Page 66 of Betrayed By the Alpha Wolf

Crossing through the forest following Cade and Rowan’s lead was a slow progression, and as much as I knew that’s what we needed to do, I was anxious and chomping at the bit. My paws ached slightly for carrying Senna for this long, but worse was the growing tension in my spine.

Grayson was out there. He was getting experimented on or something by those fucking hunters, and I had no idea how long they were going to keep that going. All I could do right now was hope for the damn best, and that sucked.

I need him back. I need my mate.

The instinctual call for him was so intense now that I’d shifted, and while it was never weak, being in this form, having my wolf’s thoughts so very loud in my skull now, was forcing me to face a few things I’d been putting off.

We’d connected again the other night, and I…I was realizing the depths of my feelings and how easily that profound bond had been renewed.

Rowan stopped, and when I looked between him and Cade, they seemed to have a silent conversation. Before I could pad over and ask what was up, they barked quietly, getting us all to circle down around the hill we were approaching.

I was stuck following them for a few minutes before I finally realized what they’d done. We were right on the camp, a set of metal doors built into the underside of the hill, and we’d nearly made the same mistake as the others.

There you are, you fuckers.

Senna gripped my fur, and I looked back over my shoulder. “That’s it. I…I recognize it from my vision.”

I did my best to nod in wolf form. We’d agreed that we couldn’t shift back into human form. It was too dangerous, and we were more vulnerable that way. Still, fingers were required when it came to opening doors and shit.

“Okay, going with the plan. I’ll pretend to be lost. When the door gets opened, rush in while I freeze them.”

I slunk off into the shadows, the other wolves with me doing the same. Choal was right nearby, and Rowan and Cade were across from me, so we could approach the door from both sides.

When we were in position, Senna rushed up to the door, making herself look worse for wear as she approached. After pounding on the metal a few times, someone finally opened it just a crack.

“Hello, I’m so sorry. I’m lost. I’ve been wandering around in these woods for like an hour. Do you have a telephone I could use?” Senna held up her cell. “Mine’s dead.”

The guy at the door smelled wrong, still human but coated in so many layers of something vaguely chemical. It dulled his usual scent, and I had to guess that the stuff was what they used to make themselves harder to track.

Crafty little monsters, aren’t they?

After he hesitated for a moment, scanning around the area for any sign of us and failing to spot us, he held open the door for Senna.

“Make it quick.”

“Thank you so much.”

As she smiled, Senna waited just long enough for the guy to get the door wide enough for us to fit and then stopped time on him.

We rushed out of the shadows and slipped inside as quickly and silently as we could, Senna pulling off her bag and putting it in my mouth. When we were around a corner out of sight, I could hear Senna unfreeze the man and step inside. I wasn’t sure where he was going to take her, but Senna had beeninstructed to call Kit and give her coded details about what she saw.

I had a different mission.

Pulling off into the first abandoned room we could find, our group nosed the door shut, and then all of us shifted back into human form. The bag I’d grabbed had several changes of clothes for us, and we slipped on the generic, vaguely militaristic options I’d packed.

We didn’t speak for fear of giving ourselves away, so in the dark room, we silently got dressed while I gave the bag with the remaining supplies to Willow. Once we were ready, I cracked open the door and checked the hallway.

“Clear.”

All of us hurried out, and I sucked in the biggest breath I could to scent the air for any indication of Grayson. But there was nothing.

“Dammit. I can’t smell him.” I clenched my jaw, furious. “We need to just check the damn—wait.”

Go that way. I can hear him. So much pain.

The Alphas looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind, but Willow stepped forward.

Lowering her voice, Willow whispered. “Can you hear her?”

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