Page 32 of Betrayed Mate

“I’m positive.” He lifted his chin, and his nostrils flared, but he didn’t look away from the spot. “Why don’t you head back to the SUV? I’ll investigate before the trail gets cold.”

I gritted my teeth so hard that my jaw popped. “We would already have been over there searching if you hadn’t stopped me in the first place.” If I hadn’t wanted to conserve my energy, I’d have punched the jackass again on pure principle.

He cut his eyes at me and bared his teeth; however, I didn’t wait for him to say anything else and moved quietly in the direction of the sensation once again.

“I said head back to the SUV,” he called. “Not run in the direction of the threat.”

A snort lodged in my throat as I increased my pace. I swallowed my laughter only because I didn’t want to risk alerting anyone we were heading in that direction if they were still there. Just because I didn’t sense them anymore didn’t mean they weren’t hiding. If they could control the wind, they could probably manage to do other things as well, but what supernatural species could even control the wind? The closest I could come up with was witches, but even then, the ability to manipulate air was rare and limited. No one was meant to truly control the elements of Mother Nature.

Still, the fact that Xander expected me to obey him made me want to laugh all over again. He didn’t have any say over me even if I’d agreed to stick with them for now.

“Dammit,” Xander grumbled loud enough for me to hear. “Ryker is going to kill me.” Then his pace quickened to catch up.

I moved faster, risking making noise. Even though Xander seemed like a decent guy, especially compared to Ryker, he was still part of their pack and might try to prevent me from continuing on.

I focused on the woods. I could hear the sounds of deer, raccoons, and owls as they prepared for winter, indicating they didn’t sense a threat. But Xander hadn’t sensed the threat either at first, and when he had sensed magic, I hadn’t, so who knew what we were up against or if the animals could feel the presence of the observer?

I stepped through the thickening brush, and a faint floral scent I couldn’t place hit my nose. It smelled of sunshine and crisp tea leaves with a hint of mint and made a dull ache form deep within my chest, close to where my pack bonds used to be.

My feet stilled, and I glanced around. There was no sign that anyone had been there beyond the fleeting scent that seemed to dissipate quicker than should be possible.

Xander hurried into the area but stopped when our gazes connected. I held my breath, ready for him to insult me or try to drag me from this spot, but instead, his shoulders slumped slightly as if seeing me had given him some relief. Then he tore his gaze from mine and surveyed the area.

Good. I didn’t want to waste energy fighting him.

Turning away, I took in the thick brush at the base of three sizable oak trees. They formed aVwith the brush laid out like a thick, prickly blanket—a perfect place for hiding.

I tapped into my wolf, borrowing a little bit of her magic to enhance my night vision and hearing. Though I could see beyond the trees and hear the sound of some deer rutting, nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the very faint smell…and the sound of paw pads hitting the mulch and heading in our direction.

My heart dropped to my stomach. Ryker would arrive soon.

“There’s no way anyone was here.” Xander took a deep breath and scowled.

“Well, that weird, alluring scent proves otherwise, though it’s almost gone now.” I didn’t know how he could overlook that fact.

His brows rose so high it was almost comical. “What are you talking about?”

I leaned back on my heels. Why would he pretend he didn’t smell anything odd? “The scent in the air. Somethingwashere, though it doesn’t smell like any supernatural species or human I know of.” The words were out before I realized how they sounded. That was the thing… Scents didn’t lie, and I didn’t know what that meant for what I’d smelled.

He pursed his lips. “What are you talking about? There’s no abnormal scent here.”

I opened my mouth to argue but closed it. He was right. I couldn’t smell anything anymore. Was my mind playing tricks on me? I’d been on the brink of death, separated from my sister,and trying not to mourn the slaughter of my entire pack. That didn’t include the fact that I’d just used the bulk of my energy to fight Ryker, but no… Xander had sensed something too…something I hadn’t.

Crossing my arms, I tilted my head. “You said you sensed magic when I didn’t. We can’t both be wrong.” Surely not, right? Although…there was absolutely nothing to prove we hadn’t both lost our minds.

“I…” He grimaced. “I don’t know. None of this makes any sense.”

For once, we could agree on something. I ran a hand through my hair, my fingers snagging in the tangles. I could only imagine what I looked like, but that was an entirely superficial problem.

I could make out Ryker’s, Gage’s, and Kendric’s distant footfalls now. They were less than a mile from us and running at top speed, which meant they’d be here in a minute.

Xander closed his eyes for a second. “We’d better head to the vehicle. Ryker is almost here, and he wants the two of us away from this spot so you can’t cause any more problems while they search the area.”

The familiar heat of anger flowed through me once again, a sensation I’d rarely felt and had never enjoyed prior to Reid’s rejection. Now, it seemed to be the emotion most comfortable to me and helped me focus on anything but my pain. “Well, he wasn’t here and didn’t experience what we did, so I think we should be the ones searching, not them.”

“Look, you’re exhausted, and I could easily pick you up and carry you away if needed.” He rubbed his jaw where I’d hit him. “And that punch you delivered caught me off guard. It won’t happen again. Can youpleasedo me a favor and not fight me on this? I’m fucking exhausted too, and I don’t want to deal with Ryker when he’s even more pissed.”

He wasn’t demanding but rather taking the extra time to talk to me like a person. I understood that we were all exhausted, and unfortunately, I had to admit that maybe I wasn’t up for being part of the search, especially since I might have imagined everything. “Fine, but if they lock in on a scent, I want to come back and see the evidence myself.”

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