Page 11 of Moon Fated

As if on cue, my wolf surged forward at the thought of him, drawn to his strength like a moth to flame. I suppressed a shudder, feeling the power of her longing.

"Stop it," I scolded, pressing my hand harder against the door. "I get that you’re horny, okay? But we're here for Callista, not tail." Even as I said it, my stomach swooped. Tail did sound nice…

I groaned, forcing my eyes closed. “We can discuss that later,” I hissed. Maybe I had locked down too hard, but jumping into bed with someone here was not an option. And Rowan Steele? Hell, no. He was an alpha, and not only outside my pack but the leader of the one pack that had ousted us. Rowan hadn’t led Black Lake Pack then, but he used to be Nathan’s best friend. The fact that he was their alpha now? I knew exactly how Nathan and the rest of Kitimat Pack would feel about that.

Even as that knowledge slammed into me, it hadn’t kept me from noticing all of him in those thirty seconds. His pale blue eyes. The stubble on his chin. The energy zipping under his skin that made me wonder if he’d locked things up just as much as I had…

“Shiiiit, can you focus, please?” I gripped the door handle until my knuckles turned white, trying to think about anything other than the burning in my midsection.

Finally, I zeroed in on Callista's scent, teasing it apart from the myriad others that filled the room: the pine-scented soap she favored, the tangy residue of old tea in a cup on her nightstand, the underlying musk that was all wolf. Closing my eyes, I followed the scent trail to the window, pushing it open to let the crisp air of northern British Columbia rush in. Redwood and cedar whispered in the breeze, but underneath that, the faintest trace of Callista's passage beckoned.

I leaned out, drawing in a long, steady inhale. There it was—a thin thread of her essence, pulling me toward the dense forest surrounding the town. Her path was erratic, zigzagging through the underbrush, a sign she was either in a hurry or...

I shook my head. No time for speculation. Not when every second could mean the difference between finding her safe or not. I jumped out onto the clover and stalked forward. "She went into town.” My wolf locked in, and I tracked mentally first, envisioning her potential route, noting the places where her scent spiked—by a cluster of berry bushes, across the creek where we used to play as pups, near the old logging road that humans rarely traveled.

Once I had the beginning of her trail in my mind, I slipped back inside and gathered the rest of my belongings. A sturdy jacket, some provisions, and an extra pair of socks from Callie’s drawers. Essentials only. I shoved everything into a backpack and trudged into Blake's study, the cold metal of the dagger pressing against my palm. Its ornate handle glinted in the soft light filtering through the blinds, casting intricate shadows on the walls. I laid it carefully onto the mahogany desk, watching as Blake and his mate, Celeste, leaned in for a closer look.

"Ever seen anything like this?" I asked.

Blake's brows furrowed as he picked up the weapon, turning it over in his large, calloused hands. "No," he admitted, a hunter's focus narrowing his green eyes. "No markings or symbols I recognize."

Celeste, her ethereal beauty always seeming so out of place in the ruggedness of our world, shook her head, her delicate fingers tracing the air above the blade as if sensing its history. "It's not from any of our known artisans or blacksmiths. Where did you find it?"

“Under her bed.”

Celeste’s eyes narrowed. “This was here in the house?”

The room fell silent, each of us lost in our thoughts until Blake cleared his throat, breaking the spell the dagger seemed to cast. He placed it back on the desk with a thud. "We're heading south to the lower provincial pack meeting. You could come.”

My heart skipped a beat. Pack meeting? I couldn’t show my face in town, let alone at a meeting with every lower provincial pack. The thought of it set every nerve in my body alight with resistance. The thrumming undercurrent of my wolf's instincts warned of the inherent danger in mingling with those who could tear me apart for simply existing outside their rigid hierarchy.

"Callista might have had dealings with someone from the other packs. You wouldn’t have to show your face," Blake continued, unknowingly echoing my own thoughts. "You could gather information. Watch. I could take the dagger to the elders?—"

“You could take it, that’s a great idea. I could stay here, and you could tell me what you find.”

Blake raised an eyebrow, and he didn’t have to say a word. I clenched my jaw, my heart knocking against my ribs. If there were clues out there, whispers of her fate caught in the wind, we both knew I would be the one to find them. Yet the coil of dread in my gut refused to unwind.

It was risky. The mere thought of being submerged in a sea of wolves who could recognize me tightened my chest. But Callista was out there, possibly in danger, and every instinct I possessed screamed at me to find her. To protect one of our own.

"Alright.” I swallowed hard. “I'll do it."

Chapter

Six

Rowan

Iended up getting four hours of sleep after making my calls and finally settling in for the night. Not the best, but not the worst either. Especially considering my wolf kept throwing images of Evelyn into my head. Was he that desperate?

Probably.

Definitely, yes.

Still, it’d been five seconds. I’d barely had time to register her face, and yet her scent was burned in my nostrils. I needed to run. I needed him to get his energy out so I could focus on work and the pack meeting that night.

The dawn had barely broken, but the woods of Northern BC were already alive with the muted sounds of the Black Lake Pack training. Our breath frosted in the chill air as we moved through the forest, a seamless unit of power and grace.

Keep up Rowan, Jasper's voice in my head cut through the morning stillness, a challenge wrapped in a wolfish smirk. His dark fur and muscled form, mercenary-like in its efficiency, darted between the towering redwoods with practiced ease.

---