Page 13 of The Reluctant Mate (Shifters of the Three Rivers #5)
Chapter thirteen
Sofia
P ain was the first thing that registered—a dull, relentless throb pulsing behind my temples, in perfect sync with the beat of my heart. My mouth felt dry, metallic, like I’d been sucking on pennies, and the faint scent of copper teased the edges of my senses. I shifted, fabric rasping under my fingertips. Soft wool, worn surfaces. A blanket?
Claws scraped faintly against the edges of my mind, enough so I knew my wolf was okay. Mad as hell, but okay.
I tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness nearly knocked me flat again. Everything felt wrong, like my body and brain had been disconnected and poorly reassembled.
Focus, Sofia. Breathe.
I blinked slowly, forcing my vision to stabilize as I took in my surroundings. Dim light cast uneven shadows across wooden beams above me. The room was small but well-kept, with knotted pine walls and a slanted ceiling that spoke of an A-frame cabin. A large window to my right had its thick curtains partially drawn back, offering a glimpse of towering pines beyond, their branches heavy with fresh snow. We had to be north of Three Rivers; back home, all the snow had melted weeks ago.
A bookshelf hugged the left wall, crammed with an odd mix of well-worn paperbacks and sleek, leather-bound volumes. A thick, woven rug covered most of the hardwood floor, its muted geometric pattern blending seamlessly with the room’s earthy tones.
The bed beneath me was larger than mine at home, with a woolen blanket draped over me that smelled faintly of cedar and something that reminded me of Derek. On the nightstand beside me, a single lamp cast warm yellow light across the space, and a glass of water sat nearby, beads of condensation sliding down its sides like tiny tears. A soft creak echoed through the space—the building settling, complaining as wind pressed against its walls.
Where the freaking hell am I?
Memory hit me like shards of ice: Derek’s quiet, “I’m sorry,” the sharp prick of a syringe. Rage bubbled up through my veins as it all came rushing back.
He’d actually done this. He’d drugged me and dragged me Goddess-knows-where like some twisted kidnapper from a crime show.
Who the hell does that?
The anger burned through the fog in my brain, and I jolted upright, managing to stay vertical this time.
I reached for my Pack bonds, the invisible threads that tied me to Jase, to Mai and Ryan, to the whole of the Three Rivers Pack.
Nothing.
My breath caught, chest tightening as I tried again, harder this time, mentally clawing for that familiar connection.
Nothing.
The soft hum of connection I’d always felt while on Pack territory was gone. Panic crawled up my throat, its cold fingers wrapping around my lungs. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My wolf howled, the sound deafening inside my skull, her confusion and rage so intense my skin prickled with the effort of containing her.
“It’s okay, you’re safe, Sofia.”
Derek stood in the doorway, one shoulder leaning casually against the frame, ankles crossed like he was posing for Kidnapper Monthly magazine. He looked so relaxed it made me itch to slap that composure off his face.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck?” I bit out, each word sharp and deliberate. He just looked at me. Fine. “How about we start with something easy, then? Where the hell are we?”
“We’re safe. We’re at one of my cabins,” he said finally. “No one knows about this one.”
For a moment, fury completely replaced the gnawing panic in my chest. “Great. A secret little hideaway. Cozy. Did you decide to bring me here because you didn’t want anyone else to know how insane you are?”
His expression didn’t shift, and that infuriating calm composure of his only ignited something wilder in me.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done, Derek?”
“I know exactly what I’ve done,” he said, his tone matter-of-fact, unshaken by my growing rage. “You were in danger.”
“Oh, I’m in danger? No shit. I’m very aware I’m in danger.” I threw the blanket off my lap, swinging my legs to the floor with more force than I needed, and my feet hit the wooden planks with a satisfying thud. “ You drugged me. Me! Do you even realize how fucked up that is?” My voice climbed with every word. “And don’t you dare stand there like some brooding statue to the Goddess of ‘I-did-this-for-your-own-good.’ Start talking. Now.”
“You’re not in danger from me, Sofia.”
“Really? So I should feel safe, should I?” I leaned toward him, glaring. “Let me break it down for you. You—” I held up one finger, “lured me into an alley on false pretenses. You—” a second finger, “drugged me. You—” a third finger, “dragged me to this… cabin-in-the-middle-of-bumfuck-nowhere. What about any of that screams, ‘Trust me, Sofia, you’re safe with me’? Hmm?”
His teeth clenched for a moment before he replied, “I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“Alive?” I let out a laugh that sounded borderline hysterical even to my own ears. “Alive, Derek? What happened to basic communication? You know, maybe something like, ‘Hey, Sofia, you’re in danger, maybe we should handle that.’ Did that revolutionary concept ever cross your mind?”
“You wouldn’t have listened.” His steely gaze locked onto mine, and for the first time since I woke up, his calm facade cracked just a fraction. “You would’ve brushed me off, just like you’ve been doing for months.”
“Oh, so this is all my fault?”
His eyes darkened, twin storms brewing beneath that carefully blank expression. “Sofia, stop going crazy, I’m trying to explain. You’re in danger—”
Stop going crazy?
“Fuck you!” I shot to my feet, keeping one hand on the bed to steady myself.
Derek exhaled sharply, brushing a hand through his dark brown hair, frustration radiating off him in waves. “Look, Sofia, you’re my fated mate. I wasn’t going to let…”
His words faded to white noise as my arms fell limply to my sides, my chest tightening like someone had landed a direct hit to my sternum. For a moment, my entire mind went blank, the breath stolen clean from my lungs. I’d dreamed of hearing him say those words for years. Years! And now he just casually dropped it into conversation like he was commenting on the weather.
“Excuse me?” I said slowly.
“Sofia—”
“No.” I held up my hand. This was the final straw. “I know I’m your fated mate, but thank you for finally acknowledging it. Unlike you, I’ve known it for years, even though I’ve tried hard to forget it. But I’ve clung to the thought that the Moon Goddess made a mistake. She makes mistakes all the time. Look at Jem and Hayley—that was a total fucking disaster. And you and me?” I jabbed a finger between us. “This has got cosmic clerical error written all over it.”
I knew I was ranting, but right now, I didn’t care. My eyes flickered to the ceiling as I dramatically lifted both hands skyward, tilting my chin up like I was waiting for divine intervention.
“Any moment now, she’s going to course correct,” I declared loudly. “Right, Moon Goddess? You’re gonna pull the plug on whatever cosmic prank this is and hit reset, right?”
The floor beneath us didn’t rumble. No divine light flooded the room. The absurdly cozy fire behind Derek crackled in its stone hearth, stubbornly refusing to offer any signs of divine intervention. Just perfect.
When I glanced back down, Derek was glaring at me, arms crossed. “Guess you’re stuck with me.”
“Oh, hell no.” I jabbed a finger in his direction. “Just because the Goddess put us together doesn’t mean shit. I’m saying no, thanks. I’m fine on my own. I’m happy on my own. I don’t want anything to do with you. You hear me, Derek Shaw? Nothing, abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with you! You’re taking me back. Right now.”
“No.”
“That’s it? Just ‘no’? No discussion. No reasons?” I glared at him, hands planted firmly on my hips, mentally scanning for ways he could possibly piss me off more. Nope, I was pretty sure this was Sofia DEFCON 1—full nuclear meltdown imminent. “Fine. I’ll call Jase, and he’ll come pick me up. Where—?”
My voice broke off as my hand instinctively patted my back pocket. Empty. I froze for a heartbeat, then frantically checked my jeans, the side table, even the blanket I’d thrown aside. Nothing. No phone.
“Where is it?” I snapped.
“Gone.”
He really had a thing with one-word answers these days.
“What the hell do you mean, ‘gone?’” My voice rose, panic inching closer to the surface, clawing at my composure. “It doesn’t just vanish, Derek. Where is it?”
“I got rid of it,” he said, his tone maddeningly calm. “I didn’t have time to install a signal jammer. Yours was wide open—they could’ve tracked it.”
My brain short-circuited for a moment, grappling with the implications of his words.
“You what ?” The words came out loud, echoing off the cabin walls. “You really have gone crazy! That was my phone, Derek! My only way to call for help, to check in with Jase—”
“They’d find you through it,” he repeated slowly, like he was talking to a three-year-old. “It wasn’t safe.”
Oh, that did it.
I shoved my feet into my sneakers, spun on my heel, and stormed toward the door. I was ready to run until my legs gave out or we found civilization, whichever came first.
“Where are you going?”
“As far away from you as possible!” I wrenched the door open. Cold air bit at my cheeks with sharp little teeth, but I didn’t care. I had to get the fuck out of there.