Page 238 of Alpha Mates

“Get out of here?”I echo with a frown.

He couldn’t meanhome. He’d said it too casually to mean that, and other than yesterday when I’d snapped at him for even suggesting I go back alone, he hadn’t mentioned home once.

“We need more supplies,” he explains, burying the axe in the stump in front of him. “Food and shit. There’s a human town nearby where I restock if I have to. We can grab an early dinner while we’re out there.”

That sounds nice—normal—like a date. And after weeks of being anything but, a little normal sounded tempting. But that would mean leaving here, andhereis where I got Aiden back. Here, it’s only us. And right now, I need it to be only us.

Alex needs it to be only us.

A cold dejection settles over me as he remains quiet, deepening the misery that seems to grow with each passing minute.

“I don’t want to,” I mumble the words as I drag my legs out of the sun, hugging my knees to my chest.

“Come on, Julian,” Aiden says, abandoning his workstation to come to me.

My heart flips as I watch his approach from beneath the tree’s shade.

“I don’t see why we have to,” I argue, squirming as he grows closer until he’s standing right in front of me. He squats down with all the muscle and confidence I’m sorely lacking and fixes me with those dark eyes.

There’s something in them I’ve noticed all morning. He knows something’s wrong. He just hasn’t asked yet, and I’m hoping he won’t.

“Are you afraid of going somewhere new?” he asks as he settles a hand on my knee. “Does it make you nervous, heading out so far from home?”

I shake my head. Oddly enough, that hadn’t even crossed my mind. The world outside the pack wasn’t as scary as it used to be. Being mated to Aiden had encouraged me to dip my toes into the unfamiliar waters. Then, having to find him had forced me to dive the rest of the way in.

If I could run that far on my own, I could handle a human town.

“Then, why not?” he asks, head tilting. “We’ve spent the last few days in the middle of nowhere. Isn’t it driving you crazy?” He smiles as he rubs my knees. “I think it’s time we got out.”

“Then let’s go home,” I mumble. Aiden tenses. I pretend not to see it.

“Not yet,” he says, still smiling, but it no longer reaches his eyes. “Date night will be good for us.”

It would be. It would be really,reallynice to escape everything for a night and just enjoy him again—enjoy us.

What do you think?I ask Alex, trying to seek him out.It could be nice, right?

Nothing. I don’t know if he hears me. I don’t even know if he’s listening anymore.

I thought finding Aiden—earning his forgiveness—would bring Alex back. But it hadn’t. Aiden and I weren’t perfect, but we’ve been moving in the right direction. Somehow, it still isn’t enough.

Alex?I try again, prodding the dim space where his light used to burn. Silence answers.

“You alright?”

My lips part at Aiden’s voice.

No. Something’s wrong with Alex.

I want to tell him. I want to tell him everything—how long it’s been since I’d spoken to Alex, how scared I am, and how that fear only grows the longer this goes on. But that would make it real, and I can’t handle it being real—not after everything.

“I’m fine,” I say instead with a smile. “Just got lost in thought.”

Deep down, I know what’s happening. I’m on the verge of being separated from my wolf. As a werewolf, thatcouldn’thappen. We worked as a unit—the wolf’s mind and the human’s soul. It was what kept us alive andsane, two parts of a single entity, balanced only by coexistence. Otherwise, how could a beast operate as a man, or a man as a beast?

But Alex’s light … his soul … everything was dimming. The worst part is I can’t even remember when it started. I was too lost in my own sadness, grieving so deeply, that by the time I found Aiden I’d already started to lose Alex too.

Aiden’s gaze lingers on me, but he nods, letting it go while it haunts me.