Page 16 of Moon Fated

“What are you jabbering about?” I snapped.

Jasper chuckled. “Rowan, for being such a smart-ass, you’re a little slow on the uptake with this one.”

I looked between the two of them. Will looked like he’d just survived a blood trial. Jasper’s smile was a little too smug.

“Fated,” Will finally said. “You found your mate.” He turned and pointed behind him. “I was standing there when I saw you tearing a track in the forest floor. When it looked like you were about to bury half the wolves in the clearing to get to her, I forced Jasper to step in.”

The trees started to spin. Fated? The past twenty-four hours snapped into surprising clarity. Evelyn’s scent. The way I couldn’t get her out of my head. My wolf hyper-attuned to her, trying to force himself through my ribcage when I caught a hint of her presence.

“Shit.” I turned and pressed my forehead against the rough bark of the tree and instantly regretted it. It was still bruised from where Jasper had knocked me.

Jasper clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Bud, I’m having a hard time understanding why you’re not over the moon about this right now. Isn’t this what you wan?—”

“You don’t get it.” I spun, nearly taking his head off with my elbow. “Sorry,” I muttered.

Jasper stepped back, his knees still bent into a slight crouch. He didn’t trust me. Hell, I didn’t trust me at that moment.

“What don’t I get?” he asked, more politely than I deserved.

I cleared my throat. “She can’t—this isn’t a mating bond I can accept. It isn’t something she’ll accept.”

“Who is it?” Will’s eyes were like cereal bowls.

I debated keeping it to myself but saw no point in hiding it from them. “Evelyn Berry.”

Jasper frowned. “Evelyn…”

“Kitimat. Word is she went sigma a couple of years ago.”

Jasper looked up, and that’s when I knew he understood. He’d heard the rumors just like I had. Nathan choosing her at the blood moon. Her showing up in town with a black eye and bloody lip, swearing it was an accident. Her disappearing and Nathan threatening everyone in his pack, trying to get a lead on where she went.

Jasper growled. “Well shit, buddy.”

My thoughts exactly.

Chapter

Nine

Evelyn

The pull toward Rowan intensified with each step I took through the trees, my heart pounding furiously against my ribcage. I tried desperately to suppress the overwhelming attraction surging through my veins, to cage the awakening wolf inside me. Memories of Nathan and his suffocating desire for me to be his mate crashed over me in terrifying waves. I had hated every second of his attempts to claim me, to force a bond I didn't want. My wolf whimpered, cowering under the onslaught of traumatic flashes.

Then that familiar scent grounded me. Callista. Her unique aroma hung in the air, faint but unmistakable. My senses sharpened, the world around me falling away as I focused solely on tracking the trail. I inhaled deeply, allowing my heightened olfactory abilities to guide me, narrowing the source down to...Justin.

Fear sliced through me, cold and unrelenting. The last thing I wanted was for anyone in the Kitimat Pack to know I had returned, especially someone so close to Nathan. But I couldn't ignore this lead, not when it could bring me one step closer to finding Callista. My wolf stirred, her determination rising to match my own.

Memories of his unwavering loyalty to Nathan, his cold eyes watching me, judging me, flickered through my mind. My wolf snarled, hackles rising at the thought of confronting him. But I pushed down the fear, the instinct to run and hide, and instead followed the scent, weaving through the crowd with single-minded intensity. The trees blurred around me, faces and voices fading into an indistinct hum. My wolf pressed against my skin, yearning to break free, to hunt and chase until we had our answers. I could feel her strength flowing through my limbs, sharpening my focus to a razor's edge.

I missed this. That truth washed over me just as it had back in Callista’s room. The second I’d let my wolf surface, my emotions had been overwhelming.

I dodged a tree, then slid to a halt as a hand gripped my arm, spinning me around to face him.

"Evelyn, what the hell are you doing?" Blake hissed, his green eyes flashing. "Did you see that Justin’s right in front of you?"

I shook off his grip, my jaw clenching. "Her scent is on him. I have to talk to him, Blake. I need answers."

His gaze darted between me and Justin, a war raging behind his eyes. After a moment, he nodded, his expression hardening with resolve. "Okay. I'll distract him, get him away from the others.” He took a step and looked back. “I don’t like this.”

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