The Sea Wolf's Mate (Hideaway Cove 2)

Icy water closed over her head. The ocean was like a hand, wrapping around her and dragging her down. She dropped her flashlight and it spun around in the water, blinding her—but there, a darker shadow, seal-pup-sized. Jacqueline kicked wildly towards it.

The flashlight flickered out and she couldn’t see anything, not even her own hands in front of her, but her fingers brushed something soft and she pulled the tiny creature into her arms and her knee hit something hard and she hoped it was the bottom, she hoped she was kicking off in the right direction because she had no way of telling what way was up or down and—

Air. Jacqueline gasped and flailed one hand until she hit rock. She grabbed it and pulled herself up, twisting her body so she wouldn’t squash the seal pup—the little girl—the seal pup—What is going on—

A wave crashed over her head. Jacqueline pulled herself further up the rock.

“Hey kid,” she gasped, then coughed out a mouthful of saltwater. The seal pup wriggled against her chest. “It’s going to be—”

Someone shouted. It sounded close. Jacqueline raised her head. If that boy had come out after her—

Another wave hit, and she lost her grip on the rock. The water pulled her away and under.

4

Arlo

“No!”

The young shifters’ shouts echoed in Arlo’s mind as he threw himself into the water.

His fault. He’d shouted when he was close enough to see what was happening, and the woman had lifted her head to look around. And the next wave had taken her.

She and the child had disappeared under the surface as though they had never existed.

I should have been faster. I shouldn’t have distracted her. I should have—

Arlo forced the thought from his mind.

The water was cruelly cold. His wolf reveled in it, staking its strength and agility against the power of the sea.

Arlo strained his eyes and ears, ignoring the salt burn as he searched the water. It was pitch black, but the tiny shifter’s telepathic shrieks were more than enough for Arlo to locate her.

There—the sea had pulled them away, but the next swelling wave might dash them against the rocks again. He swam towards them, his strong strokes cutting through the water like a hot knife through ice.

The woman jerked as he grabbed hold of her. A bubble of surprise burst against his chest and then she clutched at him. He pulled them both to himself, his arm around the woman, the pup sandwiched between them.

His feet slammed against the rocks at the bottom and he kicked, launching himself upwards. Sea spray batte

red his face as he broke the surface and the woman in his arms sucked in breaths, so hard it sounded like she was sobbing.

Their mouths were inches apart. Their breaths mingled, and something in the back of Arlo’s mind went ping.

His wolf bristled with urgency. Get her safe! Now!

The seal’s heart beat like a tiny drum against his chest and without thinking about it he sent out a telepathic burst of emotion. No words, just feelings, as instinctive as the young shifters’ cries. Comfort. Safety. Protection.

He hadn’t communicated with anyone like that in decades, with primal, instinctual emotion. Not since… a long time ago.

There was no time to think about that now. His rowboat was bobbing in the waves a few feet away; he swam towards it and grabbed hold of the side.

The woman coughed out a mouthful of seawater. “We’ll tip it—”

“I’ll hold the other side while you climb in,” he told her. His wolf whined, impressed. She’d almost drowned, but she’d still kept her head enough not to try to clamber on board the rowboat and flip it over in the process.

“Wait! The girl first,” the woman gasped. Then her eyes widened and she twisted to look back at the rocks. “There was another kid—oh, God, if he’s—”

Arlo swept the shoreline. He could hardly sense anything past the tiny seal’s psychic shrieks of excitement, but whoever was on shore, they weren’t hurt or panicked. Just confused. Worried.