I had read Ryan immediately upon meeting him. He was a young, dumb Alpha. Maybe one day with wisdom and a lot of hard earned lessons he would be a competent leader, but he was far from that now.
The fact that he’d managed to hurt someone in my pack infuriated me, even if it had happened before we had met. And for it to be Avery…
Why am I so possessive over her? She made it clear where we stand.
I thought back to what she had said in the ceremony hall, “My feelings don’t factor into it.” she had said.
But clearly she’d had feelings for Ryan. Feelings that she doesn’t have for me. Again, jealousy submerged my heart.
It was just a past fling. I shouldn’t care.
But you do. My wolf said softly.
I do.
I was angry, but looking at Avery’s downturned face, I knew I had no right to be angry at her. I swallowed the feeling as Tegan approached.
“Alpha.” he nodded and I stepped away, knowing he would only bother me if it was important. “We found a lead on her.” Tegan said in a low voice.
My fate mate? I felt a flare of hope in my heart spark back to life.
“There’s a connection with the rogues that Silvermoon has encountered in this area so far.” Tegan explained.
I moved further away to discuss the new revelations with Tegan.
“We canvassed all local warriors who had encountered rogues near the border area where you had marked your mate.” Tegan elaborated, “Based on their reports, there are many women who have been taken and imprisoned. One of those women was likely your mate, which is why we haven’t been able to locate her.”
My hands curled into fists, “Hunt down the rogue’s lair, and destroy it immediately.”
Curse Silvermoon for not handling this sooner. If something has happened to our mate…
What if Avery is our Fate Mate? My wolf interrupted suddenly, distracting me from the rest of Tegan’s report. I could still see Avery over his shoulder, leaning against the stone wall, staring off into the forest. Her silhouette climbed the wall behind her, outlining her in black shadow.
I stared at her for a long moment, considering. Tegan, sensing the shift, turned to see what I was staring at.
After a moment, my Beta cautiously spoke, “I didn’t realize Avery had been mistreated here. I should have done more careful research before we made the alliance.”
I remembered the cruel faces of the wolves who had tried to separate us in the ceremony hall. The strange encounter with Zara and the other women on the path with Avery. They had thought to increase their own status by harming what was mine.
And for that, they will pay. I let a nasty smile crawl over my face. Seeing it, Tegan grew wary.
“Your orders, Alpha?”
Igave him a list of names. Those who had made the mistake of letting me overhear their snide
Avery’s POV
I awoke slowly, like swimming up through deep water.
There was a strange, metallic taste in my mouth, and my head pounded. I was laying on a hard surface. Dirt, perhaps?
My limbs felt far-away and heavy. They didn’t respond to my attempts to move.
All I could do was lay here.
Weariness overtook me and I dreamed.
In my dream, members of Nightwolf were surrounding me, supporting me. I saw a few faces I knew; Anna, and Melody, and Gideon’s family. They were smiling and clapping as though something good had happened. They embraced me with genuine affection. Anna handed me a small cake and said, “Welcome back!” while Melody excitedly hugged my arm…
I woke to the feeling of someone shaking my arm. At first, I thought it was Zara. She was always grabbing onto me and pushing me around. I shoved at her, trying to free myself, but my hands were gripped tight.
Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the darkness around me. There was a person leaning over me trying to pull me to my feet. I pulled my arm away and heard them curse as they lost their balance and tripped.
I didn’t recognize their voice.
One of the kidnappers? A rogue? My heart was racing a mile a minute. I felt like I couldn’t take a full breath.
I had to try to alert someone to where I was! I inhaled as much as I could and screamed.
Rough hands slapped over my mouth. My captor shoved me back down to subdue me, but my strength was coming back. I pushed and kicked back at them.
I felt my mark flare with heat on the side of my neck and strong, dominant energy emanated away from me. The shadowy figure dropped their eyes, disoriented, and threw themselves off of me. They darted away into the bushes.
So my mark was still protecting me! That was something at least.
Still, I had no idea where I was. The forest around me was pitch black.
I could hear rustling nearby and voices arguing, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten since before leaving Nightwolf territory for the Alpha Ceremony in Silvermoon. Assuming I’d been out for several hours, it had been almost a full day since I’d eaten. I was so hungry.
Did my captors plan on keeping me and feeding me? Or were they planning on harming me? I needed to try and escape either way.
My hands were tied together at the wrists. The rope binding them had been tied to a tree nearby.
Moving slowly, I crawled to the end of the rope, where it was knotted, and began trying to untie it. My hands were stiff and sore from the tight knots. It was hard to feel my fingers.
“Hey! What are you doing!” someone yelled at me.
“She’s trying to untie herself!”
“Damn this girl!” another voice cursed.
I heard footsteps running toward me in the darkness. Again, my mark flared, and they paused a short distance away.
“We can’t get close!” One of them yelled.
“Get the bugs.” A cold, commanding voice snapped. This one I hadn’t heard previously.
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