Page 59 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

"I don't think they knew." I watch her caress the mark and a wave of possessiveness moves through me. "It's so rare for a female shifter to give her mating mark, that it must not be common knowledge."

"He saved me then." Sophia lowers her hand. "That man asked me to release him. He promised to save me. I had no choice but to trust him. I had to pick the lesser of two evils, and I chose him. But I don’t remember what happened after. I must’ve passed out. Are you saying he killed all those witches?”

“Slaughtered is more like it,” I mutter, recalling the vicious nature of those killings. "I told him not to follow us, but he must’ve set up the fire and prepared the meat.”

“So why not stay?” Sophia looks around the clearing.

“Because I told him to stay away from us. He didn’t even know who he was, Sophia. We cannot risk another incident like Tina.”

“Do you really think he’s going to be like Tina?" my mate asks me. "Just think about it—from what you are saying, and from what I saw, he's been imprisoned here for a very long time. I doubt he’s looking to stab us in the back, or that he’s working for Karina, or anybody else for that matter."

Even though she is making sense, I am simply not willing to take the chance. “I'll go and hunt down something else. I don’t know if he’s tampered with the meat…”

Sophia stops me with a frown on her face. “Now you’re being ridiculous. We don’t have time to waste, Alex. Let’s just eat and resume our journey. We have to go back to the village as well. Brian’s tracking stone is in my bag there.”

“Absolutely not!” I thunder. “I’m not taking you back there. We'll find our own way to the Central Alliance."

Sophia narrows her eyes at me. “Taking me?"

Her voice is cool. "Why do you think I’m asking you? I’m telling you, Alex. With or without you, I am going to retrieve that stone. You are my mate, but you don't get to boss me around.”

I’ve clearly stepped on her toes. “Sophia, that is a dark witches' den. Even if they are dead, there must be some lingering dark magic in the air there. It’s not…”

My mate holds up her hand, stopping me mid-sentence. “Not worth it? I hope that’s not what you were going to say. We don’t have much time, and we already wasted a lot of it getting entangled with these dark witches. I need that stone, Alex. So, either you come with me, or I go alone. But either way, I’m going."

Lately, Sophia has been so accommodating that I've forgotten her stubborn nature. She’s used to doing what she wants, and although she’s been taking my opinions into consideration, I keep forgetting how strong-willed she is. She does what she wants.

“Then let me go.”

She sits down by the fire and begins breaking of chunks of the meat. “Why? Do you have some gift I don’t know about that that protects you from dark magic?”

The taunting tone makes me frown. "I’m trying to protect you.”

“Thanks.” She raises her brows. “But I feel much better now. I don’t need protection all the time, Alex. Let’s just eat and go collect our belongings."

It’s clear as day to me that Sophia isn’t in the mood to listen to me today. She's also pissed because I tried to tell her what to do. Today's going to be fun.

I would rather not eat this boar meat, but she’s already chomping down on it.

"This is really good.” Sophia looks surprised. “How come you don’t ever catch boar for us? It’s always rabbits or deer.”

I feel a little miffed. “Rabbit meat is good for you. Boar meat has a lot of fat.”

She stares at me as if I’ve said the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard. When she looks away, I can see her rolling her eyes. “Sure.”

The fact that she enjoys the food that somebody else hunted down for her makes me feel irritated. Ever since Sophia left the South Alliance to come to the North, there has been a massive shift in her behavior. She has become almost subdued. I didn't notice it at the time. We had so many things happening then, but her normal feisty nature had faded into the background.

Ever since our mating, I've begun to see the old Sophia again—the one who will argue with me and stand up to me. That was thewoman I fell in love with, but damn if she doesn’t make me want to strangle her.

We finish the meal, and I'm pretty sure it's noon by the time we begin our journey back to the village. The place has been destroyed. The dark witches' prisoner must’ve done a number on it after we left. The huts have been crushed and the remaining bodies have been torn apart. It troubles me that someone who is capable of such horrifying violence managed to creep up on me while I was asleep.

Sophia lets out the sound of dismay. “Everything is destroyed. How are we supposed to find our things?”

We walk through the village. It’s going to take us a long time to recover our belongings.

The thought has barely registered in my mind when I hear something. I hold up a hand, stopping Sophia in her tracks. "Wait here."

Sophia obeys me, thankfully. I walk around the corner and see a man’s back as he rummages through the debris of one of the huts.

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