Page 55 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

I have to get to Sophia.

I don’t bother with waiting around to see if anybody is outside. I streak out of the cave into the forest. But as I do, it occurs to me that I can’t catch Sophia’s scent anywhere.

Forcing myself to a halt, I look around. If I can’t find my mate, I can look for the witches. They will lead me to her. But the more I walk around, the more I begin to realize that I don’t know where I am. Normally, it’s not very hard to find a hint of a scent or something to guide me to the right location. However, in this situation, I’m fumbling in the dark. It’s almost as if something is blunting all my senses.

My wolf lets out a displeased growl.As if I am going to let something like this stop me from getting to my woman!

Shifting into my human form, I look around for the tallest tree, and begin climbing. Once I get to the top, I look around. There they are. The fields.

I slide down to the ground and shift back to my wolf form, before breaking into a run in the direction of the village.

Unlike others of my kind, I always studied the humans around me. After all, humans are the most vicious of the Goddess' creatures. They’re unmatched with it comes to violence and bloodlust. So I learned from them.

After being with Sophia for a time, I noticed how peculiar my mate was. But what I thought was peculiarity was actually resourcefulness. She didn’t just depend on the gifts that the Goddess gave us. She used everything she could get her hands on. I would never have thought of climbing a tree to find my location if I had not once seen her do the same.

My blood is pounding in my ears as I run through the trees. If they have so much as touched a hair on Sophia, I will bathe this village in their blood.

I blame myself for this foolishness. All this time, I kept telling Sophia to be more alert, and not to believe what others show her or tell her. And what did I go and do?

I put her in danger all because it was an old woman in front of me.

Why did I not consider that at the end of the day, those women were witches?

I must have been placed somewhere deep in the forest because it’s taking me far too long to reach the village. My wolf is panting now, and I’m sure half an hour has passed. I've passed the same tree multiple times.

Dismay fills me. Surely this has to be some sort of magic that is making me run around in circles.

And if it’s magic, how can I counteract it?

No! I have to keep going!

Pushing myself to my limits, my Sophia's image in front of my eyes, I keep running.

Out of nowhere, I feel a ripple in the air, and suddenly all the scents that had not been present before are overwhelming me. Whatever barrier had been placed here has been broken. But along with the scents of the witches, there is another smell, one that grips my heart tightly in fear.

Smoke. Fire. Blood.

I break past the trees that overlook the fields and the village, and come to a screeching halt.

The sky is painted a terrifying red.

The village is on fire. So are the fields. I can hear the screaming.

Sophia!

I throw my head back and howl before charging forward. The closer I get, the thicker the smell of blood is in the air.

I howl for my mate, but there’s no response from her. Something is wrong with her. Sophia knows to let me know her location if I call for her. If she's not responding, it means she can't.

I can see the dead bodies littering the ground, the manner of their deaths violent and gruesome.

This isn't my mate's work.

I pause.

I've seen her kill in a bloodthirsty manner before, but that was when she thought I was dead. She had lost control. I can't see her losing control right now, especially with how weak she must be right now.

I walk over the bodies, my heart hard.

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