Fucking betas.
Sometimes I think he holds way too much sway over me.
Dax takes off on a whim, usually. But in this case, I want my friend nearby. I want to know exactly what he’sfound and hear his thoughts on the situation. If he can gather them.
Shaking my head, I force every spare buzzing thought away. “Walk with me.”
“Alpha?”
“I want to inspect the territory lines for myself.”
When my delta finally looks up at me, his eyes are narrowed, glinting in the faint glow. “You don’t have to do that. I’ve inspected them myself.”
“Then you’ll humor me and do it again,” I bite out.
I can’t sit in this office and expect people to fill in the gaps of our defenses for me. Besides, what have I done so far to stop our enemy’s advances? Not nearly enough.
And then there’s Ren.
Memories of her plague me on my way down the stairs, as I bark out orders to the other wolves. Getting them to fall in line and follow me outside.
I draw cool night air into my overheated lungs and lift my face automatically to the moon. The motion stretches the red flannel across my shoulders, the buttons down the chest threatening to burst as I shake out my arms.
The crisp autumn air has a bite to it that wasn’t there a week ago.
In my mind I see Ren the last time I’d looked at her. Standing on the snow-tipped mountain peak, looking pale, the bright red of her hood like a beacon in the bleak landscape.
I don’t even know if she’s still alive at this point.
The thought sends a shockwave of frost through my veins.
I swallow a groan.
I’ve got to put my feelings for Ren aside and focus on getting her back only to return the Moonstone.
If I found it once, then I should be able to find it again. Or, if I’m even luckier, find the sword of the Goddess. Althoughthatartifact has been lost for so many years, its existence is practically lore and myth now.
I’m off the porch and stomping along the edge of the fence a moment later. Beyond, the forest hoards her secrets in the blessed darkness.
My deltas remain silent through our trek. There are more wolves stationed throughout the perimeter of the forest, and with their keen sense of smell, it’s unlikely anyone would get past them.
So how had Andras managed to do it?
“Damn, Mat. You look like you’re ready to either blow an artery or shit your pants. I’m not sure which one will be funnier to watch.”
Dax’s voice sounds from the left and he separates himself from the cold shadow of a tree where he’s been leaning, watching me and the others behind me.
I stop dead in my tracks and snarl at him, my heart slowly steadying into a more rhythmic beat. He only looks amused.
“Where have you been?” I ask sharply. “You can’t take off that way in the middle of a crisis.”
My hands itch to strangle him. When do they not? Dax is effective and dangerous, unhinged in the best way, and he’s always been reliable in those things if nothing else.
I hold his loyalty.
Is it wrong to ask for some consideration in return?
He lifts a fuzzy brow at me until it disappears in the wild strands of gold hair whipping around his face. “Where the fuck do you think? Out. Busy.”