Page 100 of Shifters Awakening

Flynn’s bushy eyebrows hit his hairline, but he didn’t shy away when Torbin put his hands on his shoulders.

Finally, Torbin said, “He’s as true as his brother.”

I nodded once. Whether I liked the fox brothers or not, I couldn’t save Emma alone, and Jasper had been loyal to Emma. He didn’t have to be loyal to me to be useful.

“What’s the plan?” Olivia asked, her gaze darting toward the exit.

“Find Emma,” I said, shoving a sudden rush of emotion aside. There would be time enough for all the feelings when she was back in my arms. Until then… “Her scent leads out the side of the warding. We’ll follow it.”

“How does it lead away?” Marcus asked. “She was magicked away.”

“The spell must have scooped her up and carried her away,” I said. “Shadow beings or…” I shoved my hand through my hair. “I don’t know what, but it’s what we have, so it’s what we’ll follow. If that doesn’t work, we’ll follow Acheron’s stench.”

They all nodded.

We stepped easily through the side of the failing warding as a gust of wind whirled around us, carrying all the colors of Emma’s hair. I shifted to my wolf and the others followed—two red foxes, one bright red and one a slightly paler shade; a polar bear; a large panther; and a pale wolf. The sun faded over the horizon, bathing the forest in golden light, and we made quite a sight if anyone was looking.

Time to see how far her trail would take us. Failure wasn’t an option.

Hours later, the moon rose over the forest as we chased Emma’s sweet aroma and Acheron’s stench through the Louisiana countryside, crisscrossing acres and acres of land, circling towns, and avoiding humans. Clans, boundaries, and territories didn’t matter, not with the multimorph at stake. No, not the multimorph…

Not with Emma at stake. Over hills, through marshes, between trees, and on we ran, until Torbin nudged my elbow with his muzzle.

A rest.

I dragged the shifter magic toward me, crunching and writhing mid-stride before landing as a human. “We don’t have time!”

Torbin followed suit, already grumbling. “We willtake time to save time. Sometimes rest is necessary to keep moving forward.”

“No.” The whine in my voice unnerved me. How had she completed upended who I was? Everything for Emma. “No, we can’t stop.”

Olivia stopped beside us, panting. “We have no idea how far we have to go to find her.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll go as far as we have to.”

She laid her hand on my arm, peering into my eyes. “We will, but arriving so exhausted we can’t rescue her? Fuck that noise, Logan. We’re not risking our chance to get her based on your mate-driven insanity.”

“Fuck off.”

When I tried to yank my arm away, her grip tightened. “Don’t make me do this.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ll end you to save her, Logan. Don’t test me.” Her upper lip curled in an almost snarl.

Human-Jasper came into view behind her, mirroring her expression. Flynn and Marcus, too, and even Torbin grumbled his agreement.

I blinked. By gods, I believed Olivia’s threat was real, and they intended to veto my drive to press on. I couldn’t rescue Emma on my own, so I couldn’t lose all of them.

“The scent will fade,” I said, weakly.

“We’re not going to lose her,” Olivia answered. “She’s got to be here.”

Emma screamed my name.

I leaped to my feet. “Did you hear that?”

“Nothing, lad,” Jasper said, glancing to the others who shook their heads. “What’s in yer mind?”

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