Chapter 0083
Crack.
The bottom of the bow snapped from the pressure. What kind of weakly made –?
The boar jerked its head toward me, alerted now of my presence.
I was behind the tree but Silver was mostly exposed.
The boar kicked out the ground. It was going to charge!
“Silver, run!” I rushed from my cover to push the wolf into action. I wouldn’t see her get hurt, not if there
was something I could do about it.
The boar rushed forward, tusks first. With a horrible squealing noise, it tore through the underbrush,
twigs and leaves snapping underfoot.
Silver darted to the side, but I was too slow. The boar was coming right for me.
The boar was fast, but Silver was faster. She lunged at the boar, colliding with its side. It veered off
course, missing me by a few mere inches as I rolled out of the way.
Silver rushed back to me. She nosed at my side and helped me up onto my feet. As I put weight on my
ankle, I winced. I must have twisted it. I wouldn’t be able to run like this.
“You have to go, Silver. I’ll climb a tree or something. I’ll be okay,”
The stubborn wolf absolutely refused to move from my side. Instead, it leaned its head back and howled.
Calling for help? I wasn’t sure.
The boar faced us again. It huffed and dug both feet into the dirt. It was going to charge again.
With her howling done, Silver lowered her ears. A growl erupted from her throat.
The boar, monstrous and angry, didn’t seem to care.
It shot forward like a bat out of hell.
I tried to move, but my ankle shot blinding hot pain through my leg. I stumbled. The boar redirected its
course, continuing right for me.
Silver darted forward.
Suddenly, an arrow flew through the tree line and plunged into the side of the boar. It staggered.
A second arrow immediately followed the first. Alm true, it felled the creature. The boar collapsed, dead.
Silver stopped. Her head turned toward the way the arrows had come from. I followed her gaze, butt-
didn’t see anything yet. I heard them though, two figures rushing through the foliage.
“Piper,” Nicholas said when he breeched the tree line. Julian was close behind him. Their wolf companions bounded forward, stopping to meet Silver. They pressed their muzzles together.
I was so relieved, to see all of them and know I was safe, that I collapsed down into the dirt.
“Piper!” Nicholas said again, alarmed. He pushed toward me even faster than before. He dropped to his knees beside me. Holding his hands over me but never quite touching, he seemed to be searching me for
damage.
“I’m okay,” I said, grimacing. “It’s just my ankle.”
We both looked down. It had already begun to swell, pressing out against my leather boot.
“Piper, you alive?” Julian asked from behind us. He’d walked to where I’d dropped my bow.
“I’m alive,” I said.
“Twisted ankle.” Nicholas frowned at it like it had done him personal harm.
“Glad you aren’t dead,” Julian said as he picked up my bow.
“Me, too,” I agreed. “You both have excellent timing. Another minute, Silver and I would be in much
worse shape.”
“What happened?” Nicholas shouldered off his backpack and began searching through it. He pulled out
an elastic bandage.
“Silver and I had the element of surprise. I had a clear shot. But then my bow…
At that same moment, Julian brought the bow closer to us. The wood had split clean through along the
bottom.
It was far too clean of a break to have been natural.
Nicholas stilled Fury burned in his eyes.
Julian spoke with his usual lighthearted tone of voice, yet his tight grip on the broken bow revealed his
own anger.
“Seems like someone wants you dead, Piper”
Chapter 0084
