I stare at him as my heart gallops."You came," he says."Yes.""I didn't know if you would. I was going to go to your territory to look for you."I gasp. "You can't do that! They will kill you on sight. They are extremely territorial and normally leaves no quarter for rogues or invaders.""It doesn't matter now. You came."He smiles at me.The embers light his face."Did you wait this whole time?" I ask.His hair falls across his face. He pushes it back. "Yes."I shiver against the frigid air. I'm surprised he didn't freeze to death.He takes a step toward me.I take a step toward him."We're mates," he says.I gasp. I know it to be true, but hearing the words from his lips is like music to my ears."Yes."We step closer.Ever closer.And then he is right there.Just a fingertip away.Just a hair's breadth apart.Close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his body.His golden eyes glint in the dark.He looks almost hungry.I close my eyes and step int
I return home.But it no longer feels familiar to me.Everything has changed.The world has shifted beneath my feet.I enter the pack dorm.My friends are snoring in their bunks.I fall into mine and pass out.My dreams are full of Patrick.I need him. I need to see him again.Just one hour without him feels like agony.When I wake, the dawn light is blistering through the window and Tomasina is bouncing on the bed beside me."Come on sleepyhead," she says. "Let's eat!"Alia is already half way out the door, eager for breakfast.I rub my sleepy eyes and follow them to the mess hall.All she can think about is him.Patrick.Patrick.My mate.My one true love.It makes me twitchy.Just thinking of him in this place feels dangerous.I realize my plan to meet with him secretly is never going to work. He was right to challenge me. To ask me to leave the pack. It would be too dangerous. His life would be in danger. How long would we last? A week. At most.But leave my p
I can hardly think as I work.Val keeps looking over at me, suspiciously.We've not talked about what happened with Hunter yet, and I'd rather we didn't."So," she says. "Are we going to talk about yesterday?"I groan. "Do we have to?""I saved your bacon," she says. "You didn't even say thank you.""I'm sorry," I say."Sorry isn't thank you," she corrects me."Thank you."She leans her head back and puffs out her cheeks. She taps her fingers on her lips. "You know, you're lucky I didn't tell Hunter what I really saw.""I know," I say.Val raises an eyebrow. "Why do you even bother coming out here when you're clearly not interested in working? What's going on with you? I don't like it."I sigh.Val is not going to stop until I tell her something."It's Hunter," I say.Her eyes narrow at the mention of his name. "What about him?""He's given me an ultimatum.""Oh?""He wants me to marry him."Val scoffs. "Oh please!" She's always held disdain for our alpha. "Tell him
"Rylie. Rylie. Rylie." Conner starts to laugh. "You're in big trouble."He hauls me roughly back to camp, marching me past the guards."Found her," he says triumphantly. "Our special little runaway."I realize then that the extra guards were for my benefit. Someone must have realized I was not in bed and raised the alarm."Can you let me walk?" I huff at Conner.He laughs. "You must think I was born yesterday."He hauls me to Hunter's.The alpha turns as I'm shoved inside."Told you I'd find her," Conner says.Hunter glowers at me."Leave us," he tells Conner, without so much as a thank you.The sniveling beta does as he's told.I am left alone with Hunter."I've been worried about you," he says."You didn't need to.""What were you doing?""Patrolling. Val thinks I'm slacking off. I wanted to prove her wrong."I'm surprised by how easily the lie slides out. I have lost all respect for my alpha since he gave me the ultimatum."You know it's dangerous to go alone," Hun
Next morning, Val shakes me awake.“Time for patrol.”“What about breakfast?”“We can eat on the job,” she says. She seems to be in a hurry.I dress quickly and grab my weapons, then we’re off and out.It’s a beautiful morning.Val takes the lead.She is silent, her eyes scanning the horizon.She marching briskly, heading in a direction we don't normally take.Soon, we're climbing a hill. It's not steep, but the terrain in unfamiliar and I have to watch my footing.“Why are we going up here?” I ask.“It’s safer,” she says."If you think the rogues won't bother us up here, I think you're wrong.”Val throws me a quick glance. "I mean it's safer from the pack."I look at her as we continue on upwards. She’s up to something and it's giving me a weird feeling inside.We wind our way through the bramble.It feels like we’re moving in circles.“Are you sure this is the right way?” I ask Val.“Yeah."“But that looks like the same bush we were just at.”Val doesn’t answer
I run down the hill as fast as I can go, slipping and sliding on the loose rocks.Please don’t be Patrick.Please don’t be Patrick.“Rylie!” Val calls after me. “Slow down!”She thinks I’m plowing head first into danger.Perhaps I am.But I have no choice.If my mate is in danger, I must go to him.I must help him.I can’t lose him.I push through the leafy undergrowth, clambering over dead branches and barking my shins on the rocks.I am so close now.Then I hear the howl again.He’s close.I push myself harder, faster.Brambles scratch at my arms and legs, but I hardly feel them.“Rylie!” Val calls after me. “Wait!”I ignore her.I’ll just have to hope that if I run into trouble, she’ll be there to help me.The howls are coming from the clearing.Our clearing.Mine and Patrick's.Panic grips me. The howl comes again. I can tell by how clear it is that whoever is howling, they're in trouble.More than ever, I want to be with my mate.I pick up my pace, push
We bring the rogues to Hunter.My stomach drops the moment he lays eyes on me.I squirm uncomfortably as his gaze follows me across the room.When he sees the rogues enter, his expression turns to confusion.“What’s going on?” he asks.“Your girlfriend wants pets,” Murray says, glowering at me.Hunter looks at me too, his expression perplexed.“Rylie?” he asks. “What’s going on? Why are you bringing vermin into our home?”I wince at the word, but make sure I don't show my disdain on my face.“We found rogue traps," I say. "We thought it would be better to take them alive. For information.”"We?" Hunter asks.I feel Val tense beside me. I don't want to throw her under the bus again, but everyone knows we work in tandem. There's no way to keep her name out of this without arousing suspicions."Val and I."Val glares at me. I hope she understands why I had to say what I just did.“What kind of traps?” Hunter asks, moving on swiftly.“Hidden ones. Ones designed to kill.”“W
I run all the way back to the dorm.I can't stop thinking about the three rogue prisoners.I hope I have bought them time. I can only pray they are in their cells now scheming a way to get out.I open the dorm door and head inside.Tomasina and Alia are inside. They look up as I approach."What's wrong with you?" Tomasina asks."You look like you saw a ghost.""I'm fine," I say, hurriedly."What happened?" Tomasina asks."Is it Hunter?" Alia asks.I sit down on my bed and rub at my temples."No.""You're obviously upset about something," Tomasina says.I look at her. I want to tell her everything. I want to spill my guts. But having it all out there in the open will be too risky. Val knows and that's already one person too many."I think I might have just made a bad situation worse," I say."I don't understand," Tomasina says. "Explain.""It's kind of long," I say."We're not going anywhere," Alia offers.I sigh."We have prisoners," I breathe."What?" Tomasina asks