The Stargazer's Alpha

Ch. 30: The Last Blink of the Light

Even if I didn't have a map in my head, finding my way back to the Moon Arch wasn't a problem. It wasn't snowing; it wasn't windy, so the trail Blake plowed through the winter forest ran straight as an arrow. My powerful fated mate ignored every difficulty of the terrain, the depth of the snow, even the trees. He crashed through every obstacle to bring me out of the forest safely.

My problem was racing against time, as even the long November night was waning. And racing Blake, because even with a head-start, he would catch up with me in no time...if he went after me. If...my heart twisted painfully in my chest as I leapt from one Blake's footprint to another. Scarlett, naturally, would deploy every delaying tactic in her arsenal, she'd jump out of her tanned skin to keep him from going to the hospital, then to Harold.

Goddess, how did it come to this? Scarlett was my ally. I prayed for Blake not to come looking for me, and it scared me that he wouldn't. I was pushing my tired body to run as far away from him as possible, when every fiber of my being wanted to be with him. It was so wrong to be putting distance between us, that the inner resistance was as bad as the cold and the snow in slowing me down.

My chest hurt. My head throbbed. My lungs burned. I was half-blind from frozen tears.

But I kept my punishing pace, hopping from one Blake's footstep to another, then another one, further away from him, closer to the Moon Arch. Because the cursed gateway, the Moon Arch that scared even the rogues, was my hope to become worthy of Blake. I would be his Luna, his fated mate...unless the Arch would also reject me.

Then...I refused to think about what happened then, the double blow of the ultimate rejection and Blake's anger when he discovered my disobedience.

I had to go on...I just wished I didn't lose my snowshoes, because each step became more difficult. No matter how hard I gritted my teeth and how loud I yelled inside my head to keep going, my steps began slowing down.

Wheezing for breath, I had to stop and lean against a tree. I wiped sweat and tears out of my eyes. Just a breather, just a brief stop. I couldn't go on without a little rest.

The only light was the glow of the full moon. No other living creature was roaming the forest. They all found a safe shelter, I hoped. I also wanted to curl up and sleep for a short while. Wanted it so badly, I ignored a voice of reason in my head.

It was so frigid in the forest, it said, that the cold would stop a living heart, and I would never wake up.

Whatever. My eyelids grew heavy. I felt cozy slumped against the tree, even though I didn't remember sitting down into the snow.

A howl broke my descent into slumber. I peeled my eyes open and stared into luminous green irises. My heart bounced—Blake!—even though it wasn't his howl, weren't his eyes. It was his wolf.

"Did Blake send you?" I slurred my words, not a good sign.

The wolf nuzzled me instead of answering my dumb question—Blake couldn't send him; it didn't work like that. But the wild beast resisted the natural impulse to kill a helpless meatbag, and he emanated warmth.

I groaned and clutched the wolf's fluffy neck.

He moved, and I straightened my stiff joints to stand on my own two feet. It was an accomplishment, but the wolf didn't look impressed. He nudged me to get moving—toward the Moon Arch, not The Olympian.

"Blake didn't send you," I said.

The wolf howled again, sounding like he was losing his patience with me.

"Okay. Okay, I'm moving." I stepped forward like in a dream, or rather a nightmare. However, with the wolf looping around me, turning his head every few yards to check on my progress, I couldn't stop.