Page 58 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

“I’m sorry.” I take a step away from him. “I can’t risk my mate's life any further. Thank you for saving her, but you’ll have to find your own way to wherever it is you’re going. Even if you don’t know where it is.”

The man stares at me, his feet glued to the ground, and he looks lost. If Sophia had been awake right now, she would’ve taken pity on him, and asked him to join us. It’s the same way we welcomed Tina into our fold.

My heart hardens.

I don’t waste any time and begin walking.

When I look over my shoulder, he's still standing in the same spot, in the middle of all that carnage, looking lost.

*****

Sophia’s injuries are severe, but not life-threatening. While she’s unconscious, I find a small brook and use the clear water to clean her wounds. She has plenty of them. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like she had been restrained in the same manner that I had been. There are no marks on her wrists or her ankles. Iron restraints leave their marks.

I want to go hunt for some meat for her, but I can’t bear the idea of leaving her alone. All our belongings, including the rock that Brian gave us to find our way to the Central Alliance, are back at the village. I don’t want to return there, either.

For now, I’ve settled into my animal form, and lie wrapped around her, trying to warm her up. Despite how alert I felt, I must have been more tired than I realized, because when I open my eyes, Sophia is looking at me from across the clearing.

She’s already started a fire, and there is a large, skinned boar roasting on it.

I shift back instantly. “You went hunting?”

Sophia blinks. “Hunting?”

Her voice is clear, with no trace of the weariness that I had been noting for the past two days. “The meat was already cooking when I woke up. I thought you…”

The look on my face has her going still.

I am on my feet and by her side in a heartbeat. Grabbing her by the upper arms, I study her, my eyes roaming over every inch of her. "Are you hurt anywhere? Did he do anything to you?”

“Who?” Sophia doesn’t free herself from my hold, but she looks confused. “Who are you talking about, Alex?”

My mouth is dry, my heart pounding. “When did you wake up?”

"Just a few minutes ago. I felt so much better. I’ve been so tired lately, and when I woke up, it felt like my body just recovered from a long illness. The meat was already cooking, so I thought you’d put it on and fallen asleep. I was just watching over it for you.”

I release her, looking around. “It must’ve been him.”

“Him?”

How did that man get past me? Even if I was asleep, my wolf is always alert. For him to be able to sneak past my wolf's defenses means he’s more dangerous than I thought.

“You rescued a man, Sophia.” I look at my mate.

For a moment, she gazes at me, an uncomprehending look in her eyes. And then, my words finally seem to register with her. I see the color drain from her face, and when she staggers, I catch her.

“I thought…I thought it was all just a bad dream." She looks down at her feet. “My injuries…there are no injuries on me. I was badly injured in the dream, I mean, in the…" She's struggling to form the words. When she looks up at me, devastation is all over her face. "I thought I was going to die. Are you saying none of it was…”

“It wasn’t a dream, Sophia. We walked into a den of dark witches. They must’ve drugged us. I woke up chained in a cave.”

Sophia presses the heels of her hands against her temples, looking unsettled. "That's why I couldn't find you. I was in another hut. They wanted something from me. They pretended you were out hunting or something. But I knew. I knew you wouldn't leave me alone like that."

Her hands drift down to settle on my chest. “That field …Alex, that field has dead people buried in it. I tried to get away from them, and I found a cave. They hurt me when I was running away."

Her words are stumbling over one another.

I remember the slashes on her back. They had begun to heal at an alarming speed and I had assumed it was because of the mating mark. I must have been right since they are almost gone. The other wolf had been right. I had just needed to give Sophia my mark.

I tell her what happened, and her hand touches the mating mark on her neck. "So that's what happened. Why didn't anyone tell us?"

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