Page 13 of Betrayed Mate

The question had my heart sinking. No one was searching for me…including Briar. If I didn’t locate her soon, I might not have any family or pack left. However, even crying seemed to require too much energy right now.

Ryker ran a hand through his hair, disheveling it. "Don’t tell me that your pack kicked you out after what the entitled douchebag did to you the other night. I find that hard to believe, given how the alpha and the other pack members shielded you.”

Reid.

He’d rejected me and embarrassed me, and he’d been there when my pack was killed, though I hadn’t seen him murder anyone personally. If Dad hadn’t alpha-willed Briar and me to get help… I stopped, unable to continue that train of thought, but betrayal and loss swelled inside me.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I tried to sit up. Mud squished between my butt cheeks and clung to my back.

Fuck.

I was naked. I’d shifted to save Briar, and I didn’t have any clothes with me.

I splatted back into the mud, unable to stand, and cried even harder. I’d fallen so far in so many different ways. Near packless, weak, rejected, and now completely naked in front of Ryker Grimstone. I was about as low as I could go.

Ryker, possibly the biggest traitor ever to the wolf-shifter population, stared at me.

“Fuck,” he gritted out, reaching for one of my hands.

He gripped it tightly, helping me upright. I moved slower than a sloth.

The world spun around me, and the mud filled even more crevices, uncomfortable and cold. He released me, and I wobbled to and fro like the damn kids’ nursery rhyme.

He sighed loudly. “You’re worse off than I thought.”

Even though my heart remained steady, I understood the threat underneath those words. If he found me annoying, he’d kill me, and no one would ever know who’d done it or why.

I didn’t want to die. My sister was out there, and I had to find her. I swung my arm, aiming for his face but hitting air. My body tilted toward the ground.

Ryker growled and wrapped an arm around my waist, his skin’s warmth searing me. He hoisted me up and dragged me several feet back, my heels leaving trails in the mud.

“If you’re gonna kill me—” I started.

“If you keep this up, Imight,”he spat. Sharp edges of thick bark pressed into my back and helped aid my balance as I sat against a tree. “I should’ve known helping another wolf shifter would be more of a pain in my ass than it was worth.” He turned away and stalked to the gushing river.

I breathed in, smelling air thick with moisture. Drops of rain hit the ground and my legs. Of course it was raining. That sounded about right with my luck.

A shiver racked my body, and a coldness I’d never experienced before crept into my bones. If not for the faint warmth of my sister’s pack link connection in my chest, I’d be physically and emotionally numb.

A part of me wanted to call out to Ryker. I didn’t want to be alone—especially naked and alone—but I kept my mouth shut. He had made it clear he’d have no problem killing me, and I could manage on my own. I needed to get my bearings, and then I’d figure outsomething.

He trudged away from the river. I expected some sort of emotion to hit me, even if it was sadness, but I remained propped against the tree, blinking, waiting fornothingto happen.

Swallowing, I prepared myself to stand once again. I leaned forward, readying to get my feet underneath me, but the world spun faster. Nausea roiled in my stomach, and I begrudgingly leaned back against the trunk. I needed to eat and sleep before I could do anything to defend or protect myself.

I scanned the area for berries, but my eyelids grew heavy. Each time I blinked, my eyes were harder to open…until I couldn’t. Against my brain’s protests, I passed out.

My body shook like I was experiencing an earthquake.

“Wake up,” Ryker said gruffly. “You need to eat and drink something so you can get your strength back.” He shook me again.

My eyes popped open, and bile inched up my throat. “Stop,” I muttered. “Going to throw up.” I swallowed, hoping to maintain some remnant of dignity.

He jerked his hand back like he’d been electrocuted. My body stilled, and my stomach eased a little.

After a long moment, he exhaled. “You good now?”

Good was a stretch, but I wasn’t up for talking. “A little.”

---