Page 5 of The Alpha's Fated Bond

When I straighten up, she’s blushing hard, a lovely combination of annoyance and embarrassment in her eyes. She buttons my pants, shooting me dirty looks as she does so. I grin, amused by her behavior. I don’t recall her ever being this shy before. But then, I guess the dynamics between us have shifted now.

She’s rolling up the sleeves of my shirt, and I take a step toward her, my wolf pleased with the display of dominance she just showed. However, it has to remind her who the real dominant is in this relationship. Grabbing her by the jaw, my mouth inches from hers, I murmur, “If you remain so shy, Sophia, you’re going to make this a whole lot of fun for me.”

She stares at me, and I can hear the way her heart is racing, that familiar musky scent of her arousal reaching me. I could take her right now and she wouldn’t fight me.

She doesn’t back down, though.

“Pervert.”

I grin. “Only for you.”

That has her flushing again, and she pulls away from me, storming off in the direction we came from. “You’re so annoying.”

“I’m still your mate!” I remind her in a sing-song voice as I follow after her, my arms folded behind my head.

She shoots me an evil look, making me laugh.

At least she’s forgotten how upset she was.

I’m about to say something when I go still instead. The insects have fallen silent around us, as has the other wildlife. I can’t even hear the chirp of a bird right now.

“Sofia.” My voice is a warning growl.

She comes to a halt and looks over her shoulder at me, tense. “What is it?”

I scan the area around us.

“We’re no longer alone.”

Chapter 2

Sophia

The silence around us is eerie. Within it, I can hear soft footfalls on the moss growing on the forest floor. And there’s low growling coming from all sides.

I take a step nearer to Alex, unconsciously. What in the heck is that?

We’re not that far from the campsite. Shouldn’t we call the others?

I’m about to say that when Alex shakes his head, placing a finger on his lips, a gesture for me not to speak. His eyes are searching the trees. The sun is setting now, and although we can see in the lower light, we are in a very dense part of the forest.

I hear the rustling of leaves from my right, and I quickly turn toward the sound. A wolf emerges from the bushes.

It’s an animal, not a shifter. Its size gives it away. I relax, but as soon as it takes a few steps in my direction, my body begins to tingle, the same way it does around magic. This is something I realized belatedly after I left Oakrest Town. Since I’m the Silver Wolf and have the ability to use magic, I’m able to sense when I’m around magic. It’s a recent development, though, and I’m not sure I can trust it all that much.

“Alex,” I say, a warning edge in my tone. “There’s something off about these wolves. They’re not normal.”

I’ve already noticed the two wolves approaching Alex from the other side. Normal wolves aren’t a problem for shifters. Unless there are too many of them, and the shifter is attacked by a pack. The smell coming from these three is horrendous, almost like something rotting.

“I can see that,” Alex says in a low voice.

“What do you want to do?”

He doesn’t respond to my question immediately, studying the animals. “Let’s wait to see what they do first. I don’t want to attack them if they don’t plan on attacking us.”

But they are clearly up to something, I realize as they bare their teeth at us, their hackles raised. “Well, they’re not here to ask us for directions,” I mutter.

We watch them warily, and I notice something that has the hair on the back of my neck rising.

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