"You have to do something." She urged Christian feverishly as soon as she reached his side.
Christian looked at her and she saw the surprise in his eyes. "You know the rules better than I." He told her. "I cannot intervene."
She did know the rules.
"I will enter the fight," she declared.
As Matt's mate she had that right, even if their union had not been recognized. Judging by Christian's silence, that she was Matt's mate was not news to him. Then again, she knew he was smarter than people gave him credit. "I will distract my father, but I need you to pull Matt away. You have to get Matt out of here."
"Do you have so little faith in him?"
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Apparently not." Christian chuckled and it almost sent her over the edge.
"Damn you, are you going to help him or not?"
"I'm not," Christian replied. Sarah snarled and turned away, once more convinced that, like always, she was on her own. Christian snatched her hand and stopped her. "Watch, he does not need my help."
Like a masochist asking for more pain, Sarah allowed her gaze to return to the fight. What was she missing, she wondered. What did Christian see that she did not? She took a closer look at Matt but could only see the blood that covered him.
Her eyes were going over every possible inch of his body when Matt's gaze connected with hers.
Beyond the pain that she spied in his eyes, there was a glowing intensity in them that ensnared her. She could almost feel his golden eyes diving deep within her and catching hold of her soul. Even knowing that she was distracting him, she could not look away. She did not want to look away.
She did not want to look away because for the first time in months, she felt alive.
Sarah willed her eyes to close and break their connection. When she re-opened them, Matt's concentration was back in the battle.
"Did you really think you could win?" Her father used Matt's hair to pull his head to the side and bared his neck.
His lack of control and his gloating was a costly mistake. Distracted by his need to put on a show for the pack, he loosened his hold on Matt's arm. In a lightning fast move, Matt reared his hand back and speared his claws into her fathers' side.
The move took not just her father but everyone by surprise. Matt pulled his hand out and stabbed her father again. Blood ran down Matt's arm and this time it was not his.
Her father slumped against Matt. Matt pushed him off and in seconds their positions were reversed. Only, Sarah spied none of spite in him that her father had demonstrated; she only his deadly intent.
Her heart stopped.
Her father could not die. As much as she wanted him to, she could not let him die. Only he knew where her son was, if he died he would take that secret with him to the grave. It had not quite hit her until that moment, that for her, this was a battle in which she could lose someone precious to her.
As if sensing her distress her father turned to look at her. Their eyes connected. Ironic, she thought, that only seconds earlier she had been willing Matt to fight, to live. Now she willed him to let her father live but he did not look her way to notice the desperation in her eyes.
She turned her eyes to her father. Begging him to tell her where he had taken her son. Her lips moved in silent plea. Desperation did not allow her to wonder how she expected all of her worries, her fears, desires and pleas to get across to the two combatants. Her eyes simply begged and her lips moved in soundless supplication.
Her prayers went unanswered.
Matt pulled his head back, exposing his throat. The same move that her father had done moments earlier. Unlike her father though, he did not pause to gloat.
In a flash, he sank his teeth into his throat and ripped it open.
Her father did not fight it; he did not make a sound. Looking at the blood pulling around him and at the wound it was apparent that he was too week to fight. He simply looked at her. A smirk marred his bloody face because he knew that no matter what, he won.
"Damn you!" She thought. He was taking his secret with him to the grade. Anger boiled up within her. "Damn you!" She screamed out loud. Before she knew it, she sprinted forward, avoiding Christians reaching hands.
He has to tell me where my son is! He cannot die! Damn him, he cannot die without telling me! She thought furiously as she pounded across the distance separating them.
Matt stood. He noticed her and tried to intercept her but Sarah was too desperate to pay any attention to anyone but her father. Matt reached for her, trying to stop her. She pushed him aside in her haste.
"Damn you!" She yelled once again. "Do not die!" Sarah knelt on the ground beside him. Using her hands, she tried to cover the gaping wound on his neck. With every beat of his heart more of his blood slipped through her fingers.
She felt a set of hands settle on her shoulders but she shrugged them off. Those same hands returned a moment later and tried to pull her back. Sarah jerked away.
"No! Damn you, he can't die."
"He is already dead." The soft words penetrated through to her. She turned and pushed the speaker away. Too late did she notice that it was Matt, she wanted to apologize, say something, express her joy that he was alive but could not. Her mind was focused only one thing, like a revolving door, only one thought kept turning and turning in her mind.
Where is my son?
****
