Page 37 of Betrayed Mate

“Freed a vampire who we hadn’t seen do anything wrong from being beaten, you’d have gotten everything you needed,” I snapped, cutting him off. This was the entire point. He still wasn’t sorry, but his pack must have influenced him to try to get me to stay. At least they seemed like decent people. In fact, I felt bad for them. Not only were they dealing with the loss of their pack, but they were also forced to do things against their will.

Throwing my hands up, I took several steps back, needing distance from him. “We keep having thesameconversation, so let’s just cut ties and be done. Let the other three know you triedto get me to come back, but the differences between us are too great. I refuse to lose more of myself by being around you.”

He blinked hard and growled. “Fine. I’ll try to abstain from doing anything you would disapprove of this strongly.”

“Why? Why would you do that if you’re so adamant that you’re doing what’s right?” I must be missing something…something that would explain— Cold realization drenched me, and I realized that I had control over this. I’d bet his pack members hadn’t told him to rush after me after all. He hadn’t expected me to walk. He’d thought I’d stand down because I didn’t want to be alone.

“Because it’s not right, you being alone when they could be targeting you.” He rubbed his hands together. “You can’t defend yourself and—”

“You have no leads.” I crossed my arms, victory soaring within me. He hadnothingto go off of, and the enemy hadn’t attacked him and his pack again despite their not being quiet about where they were. However, I might be a different story, especially if they had my sister. “And you’re hoping they’re using my sister to track me. My pack link is the only thing you have in your favor to locate them.” I refused to be played. Maybe my wolf wasn’t as strong as his, but I wasn’t dumb or weak. “You need me more than I need you.”

Face reddening, he laughed, but it sounded strained. “That’s a bit extreme. There are four of us and one of you.”

“But I have something to go off of.” It would work, too. It would just take longer than someone handing over the information.

“Are you coming back with us or not?” He scowled.

“On one condition. It’s nonnegotiable. No more torturing or hurting someone who hasn’t done anything to deserve it.” Even though I didn’t like it, I did understand that there could be times when torture might be necessary, but this incident with Simonwas different. In a perfect world, we’d imprison or exile wolf shifters who’d done something awful, but that wouldn’t fix this problem. There had to be a pack out there, if not multiple ones, working together. We had to defend ourselves, no matter the costs.

He grimaced. “I will have…”

I rocked back on my feet, waiting for him to tell me there was no way in hell he’d agree to that. But the color of his irises brightened, and I thought I could see his true self once more.

“I’ll struggle with that, but I’m willing to oblige you as long as you focus on finding your sister.” He cleared his throat and kicked at the ground.

Air swooshed into my lungs, and my brows arched. “Did you just agree to my condition?” That was the last thing I’d expected him to do.

“Yes, I did.” A vein in his neck ticced like it pained him to admit that.

Part of me wanted to gloat and make this a huge deal, but we didn’t have time to waste. It was petty and wouldn’t accomplish anything except taking longer to locate my sister.

I needed to focus on our pack bond. My heart sank. I knew that by doing this, I would have to acknowledge the one hundred and three missing links. I couldn’t deny that not wanting to face the loss head-on had allowed me to go along with Ryker’s plan. Anything was better than allowing the grief to dig in.

Maybe him asking me to come back wasn’t a great thing after all.

“Having second thoughts?” He arched a brow, the flecks of his irises warming.

There was no way I’d admit weakness to him. “Let’s go back and get this going.” I couldn’t lie to him without him knowing, but I also didn’t want to let him see my concern.

He pressed his lips together like he was stopping himself from saying something. Instead, he nodded.

Without another word, I walked back toward the group, Ryker by my side.

The eerie feeling of being watched surged through me again. A shiver ran down my spine, but I forced my eyes to keep looking forward. I wouldn’t let my mind distract me again.

Within a minute, Ryker and I joined the others. Kendric was pacing in front of the other two while Gage leaned on the vehicle and Xander sat on the hood. The three of them watched us approach.

“I knew you’d get her back.” Gage beamed and winked. “We haven’t had this much fun in a long while.”

Fun? I wanted to laugh, but the urge died in my throat. I was fighting with Ryker about everything he and I did. We were at complete odds. “I’m not sure you could call it that.”

A cell phone dinged, and Ryker removed one from his back pocket. He looked at the screen and frowned. “Holy shit. This isn’t good.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ileaned over and read the screen.

All Pack Alphas in the immediate area are to meet to discuss the future leadership of the packs. This Friday 7 PM at the Local Wolf Bar in Shadowbrook.

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