Page 26 of Villainous Fate

“Where’s Barton?” he asks, his tone giving away his confusion, and I note the tension he has placed in his shoulders.

“He had to wash his hair,” I answer, slowly adding distance between us by moving toward Alvarez’s bag. Without turning my back to my partner, who I note still hasn’t introduced himself, I open the bag and look for anything useful.

The smirk returns as he waits, analyzing me. I find a few items I deem worthy of adding to my pack—his wallet with some cash, a leather pair of gloves, and a spare set of shoelaces.

Once I transfer everything to my belongings, I return my bag to my shoulders and reach out expectantly.

“Let me see your half.”

“Not sure I should trust you with it, seeing as you’ve already proven you are willing to kill to get to the camp. Maybe we can both hold onto our halves and just see where we need to go,” he offers, pulling his half out and laying it on a nearby tree stump.

I copy the act, ensuring I stay out of his reach, and lay my map down, lining up the edges to form a complete picture with an ‘X” right down the tear line.

It’s a match. This guy is my partner.

After studying it for a moment, I back up and allow him to do the same. His brows pinch together. He tilts his head to the side, looks up to the tree line, and backs down several times before finally turning it upside down.

“The map’s inverted. We have to head this way.” He indicates the direction by pointing and turning enough to allow me to look at the paper.

I study the adjusted layout and see the landmark he is using. It’s in the opposite direction I was going to recommend.

“If you’re wrong, we will be miles in the wrong direction with no time to return.”

He grabs his half before leveling his eyes on me.

“Well, then, I guess you’ll have to trust me.”

Chapter 16

Marcus

Wefallintoacomfortable silence as we work our way between the trees on a path we’re creating about twenty feet off the main route.

He’s smart. I'll give him that.

It took all of my strength to back down from his challenge. My wolf was still reeling from taking out the other cadet. He wanted blood. He wanted to be released. Whatever cocktail they gave us only made him more persistent, and now, here we are, mindlessly following a guy we don’t know.

Trust him?

I don’t even know his name. How the fuck am I supposed to trust him?

There’s no way. What I will do is use him to get what I need. Get to the marked location, and then start figuring out what game this is they are playing. They pit us against each other but then expect us to work in teams, too. How does this make me a better Alpha?

My partner stops abruptly, shifting his body behind a large spruce tree. His eyes meet mine in a silent conversation, which has me moving without noise behind the closest trunk. I lean into my wolf's enhanced hearing, hoping to catch some indication as to why we hid.

It takes no time for me to hear the conversation of what appears to be two cadets arguing while loudly storming up the main path. They don’t appear to be even trying to keep their location hidden. City wolves. They have no idea.

“We’re supposed to be moving North. You’re taking us in the wrong direction,” one growls at the other.

“Don’t pretend you know how to read a map, Rico. We’re headed toward the peak on the map. There’s the peak.”

Their voices get louder as they get closer to my partner and me. My eyes slide over to him, questioning our next move as my wolf stands ready for another fight.

Fight them.

His head shakes almost imperceptibly, and we stay hidden until their bickering is out of earshot before he moves.

“That was Sean and Rico. Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. Rico is a loose cannon, and we don’t get along. Better to stay off their radar, especially since they are headed in the wrong direction.” He shrugs, adjusting his pack and moving back in the direction we were headed.

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