Page 125

“All right,” I growl, turning towards the mess tent.

“Where are yougoing?”

“If there are kids out there, Nadia, they will be hungry. We need food.”

Eager, happy footsteps race after me.

And even if I’m frustrated and anxious, joy starts to replace the anger Rose engendered in me as I look down at Nadia by my side.

Chapter 52 – Trek

Cole

“You know we’re going to be in trouble, right?” I ask this about thirty minutes into our silent trek into the desert. I glance down at the compass on my watch, doing the math in my mind to keep us on the correct route to get to the caves. God, but this is going to take forever on foot.

“How can we be in trouble?” Nadia asks, panting a little as she climbs the rise next to me. “You’re a Captain. I was just following your orders!”

She gives me a cheerful, silly salute, and I study her, honestly torn between being angry with her and thinking she’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen in this moonlight.

Damn, but having a mate is…challenging.

“They wereyourorders, Amir,” I murmur, tearing my eyes away and looking out over the dark landscape with a frown.

“Yeah, but that’s not what we’re going to tell my dad,” she says happily, stretching her arms above her head. “How long till we get there?”

“Four hours,” I say, sighing.

She blanches, staring at me. “What?”

I blink back at her. “Sorry, did you not consult themapsbefore we left?”

“Oh, I can’t read a military map,” she says, flapping a hand at me. “You should have told me! Why didn’t we take a car?”

“All the jeeps are out, only those big military transports left, which would have been nearly as sneaky as arriving with a spotlight and a siren. Trust me, I considered it. This made the most sense.”

I adjust the backpack on my shoulders, looking down at her, wishing we’d gotten some sleep before this. Another long, sleepless night.

God, but this is a bad idea.

“Look,” I say, turning fully to her and shaking my head. “I’m going to propose something weird. But can you just go along with it?”

She looks up at me, suspicious. “Maybe.”

I smirk. “Okay. You concede that you’re very slow, yes?”

Nadia scoffs at me, insulted. “I am ofverynormal speed, Cole.”

“For a human,” I concede, shrugging. “But I’m an Alpha.”

“A conceited one.”

I ignore it. “And as an Alpha, this body isn’t even my fastest form.” I gesture down at myself.

“What are you proposing?” she asks, looking me up and down. “That you…run ahead and look and leave me here to be attackedby the child spies?” She points up into the cliffs that border the valley in which we stand.

I smirk at her. “If I thought you would have accepted me leaving you behind, then I’d have gone on this trip alone, Nadia.”

“Well, that would have been stupid,” she says, frowning at me. “Children of Solace girls, from what I’ve learned, fear men. They won’t come out for you.”