Page 84 of Ravenous

“Yes.”Tunic.

“She might mean your people harm.”

“Yes.”Boots!

“She might…not.”

He met her gaze and gave one short nod. If Emilia was innocent, then she deserved what she’d been promised: a place in the clan. His actions tonight had undermined that prospect. He buckled his sword belt and echoed Undara’s words. “She might not.”

“Then go to her,” Undara said simply, “and figure that out.”

From a distance, his name carried again: “Arctos!”

Emilia.

He bolted out into the night. Deserted—everyone still feasting. Once he neared his home, he yelled, “Lia!”

No answer. No fuckingguard? Inside, her cloak and sword were gone. Outside, a red-faced sentry fumbled with his breeches while a woman adjusted her clothes.

“Where is Emilia?”

Thick swallow. “I don’t know, sir. She must’ve slipped out.”

No time for fury. “Say nothing. Find Torben alone. Send him to the river.” Arctos ran.

Gusts funneled through the ravines, each corridor with its own voice, a symphony of howls. He charged into the wind, head low, blade ready.

Suspicions flared and dimmed with each stride. Was she meeting an accomplice? Fleeing a poisoned feast? He shoved them aside and hunted for what he needed.

Scent.

There—faint, then stronger, threaded with cold. He followed it to the river’s edge and found tracks. Her pack and a loaf tossed aside. Beside them: prints the size of platters. Bear. A nearby shelf of ice, edges shattered.

He sprinted to an overlook. Moonlight illuminated the current—and her, small and flailing far downstream.

He leapt over boulders, sprinting faster than the current. He knew every bend, every snag. If he beat the river to the bottleneck, he could pull her; if he failed, she’d go over the falls and onto stone teeth.

She’d likely drown first.

Adrenaline pumped. Questions swirled.

Why escape to the ice? Why not fight?

Later. Move.Berserkerage beckoned, but he throttled it. His inner bear might instantly rise, but when it did, a total, consuming rage blotted out his sense. He needed the extra speed, but he needed tothink. “Lia!” he roared when she surfaced.

She jerked her head back, saw him closing in. Their gazes locked for an instant.

Help me, hers said.

Coming for you, his answered.

She bobbed and vanished. His heart convulsed. He let his Berserkerage bleed into his muscles, not enough to blind him, just enough to burn.

He dove.

Knives of cold stabbed him. The current punched him end over end, white churn dimming his vision.

There. A pale shape, caught in the snarl just before the drop.