Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 13

Chapter 13

+15 8gnus

Chapter 13

Skye

I watch them drive away. Watch the taillights disappear around a curve in the road. Watch until there’s nothing left but empty highway and falling snow.

The silence is deafening.

I wrap my arms around myself, turning to look at the broken SUV behind me. At least it’ll provide some shelter if -when-the storm hits.

I pull out my phone. No signal. Of course not. We’re in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains that block everything.

The wind picks up, colder now. More insistent.

I check my watch. Two hours, Jaxon said. The patrolling station will send someone.

I just have to wait.

One hour passes.

Then two.

The snow is falling harder now, thick flakes that stick to everything. The temperature has dropped noticeably, and even inside the SUV with the doors closed, I can feel the cold seeping in.

No car has come.

I try my phone again. Still no signal.

The sky is nearly dark, that premature twilight that comes with heavy storm clouds. The wind howls around the vehicle, rocking it slightly.

I pull my coat tighter and try not to think about the baby. About what cold like this could do to a pregnancy this early.

They’re coming, I tell myself. Jaxon said they’d send someone. They’re coming.

But deep down, in a place I don’t want to acknowledge, I know the truth.

That car isn’t coming.

And the storm-the real storm-is just beginning.

Three hours.

I’ve been sitting in this dead SUV for three hours, and no one has come.

The cold has seeped through the metal frame, through my coat, through my skin until it feels like it’s settled in my bones. My breath fogs in the air with each exhale, and I can’t feel my toes anymore despite my boots.

The storm isn’t just coming anymore. It’s here.

Snow falls so thick I can barely see ten feet in front of me. The wind screams around the vehicle, shaking it hard enough that I worry about the windows. And the temperature-god, the temperature just keeps dropping.

My wolf stirs restlessly inside me, anxious in a way that makes my stomach clench.

1/3

hapter 13

+15 Bghus

Danger, she whispers. This storm isn’t light. This storm will kill us if we stay.

I try my phone one more time. Still no signal. The battery is down to fifteen percent from the cold.

I have two choices: stay here and hope someone eventually comes, or start moving toward that patrolling station myself.

If I stay, I might freeze to death before anyone finds me.

If I go, I might not make it.

My hand moves to my stomach, pressing against the slight swell that only I can feel.

The baby. I have to think about the baby.

We have to move, my wolf insists. Now. Before it gets worse.

She’s right. I know she’s right.

I grab my bag, pulling out an extra scarf and wrapping it around my face. Then I force open the door-the wind immediately trying to rip it from my hands-and step out into the blizzard.

The cold hits me like a physical blow.

I should shift. My wolf form would be faster, stronger, better equipped to handle this terrain and this weather. Four legs are more stable than two, and my wolf’s fur would provide more insulation than my coat.

But I can’t.

The baby, my wolf murmurs, understanding without me having to explain. We protect the baby.

In human form, my wolf spirit can wrap itself around the life growing inside me, forming a protective barrier between the harsh elements and the fragile cells trying to become my child, But if I shift, my human consciousness would recede, and I wouldn’t be able to maintain that same focused protection.

It’s a gamble either way. But I’d rather move slowly and keep the baby safe than risk everything for speed.

So I run in my human form, my boots slipping on the snow-covered road, my breath coming in harsh gasps that burn my lungs.

The storm swallows me whole.

I don’t know how long I’ve been moving when the cold stops feeling like cold.

At first, it hurt. Sharp and biting, making every exposed inch of skin feel like it was being cut with tiny knives. But now… now I just feel numb.

My legs move mechanically, one foot in front of the other, but I can’t feel them anymore. Can’t feel my hands even though I’m holding them tucked under my arms. My face is frozen, my lips cracked and bleeding from the wind.

The scarf around my mouth is crusted with ice from my breath.

Keep moving, my wolf urges, but even her voice sounds distant. Faint. Just keep moving.

The road disappeared somewhere behind me. Or maybe I wandered off it-I can’t tell anymore. Everything is white. The snow, the sky, the ground. All of it bleeding together into one endless, colorless void.

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