Page 12 of Betrayed Mate (Rejected Fate Trilogy #1)

CHAPTER TWELVE

I didn’t see anything out of place, but my blood swirled with a sensation I couldn’t quite understand. Even though my wolf didn’t sense anything, I knew, without a doubt, that I was being watched.

Xander’s hurried footsteps stopped behind me, and he stilled. He whispered so faintly only I could hear. “What’s wrong?”

For half a second, I wished the two of us could pack-link, but then I remembered that would mean Ryker was my alpha.

Aw, hell no.

I’d rather be jumped than join a pack where I would be forced to do the alpha’s bidding every time I disagreed with him.

“Something’s in the woods,” I muttered.

Xander came to my side and stared in the same direction. I knew what he was doing—using his wolf senses to see what I was talking about—so I wasn’t surprised when he glanced at me and shook his head. “There’s nothing there.”

“Yes, there is.” My legs began moving of their own accord, even though my wolf whimpered inside me, agreeing with Xander that there was absolutely no reason I should believe anyone was there.

And yet, something inside me that I could only describe as awareness sparked. I couldn’t get myself to stop heading toward the thicker trees, searching for answers.

“Dammit, Ember. Do you want to push Ryker over the edge? He’s already livid, and your only saving grace is—”

“You act as if I’m not aware.” Anger flashed through me. “Hell, ‘livid’ is probably an understatement for the rage and hatred he must be feeling toward me now.” Still, I continued forward without hesitation.

“Then you know we should be heading back to the vehicle now. If they get back there before we do…”

I tuned him out as each step closer caused my heart to race. The most concerning problem was that I didn’t know if it was from anticipation or dread.

A hand gripped my wrist, tugging me back and forcing me into a hard, muscular chest.

My blood boiled, and I spun around and punched Xander in the jaw. His head jerked to the side, and his eyes widened, but his grip didn’t slacken.

“What the actual fuck?” he gritted out while narrowing his eyes. Even as his jaw turned red where I’d hit him, he didn’t release his hold on me. Instead, he grabbed my other wrist too.

I growled, trying to wrench myself out of his grip, but he was too strong, and I was weak at the moment. I needed to recover quickly because I wouldn’t be dominated by anyone…especially not men like them.

I did the only other thing I could think of—I spat on the ground, making my displeasure apparent. “I understand that your pack is callous and arrogant, but do not touch me like this again.” My breath caught as the wind swirled through the branches, causing twigs to drop onto the mulchy ground. The air seemed to wrap around me like a blanket, warm and comforting despite the chill in the air.

He dropped his hands and took a step back. I exhaled. I hadn’t expected him to release me that easily, especially when he’d just taken a blow to the jaw and I’d spat at him.

My awareness of the other presence vanished, leaving behind a faint coldness that reminded me of the way Briar’s link felt.

It didn't make any sense. Something had to be wrong.

The wind eased, and the woods became eerily silent. My wolf’s agitation churned uneasily inside me and urged me in the same direction now that the weird sensation had disappeared.

I took a deep breath, searching for any signs of a presence, but I heard only faint howling in the distance—Ryker and the others hunting down Simon.

“What the hell was that?” Xander muttered, stepping up to my side. His wrinkled forehead and the strained skin around his eyes screamed that something was wrong. He scanned the area I’d felt tugged toward.

A knot formed in my stomach. “What do you mean?”

“Did you not feel that gust of power?” His eyes glowed as his wolf surged forward, using its magic. “The wind wasn’t natural.”

I bit my bottom lip. “Are you sure?” It had felt natural to me.

“I’m positive.” He lifted his chin, and his nostrils flared, but he didn’t look away from the spot. “Why don’t you head back to the SUV? I’ll investigate before the trail gets cold.”

I gritted my teeth so hard that my jaw popped. “We would already have been over there searching if you hadn’t stopped me in the first place.” If I hadn’t wanted to conserve my energy, I’d have punched the jackass again on pure principle.

He cut his eyes at me and bared his teeth; however, I didn’t wait for him to say anything else and moved quietly in the direction of the sensation once again.

“I said head back to the SUV,” he called. “Not run in the direction of the threat.”

A snort lodged in my throat as I increased my pace. I swallowed my laughter only because I didn’t want to risk alerting anyone we were heading in that direction if they were still there. Just because I didn’t sense them anymore didn’t mean they weren’t hiding. If they could control the wind, they could probably manage to do other things as well, but what supernatural species could even control the wind? The closest I could come up with was witches, but even then, the ability to manipulate air was rare and limited. No one was meant to truly control the elements of Mother Nature.

Still, the fact that Xander expected me to obey him made me want to laugh all over again. He didn’t have any say over me even if I’d agreed to stick with them for now.

“Dammit,” Xander grumbled loud enough for me to hear. “Ryker is going to kill me.” Then his pace quickened to catch up.

I moved faster, risking making noise. Even though Xander seemed like a decent guy, especially compared to Ryker, he was still part of their pack and might try to prevent me from continuing on.

I focused on the woods. I could hear the sounds of deer, raccoons, and owls as they prepared for winter, indicating they didn’t sense a threat. But Xander hadn’t sensed the threat either at first, and when he had sensed magic, I hadn’t, so who knew what we were up against or if the animals could feel the presence of the observer?

I stepped through the thickening brush, and a faint floral scent I couldn’t place hit my nose. It smelled of sunshine and crisp tea leaves with a hint of mint and made a dull ache form deep within my chest, close to where my pack bonds used to be.

My feet stilled, and I glanced around. There was no sign that anyone had been there beyond the fleeting scent that seemed to dissipate quicker than should be possible.

Xander hurried into the area but stopped when our gazes connected. I held my breath, ready for him to insult me or try to drag me from this spot, but instead, his shoulders slumped slightly as if seeing me had given him some relief. Then he tore his gaze from mine and surveyed the area.

Good. I didn’t want to waste energy fighting him.

Turning away, I took in the thick brush at the base of three sizable oak trees. They formed a V with the brush laid out like a thick, prickly blanket—a perfect place for hiding.

I tapped into my wolf, borrowing a little bit of her magic to enhance my night vision and hearing. Though I could see beyond the trees and hear the sound of some deer rutting, nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the very faint smell…and the sound of paw pads hitting the mulch and heading in our direction.

My heart dropped to my stomach. Ryker would arrive soon.

“There’s no way anyone was here.” Xander took a deep breath and scowled.

“Well, that weird, alluring scent proves otherwise, though it’s almost gone now.” I didn’t know how he could overlook that fact.

His brows rose so high it was almost comical. “What are you talking about?”

I leaned back on my heels. Why would he pretend he didn’t smell anything odd? “The scent in the air. Something was here, though it doesn’t smell like any supernatural species or human I know of.” The words were out before I realized how they sounded. That was the thing… Scents didn’t lie, and I didn’t know what that meant for what I’d smelled.

He pursed his lips. “What are you talking about? There’s no abnormal scent here.”

I opened my mouth to argue but closed it. He was right. I couldn’t smell anything anymore. Was my mind playing tricks on me? I’d been on the brink of death, separated from my sister, and trying not to mourn the slaughter of my entire pack. That didn’t include the fact that I’d just used the bulk of my energy to fight Ryker, but no… Xander had sensed something too…something I hadn’t.

Crossing my arms, I tilted my head. “You said you sensed magic when I didn’t. We can’t both be wrong.” Surely not, right? Although…there was absolutely nothing to prove we hadn’t both lost our minds.

“I…” He grimaced. “I don’t know. None of this makes any sense.”

For once, we could agree on something. I ran a hand through my hair, my fingers snagging in the tangles. I could only imagine what I looked like, but that was an entirely superficial problem.

I could make out Ryker’s, Gage’s, and Kendric’s distant footfalls now. They were less than a mile from us and running at top speed, which meant they’d be here in a minute.

Xander closed his eyes for a second. “We’d better head to the vehicle. Ryker is almost here, and he wants the two of us away from this spot so you can’t cause any more problems while they search the area.”

The familiar heat of anger flowed through me once again, a sensation I’d rarely felt and had never enjoyed prior to Reid’s rejection. Now, it seemed to be the emotion most comfortable to me and helped me focus on anything but my pain. “Well, he wasn’t here and didn’t experience what we did, so I think we should be the ones searching, not them.”

“Look, you’re exhausted, and I could easily pick you up and carry you away if needed.” He rubbed his jaw where I’d hit him. “And that punch you delivered caught me off guard. It won’t happen again. Can you please do me a favor and not fight me on this? I’m fucking exhausted too, and I don’t want to deal with Ryker when he’s even more pissed.”

He wasn’t demanding but rather taking the extra time to talk to me like a person. I understood that we were all exhausted, and unfortunately, I had to admit that maybe I wasn’t up for being part of the search, especially since I might have imagined everything. “Fine, but if they lock in on a scent, I want to come back and see the evidence myself.”

“You always have to push him, don’t you?” Xander sighed, and then his eyes glowed. After a few seconds, they returned to their normal color, and he nodded in the direction of the car. “Let’s go. Ryker said okay .”

My back straightened. I hadn’t expected him to give in to my request so easily. Maybe he was desperate to get me out of the way.

Hearing how close the three of them were to us now, I headed back to the vehicle. Truth be told, I didn’t want to be around Ryker any more than I had to. The more time we spent together, the more I didn’t like the way he handled things.

Xander stayed close by my side, glancing back every few seconds like he was hoping that evidence would suddenly materialize to prove that the two of us hadn’t lost our minds.

I kept my gaze forward. A part of me wanted to be wrong because, if I wasn’t, that meant another species existed that I knew nothing about. A shiver ran down my spine, and the coldness settled in my chest in the form of another emotion I was beginning to feel all too often and wanted to channel into rage to burn it away.

Fear.

Soon, the woods began to thin, and the moon rose high in the night sky. Owls hooted in the distance, and the Suburban appeared in the darkness. My legs immediately dragged, exhaustion crashing over me. I didn’t have the energy to crawl inside, so I leaned against the side of the vehicle and sank down to the asphalt of the parking lot.

Xander came to my side, and I expected him to open the door and tell me to climb in, but instead, he lowered himself to the ground next to me, and the two of us sat in silence.

The weight of the world pressed in on me. I didn’t know how long we sat there, but as I got more comfortable sitting beside him, my emotions came on stronger. Comfort wasn’t helping me hold myself together. The dam inside me was near to breaking, and pain, anger, and heartache crushed my chest.

Footsteps stomped in our direction.

Ryker.

He came into view, his eyes dark with anger as he pointed right at me. “You’re going to pay for this.”