***[POV: Hotheaded Former Mate]***
"Then we get up at dawn and do your search."
Chad starts while prodding the campfire with a stick. His gaze grows a little
distant
as he stares into the fire.
"When we find nothing, then we convince the Alpha to organize a proper hunting party before this gets *really* out of hand..."
"She's not some deer."
Kyle mutters in defense.
However, the image of
running her down
like prey holds my interest. After leaving me in this state.
"No, she's not."
Chad agrees, yet his voice takes on a harder edge.
"She's an unmarked female who just rejected the pack's authority. She's a problem that needs to be solved. Before she makes things worse for everyone."
Fingers tap nervously on the knife in his hands. He really treats that thing like his
favorite toy
.
"Come on. She was just upset. She just ran. Does that really make her as dangerous as you two keep saying?"
Firelight flickered across my face. For a second I could almost see his point.
But then I'm reminded of what happened. The pull toward
nothing
tugs in my chest. What I was left with.
"Think about what happens if she actually crosses into another pack's territory."
Chad continues to convince him. I don't know why he bothers, the man will
follow
us even if he wants to cry about it.
"Best case, they force her into their pack. Someone decides to mate with her. Worst case..."
He trails off, letting our imagination fill in the blanks. My jaw clenches.
The closest pack to us is the Rimecoat. Wolves with their fancy
corporate
bullshit.
Their arrogant female Alpha who thinks she's
better
than the rest of us because she has money. The thought of Helene being claimed by one of her people makes my blood boil.
I'd rather they
killed
her.
"And what does it say about you?"
"What do you mean?"
"That your old mate would rather risk death than come back with you? How will that look to your father? To the rest of the pack, now that our Alpha is getting up in years?"
"That's not helping..."
Kyle tries to break in but his voice lacks conviction. A sign that even he thinks sugarcoating it is
impossible
.
"I'm just pointing out what everyone will be thinking. The longer she's out there, the worse this looks for all of us. Especially you, Jace."
His voice is all
false concern
. I know Chad talks a lot of shit, but sometimes what he says gets right under my skin.
Makes me see red. Makes me want to
prove him wrong
by whatever means necessary.
"We'll probably be forced to coordinate with neighboring territories. The sooner we get organized, the sooner we find her."
Something in his
tone
makes me look up sharply, but his expression has already smoothed into a more... neutral concern.
Like he thinks I don't know. That he would miss the she-wolf he stalked
behind my back
.
I grunt, agreeing with finding her soon. Then I stand to walk away and cool off.
My father told me not to
do anything
to him over it, so I won't.
He also told me to take Helene all the way out here if I was going to break our bond... so maybe he's not as
smart
as I've always thought.
I rub at my chest, irritation building. At both of my friends, all of my family. At myself and at the woman who
scorned
me.
The bitch who couldn't just accept and move on. Had to leave a wound and fuck up
my life
plan.
I should never have looked her way twice.
Helene's face when we first mated was so goddamn happy before and after it was almost
annoying
.
Then the way she'd touch my arm when she
wanted attention
. The slightly sad eyed smile accusing me.
Always so needy and wanting more
care
than I wanted to give her.
She just wanted to get pregnant and raise a kid. Didn't care what I wanted to become.
Like she would have been happy if I was
just another Gamma
like my old man.
I can't be tied down to someone so...
ordinary
. Someone who would hold me back from what I could become in the pack.
That's what I'd thought.
Alpha potential
- everyone has said so. My father, Kyle's mother, everyone but her.
Now... I'm starting to wonder. Who put her up to it. Why else would she
pretend
for so long?
There must be someone inside the pack trying to
sabotage
me. I'll have to question her parents when we get back.
Make
them tell me what they know.
"Shit."
I breathe out while pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes.
Need sleep. I'm starting to think
crazy
thoughts. Besides...
If she cared about what happened to those
wolfless suck-ups
, she wouldn't have ran.
⧖
☾ ❄ ☽
⧖
Dawn broke with a drizzle of
cold
rain. At least my head won't overheat in this weather.
"Get up."
I kick at Kyle, still asleep in his tent, and Chad emerges from his. Already dressed and somehow looking fresher from sleep than he has any right to.
Asshole probably
halfheartedly
looked around yesterday.
"Look properly today."
"Whatever you say, fearless leader."
We spread out along the riverbank one last time and I pulled off my clothes. After the change, I
leap
to the other side and prowl in my werewolf form.
Looking through the forest brush at the edge of the river for anything.
The
rain
that started is going to make tracking hard. Washing away what little scent might have remained.
But a smell is not the only thing to find. Twenty minutes of moving upstream, something finally catches my eye.
A little
flash
of color.
Hooked against a gnarled branch near the shoreline is a tattered piece of fabric. From the clothes Helene was wearing when she
fled
.
I crouch down, and lift it carefully. Her familiar smell clings to it faintly, but there's something strange... something that makes my wolf
bristle
with confusion.
Chad leapt across a fallen tree in the water and moved with
unusual speed
. His eyes fix on what sits in my hands.
"Well, well. Looks like she did cross the river."
He steps closer and
reaches
for the evidence, but I pull it back instinctively. Something about his eagerness sets me on edge.
Makes me want to sock him in the
face
.
"What'd you find?"
Kyle yells from the other side and the Beta's son who I can't
attack
answers... for me.
"Mystery solved. She crossed this way. Let's get back to the village."
He holds out his hand
expectantly
with a smirk.
"I'll take that for the Alpha. He'll want to see it."
Something in me resists the request.
Possessiveness
. The bond still holding strong?
My furred fist clenches around the fabric and he backs off.
"Why? Sentimental value?"
The man's tone is light as he treats my beast form no different than speaking to a
human
... but his eyes hardened. Chad stares at me for a beat
too long
before shrugging.
"Whatever. Not like it matters who takes it there anyway."
He turns away, but not before I catch him muttering something under his breath. While pulling out and staring hard at his
phone screen
again.
"I already know it doesn't have to be me that finishes a Task."