Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 445

“MAX!” My voice was hoarse from shouting, throat still raw from screaming Natalia’s name just a day before. The wind swallowed the sound almost immediately, but I kept calling anyway. “MAX!”

My Beta was somewhere behind me, along with a handful of warriors who had volunteered to help search. I could hear their distant shouts, muffled by the storm, but I didn’t wait for them to keep up. I pushed forward into the whiteness, squinting against the sting of ice and snow.

If Max was out there somewhere, alone in this blizzard, then I needed to find him. I had already lost Natalia; I couldn’t lose him, too.

The thought made my chest tighten so violently that my legs gave out. I caught myself against a snow–covered boulder and squeezed my eyes shut.

No. No, I couldn’t think like that. Max was alive. He had to be alive.

But the storm was brutal, and he was just a child. How long had he been out here? An hour? Two? More?

I pushed away from the boulder and continued forward. My boots sank deep into the snow with every step, slowing me down, but I forced myself to keep moving. The cold bit through my clothes and armor, seeping into my bones. My fingers were numb. My face felt like it had been scraped raw.

None of it mattered.

“MAX!” I called again.

Nothing. Just the endless howling of the wind.

Hours passed. Or maybe it was minutes. Time felt meaningless in the storm. All I knew was that my legs were burning, my lungs ached from the cold air, and Max was still out there.

“Alpha!” My Beta’s voice suddenly came through the mindlink. “We found tracks!”

I changed direction immediately, following the pull of the mindlink toward where my Beta was waiting. When I reached him, he pointed to a series of small paw prints in the snow. They were already half–buried by the fresh snowfall, but they were definitely there.

They were leading toward the mountain. Deeper into the blizzard.

The tracks were difficult to follow. Every few feet, they would disappear entirely beneath fresh snowdrifts, and I would have to backtrack. But they led me further and further from camp, closer to the mountain, along narrow paths and hopping over small crevasses.

And then, finally, I saw it: a small shape in the snow. Unmoving.

“Max!” I lunged forward, dropping to my knees beside him He was in his pup form, curled into a tight ball, his dark fur matted with snow and ice. He didn’t stir when I brushed the snow from his muzzle.

“No. No, no, no,” I whispered.

I scooped him up into my arms, cradling his small body against my chest. He was so cold. Too cold. I pressed my fingers against his neck, searching for a pulse, and let out a breath of relief. His heart was still beating, albeit faintly.

I stood, clutching him close, and started back toward camp moved as quickly as I could, but the storm made it nearly impossible. Every step was a battle against the wind and snow.

Chapter 445

+25 Bonus

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Max stirred. He let out a soft whimper, and his eyes cracked open just slightly. Relief crashed through me so hard I nearly dropped him.

“That’s it,” I said. “Stay with me, Max. We’re almost back.”

He shifted weakly in my arms, his small human body trembling nnow in my arms. He twisted his head to look over my shoulder, back the way we’d come, and let out a small cry.

“Mommy…”

“I know,” I said. “I know you’re cold. We’re going back to camp.”

But Max didn’t respond. He was reaching over my shoulder now, one small, shaking hand grasping at the air. ” Mommy… She’s there!”

“She’s not there, buddy.” My throat constricted painfully. “We have to get you back to camp. It’s too cold out there.”

Max made a little sound of distress, but was too weak to resist any further.

By the time I made it back to camp, he had fallen unconscious again. I rushed him into my tent, where Jane was still sleeping, and laid him down beside her. Grace appeared moments later, summoned by my Beta, and immediately set to work.

“He’s hypothermic,” she said, checking his temperature. He was still shivering beneath the piles of furs. “We need to warm him up slowly. Too fast and we could send him into shock.”

“Just save him,” I ordered.

Grace glanced at me, something like pity flickering in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything. She just nodded and continued working.

I stayed by Max’s bedside for the rest of that day and into the night. Jane woke at some point, took one look at her brother, and started crying again. I held her while Grace worked. We both needed the comfort.