Chapter 222
“Girls, can either of you create a link with your dad? We need to let him know where you are. Maybe he can come get us.”
“I can.” Volunteers Madilyn.
“Why isn’t he trying to link with us?” Madisyn asks a question I can’t properly answer.
All parents can link with a pup from birth. It’s the pup’s ability to create a link with their parents that takes time. At four years old I know that the girls’ link will only be able to travel a maximum of five miles and that’s only if they are really good at it.
I feel the gentle tug of Madilyn slowing down as she attempts to contact her father. I’m also lost in my own swirling thoughts of how much trouble I’m going to be in once I get back for causing this brawl.
I reported what was going on in the shacks. If I had just waited for alpha and his men to come instead of doing it myself. How could I be so stupid to track them after they had broken my arm in the cabin?
I shake my head softly, trying to get such crippling thoughts from my head as a sudden yelp, scream then tumble force me back to reality in time to scoop a falling Madilyn into my arms before she hits the ground.
“Ow, ow, ow!” She screams before she bawls.
“I’m sorry Lyn.” I apologize as I lift her and place her on a large boulder bordering the path we’re on.
“What happened, sweetpea?” I ask as her sister scrambles up onto the boulder next to her, wrapping her into a tight hug.
“I stepped on something. My foot hurts. I can’t get daddy. I want daddy.”
She blubbers through quickly before crying on her sister’s shoulder. Madisyn looks at me, worry in her eyes as she holds her sister.
I pick her foot up in one hand and despite the thick layer of sand and dirt a thick dark line appears down the length of her tiny foot.
“I’m sorry Lynnie but I have to touch.”
She whimpers at the thought, tugging repeatedly until she understands that she can’t get away.
“Easy there, Lynnie. You know me better than Maddie, you know I’ll be gentle.”
Her eyes are wide with fear as she buries her face back into her sister’s neck. I run my thumb lightly against the cut. Only to find it’s not an open wound. I yelp slightly as the object in Madilyn’s foot slices my thumb open.
“Damn.” I curse again, flicking my own blood into the dirt.
“What is it?” Madisyn asks as she watches me flick more blood from my thumb.
“Glass. Real sharp too. I barely touched it.”
I run my hand along the left side of my head, drawing a sharp breath as my fingers meet yet another open wound on the side of my head.
“Well that’s not good.” I mutter under my breath but they hear me all the same.
They look at me, huddled together on the boulder, eyes wide with fear waiting for me to form a plan for getting us out of there.
“Madilyn, I’m going to carry you. Madisyn, I need your help navigating. Do you think you can smell your way home?”
I can hear the rain hammering the cave walls and the thunder rattling from above. I know we’re near the mouth of the cave that leads us outside, back into the torrential rain. My only relief is that my breathing has eased up since taking a break to look at Madilyn, unfortunately the double vision that comes from a bad concussion has not.
“It depends on how well daddy marked the trails leading back to the house. The rain washes it away.” Madisyn finally answers the question.
“I thought daddy only marked the border.” Madilyn remarks.
“The highest ranked warriors do that. Daddy makes paths in the woods so we don’t get lost. Once we’re out of the trees and I can see the buildings then I know which way to go.”
“Problem is knowing which direction will lead us the quickest out of the trees.” I think out loud. “First, I need to create a way to carry your sister on my back with my coat.”
I’ve removed my coat from around my neck and arm by the time I’ve finished speaking. I lay my jacket out on the boulder beside Madilyn before fishing around in my pocket for the knife I tend to carry with me. Surprisingly it’s still there even though my inhaler disappeared.
I force my right hand to work as I cut and tie my coat in various places to form a backpack around the small pup.
“Hopefully you don’t need to use the bathroom because I don’t think I could do this again.”
She shakes her head no as I turn my back to her. I slip my arms through the loops as Madilyn wraps her arms and legs around me. I groan and yelp in pain as I stand but neither girl says a word. They clearly understand the situation and they know I’m not okay.
I take the straps I left hanging loose and tie them tight across my chest and abdomen giving me as much support for Madilyn as I can without holding her as I’m going to need my uninjured arm to help navigate through the dense woods. I start slowly toward the mouth of the cave, testing my body’s ability to handle the sudden thirty pound load on top of the broken arm and bashed head.
Even though alpha has been building me up over the last four months I’m nowhere close to my best condition and with my father using the link to verbally assault me last month I’ve been on a steady back slide with my eating. My moods have gone bipolar as well making it that much harder to eat while I’m here.
I’m trying hard not to go into another depressive episode but I know my time here has come to an end now that I’m injured and can not be a part of what little training I’ve been able to receive so far.
A gentle, tiny hand touches mine bringing me back again to the critical task at hand. I look down at Madisyn, patiently standing beside me, waiting for my next move.
“As much as I’d rather stay in the safety of this cave until the storm passes, your sister and I really need a doctor and all of us a warm bath.”
She nods her head silently as I step towards the mouth of the cave desperately trying to figure out how to get all of us out of this.
It takes a huge effort to keep pushing the pain I’m in away. I guess a dip in the freezing river didn’t do my broken arm any favors. I take a moment to lean against the mouth of the cave. The rain is coming down in sheets so hard that it’s as if a thick fog has enveloped the land, it’s nearly impossible to get any sense of direction like this.
“Cole?” Madisyn’s voice is tiny, easily portraying the fear she’s trying to hide. “I can’t smell daddy.”
Blindly I let go over her hand and place it on her head pulling her against my leg. She wraps her arms around me, shaking from cold and fear.
“I know sweet pea. It’s okay. I just need a minute.”
She keeps a tight hold on me without another word. She has no choice but to trust the decisions that I make. I will be the sole reason for these girls' survival today and I will not fail them.
‘Jamie?’ I open up the link to the only person I have ever trusted enough to allow in my head.
‘Jamie, I need you. I’m in big trouble. I’m not in good shape.’
I give him a moment to respond knowing the tremendous pain that it’s going to cause me.
‘What’s going on?’ I collapse against the cave with a loud whine as his voice echoes in my battered head.
‘Damn, man. You weren’t kidding. What the hell happened?’ His voice is now a tolerable whisper as he tries again.
‘Are you familiar with the outdoor sparring ring on the west side of the territory?’
‘There’s multiple outdoor sparring rings. Three on the west side. Can you be a bit more specific?’
I take a moment trying to remember the layout of the land as a lot has happened today and this concussion is not playing nice with me.
‘It’s between a small playground and the river.’
‘Where everyone was brawling over a female in heat?’
‘Yes.’ I’ve started into some deep breathing exercises in an effort to deal with the growing pain.
‘Yes, I’m familiar with the location. Is that where you’re at?’
‘No. That’s where we started. Alpha’s girls wanted to help him but they ended up tossed in the river. I jumped in after them and now we’re at the mouth of a cave south of where we started. The rain is too heavy for me to get a sense of direction and it’s washed alpha’s scent away.’
‘You have the girls?!’ I whine as his voice raises in excitement.
‘Alpha and luna are pissed right now. He’s locked down all prospects but Micayla and I are heading out. I think I know where you're at. You know me, I love to explore and there’s only one cave remotely near the territory. Start walking straight. You will be in a clearing for about ten feet before you hit the tree line that starts alpha’s territory. Keep straight as much as possible. It’s quite a hike to get back here though. There’s about five miles of forest between Crimson Dawn's border and the dorms. As I said, Micayla and I are coming after you.’
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