Page 21 of Into the Grasslands

“Look around,” Nika scolded my warrior. “Do these women look like savages or survivors? I promise, there is a difference. They learned to survive on less than you are used to. If they are comfortable to continue that way of life, then so be it.” My mate turned to me and smiled beautifully. “We are finished with preparations now.”

“Then those who want to join us on the trek back to my pack lands can load up on the rafts. My men will ferry them across until we have everyone who wants to go safely on the mainland shore.”

“I will go last,” Nika stated.

“I will be on the raft back with you once we have accounted for all of our people, yours and mine, who are returning with us.”

I turned to address the women who had chosen to stay. “Once we return to my pack, the other half of the unmated males – if they do not find mates among those returning with us – will be headed here. Do not fear them. They will bring supplies and help to build shelters for those of you who choose to stay and any others who are sent to the island.”

I noticed Nika roll her eyes. “Trust me when I say the use of this island, and the reasons for it, is something we will address with the other packs very soon. Until that can happen, we have to be prepared for others to be sent here.”

Nika’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly. It might not have been noticeable to others, but I didn’t miss it. I wouldn’t make another promise to her because it was clear she was weary of the promises I had already made. Maybe, once she saw that I was serious and followed through, it would breed more trust between us.

I wasn’t sure what had transpired between my mate and the other Alpha who had thrown her away, but it was clear that I would have to pay for his sins, even if just in the time it would take to build my Luna’s trust in me and faith in my pack. It would be worth it in the end to finally have a partner by my side, a lover in my bed, and a Luna for my people.Our people. We came to the island as nineteen in total, plus our driver. We were leaving the island with an additional nine females – one of them being my moon-blessed mate.

Chapter 12

The Choice

NIKA

Thorin’s arrivalseemed too good to be true, especially since I hadn’t forgotten the warning that Selene gave me. She said neither of my mates would present as a good option in the beginning. So far, Thorin had proved her wrong. That meant I was left waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It was a problem that would have to be dealt with later, though I couldn’t imagine how anyone could be worse than Aiden. Then again, before I saw his behavior with my own eyes, there was no way I would have believed Aiden capable of hosting an Alpha’s Harem or throwing his moon-blessed mate away. It would make more sense if someone told me it was all a joke, or he’d been magically drugged or something.

Those were the thoughts that plagued me as I chose a seat with Janella for the ride to the Grasslands Pack. I had been there once as a teenager with my family when they accompanied Aiden’s father on a mission to secure an alliance with Johann Greywolf, who had been the Alpha of the pack then. It was odd that I had never met Thorin. I wondered, if I had met him then, if we would have recognized the potential mate bond back then. There were tales of mates recognizing one another early throughout history.

“I had hoped you might sit with me for the ride back.” I glanced up to see Alpha Thorin’s dark-eyed stare aimed my way. I offered a smile and patted Janella’s leg. “She has been on that island since she was a pup. This is her first time away, so forgive me for not indulging you. I think it is more important that my pack mate feel comfortable for her first time traveling away from that forsaken island.” I expected him to react harshly. That was just me waiting for that other shoe to drop, though. Instead, he inclined his head, nodded, and then turned his attention to Janella.

“Do you know how you came to be on Mirage Island?”

Instead of going back to his seat at the front of the bus, Thorin sat down in the seat just across the aisle from my own. Janella leaned forward, so she could have direct line of sight to the Alpha. “I was very young, and there was a car accident. The car seemed to aim for me. A man came out of nowhere and scooped me up afterward and took me away.”

“Did this happen outside your home?” Janella nodded then shook her head back and forth a moment later. The change made Thorin laugh. “Were you too young to know?”

“I think that I was playing outside of my house, but It feels wrong to say that, so maybe we had just been visiting there or something.” She shrugged her dainty shoulders and then leaned back against the window. “I don’t remember any other adults. I had been left outside to play. The man who picked me up brought me to the island and left me there. I don’t know if I had family, where they might be, or why the man didn’t return me to the house I’d been in front of. As hard as I have tried over the years, I can’t seem to remember anyone else.”

“We can try to see if a child close to your age and likeness were ever registered in the missing wolf database. I’m not promising anything, but it could help us to track down your parents or other information that you might not know.”

Janella nodded. “Can you…?” She hesitated. “Can you find out the information and tell me things like my birthday or where I came from in a vague way?”

“You don’t want to know about your family?”

She adamantly shook her head. “I don’t think I could handle knowing if they just let me go. Maybe they hired that man to take me and the car just happened to hit me first. Maybe my parents were the ones in the car. I don’t know and it doesn’t seem smart to look for people who might have been involved in shipping me off to an island for rejected mates.”

“What if they didn’t do it?”

She shrugged her shoulders and stared down at the floor. “They couldn’t have tried too hard to find me. I’ve been on that island all this time. The first place I would look for someone who was missing would be that island.”

“Janella?” Thorin called to her. He spoke softly to my friend when she finally looked up to meet his questioning eyes. “I looked for my mate for many years, but I never thought to check on that island precisely because it is for rejected mates. It never occurred to me that some shifters might be dumped there for other reasons. It’s possible that your parents, or whatever family you had, never thought to look there.”

“I’ll think about it if you find that they’ve searched for me. Something tells me that they haven’t though.”

“That’s fair. I am sorry to bring up bad memories for you.”

“You can’t bring up what isn’t there. I don’t remember my family at all. Nothing exists before the day of that accident and all that exists afterward is the island and the people there.” Janella turned so that her body angled toward the window and her back and shoulder faced toward Thorin and me.

“We appreciate any help you can provide on the matter. Thank you for offering to look into it.”

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