Page 23 of The Alpha's Heart

I don’t see Guy.

For a second, I hesitate on the Hickory side of the border. Hoping that Bishop’s can’t sense me moving off of pack land, I take a deep breath and push past the invisible border, wincing at the way it shocks my skin. It takes a heartbeat to shake it off, and when it does, I dash toward the truck.

Lemon. I still only smell lemon.

Off the my side, a pile of dried leaves crunch under a heavy footfall. I whirl, expecting it to be Guy—but it isn’t.

It’s Declan.

I gesture at the truck. “I found this. But where is he? Where’s Guy?”

Declan’s standing in the shadow of the nearest hickory tree. “I don’t know. I lost him.”

Lost him? Oh, Declan. My poor friend. Even after I left River Run, he was trying to protect me from Guy’s attentions. Now he’s clearly blaming himself for Guy not only making it across the country, but for the other delta male getting so close as to park his truck and… what? Disappear?

None of this makes sense!

Frustrated and wishing that Bishop was here even though that would be a disaster in the making, I slap the roof of the truck. It’s still warm which tells me he hadn’t been gone long… but why don’t I smell anise?

Could it be quicksilver? Mercury in all of its forms is dangerous to a shifter; the only thing worse is pure silver. What about wolfsbane? If he rolled in the leaf, he could conceal his scent for a time. Is Guy smart enough to do that, though?

I don’t get it. This is all wrong.

Looking at Declan, hating that this is all my fault, I ask the one question that I didn’t get the chance to ask him while we were on the phone.

“He’s obviously here somewhere. This could ruin the relationships between both our packs. What is he thinking?”

Declan shrugs. “Maybe he doesn’t care about all the pack politics bullshit. Maybe he saw his chance at the female he’s always loved slipping through his claws and came up with a plan… a desperate plan… to make sure that didn’t happen.”

I scoff. “Guy doesn’t love me. He loves the idea of me.”

“Like your Alpha.” Declan sniffs. “You smell like cloves, Sofe.”

Of course I do. I smell like Bishop.

“I still don’t understand. Why didn’t Kendall tell Bishop that Guy’s lost his freaking mind. I’m not part of River Run anymore. I’m a member of the Sylvan Pack. Bishop’s responsible for me now.”

Declan steps out from the shadows. His pale gold eyes darken to a shade much closer to orange. “He’s not.”

What? “Of course he is. He’s my mate?—”

It all happens so suddenly. Elongated fangs jut from my friend’s mouth, digging into the flesh below his bottom lip. A splash of blood wells up from the sudden points and he snaps again, “He’s not.Iam.”

His lemon scent grows bitter, like someone’s tossed it on the grill and left it on long enough for it to char.

One look. That’s all it takes. One look at the crazed look in Declan’s eyes and I know that—whatever happened to Guy Holsom—I was wrong.

Guy didn’t go feral.

Declandid.

His bones crunch. His back hunches. Patches of fur appear on his hands, his cheeks, part of his arm. And his claws… they’re longer than even my wolf’s, part of a mangled hand that is closer to a paw.

“I am your mate,” he repeats, an echo in his voice that has my stomach roiling with how wrong it is. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. And, damn it, Sofia, it’s time you stopped fucking pretending that you don’t know that.”

Maybe he saw his chance at the female he’s always loved slipping through his claws and came up with a plan… a desperate plan… to make sure that didn’t happen.

I—what?

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