Page 17 of Wild Fated

I weighed my options, the silence stretching too long between us. My wolf nudged at the edge of my thoughts. “It’s him,” I said finally.

He was quiet for a beat. “And yours?”

I nodded, anger boiling in my chest.

Callista leaned forward. “Both of your alphas are part of this alliance?” For the first time, something fiery and hot burned in her eyes. Her disgust and rage flared, hitting me in the gut. She put a hand over Kael’s. “We have to find them.”

“We have to find the relic.” Lana’s hand sat on the dagger she kept at her hip. “We don’t know if they’re in the same location, and without something to track?—”

“Evelyn.” Callista turned to Kael. “She tracked you. Even though you masked your scent, she still found your trail.”

Lana straightened. "Do you think she’ll come?"

Callista shrugged. “Not without Rowan.”

Lana’s brow furrowed. “He’ll come. He’s desperate to help the packs, and finding the alpha alliance would be the highest form of protection.”

“What about the pack?” Callista asked.

Lana’s words were sharp. “He has Jasper and your brother. He has Tori and Mara. Tori is the regional alpha. She can give support. It’s in all of their best interests.”

I tried to keep up with their pack politics, but the only thing that rang in my head was that Lana was telling Callista and Kael to go. Which meant?—

“I’ll go with Destin. He can show me the site, and then once I know what the situation is, we can reconvene.” Lana leaned back in her chair. She was trying hard not to look at me and didn’t know that I could feel the spike in her heart rate.Was she afraid of me?I scowled.

“That okay by you?” Kael gave me a questioning glance.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.” Lana stood, drinking the last of her coffee and rinsing her mug with the pump at the sink.

After gathering their things, Kael and Callista said their goodbyes. Lana was still in the bathroom. When she reappeared, her hair was pulled back in a braid.

I’d packed the night before when I’d been restless. My pack was twice the size of hers, and she raised an eyebrow. I wanted to tell her she’d be grateful, but instead, I slung my pack over my shoulder and stopped by the door.

Lana took the non-perishable food I’d set out on the table and stowed it in her bag, then stalked forward and put on her boots. She followed me out, and we started hiking up the trail in silence. The only sounds came from the crunch of our boots on the trail and the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind. I kept my eyes on the path ahead, trying to ignore the way my wolf was pacing inside me.

After nearly an hour, Lana broke the silence. "Are we going to walk the whole way?"

I glanced over at her, then back at the trail. "Where we’re going, there aren’t roads. And I have some errands to run."

"Errands?"

I nodded, not elaborating. She didn't need to know what I was doing or who I was seeing. She didn't need to know anything about me.

We reached the first cabin, a small, sturdy structure nestled in the forest. Smoke curled from the chimney, and sounds of life pulsed through the walls. My wolf settled as I approached the door and knocked. The latch lifted, and a she-wolf looked up at me with a relieved expression. "Destin, thank you for coming."

I nodded, then stepped inside, motioning for Lana to follow. "How's he doing, Ingrid?"

She stepped back and motioned to the main room, where a young wolf lay on a cot, his leg bandaged up to the knee. "Better, but I want to ensure the bone's set and there's no infection."

I crouched next to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, bud. How's it feeling?" I’d gotten word the day before that he’d fallen out of a tree while I’d been gone. If Kael, Callista, and Lana hadn’t shown up, I would’ve been here last night. Guilt settled in my gut that I hadn’t been there to look after him the day it happened. Since wolves heal faster, setting a bone correctly and quickly was imperative.

He looked up at me with wide eyes, pain etched into his features. "It hurts, but I can move my toes now."

"That's good. I'm just going to take a look, okay?" He nodded, and I gently unwrapped the bandage. The skin around the wound was swollen and bruised, but there was no sign of infection.

Ingrid hovered behind me. "I told him a million times not to go up there, but he doesn't listen."

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