go. I can’t move—it hurts too badly.”

“I’ll be fast, I promise.” Tris dug out the garden knife Zara had packed in the bag and took it out of its sheath. “Here, this at least is sharp, it’s better than nothing.”

“Thanks.” Zara was having a hard time concentrating because the pain radiating from her ankle was getting worse. How did such a small part of her body cause so much pain? “Hurry.”

“I will.” Tris gave one last look to the trees and then raced away.

Alone, Zara’s nerves frayed as she watched the trees. Every small sound, every snap of twig or rustle of leaves, made her heart pound. She tried to sit up more, but hissed in pain as her ankle throbbed. Gripping the knife, she stared intently at the trees.

There! Was that shadow moving? Was that dark clothing or just the sunlight making long shadows that moved with the trees?

She was going to have a damn panic attack if she didn’t calm down, and that wouldn’t do her any good. Forcing herself to focus on her breathing, she listened intently and realized she wasn’t hearing anything out of the ordinary, just the woods and the wildlife. The shadows were simply shadows, she realized, as she opened her eyes and looked with a calmer eye. But the deliberate trap lingered in her mind, and she couldn’t help but worry at the fact she was a sitting duck right now.

The minutes stretched on, and she strained to hear any sign of help coming.

She adjusted her grip on the knife, which she was in no way trained to use in a defensive way but was certainly better than nothing, and willed herself to remain calm. “Tris will bring Crew and he’ll get me back to the farmhouse,” she whispered to herself.

Soon, she hoped.

Crew straightened from where he was banging out a dent in the fender of one of the tractors that had been messed up by the other herd.

“Did you hear something?” he asked Ford.

Ford stood up and looked at him over the tractor. “Hear what?”

He snorted. “Asked and answered.”

He was about to take another crack at the fender when he was very certain he heard something.

“There it is again,” he said. He put down the rubber mallet and walked out of the barn, Ford on his heels.

“I did hear something. It sounds like someone is calling you.”

Wariness settled over him. He strode swiftly to the opening of the barn just as he heard Tris scream his name, followed quickly by the other herd members’ names.

She was running like she was being chased by some otherworldly demon and his whole being snapped to attention. “Shit,” he said, kicking off into a run to meet her. “Tris! What’s going on?”

“Zara’s hurt! She fell in a trap and we had no cell service,” Tris yelled as she turned on her heels and raced back the way she came.

“Call the park and see if the wolves’ doctor can come help,” Crew yelled. “Then follow me!”

“On it!” Ford shouted.

Crew raced after Tris, his long legs eating up the lead she had. His lungs were burning and his stallion was whinnying in his head in worry, but he pushed on until he saw his mate on the ground, holding a knife in one hand and staring into the trees that bordered the split-rail fence. They were nearly half a mile from the farmhouse, in a dead zone for cell service.

Skidding to a halt, he dropped to his knees next to his mate, breathing hard. “Baby?”

“Oh, Crew!” She hugged him and shuddered.

He looked down at her body and it was then that he saw a hole in the ground that had a mess of torn leaves and branches scattered around and in it.What the hell?

“What happened?”

“I didn’t see the pitfall,” she said.

He frowned at the termpitfall. “The hole?”

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