Page 27 of Into the Grasslands

“No one gets a choice,” Avery shot back at her.

“Exceptions are always possible.” Tania sounded like a teacher scolding her student. “She agreed to go with the Alpha,but told him that it would only happen if she was allowed to bring the other women who wished to leave the island.”

“How many did she take with her?”

“Eight, plus Nika. Nine women in total left with that pack.”

“Why aren’t you with them?”

Tania smiled at me in a way that held a tad bit of cruelty, as if she relished telling me that my mate was gone. “I fulfilled my obligation the minute an Alpha came to collect my Luna from this island. I didn’t want to go with that pack because I am going to head north to the pack where my mother originated. Now that I have passed the information along to you, I hope you will allow me safe transport to the mainland, so I can be on my way, having served my purpose here as my last duty to your pack.”

“I wish you would reconsider.”

“Your moon-blessed mate, the woman who should have been the pack’s Luna, left with another Alpha. Your pack won’t be there much longer anyway. It won’t be long before the madness sets in and ruins what remains. The pack is too large for you to hold on your own, with an imposter Luna, or even a ridiculous harem.”

“See Tania safely to the other side and then come back, in case we need to transport any other women off this island.” Avery called out the directions to the men because I was too lost in my thoughts about which Alpha had swooped in to steal my mate.

“Did he mark her?” I asked Tania as she loaded up on the raft.

“No. They’re doing a trial basis of getting to know one another first. I believe that Nika is a bit anxious to see what this Alpha has in store before she commits to becoming Luna of another pack.”

“Thanks, Tania.” The words were almost lost on the breeze that kicked up. I didn’t think the Alpha could mark her, as ithadn’t been a year since I sent her to Mirage Island. It had been six months, but that wasn’t long enough to be able to take a Luna. Everyone knew that much. Something about that niggled at the back of my mind, though. What if what Tania said was true? What if Nika had a choice between moon-blessed mates? She had mentioned having a choice before, hadn’t she? What if her situation was different than other Lunas somehow?

“We have to find them!” I turned to my brother in a panic. He wasn’t paying attention to me, though. His eyes were glued to a shifter woman who stood just by the tree line. Her hands were clamped together, and she appeared nervous.

“Come to me.” My brother’s voice rang out in a proud, strong tone that brokered no arguments from the woman. In fact, she smiled and did exactly as he asked.

“I dreamed of this,” she insisted. “It’s why I stayed and didn’t go with the others. I don’t think they believed that my mate would come for me here, but you did.” Her tone was awed and dreamlike, almost as though she hadn’t believed her own dreams.

“How are you on this island?” Avery asked her.

“My Alpha was angry with me because I refused to mate with his son. His son chose me, but I insisted that Selene had a moon-blessed mate picked out for me.”

“What happened?”

“I was kept in the cells, beaten by the Beta a few times, and then when I still refused to become the Alpha’s son’s mate, he told me my punishment was to be banished from the pack. He sent me here, thinking that you would never check here for me, but I knew better. The goddess saw fit to show me this island, and that you would come for me here.

Avery’s face turned slightly red. It was partly in anger over the way his mate had been treated by her pack, but also because that Alpha had been right. Neither of us would have come to theisland of rejected mates to look for the ones who were supposed to belong to us. It was narrow-minded and short-sighted of us. Who knew how many of our male shifters had gone without their mates because we never thought to check Mirage Island during the mating tours that were done between packs.

“Do you know which Alpha came to collect my mate?” I asked her. My brother’s mate narrowed her eyes on me before she answered in a much colder tone than she had used on my brother.

“Your mate?” The girl laughed. “You mean the one you so callously imprisoned on this island?” Fuck! I would never live that decision down. If I had thought about it, it would have been better to simply keep Nika prisoner in her own quarters. She might have been angry about it, but she would have gotten over it, and more importantly, she would have remained on pack lands where no other asshole could come claim her.

“Yes, Nika. Do you know who she went with or where?”

The woman smiled at me and shook her head. “Don’t know and wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

Half of what she said to me was a lie. I could sniff it out, but then again, I was sure even the lowliest pack member could as it was so blatant.

“Get your mate in check,” I ordered Avery.

“If you even think of using the mate bond to get me to tell him where a female shifter, who was discarded onto this island by him - no less, has gone, then you can kiss our bond goodbye before we ever make it. I won’t be with someone who would treat their mate as a pawn in some fucked up game to own as many women as possible.”

“I don’t own women!” I shouted at her.

“Don’t you? You are the idiot Alpha who chose a harem over his moon-blessed mate, aren’t you? That is how you will go down in history.”

“Avery!” I growled. The woman wasn’t part of my pack, so I couldn’t order her, but I could order my brother to get me the information I needed.

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