Page 90 of The Mating Frenzy
He refused to howl or mourn. Refused to give up. Just a rest.A small rest and I’ll push on.But deep inside, he knew he wasdying.
He rolled over, closing his eyes against the stinging snowfall. Silently he made a vow:If I get out of this, my goddess Danu, I promise I will form my own pack and shelter and protect any elderly Lupine who asks me forrefuge.
Something white fluttered nearby. Adrian forced his eyesopen.
A snowy owl perched on a jutting rock a few feet away. Unblinking, it looked at him, tilting itshead.
He gave a faint smile. “Figures. A damn bird. Would you be a vulture, you’d have fresh meat to gnaw on soon. I’m dying. Do me the favor of waiting until I’m dead atleast.”
The bird did notmove.
“I hate birds,” he muttered. Adrian looked at the sky. “Couldn’t you have sent a cute female instead? A last kiss instead of a damnbird?”
As if the goddess heard him, the owl changed. A woman sat on the rock, clad in a white snowsuit. Dark hair spilling from the hood she’d pulled over her head whipped in the wind. She could be lovely, or ugly, he carednot.
“You’re not real,” he said hoarsely. “But since this is a hallucination, could you stop staring atme?”
Still silent, she remainedmotionless.
“Are you one of Lars’ punishments?” He gave a hoarse laugh. “All this to torment me? He threw me out here. Isn’t thatenough?”
Then she spoke, her voice as sweet as wind chimes. “Why did he throw youout?”
Adrian dropped his head into the snow. “I challenged him for leadership. Didn’t like how he abused the weak and theelderly.”
“You’re awfully young to challenge a powerful alpha.” She tilted her head again. “What are you, twenty yearsold?”
“I am a purebred alpha,” he muttered. “And I’m twenty-one. Go away, mirage. I have memories enough to tormentme.”
She came through the snow, knelt down next to him. “I give of my life so you maylive.”
The lovely mirage kissedhim.
Her mouth was soft and warm, so wonderfully warm. Adrian trembled as he kept kissing her. His blood fired and sang, and incredible heat pulsed through his frozen body, as if she’d immersed him into a soothing bath. Power flowed through him, as if all the magick in the world suffused his body. And then it faded, leaving him shivering and cold oncemore.
The woman pulled away and he knew she was a mere mirage. Hallucination brought on by his brain, unable to cope with the terror or perishing in this wilderness alone. He might die today, but on his ownterms.
“Just leave me. Go,” he ordered. “I don’t want you to watch medie.”
The woman stood, andwhistled.
Adrian managed to lift his head. What he saw stunned him intosilence.
Dozens of wolves bounded through the snow, coming from every direction. Howling, they rushed forward. Adrian’s instinct urged him to stand, fight, and die like the warrior he was. But he was far tooweak.
He waited for them to pounce, to rip his throat. He imagined the warm gush of his blood flowing upon the pure whitesnow.
Let it be quick andmerciful.
But as he turned his head, the woman herself turned into a snowy white wolf. She loped forward, lay down and curled next to him. Shocking warmth surrounded him. The wolves did the same, huddling close, providing him with theirheat.
Adrian closed his eyes, comforted by their bodies. He reached out and stroked the white wolf’sfur.
When he opened his eyes again, the blizzard had abated. All around him the mountain sparkled white, ice dripping off the pine boughs. The wolves were gone. But the woman in white sat next to him. She offered herarm.
“My name is Darcy. Can youstand?”
Through cracked lips that trembled, he managed to speak. “Yes.”
