Page 50 of The Alpha's Mates

"It's going to take a fucking while to get there first," Calder muttered.

Thankfully, Jessu was already bidding his cadre mates a farewell. I shot Calder a look, telling him to behave, as Reese, Emma, and the others walked up. They were ready to go, so we waited for Jessu to lead the way.

Calder was right, it took a few hours to get to the mountain path that would lead us up to Celinda's cave. We stood there, staring at the rocky path that led upwards. Most of us had shifted and changed into the clothes we'd brought in our packs, though Reign and Bane remained in their wolf forms so that some of us would have better senses.

Something about the trail ahead had the hair raising on the back of my neck. I wasn't sure what it was that was bothering me, but my wolf growled inside my head, not liking it either. I couldn't sense any danger, but every nerve was on full alert. Motioning to Reese, I wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, just needing to touch her. "Stick close."

"No problem," she uttered, looking around as though she sensed something was off, too. "I don't really want to go exploring around here."

"Why do I feel like this?" Emma asked the group. She lifted her arm and showed the goosebumps that had the fine hairs there standing on end.

"It's to ward off unwanted visitors," Jessu told us. He grinned over at me. "Told you she wasn't just a loon."

With that, he stepped onto the trail and we followed him up the mountain.

CHAPTER 23

Reese

“Well this is creepy,” Emma muttered as we made our way toward the mouth of the cave.

We left Jessu’s village after our talk and the sun was still low in the sky. It was directly overhead now, having taken up precedence in the sky while we worked our way through the mountains. I glared up at the orb as the heat of the day caused sweat to trail down my back.

If the Sun Goddess could, she’d take her gift from the world and leave us in darkness. That would kill off her precious humans, though, so it wasn’t something she was willing to try. None of us knew why she hated shifters so much.

“Yeah, it is,” I agreed, as I stared at the opening of the cave. Moss and climbing vines crawled over the stone face. It should’ve been just a regular cave. It didn’t look like much else. But it was surrounded by sheer walls of rock on either side, making the path Jessu led us down the only way of getting back.Something made me uneasy about the area. Something other than the fact that we were in the perfect spot for an ambush, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I realized that the soft chirping of birds that accompanied us up here had stopped. The light breeze making its way through the area was the only sound as it ruffled leaves on the dirt. There were stubborn trees that had managed to take root in cracks and crevices and grow upward along the cliffs, despite being surrounded in stone.

“I’ll go in and speak with her first,” Jessu told us. “Wait here…she’s a bit…particular.”

“What does that mean?” Griff asked, but Jessu had already walked into the cave. Reign sat his shaggy butt on dirt and yawned. He and his brother opted to take this trip in wolf form.

“Why is it so quiet?” I asked, looking over at Soren. His gray eyes landed on me and a flush heated my skin. Memories of the early morning hours, and what we’d done during them, flooded my mind. Placing my hands on my neck, I brushed my fingers over the three bites that had already scabbed over. They’d claimed me, and now I belonged to them. A pulse pounded in my pussy as I touched the spots my mates had marked. I pushed all thoughts of them aside, and dropped my hands, so I could focus.

Atlas’s steady gaze met mine and the corners of his lips lifted. The mind link.Oh God.Had they heard my thoughts?

Loud and clear, Little One.

My eyes flashed over to Atlas and I found him and Calder watching me with hungry gazes. My cheeks burned as I broke eye contact. I wasn’t used to having the ability to speak within others’ minds. It was going to take some getting used to, and I needed to learn to block the thoughts I wanted to, while projecting others.

“There’s magic here,” Holden snarled. I jerked as he pulled me out of my own head. He was pacing back and forth, clearly agitated.

My brows shot up. Only Gods and Goddesses held magic. Our shifting was a gift from our Moon Goddess. None of us held the ability to create actual magic. “How do you know?”

“It has a certain feel to it,” Holden replied, his eyes sweeping the cliffs above us as he walked back and forth.

I looked up, too, wondering what he was searching for. Nothing could climb those walls. They were too tall. Too smooth. If danger were to come from anywhere, it would be behind us.

“Holden has the gift of sensing magic,” Griff told me.

“So you’ve met a God?” I breathed. I’d had a fascination with them since I was a young girl. My mother used to chide me when she caught me setting traps for lesser Gods when I was younger. Elaria held all manner of deities. They were all ruled over by the twelve. Our Moon Goddess and her sisters were three of those twelve.

“When I was a boy,” Holden admitted, his green eyes meeting mine. “I thought he was a fox shifter.”

My eyes widened and I had to keep myself from bouncing up and down like an excited child. “You met Katashi?” I breathed. “Was it him?” I demanded when Holden hesitated. Katashi was only a minor God, but a well known one. He was a devious bastard by all accounts.

“It was. He gave me my gift. Well, he is a trickster, what he actually did was bite me. Then he winked and told me that I would be glad one day that he did. Ever since then I’ve been able to sense the presence of magic.” Holden’s brows furrowed together. “Most people don’t believe me when I tell them this story.”

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