Page 61 of Betrayed Mate

“Don’t worry. He’s already back in his car and heading toward the Shae pack territory to meet up with Gage. They won’t find him.”

Some of the pressure on my shoulders lifted. I hadn’t realized how worried I’d been about him.

Not wanting to distract Ryker, I kept my mouth shut, and we fell into silence.

About thirty minutes later, something hot blazed in my chest as if I were on fire.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The warmth increased to a blaze within the coldness that had taken over where all the pack links had been. My breath caught, and I gripped my chest.

Ryker’s head snapped in my direction. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I inhaled raggedly. “It’s the opposite. I sense Briar.” Tears burned my eyes, but then blurred lights hit them, followed by a honk. My pulse quickened. “Ryker!”

The vehicle jerked to the right, tires squealing. My head hit the window, causing my right ear to ring. Then the vehicle leveled out.

“Dammit, I’m sorry.” Ryker pulled to the side of the road and parked. “Are you hurt?” The color of his irises seemed to twinkle in the moonlight, and my mind muddied.

I touched the side of my head, not concerned in the least. “I’m fine.” I patted my chest again and smiled. “I feel Briar, but we need to get back on the road and not lose sight of the Shae alpha.” I tried to link with my sister, but the connection was still muted, like she was asleep.

“Is she okay?” He touched my hand, causing a jolt to crash between us.

“I…I don’t know.” I could try to wake her, but I didn’t want to since I wasn’t sure what sort of situation she was in. If she was being tortured and had been injured, waking her up would only make things worse. “But we’re getting close.” Pressure released in my chest, and tears ran down my cheeks.

He nodded and squeezed my hand. “That’s good. It means you were right about where you felt her connection coming from.”

I bit my lip. I’d needed to hear those words even if he hadn’t been sure about my sense. I hated that I wanted to lean into him and breathe in his scent, looking for comfort.

I didn’t deserve comfort, not with Briar in whatever sort of predicament she was in. And I had to remember what Ryker was capable of. I’d heard the stories and had seen him torture Simon firsthand. I pulled my hand away and placed it back into my lap.

A frown tugged at his lips, but he placed his hands back on the steering wheel and pulled back onto the road. He took the next curve expertly, going a little too fast, but we needed to catch up to Bruce. “The guys are pretty confident about where they’re keeping her if she’s on their pack land. We’ll get her free tonight.”

My back straightened. “When did you hear from them?” I tried to keep my voice level and wrung my hands to calm my frustration at not being kept informed, the anxious energy of needing to see my sister flaring.

“Right before you gasped like something was wrong. None of the packs were guarding their lands as expected, and the three of them shifted and covered themselves in mud so they wouldn’t be easily scented. There’s some sort of small building on the back of the Shae pack territory with two people keeping watch on it.”

“Small building?” I gnawed on my cheek. “Like a cell or something?” A shiver ran down my spine.

“They aren’t sure.” He reached over like he might go for my hand, but he hesitated. "They just noticed it and are keeping watch until we arrive.”

My hand moved toward his, but I stopped myself. “You don’t have to pretend to like or be concerned about me anymore. We’ve left the alphas.”

He grimaced, replacing his hand on the steering wheel. “It wasn’t pretending, Rebel.”

“Oh, then what was it?” I turned toward him, hoping he’d insult me. I needed a reminder of why I shouldn’t be attracted to him. “Right. It was acting…a game to make the other shifters uncomfortable while enjoying being the one with something to hold over them for once.”

“It’d be easier for both of us if it were any of those things.” His jaw clenched, and he gritted out, “But we both know that what happened back there has been brewing for a while. Hell, every morning, we wake up tangled around each other.”

My head spun. Of everything I’d expected him to say,thatwas definitely not on the list. “You’re hot—so what?” I crossed my arms, needing to restrain them in case they tried to do something stupid.

“If it were just about looks, there wouldn’t be a problem between us right now.” His nostrils flared, and he tightened his grip on the wheel.

Luckily, Bruce’s black truck came into view again, giving me a reason to change focus and not dwell on what Ryker had just said.

No matter what I felt for him, the two of us couldneverbe together. He tortured people and refused to listen to anyone else. I shouldn’t be wasting any time justifying why Ryker and I couldn’t be together.

Briar was my priority and deservedallmy attention.

---