Page 8 of Betrayed Mate (Rejected Fate Trilogy #1)

CHAPTER EIGHT

T his time, the bile surged up my throat, and there wasn’t going to be any way to hold back the contents. I jerked forward, angling between the two middle-row chairs.

Kendric hurried to open the door and jumped out of the vehicle just as I started gagging. I barely made it out of the car before I began heaving by the back tire. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the death and destruction of my pack in front of me.

Rosa’s throat had been ripped out, making the image of Reid lunging at her that night pop into my head again. None of this made sense. Why would he do that? Our packs had been amicable for centuries. Yet, he was the only one near her who could have done that to her.

My chest knotted, making it hard to breathe, which made vomiting that much worse.

The front passenger seat door opened, and Gage grumbled, “We need to get her out of here.”

“I’m well aware, but it’s going to be a minute,” Kendric replied tersely.

I didn’t want them to argue because of me, but I hadn’t expected to see my dead packmates. I didn’t know why, but I’d assumed Reid would have taken the time to bury them. We at least deserved that. We were wolf shifters after all.

Eventually, my entire stomach emptied. Everything I’d eaten was pretty much at my feet.

More doors opened. Footsteps grew louder toward me, indicating Xander and Ryker had joined us.

I spat, trying to get the puke out of my mouth, and straightened. I didn’t know what I expected to find, but it wasn’t the four of them standing in a line, blocking my view of my pack home. The tightness in my chest remained, but a little bit of relief flooded my system.

“One of you go with her to the river to see if you can find any signs of what might have happened to her sister while the other three handle what’s left here. She shouldn’t be alone,” Ryker gritted out, pressing his lips together.

Even though I probably should have examined the area with them, I didn’t have the courage. My chest felt frozen while my heart ached as if it could explode or shatter at any moment. None of these people deserved this. If this was because something was wrong with me, then the attackers should’ve killed only me. Not everyone else.

Each breath got harder than the last, and I became lightheaded. All of this was my fault, and worse, my fated mate had been the one to take everything from me. What had I done to offend Fate that I had to lose so much?

Gabe hurried over to me and slid his arm around my shoulders. He didn’t flinch at the vomit below us as he guided me to the back of the Suburban. He squeezed gently. “Where did you and your sister run off to?”

Briar.

Right. I needed to locate her. “We headed to the right.” I lifted my hand, gesturing toward the river.

My head began to clear, and my lungs weren’t screaming like they were before. The door of the Suburban shut, and the engine turned over, informing me that the others were driving closer to the pack neighborhood. The fact that I didn’t want to turn and look back at the chaos made me a coward, but if I did, I’d break down all over again. That wouldn’t help me find clues to where Briar might be.

Her spot in my chest remained lukewarm, indicating that she wasn’t within pack-link range. A chill ran down my spine, and I couldn’t stop the shiver. She had to be in trouble, but I wasn’t sure which kind—being held hostage or injured somewhere alone and unable to defend herself.

“Hey, we’ll find her.” Gage dropped his arm and offered a small smile. “As long as you feel her pack link, there’s hope.”

My heart thawed a little toward him, which caught me by surprise. No . I’d thought Reid was a nice person too, and look where that had gotten me. I would not make that mistake again. “That may be true, but what is she enduring in the meantime?” If the Blackstone pack had Briar on their land, her pack link would be warmer, and I’d be able to link with her if she was awake. The temperature of the link proved she wasn’t close to where we were, so who else could be involved? My eyes burned as tears threatened to fill them.

“What’s wrong?” He caught my wrist and tugged me toward him.

I blinked, not wanting to break down on him once again, and exhaled. “I really thought she’d be here.” I didn’t know why, and I hadn’t even wanted to admit it to myself, but I had hoped that Briar and I would be reunited by now. Instead, I was no closer to finding her.

A tear trickled down my cheek, and Gage winced.

“Well, at least we know where she isn’t, so that’s one less place to look. Let’s go see if we can determine anything else. Take me to where the two of you fell into the water.”

Thunder rumbled, and I looked skyward. Dark clouds had rolled in overhead. My heart dropped to my stomach. Every time I thought things couldn’t get worse, Fate proved how big of a bitch she truly was.

I yanked my wrist from Gage’s grasp and ran through the oaks along the trail that we’d taken to get to the water. I breathed in the faint smell of Briar…as well as someone else. However, the second scent was nearly gone, even compared to Briar’s, with a very faint musky hint that wasn’t definitive. “There’s a second scent, but it should be stronger than this.” I wanted to stomp and scream, but all that would accomplish was alerting the Blackwood pack that I’d returned so they could try to finish what they’d started.

“That’s how it was for us too.” He took in a big breath. “It wasn’t as faded because we arrived within thirty minutes of the attack, but there wasn’t anything distinguishable about the unknown scent other than the musk.”

I rubbed my head, trying to prevent the migraine that seemed determined to come.

Something hit me square on my shoulders. “Wait. You all knew that I’d see my pack members like that when we got here?” I lifted my chin, ready to either hear that they’d wanted me to see them like that or smell rotten eggs. If I could choose, I’d rather he be honest since my stomach still wasn’t feeling right.

His jaw dropped. “Fate, no. That surprised us all. The attack on our…” He paused, closing his eyes briefly. “The bodies had all been gathered into a pile in the backyard of the royal mansion. We assumed it would be the same for your pack, but clearly, we were wrong.”

I waited for the sulfur smell, but it never came. The bastard wasn’t lying. Worse, I’d made him recall his own loss. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

He lifted a hand. “Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong. We’re all trying to get answers, and we’re going to have to relive a lot of painful memories in order to get there.”

He was right, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t be upset about it.

A few droplets of rain hit my face. Soon, all traces of scent and potential signs of movement would be washed away, so we’d best hurry. Not bothering to speak, I spun and headed in the direction of Shadowbrook. I could still see the paw prints from Briar and me, along with a set of footprints. No wonder the shifter hadn’t been able to catch us. “The person hunting us remained in human form.”

“Strange for them not to shift.”

Another round of thunder rolled, but this time, it sounded closer. I picked up my pace to a jog. The rush of the river alerted me that we were getting closer, but the rain came down a little harder.

If Gage and I were pack, I wouldn’t hesitate to shift so we could move faster. But we weren’t, and if we were both in animal form, we wouldn’t be able to communicate effectively.

When we reached the steep hill that led down to the water’s edge, both of us were panting. I skidded a little on the muddy mulch due to my flip-flops, so I kicked them off. My bare feet dug into the cold, moist mulch as I carefully made my way down to the rocks. The water was running even quicker than it had been two nights ago, and it had risen higher on the embankment. I glanced at the rock where Briar had hit her head and saw a dab of dried blood.

I had the strangest urge to touch it, but I kept my hands by my sides. “She hit there.”

“That’s a nasty edge.” Gage wrinkled his nose and stared downriver. Rain now fell steadily.

I didn’t know what I’d been hoping to find here. My knees grew weak, and I wanted to curl into a ball and wake up from this nightmare.

“Let’s head back to the road,” Gage said, taking my hand, his warmth pushing away some of the cold I’d started feeling again.

My toes tightened around the sharp rock so I wouldn’t budge from this spot. The last thing I wanted was to return and see Mom or Dad with their throats ripped out.

A sob lodged in my throat as their faces flashed inside my head. I needed to go back to my house and get pictures of them and snag my phone so I could listen to the last voicemails they’d left me. I refused to give Reid the power to prevent me from remembering their faces and voices.

“We need to go, Ember. Staying out here isn’t doing us any good. We need to regroup so we can decide our next steps.”

Even though I knew he was making sense, my heart didn’t want to hear the message. Leaving here made things more final… something that I couldn’t get back.

If Briar wasn’t here, that meant something had to be preventing her from meeting me here. My legs wanted to give out. The Blackwoods must have her somewhere.

Rain pelted us, and I shivered. However, I didn’t move from my spot.

He bent down and lifted me into his arms, and then he took off up the steep hill.

Even though he was a stranger, I didn’t care. Someone was holding me, and that was all it took for the strangled sob to come out. I buried my face in his chest, falling apart once again. He cradled me to him, pausing only once to bend and retrieve the flip-flops I’d dropped.

For a minute, I pretended that Fate was crying along with me for everything we’d lost.

Light flashed through my closed eyelids as thunder crashed. The storm was upon us, conveying exactly the way I felt inside. I was angry, sad, and broken, needing solace in the chaos of the storm swirling around me.

Gage didn’t miss a beat, hurrying back toward the town.

“I need to go inside my house,” I stated, trying and failing to keep my voice steady. “I need pictures and my cell phone in case Briar tries to call me.”

He sighed. “I don’t think that’s wise.”

“I’m not asking. It’s the first house in the neighborhood, on the right.” I lifted my head, not caring if tears and snot streamed down my face. I allowed my wolf to rush forward, emphasizing my intent.

His eyes widened and he tilted his head back. “Got it. I’m talking to the others now.”

I wanted to say more, but I kept my mouth shut. I chose my battles, and it wasn’t worth having one now if they didn’t try to keep me from my house.

Gage’s footsteps held steady, and before long, they rang against a more solid surface. We’d made it to my driveway. He didn’t pause, and I didn’t raise my head, not wanting to see the disaster around us.

When a door opened and the smell of home hit my nose, I lifted my gaze. He breezed through the kitchen, and I glanced into the living room and saw the blanket Mom always used while sitting on the couch heaped on the floor. The television flickered, though there was no sound. Dad must have muted the television instead of turning it off before running out to face the threat head-on.

“Where’s your room? We need to hurry. This is going to piss Ryker off. He didn’t want you brought here.”

In fairness, I didn’t think I could handle being inside for long.

He set me down, and I took off toward my room. I headed straight to my closet and removed a duffel bag then filled it with clothes, essentials, and everything else I could fit. Then I swiped my cell phone and charger from my nightstand, knowing I had enough pictures and voicemails on there to last until I could come back for everything else.

I marched across the hall to Briar’s room and grabbed similar stuff for her. She’d need it when we located her. I had to hold on to the belief that we would find her and make it back home.

Gage watched from the hallway. When I exited Briar’s room, he asked, “Are you ready to go?”

I nodded. Being here was painful. I kept expecting my parents to walk into the house and check on me any minute.

“When we go out the back door, look at the car, nothing else. They cleared the area in case we needed to rush back to the vehicle, so you shouldn’t see anything if you don’t search for it. The door’s unlocked—we’re just going down the road to wait until they’re done.” He took Briar’s teal bag and my maroon one from me.

I grimaced. Even though I didn’t want to see the bodies, I couldn’t just leave them. “I need to bury my pack. They deserve a place to rest.”

“Ryker is taking care of that. He and the others are already digging a hole. Wait here, and I’ll go help them. We’ll leave a marker so you’ll know where they’re buried.”

I hated that, but at least my pack and family would be returned to the earth. We weren’t sure if we were safe, and the fact that Ryker was taking the time to bury them without me asking meant a lot to me.

I was surprised that Ryker had led that effort.

“Don’t worry. I don’t have any desire to see anything else.” Rosa’s body would forever haunt me, her skin pale and dark, congealed blood coating her neck and the grass beneath her. Nausea curdled in my stomach once again, so I thought through the recipe of an Oreo pound cake I’d wanted to try to make.

When we hit my backyard, I homed in on the Suburban, not even blinking in case I accidentally looked away from it.

The two of us hurried to the vehicle, and I opened the back door and slid into the far back seat, ducking out of the rain. The trunk opened, and I glanced back as Gage threw in the two duffel bags.

Ryker slid into the driver’s seat, and both back doors opened, Kendric and Xander climbing in as well. Mud covered Ryker’s clothes and hands, and dabs of it dotted his face from digging the huge grave. Gage jogged to the front like he was in a hurry.

There was no way he’d taken care of all one hundred members of my pack so soon. “I thought you were going to bury them—”

Ryker’s dark gaze flickered to the rearview mirror, catching my eye. “We were, but there’s been another attack.”