Lycan's Promise: Book 3 by Chandler Dee Page A

leave the Alphas deep in
discussion.
    Sanda turned on her heel and headed out the
door. She didn't feel like waiting around to talk to the others.
She wanted to get back to Beryx, to reassure herself that he was
still there waiting for her. She pulled her cloak tighter around
herself as she walked across the cold ground. Winter’s breath was
in the air. Soon they would see heavy mountain snows. Sanda never
experienced that kind of weather before, she only spent winters in
a mild valley below Cold Mountains community. She was unsure what
to expect for the coming season.
    “Wait,” Mouse called after her. Sanda almost
continued going, disregarding the woman's small voice. She'd
already burned so many bridges though. Reluctantly, she stopped and
waited for Mouse to catch up to her.
    “Yes, what is it?”
    Mouse stopped in front of her, drew back for
a second looking as if she might turn around and walk away.
Something inside of her seemed to rebel against the notion and she
planted her feet more firmly in the ground, pulling her hood back
to reveal curly locks of hair.
    “How is Beryx?”
    Sanda relaxed, she'd been expecting a
confrontation. Mouse was only inquiring after her mate.
    “He's well. His wounds are almost healed,”
Sanda said cordially, “that poultice you gave us has done him a lot
of good.”
    Mouse nodded. “I want to check on his
progress. Will you bring him over?”
    Sanda hemmed and hawed a bit. The protective
instinct was to keep Beryx ensconced in their cottage for as long
as possible. She didn't want Mouse looking at Beryx. That was
irrational. Mouse had already done a great deal for him. She just
couldn't help but feel mistrustful of the woman after the way she'd
kept silent about letting that villager go.
    Mouse seemed to sense her hesitance. She
reached out to grasp Sanda's arm. “You have nothing to fear from
me,” Mouse said, “really, I only wanted to help.”
    Sanda shook off Mouse's hand. “Beryx will be
by tomorrow. I'll make sure of it.” She started to walk away again,
but was stopped by Mouse’s call.
    “I also wanted to apologize.”
    “For what?” Sanda snapped at the woman. She
didn’t mean to be irritable, but she also didn’t have time to fuss
around in the snow all day.
    “I helped a man escape our village a few
weeks ago. That man could have helped clear this entire incident up
without Garrett, Cami, or you having to go down to Ekras,” Mouse
said. She licked her lips, looking at the ground when she finished.
It was obviously hard for her to admit that to Sanda.
    “You're right,” Sanda said. She looked over
at the cottage where her mate was now kept warm and safe. She'd
come so close to losing him. “But, I don't know that I can
accept.”
    Mouse nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut and
exhaled. The woman’s quiet resignation over causing so much pain
reminded Sanda of the pain she caused during that first
transformation. She’d acted like a monster, almost killing two men
in a vengeful rage. Despite her disastrous first change, she was
still allowed to walk freely in the community. The others even
treated her equally, at least until Jurisa came to her decision.
The least she could do was attempt to reciprocate.
    “But I can try,” Sanda said to Mouse.
Immediately, the woman's eyes brightened. She smiled at Sanda and
offered her heartfelt thanks. They spent a few more minutes
chatting a awkwardly about Beryx’s treatment. Sanda closed their
meeting with a promise to bring him over and she found herself
walking towards their cottage in a slightly better mood.
    Sanda entered the cottage to find it cold and
empty. The fire had been banked. His rich scent filled the air but
Beryx was nowhere in sight. She couldn't help the brief flare-up of
panic that subsided as soon as she found his note on the table.
They contained three words, “Find me outside”.
    It took a few minutes to figure out how she
could hope to find him without knowing where he went. Then,