Page 49 of The Beast's Betrayed Mate
Unsurprising,she retorted.
The wolf gave a snort and she smiled.
Did you just scoff at me?she asked.
Then a howl tore through the night, and she didn’t have to speak wolf to understand that it was sounding the alarm. Their deception had been discovered. Unsurprisingly fast, even though Olive had held out hope that they’d at least reach the tree line.
“Here they come,” she said, clenching tighter onto Peter’s back as he sped up.
Our scent, Peter said.
Yeah, it’s a problem, Mason agreed.Let’s just get to the trees.
Almost there, Michael encouraged.Come on! Ella’s waiting not far from here.
Ella?Peter asked.Your neighbor Ella?
What’s going on?Olive chimed in.
Apparently, the neighbor Michael can’t stand is waiting not far from here.
Shut up, Peter,Michael said, making Olive smile.
She could see why Peter liked him.
They reached the tree line just as she could see glowing dots approaching fast across the grass. Her raging pulse notching itself up, and she almost cried out but kept it in. She had to be quiet, she couldn’t give them away. So, she closed her eyes and focused on the sensation of Peter’s fur between her fingers.
And the fact that he had said he liked her.
And the thought that this might be the start of something really great.
They tore through the forest. Branches cracking, giving them away, but the wolves didn’t seem to care. Covering as much ground as possible as quickly as possible was the objective and, when they approached their destination, Olive could see why.
A car, headlights on, was parked and waiting in a grove of trees.
It was a sturdy all-terrain. It would get them out of there without any issues whatsoever. Olive had never been so happy to see a vehicle in her life, especially one that she normally cursed at whenever she saw one driving on normal-terrain highways.
She slid down from Peter’s back again, her legs almost too weak to carry her. Clinging to the back of the wolf on top of everything else wasn’t a walk in the park. Then again, they’d sort of redefined that expression already, hadn’t they?
She headed for the car as she heard the snapping of bones behind her, not inclined to watch two complete strangers turn from wolves to very naked men. She opened the passenger seat door, thinking the naked men could do well to occupy the backseat, and got in with a smile at the woman behind the wheel.
“Ella, I presume?” Olive asked.
“Indeed. And you are?” Ella asked, taking Olive’s outstretched hand.
“Olive,” Olive said and Ella returned her smile.
“Welcome to the Roaring Curse,” Ella said, patting the steering wheel.
“Good name,” Olive commented.
“Thanks. My daughter came up with it.”
“Oh, you have a daughter?”
“Very sorry to interrupt,” Peter interrupted. “It’s good—although a little surprising—to see you, Ella. We kind of have to go. Right now.”
“Everybody in?” Ella asked, looking in the rearview mirror as Michael slammed the door shut on his side. “All right, then,” she said, putting the car into gear and tearing out of the grove.
