My knees struck the floor. For several seconds, the still shape on the hay was all I could see. The broken bowl lay forgotten behind me.
I caught her other shoulder with both hands and turned her over.
Light from the doorway crossed her face a little at a time. Her skin had gone waxy and gray; her lips were bruised purple. Strands of dark hair had dried against one cheek.
Her closed eyes sat deep in their sockets. Dirt packed every torn fingernail.
No sleeping body looked like that.
“No.” I could track prey through rain and pick one pack member out of a crowded hall. When I reached for Elara with my Alpha senses, there was no heartbeat and no wolf.
I pressed two fingers to her neck where the pulse should have jumped against them. Cold skin. Nothing.
I tried the other side, then her
