Sky was doing the best that she could. She had made them a shelter, and Ryleigh was still sleeping.  Sky had woken her a couple of times and had Ryleigh drink some of the melted snow.  She was just about to put another branch on the fire when a pain hit her heart so hard it bowled her over.  Bas.

Sky jumped up and looked around, she felt him.  Had felt him firmly attached to her, and then there was nothing.  He wanted her to run but run, but to where?  Sky looked around and decided that she couldn’t run. Ryleigh wasn’t doing all that well, and to top it off she was uber pregnant.  They were similar in size, so there was physically no way she could carry her out of here. Hell, she didn't even know in what direction they should head in the first place. 

Sky started looking around. They needed to hide.  She kicked some snow over the fire and started running around, frantically looking for something, anything.  All the while, she was trying to reach Bas with their bond.  The line was blank, and that scared her even more.  Ryleigh woke up in all the commotion and asked, "What’s going on, are the guys back?"

Sky went to her knees in front of her, "No I don’t know what is going on, but something has happened to Bas.  I can feel it, or rather I can’t feel him anymore.  Right before that, I felt him yelling at me through the bond. He was telling me to run.  We can’t do that, but we need to find some place to hide.  These parachutes and the fire are a beacon for anything that is out there trying to find us." 

"Shit. Okay, calm down,” Ryleigh said getting up slowly.

Sky noticed her pain at the movement, but she couldn’t help her right now. 

Ryleigh continued her directions, “Okay, let’s move further into the forest. Maybe we can find a cave or a hollowed-out log or something.  I can’t move all that fast, but I can move.  If Bas wanted us to run, then I think we need to do just that. But keep your eyes open for the first place we find that is secluded enough to provide me some cover.  You’re going to have to leave me behind to find help."

Ryleigh continued, "Cash would have sent out a mayday, and I know Jacks and the rest of the Team will be tracking us.  We just need to hold out long enough for them to get here.  They will be coming from the South, so once you drop me off, head that way.  Stay within the trees as much as you can, but move fast.  We have no idea what he was trying to warn us about. It could be any number of things."

Yeah, Sky thought, they would definitely be finding a place to hide, but it would be for two.  There wasn’t any way that she would leave Ryleigh behind.

Ryleigh was walking slowly, and cautiously. Sky wanted to make her go faster but knew it wasn’t possible.  Her feet were black, and from her constant stretched out motions, she gathered Ryleigh’s back was bothering her as well. 

"Rye, are you and the baby are okay? That landing was enough to scramble my brains, and I’m not even pregnant." 

"You could be," Ryleigh said in an attempt to lighten the situation.

"No, I really couldn’t. I told you Bas and I haven’t gotten that far.  You know the whole mating thing not being complete and all that jazz."  Sky stopped and at looked at her asking. "Rye, is the baby okay?"

"He’s fine, moving around and warm and cozy in his waterbed," Ryleigh said rubbing her extended stomach.  "Don’t worry, Sky, Jacks and the rest of the guys will get here.  Cash couldn’t have gone that much off course, and our flight should have only been about a half hour.  Alpha is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so they have to be close enough to track and get us out.  You just need to have a little faith."

Faith, damn that was the wrong thing to ask her to have right now, because she was losing all of hers quickly.  She couldn’t feel Bas. Sky was scared out of her mind.  With the people after her and other people after the members of Alpha Team, how could Ryleigh be so sure everything would come out roses? Sky thought this was the biggest shit sandwich she had ever seen.

"Okay, Rye, I will keep the faith, but tell me if anything changes.  If you feel any more pain or you know the baby acts differently, we will stop.  I don’t know what I will do when we stop, but we will have to come up with something."

They walked around for a while longer and finally found a log that would hide them enough from sight as well as keep the wind off of them.  They wouldn't have the warmth of a fire like before, but at least they would be out of the elements. After all, they could keep each other warm.  If Ryleigh was right, Alpha Team should be coming in to save the day any minute now.

Just as Sky was getting Ryleigh situated to enter the log, she heard a voice that chilled her bones and had hoped never to hear again. 

"Well, if it isn’t my wayward wife."

Oh, hell no!  Sky couldn't believe what she had just heard. She turned around, trying to block Ryleigh from the snake man's view. 

"Ah, I see you have brought me a prize.  Hello, Miss Thorp, I see you have been up to naughty things."  The snake man sneered at Ryleigh’s pregnant stomach like it disgusted or repulsed him.  This guy was totally whacked. 

Ryleigh stepped beyond Sky even as Sky held her hand out to stop her.  Didn’t the woman have a tiny bit of self-preservation?

"Hello, Mr. Summerfield, I have no idea what you are referring to. My life was perfectly charming until you came along," Ryleigh replied.

"So, the abomination says.  You know, you have single handily ruined a good man. Jackson had such potential before he came into contact with your faulty genes. And now that you have breed, his line will be forever tainted.  How do you possibly live with yourself?“ Snakeman said with a sneer. 

Sky managed to once again get in front of Ryleigh. When she made a move to get in front of her again, Sky squeezed Ryleigh’s arm hard and whispered, “Think of your baby, Ryleigh.”

"Oh, no need to worry about the mongrel she carries, my darling.  It will soon be taken care of, just like that nasty bit of flesh, Shelby.  After all, we cannot have half-breeds running around, now can we?   Those mongrels would taint everything we have worked so hard for and that cannot happen."

Sky didn’t know what this loon was talking about and she didn’t care.  No way was she going to let him hurt Ryleigh or her baby. 

"Come here, Skylar. It is time for you to take your proper place by my side.  You are the future of our species, and I will lead them as you produce many children in my honor." 

"Yeah, so not happening," Sky said. 

The asshole even snapped his boney fingers like it would get Sky to move faster. Who was this man?

"Now Skylar, come or my friend Noah there is going to put a bullet right in Ms. Thorp's head."

Sky looked back, and there was a man right behind them holding a gun out.  Shit.  She needed to stall. 

"No, first you need to tell me some things.  Who are you and why did you mention my dad back there? I want to know everything!" Sky demanded.

"Fine, if you must know, your father was a part of our clan," he waved his hands like that statement meant nothing, and he was brushing the thoughts away. "He believed in the same things that we did until that wretched woman got her claws into him.  He was just supposed to fuck her, not fall in love with the tramp.  It was such a tragedy. But no matter, we have learned from our mistakes.  She made him leave everyone and everything behind just to be at her beck and call.  I can't respect a man that gets led around by his dick.  He was once a better man than that believed in our cause and worked to better our mission."

Dean continued, "I mean, the clan must come first in all things.  Women have their purpose, but ultimately, we are the kings.  I’ve learned my lesson. Since then, the men have no prior contact with the women we hold.  When they come into season, they are chained and blindfolded. Then, one by one, our disciples take their turns until a seed takes root and the new generation begins.  That is how it should have been from the beginning.  Lesson learned and all that crap.  I assure you those same mistakes will not happen again."

Holy crap! This man was talking about rape like it was commonplace and didn’t matter.

"Okay, so what you are saying is I can let you take me and rape me repeatedly, or I can stand right here and wait to see what fate has in store for me?"

Sky noticed other men approaching, two to be exact. Thankfully they were staying back.  The situation wasn’t good.  She should be goading the man, but really, who would ever say those things to get someone to comply?  Sky would rather die than endure what he had described.

"Oh, you stupid child,” Dean laughed. “The fates decided what was going to happen to you long ago.  You were conceived for me,” he said practically yelling, "and I have waited long enough for my prize.  You are the only natural birth our species has seen for over a hundred years, and the gods have determined that I am to be given the honor of deflowering and then fertilizing you. Me, not your Mr. Frost, or Alpha Team and NAC, me, Dean Summerfield, High Elder of The Association." 

"Speaking of Sebastian, where is he?" Sky questioned.

The snake man was starting to approach her and Ryleigh was no longer happy with the distance.  Sky felt Ryleigh place the small pocketknife in her hand.  

"You don’t need to concern yourself with Mr. Frost. He will be rest with Mr. Windsor shortly, at the bottom of the lake.  I made sure he won’t wake up before he can take his final breath," the man boasted. 

The snake man was so close that Sky could feel his spittle hitting her face.  No way in hell Sebastian was lost to her.  He had said soon, not already, so there was still a chance they could all come out of this okay.  Sky took the knife and shoved it into his neck.  When he lurched back, she did something she had never done before but instinctually knew it was the right thing. 

She poured every bit of herself into the bond she and Bas shared, every ounce of fear, longing, and lust.  The bond brightened and strengthened further.  Then she poured every bit of hate and disgust she had for the man she had just stabbed through the bond as well.  Then she poured her fears and uncertainty, every feeling she had in her body.  Sky felt a burning in her chest and on her wrist, but she didn’t look down, and she didn’t stop.  She fell to her knees then fell forward, going down all fours.  She gave the bond the last thing that she had left- her love.

Sky felt something happening to her body. It felt like it was breaking apart. But the most important thing she felt was her bond with Bas as it snapped into place. He wasn't lost to her anymore.  She felt him stirring and taking in his surroundings.  She felt his confusion, anger, and conviction.  Bas was coming back to her.