Chasing His Kickass Luna Back

Abby

The first thing I feel when I start to wake up is the throbbing pain in my head, followed by a profound sense of nausea.

It's as if I can feel the world making its rotations at that moment, the earth turning rightside up and upside down and repeating the process over and over again, and I'm just an unwilling participant in the vertigo of it all.

My eyes flutter open, and for a moment, all I see is darkness. Panic grips me as I try to make sense of my surroundings. My thoughts feel fuzzy, but then I start to remember.

The snow. The men in the truck. The cabin in the middle of nowhere. The fear, the struggle, and then the pain in my head.

And then it hits me—I'm not alone, and I'm in a moving vehicle again. Fear courses through me, and I sit up abruptly, my heart pounding in my chest. I can feel the car's movement, the road beneath us, and my mind races, convinced that I'm still with those men.

Up ahead, there's a man in the driver's seat.

A scream escapes my lips before I have the chance to stop myself, and my first instinct is to try to open the door, which isn't locked this time like it was before. The door swings open, and I'm hit with a burst of cold and snow. I sit up abruptly and start to unbuckle my seatbelt, prepared to leap out. "Wait!" a voice says, frantic and worried.

“Let me out!” I shriek, my fingers clumsy from the cold and the ache in my head as I attempt to free myself from my seatbelt.

"Abby! Abby, calm down! It's me!”

I furrow my brow. That voice... That voice is familiar, but in my fuzzy state right now, I'm still too dazed and confused to understand what's going on.

But before I can react further or gather my bearings, the car screeches to a halt, and my terrified gaze locks onto the driver, who has just turned around to face me. My breath catches as his face comes into focus in the dim light of the car, and recognition slowly washes over me.

It's Karl.

"K-Karl...?" I breathe, my heart still pounding in my chest. I can't fully tell if I'm still unconscious, if I'm imagining this or not. Hell, maybe I'm even dead.

But then I remember: the flash of red fur when the door burst open, just before everything went black. So it was Karl after all. He came for me

"Abby, it's me,” he says, his voice gentle and reassuring. “I'm here. You're safe.”

Tears blur my vision as I scramble to unbuckle my seatbelt, and so does Karl. We both leap out of the car and into the snowy road, and without hesitation, I throw myself sobbing into his arms. The hug is tight and desperate, as if we both need the reassurance that I'm safe now.

“Karl, I thought... I thought they had me,” I stammer, my voice trembling as the memories of what happened in that cabin replay over and over again in my frantic mind. “I thought I was a goner.” His arms remain securely around me as he whispers into my ear. “But I found you, Abby,” he says gently. “I'm here now, and you're safe.”

I lean my head against his shoulder, feeling a mix of relief and exhaustion wash over me. He came just in time, and 1 can't help but feel grateful for his unwavering determination to find me in this snow storm.

But then I feel it. The nausea hits again in a sickening wave, and the world seems to tilt beneath my feet in a blur of pain and misery. My head throbs, and before I can stop myself, I'm turning away and...

Retching onto the side of the road.

When I'm finished emptying the contents of my stomach into the snow, Karl's voice brings me back to the present.

“God, Abby,” he murmurs, rubbing my back, “let me look at your head.”

stiffly, 1 lean against the car and shut my eyes, breathing deeply to soothe my stomach and allowing Karl to look at me. I wince as his fingers trail over the spot where I was hit on the head. “You've got a hell of a bump there,” he says gently.

I can't help but let out a wry chuckle. “Tell me about it.”

Karl sighs, then turns my head so I'm looking at him. He shines his phone flashlight into my eyes and curses under his breath. “I think you might have a concussion,” he says gently. “We should get you home now.”

I nod, even though the thought of getting back into the car with this nausea just makes my stomach turn even more, but I climb into the passenger seat anyway. Karl closes the door after me, and when he gets in, he shoves a bottle of water into my hands

“Drink. We're not far from home.”

As we continue driving, the tension in the car gradually eases. I sip the water, and it gives me a little bit of strength.

"How did you find me?” I find myself asking. “I thought the blizzard would have made it impossible.” Karl sighs and shakes his head, his gaze never once leaving the snowy road. “When I saw the weather on the TV and saw that you hadn't gotten home yet, I got worried,” he begins. “So I drove along the route you'd take to get to the shopping center, and I found the car.”

I swallow as I listen.

“I must have been right on your trail,” he continues, “because the tracks were still fresh, even in the snow. So I followed them, and eventually, I found you.”

“I'm such an idiot,” I murmur. “If I had only waited a few more minutes...”

Karl sighs. “You're not an idiot,” he says. “But let it be a reminder... That I'll always find you. No matter what.”

Sighing, I rest my aching head on Karl's shoulder. He's right; it is a reminder.

However, it's at this moment that I become acutely aware of something else—the presence of my wolf. She's there, within me, a silent but undeniable presence. For a brief moment, our thoughts connect, and she apologizes for abandoning me when I needed her the most.

“I'm here now, Abby,” she whispers in my mind. “As long as I can have our fated mate by our side, I won't leave you again. I'm sorry.”

I glance over at Karl, my thoughts conflicted. He's my fated mate, and the bond between us is undeniable. But we're divorced, and our lives are pulling us in two opposite directions, and it all feels like so much right now.

Karl notices the curious expression on my face and glances at me briefly before returning his gaze to the road. “You okay, Abby?" he asks, his voice hardly more than a whisper.

I hesitate for a moment, unsure of how to voice my inner turmoil. “It's nothing,” I finally reply, my voice soft and strained from screaming. “I'm just... glad you found me, that's all.”

He smiles at the road ahead. “I'll always find you, Abby. Always.”