The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate (Five Packs #1)(51)

Gael isn’t where I left him. Jaime’s there. He’s wandered up on the ridge behind the cabin, squatting on a rock, playing on his phone. I leap and knock it from his hands while I shift back to my skin.

“Where’s Una?”

Jaime scrambles to his feet. “Down there.”

“No, she isn’t.” I smell Mari. Annie. Kennedy. That’s it.

“I swear, Alpha. I’ve been here an hour. No one’s left.”

“Where’s Gael?”

“Lochlan wanted him in the gym to spar with Finn. He sent me to take his place.”

What the fuck?

Jaime bends to get his phone, but before he can, I stomp it with my heel. It cracks. Doesn’t make me feel better.

Where the hell’s my mate? And what the fuck is Lochlan playing at?

I trip down the incline, cross the deck, and fling open the female’s back door. There’s a scream. I take a breath, slow my roll down the narrow hall. Una’s not gonna like it if she comes home and her place reeks of female fear.

Mari and Annie are huddled on the couch, Kennedy standing in front of them in a defensive stance. They’re all baring their necks.

“Where is she?”

“Don’t tell him,” Kennedy says at the exact same time the other two sob, “Chapel Bell.”

I roar, the wolf coursing up my throat. I swallow him down. There will be time for rage. Later. After I have my mate in hand.

There’s a footstep behind me. The females peek up. Jaime clears his throat.

His scent is in my female’s space.

Oh, hell, no.

I barrel out the way I came in, seizing Jaime and hauling him out the back door, hoisting him into the sunflowers growing around the deck. There’s a satisfying crunch.

Guess there’s a little time for rage now.

What the fuck is Una doing in town? Who is she with?

When I get my female, I’m tying her to my bed.

No wooing.

I am alpha.

She is mine.

And all this bullshit is gonna stop here and now.





8





UNA





“Killian’s not in camp.” Kennedy rushes through the screen door, letting it slam.

Annie’s having a panic attack on the sofa. She’s wrung her skirt to the point it’s wrinkled and damp with palm sweat. She’s not going to be able to make the mushroom run. She was cool yesterday, but having Killian howling outside all night long jangled her nerves. And they’re not steady on the best of days.

“Where is he?” I ease my backpack over my shoulders. I’ve carefully wrapped the jar of morels in a thick quilt.

“Old Noreen didn’t know, and I didn’t want to ask anybody else. I don’t smell him anywhere, though.” She squeezes Annie’s shoulder.

“I—I’m s—so sorry.” Annie’s eyes are tormented. She hates herself like this, but once the poison gets in her head, you can’t talk her out of it. Abertha’s calming tea doesn’t help. Even Kennedy’s weed doesn’t do much but blunt the worst of it.

“Nothing to be sorry about. We’re a team, right?” I hold out my fist.

She wrinkles her forehead.

“You bump it with your fist. It’s a human thing.”

She’s still hyperventilating, but she taps my knuckles.

“You gonna be okay?” I know she will be, but I worry. She’s tough, but her brain kind of has a mind of its own.

“G-go g-get ‘em.” She manages a watery smile. That’s my girl. A light breeze will knock her down emotionally, but she hauls herself back up every time.

“Are we clear?” I ask Kennedy, checking my phone. No new texts. About an hour ago, Shroomforager3000 said he was at the rest stop north of Chapel Bell.

“The males are all at the gym or the lodge. The patrols should be at the west and south perimeters. It’s now or never.”

“All right. I’ll be quick. A half hour there, ten minutes or so to make the exchange, a half hour home. I’ll be back way before dinner.”

“We’ll go down to the commons so if anyone’s asking for you, we can say you’re at the crone’s.” Kennedy peeks out the window.

“Has anyone ever asked for me?” I peer over her shoulder. The path is clear. I don’t scent anyone.

“First time for everything.” Kennedy holds up her palm, and I slap it.

“Keep an eye on Annie?” I ask her.

“You know I will.” Kennedy lowers her voice. “If anything seems weird, bail. We can sell the mushrooms another time. They’re dried. They’re not going bad.”

I lower my voice, too. “I’m a wolf. I’m not scared of a human man.”

“Yeah, but that’s not all that’s out there.” Kennedy and I exchange a look. We talk about this whenever she goes to her rented cabin to shift alone. There are still ferals outside our boundaries. Outcasts from the Last Pack. Humans who traffic in the fur trade. It’s not like it used to be, but the dangers are still there.

But not at the farmer’s market in Chapel Bell in broad daylight.

I give Kennedy the most reassuring smile I can muster, and she opens the door for me. After I hobble down the stairs, I force myself to walk at my usual pace. I look way too obvious when I hustle.