Page 8 of Entering a New World

It took me a while to recover enough from what’d happened to get back into motion. Turning around, I tried to estimate which cabin would be my best choice, deciding to have a quick look at all of them before making any hasty decisions.

After all, it wasn’t like I had anywhere else to be tonight.

Chapter 3

Rhett

I ran as fast as my four legs could carry me; the wind whipping around my head while my wolf was fighting me every step of the way. He didn’t want to leave our mate. Our beautiful, kind-hearted, and entirely too trusting mate.

Excitement and happiness rushed through my veins. We’d found our mate! I still couldn’t really believe it. What were the chances of this adorable human just being dropped off right in front of my nose?

Eight billion to one.

But here he was. Well, hopefully he was back at the cabins where I’d left him.

My wolf huffed in annoyance. I knew he thought I shouldn’t have left him alone, and I got it. I really did. But I had duties I couldn’t just neglect. I’d been on patrol when I’d scented my mate. My pack had expected my return hours ago. If I didn’t make it back to them, they’d likely assume the worst and send out a search party, which yeah, wasn’t that bad in and of itself, but my sweet, naïve mate might be severely traumatized upon facing a dozen giant wolves at the same time—especially since they wouldn’t know to behave as non-threatening as possible.

Creating more of a distance between me and Levi felt so incredibly wrong, but I needed to. I needed to let my pack know I was okay, and I needed to let Gray know I’d found my mate. And I needed to talk to him because I might’ve gotten him to safety for now, but I couldn’t let him stay there for a week.

Levi.

His name was Levi.

Warmth flooded my body as his adorable face appeared in my mind. The way his cheeks had reddened as he’d introduced himself to me. To me. In wolf form. It should’ve been an incredibly funny or outright ridiculous situation, yet it’d just made my heart beat faster in my chest. He’d recognized me, I was sure of that. Not me-me, but his soul had recognized mine. Now I just needed to find a way to explain to him what that meant without completely freaking him out.

No big deal, right?

“Let me get this straight,” Gray said, pushing a hand through his thick, black hair. “Just so I can be sure I’m understanding you correctly.”

I nodded and waited for him to work through the pile of information I’d just dumped on him. My fingers were twitching, legs bouncing up and down. I was usually calmer than this. Nothing could really faze me. That was exactly why I was Gray’s second in command. He was the hot head while I was the calm, stoic one.

Not today.

Today I was a jittery, nervous mess.

I felt restless, as if I’d left part of myself with my mate. Which was kind of true. I’d left him behind and, according to legends and everything I’d ever learned and seen about mates, he was the other half of my soul. So, I’d basically left half of my soul behind—and I desperately wanted it back.

“Wait, I think I need alcohol.” Gray got up from where he was sitting on his couch, headed to the shelf on the opposite site of the living room, and got two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. Putting everything down on the coffee table, he plopped back down on the sofa and shook his head before filling the glasses halfway with the amber liquid. Not that the alcohol would have much of an effect on us. But I’d still feel the warm burn it left behind when it ran down my throat, and sometimes that really was all you needed.

“You found your mate. He’s human. Some kind of manager abandoned him in our territory and wants him to survive out here for a week, even though your mate has no survival skills or knowledge. You panicked and introduced yourself to your mate in wolf form, and for some reason your mate didn’t run away screaming, but actually followed you into the woods, and then you dropped him off at the scouting cabins… where he still is. Right?”

I threw my head back and downed the whole glass of whiskey in one go. It burned like crazy on its way down, but after a few seconds, a pleasant warmth spread in my stomach. “Yeah.” I nodded. “That’s the gist of it. And now I don’t know what to do.”

Gray laughed and shook his head. His long, dark locks swished through the air; the small metal beads woven into it glistened from the light of the fireplace. “Yeah, buddy. I wish I could give you advice, but I have nothing. Not a thing. Your whole story sounds so unbelievable that I’d think you were lying out of your ass if it wasn’t you telling me.”

I got it. I really did. It just didn’t help me.

“I can’t let him stay out there for a week,” I said, my voice laced with pain. “I really don’t know what to do here. I don’t want to spook him by casually dropping by in human form, but he can’t stay out there. He’ll… he’ll die. Or get hurt. He really doesn’t know anything about being outdoors. Hell, he just gulped down the lake water without any hesitation. If he knew anything about survival or camping, he’d know he needs to boil the water to get rid of any bacteria.”

“You know that water is safe to drink,” Gray reminded me.

I threw my hands in the air. “Yes. I know that, but he couldn’t. Holy shit, he was randomly following what he thought was a wolf around just trusting it to show him the way!”

Grayson chuckled, but the laughter died on his tongue as I gave him a hard look.

“You better not be laughing at my mate right now.”

“Of course not,” he said, then placed his own empty glass back on the coffee table. “But you have to admit the whole situation is a bit funny.”

---