Chapter 50

Kayla

The first thing I noticed, even before the pain in my body, was the sound of voices.

They were distant at first, muffled like they were coming from underwater, but they grew sharper and clearer as I slowly returned to consciousness. My eyes fluttered open to find sunlight spilling into the small cave and warming my frozen cheeks. I grimaced, holding my trembling hand over my eyes to shield them against the sudden brightness.

Where was I? When was I?

Slowly, as my mind returned to my body, I realized that I wasn’t in my warm bed but rather still in that damp cave. Last night hadn’t just been a dream.

But it was morning, which meant we had made it through the night… barely.

It took me a moment to piece together where I was, the night before slowly coming back to me in vague flashes. The blizzard. Nicholas carrying me through the forest. His beautiful silver wolf wrapping around me…

“Hello?” a voice shouted through the forest.

I jolted upright, my heart pounding.

“Nicholas,” I croaked, my voice raspy and strained. My throat felt raw, and my entire body ached like I’d been hit by a truck. Even just sitting up abruptly made the cave spin around me.

I turned, spotting him still curled up beside me, still in his wolf form. His silver fur gleamed faintly in the morning light, and for a second, I just stared at him, the steady rise and fall of his chest calming my racing pulse.

But then the voices came again, clearer now, and panic took hold of me.

I reached out and shook his shoulder. “Nicholas. Wake up!”

He stirred with a low growl, his golden eyes blinking open. His wolf gaze met mine for a moment before he shifted back into his human form with a smooth, fluid motion.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting up.

“There are voices,” I rasped, glancing toward the entrance of the cave.

Nicholas’s expression hardened instantly, and he moved to stand in front of me, his body tense and ready. “Stay here,” he said firmly, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

I stayed seated, too weak to protest even if I wanted to. My limbs felt too heavy to move on my own, and the frostbite gnawing at my fingers and toes made even the smallest movements painful. I felt as if I had the makings of a fever, too, my skin covered in goosebumps and a faint sheen of sweat.

Nicholas stepped forward, calling out through the mouth of the small cave. “Who’s there?”

The voices stopped, replaced by the crunch of footsteps on snow. A moment later, two figures emerged from the trees. Instant relief washed over me when I recognized the figures that stepped into view: Marcus—Noah’s Beta—and Jade.

“Alpha Nicholas! You’re alive!” Marcus shouted, rushing forward with Jade right behind him.

I sagged against the cave wall as Jade dropped to her knees beside me, pulling a small medical supply kit out from behind her back.

“Kayla, oh my Goddess,” she breathed, her hands already moving to check my pulse and inspect the frostbite on my fingers. “You’ve got a fever. We need to get you out of here.”

I tried to nod, but my head felt too heavy. “I’m fine,” I slurred, which didn’t sound believable even to my own ears.

“Yeah, sure you are,” Jade said dryly. “You’re pale as a ghost, and your lips are turning blue. Don’t try to downplay this.”

Nicholas knelt beside me, his expression dark with worry. “The blizzard caught us off guard,” he said, placing his cool hand over my forehead. “We tried to walk, but we couldn’t make it back.”

Jade shot him a fiery look that could have melted the snow outside. “You two never should have left. Didn’t you see the forecast?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t have gone out, would I?” Nicholas retorted, although there was no real heat behind his words. He turned to me. “But she’s alive. We’re alive.”

“Barely,” Jade huffed. Her tone softened as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “We’ve got you now, Kayla. You’re going to be okay.”

Marcus and another pack member I didn’t recognize quickly returned with a stretcher, and Nicholas helped them unfold it. “We realized something was wrong when you two didn’t come back during that freak storm last night,” Marcus explained. “We spent the whole night searching. Finally spotted the bike on the side of the road.”

They lifted me onto the stretcher with care, but the moment Nicholas’s hand left mine, I felt myself begin to panic through my haze.

“No,” I whispered, my fingers weakly reaching out for him. “Don’t let go.”

His gaze softened as he crouched beside me, taking my hand in his again. “I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured, his thumb brushing over my knuckles.

I clung to Nicholas’s hand like my life depended on it as they carried me out of the cave and through the snow. My fever was making everything blurry, my head swimming with half-formed thoughts and flashes of memories, and the sun glinting off the snow just blinded me even more.

But all the while, I refused to let go of Nicholas’s hand. I couldn’t explain why I needed his comfort in my feverish state—maybe the trauma of last night affected me more than I expected—but I didn’t need to explain myself. He held on steadily, never asking questions, never releasing me.

At some point, we reached the road, where a van was waiting for us. They loaded me into the back, and Nicholas climbed in right after me, taking a seat beside my stretcher.

“It’s alright, Kayla,” he said softly, his face hovering over mine. His voice was the only thing grounding me, pulling me back when the fever threatened to drag me under completely. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

I blinked up at him, my vision hazy. “Don’t leave me,” I whispered.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he repeated. But even as he spoke, his voice grew watery and garbled, and soon, a delirious sleep was taking hold of me.

The next time I opened my eyes, it was dark.

I was no longer in the van. The soft crackle of a fire filled the room, and warmth surrounded me, wrapping around my body. I was lying in bed, dressed in flannel pajamas with thick socks on my feet. I felt marginally better, less feverish and delirious, although my body still ached like hell.

My hand was warm, too, clasped gently in another’s. I turned my head, my eyes adjusting to the dim light, and saw none other than Nicholas’s broad form sitting beside me.

He was still holding my hand, his other resting on the open pages of a book he was reading. His face was relaxed in the firelight, the worry lines from earlier softened into something calmer, something almost tender.

He glanced up as I stirred, his golden eyes meeting mine.

“Hey there, firecracker,” he said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Feeling better?”

I didn’t have the strength to answer, so I just gave him a faint smile, the warmth of his presence washing over me like a gentle wave.

And before I could say another word, my eyes drifted shut again. Sleep pulled me back under, but I never let go of his warm hand.