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n~ HARTH ~

nHarth stood on a pointed, shale rise, eyes wide, waiting to see if the figure would move.

nNothing.

nHer throat closed convulsively. The wind had changed and ran at her back so she couldn’t scent the male one hundred feet away, sprawled in the dry dust and stones of this strange place.

nShe’d been running when the forest suddenly gave way, and all its lush, damp beauty stopped as if fire had drawn a line on it.

nThe land here was dry, barren, and overwhelmed by this huge amphitheater of rock and dirt. She’d climbed the strange wave of land that shoved, pointed, towards the sky, to discover that it was a massive oval ringed on three sides and broken only in one spot—as if the Creator Himself had stomped a foot into the land and it rose, displaced, piercing the air.

nAnd dead. The air itself was bone-dry

nNothing lived in this circle.

nNot even the male?

nGo. Go. Go. n)𝓞-𝒱𝓮𝗅-𝔲.𝚜-𝚋)

/.𝒸.𝑂)𝓂

nHarth swallowed again and looked around. Could it be a trap? She didn’t think so. Despite the beating sun, the male’s skin was dry, caked in dust. He’d fallen in the dirt with his head turned away from her so she couldn’t see his face. But she’d stood there a full minute, the wind at her back and taking her scent to him, yet he had not moved.

nWas he dead?

nSomething about that thought froze her insides.

nBreath hissing between her teeth, Harth took her wolf and used its superior stealth to creep down the shifting shale and rock into the great bowl.

nShe’d been wrong, she discovered. The wind blew up the side of this place then over her head.

n“… My… mate…”

nThe word penetrated her chest, piercing skin and the cage of her ribs to loop around She reached for him to roll him onto his back, hissing when she felt his skin—burning and dry. “You need water, and shade and…” but his eyes dragged closed. As Harth her heart, which promptly stopped. “What did you say?”

nHe opened his cracked lips, his eyes locked on hers. Harth’s entire body went rigid as his pupils dilated. But when he tried to speak again, he only coughed—a terrible, dry sound that made Harth’s heart leap back into action, hammering with fear.

nShe reached for him to roll him onto his back, hissing when she felt his skin—burning and dry. “You need water, and shade and…” but his eyes dragged closed. As Harth hurried to get the cork off her waterskin, she looked quickly around, cursing the dry, barren earth of this place, when just beyond these tall sides she knew there was a thick forest with shade and rivers and…

nShe had to get him back to the waterway she’d passed just a few minutes before she broke out of the forest and into this desert-like area.

nHarth swore as she leaned down to trickle water into his mouth, but all he did was cough it back into her face. And he didn’t open his eyes.

n“What are you doing out there alone?” she hissed, adrenalin flooding her veins.

nMate. He’d called her mate. Was it just delirium caused by the heat stroke?

nBut no. She’d been drawn out here. Driven to it. And the moment she’d gotten close, that drive had… eased. It must have been him all along, pulling at her from the moment she entered this land.

nWith a frantic whine she tried again to trickle just a tiny amount of water into his mouth. He spluttered again, but seemed to actually swallow some this time.

nYet, the sun beat down on them, and when she judged that he’d had as much as his stomach could likely take without bringing it back up, she tied it back at her waist and shook his shoulder.

n“Can you move at all? Sit up? I can help you. We need to get you out of here…”

nBut even though he swallowed again, he didn’t respond. And when she lifted his arm, it was a deadweight.

nEven his arm was heavy, though manageable. But how was she going to lift all of him when he couldn’t even help her? She was strong, but the river she’d crossed had to be at least a couple of miles away. And it was quickly becoming clear…

nIf she didn’t get him out of the sun quickly, he wouldn’t live much longer.

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