Page 18 of Fated to the Alpha Warrior (The Wolf’s Forbidden Mate #1)

Kieran

I spent the scant few hours of my pre-dawn watch waiting for the sun to rise on the horizon. The fae presence in this abandoned pack’s village coats the air and raises my wolf’s hackles. I’ve never wanted to leave a place more than I want to leave Pack Ruby.

As soon as the rays of the sun strike the foggy morning air, I wake Aurora up. “Time to go,” I tell her, watching as she becomes instantly alert and on edge. “Nothing bad. Just ready to get the hell out of here.”

“That I can agree with you on.”

Finally some common ground between us. Every moment of this trip so far has been a wild series of emotions, swinging constantly between relief and fear, agony and desire. When I don’t want her, I want her to just go away.

I’m starting to understand how some shifters wind up in no-win bargains with the fae.

We gather up our things, and Aurora hops on her motorcycle, looking strangely out of place amidst the fog. She cranks up the engine and turns on the fog lights, steering the bike toward the road.

“Follow close behind me,” I tell her as I strip off my shirt, my wolf thrashing just under my skin, desperate to be unleashed. “I don’t want to get lost in this fog, so I’ll lead. If I smell fae presence, I’ll give you a signal.”

I’ve stripped my pants off and let my wolf out before she asks, “What signal?”

There isn’t time to shift back to human form and answer. With my pack strapped across my chest, now tightly snug against my furred back, my wolf is ready to go and then some. Howling, I let him loose, the two of us somehow the same yet different at the same time.

Getting out of this place is my first goal. Thankfully the village is small, so it doesn’t take long until the wide-open road has narrowed out. An ever-present mist clings to the air, which is thick with magic.

My heightened senses are in overdrive. The wolf is irritable and on edge because of it, ears swiveling for new sounds, eyes constantly scanning for threats.

I want nothing more than to tear down the path toward the next pack at full speed, but Aurora can’t keep up on her bike, especially in these conditions.

Soon enough we’ve come to the forest that stretches between us and the next pack. The path through is winding but mercifully flat enough for Aurora’s bike tires. Still, my wolf balks at the edge of it all, my nose insisting there are fae here even though my eyes and ears tell a different story.

Aurora idles behind me, her bike listing to one side as she flips the kickstand out. I can feel her trepidation and curiosity through our bond, even with the broken shape of it. “Something wrong? Is this the signal?”

I don’t know yet. Lowering my head, I sniff the ground intently, sifting through each scent that greets my nose.

The magic is overwhelming, blanketing it all, and yet beneath that I still pick up the scents of those who have come down this path recently.

Wildlife, mostly, but a few shifters as well, none of them familiar.

It’s impossible to tell if they were fleeing from the fae threat, journeying into the forest to beg the fae for a favor, or refugees seeking a new home.

I shake my head, fur flying, ears twitching, then move on. Aurora’s bike engine kicks it up a notch, and she follows.

The forest stretches for miles. I lead us down the winding path and unmarked forks by memory.

There’s a map in my pack, but this close to home, I know the way.

Even if I didn’t, my wolf does—his instincts tell him when another pack is nearby, and his nose can sift through even stale scents.

It’s a consolation, if small, that at least some of the shifters seem to have survived and managed to leave the abandoned village.

Although I can’t help worrying about the fact that my father didn’t tell me about Pack Ruby. That means that either it happened very recently, he didn’t know because his scouts didn’t tell him, or he simply kept it from me.

Why would he do that, though? He may disagree with the elders’ reasons for sending Aurora along, but I know that he wants the fae threat neutralized just as much as anyone.

No, it must mean that his scouts never found the abandoned village. It wasn’t a large pack, after all, and they don’t have the nose for fae magic that I have.

I’ll send him a message to let him know what happened. As soon as I’m in human form… and my phone picks up a signal. Magic has a funny way of stopping 5G from getting through. Failing that, I can send a messenger back the long way, assuming our next stop has one to spare.

And assuming they aren’t half-mad like Pax, who my father tried to murder.

That’s a lot of assumptions. Frustration at the entire situation makes me push my pace to the very edge of what Aurora can keep up with on her bike. I never wanted to have this much responsibility on my shoulders, especially without the authority to do anything about it.

If I had my way, we’d be doing this with an entire group of warriors, bringing supplies for stragglers and refugees.

Hell, I’d even talk to the local covens to see what they know and how much help they’re willing to offer.

Shifters and witches aren’t friends on the best of days, but none of us want the fae hanging around causing trouble.

My father doesn’t believe in “my way.” So I’ll just have to try to send him a message through whatever channels I’m able to, and hope for the best.

We take the long road through the forest, sticking to paths that the bike can make it down. I review my mental map of everything as we break out of the trees into the land beyond.

Only to stop right at the edge of a lake that isn’t supposed to be here.

I turn my head back and forth, scenting the air. This is the end of the path, just as expected. But the lake isn’t supposed to be here.

Ducking behind a tree, I shift back to my human form and pull the map out of my pack. Aurora gets off of her motorcycle and walks over to me, a frown on her face.

“Something wrong? Are we lost?”

“I don’t know.” My wolf growls, his temper short. “This lake isn’t supposed to be here.”

Aurora snorts. “Lakes don’t just appear out of nowhere.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I snap, every instinct inside of me screaming that we’re in danger. “This is the path. I know that it’s the path. And the next pack is on the other side of this lake that isn’t supposed to be here.”

“Which means we need to go around the lake.” She gets back on the bike, revving the engine impatiently. “Should be easy enough.”

Glancing at the eerily calm blue water, I feel my hackles rise. “Right. Easy enough.”

I store the map and shift back, then lead Aurora on the right side of the lake. It feels like we go for ages, only to wind up nowhere closer to seeing the end of the still blue water.

So I spin around, digging my paws into the dirt, and scout in the other direction. Aurora’s bike tires fling mug as she revs around to follow me. I put all the speed into my run that I can, agitation and frustration nipping at my heels.

No end in sight in the other direction either.

But there is a boat on the shore.

Aurora’s bike is far behind me. I shift back to human form in time for her to catch up as I pull my shirt over my head.

“You could’ve waited for me,” she snaps. “What were you in such a rush to?—”

I gesture to the boat in the same moment that she spots it. “I’m starting to get the feeling that something strange is happening here.” My wolf growls, and I involuntarily lift my lip, his emotions bleeding over into mine. “I don’t like it. Neither does my wolf.”

“Well, I don’t have a wolf, but I know one thing: don’t look a gift boat in the mouth.” She walks up to the boat and peers inside, gauging it closely. “It looks deep enough and sturdy enough to hold my bike. Better than swimming, too.”

“Except that it’s some kind of trap.” I stare across the deep blue water, my nerves on edge. “No lake appears out of nowhere. Especially one this wide in every direction… almost like we’re being given no other option.”

Aurora looks over her shoulder at the path, which cuts through the thick forest. Then over at me with those beautiful split-colored eyes. In a low voice, she says, “You’re thinking that you’d be able to cross as your wolf if it weren’t for me and my bike.”

“I’m not saying that. I’m just not sure about using the boat. It’s not about you.”

“It is. We’d be able to cross together if I could shift.” Her nostrils flare. “It’s fine. You can look for another way. I’ll take the boat.”

She seems hurt. I search for words to say, but feel in over my depth. The truth is, even though she’s my mate, I have no idea how to soothe her.

“We’ll go together.” I pause, my wolf a howling thing inside me, desperation for connection with his mate. “I’m not going to leave you behind.”

“Right. Because the Elders wouldn’t allow it.” Her shoulders are back, her walls up, the space between us full with too many words left unsaid. “Let’s just get it over with.”

Thankfully the boat is large enough to fit a handful of people, and Aurora’s motorcycle is slim and off-road ready, weighing maybe a few hundred pounds at most. We load it into the boat together and secure it to the stern. Aurora and I climb into the bow so the boat is evenly weighted.

It’s a modest boat, with a simple sail, rudder, and wheel.

Thankfully I learned a few things about sailing from Pack Peridot when I stayed with them.

As a spread-out pack of shifters living on islands off the east coast, the shifters there went sailing frequently, and even used small boats to get back and forth between their homes.

“Turn the wheel slowly,” I instruct Aurora as I man the sail and pick up a breeze. “We’re going to have to be careful to stay on course. I have no idea how big this lake is.”

Aurora shades her eyes with her hand and gazes at the distant horizon. “It looks like the water comes to an end not too far out.”