Page 64 of The Alpha's Mates

Too tired.

"Get some sleep," I told them. "I'll take watch. At first light we'll enter Dreiken Wood."

A cacophony of sound accompanied my statement, making us all tense. The eerie howls sounded as though the woods were rejoicing, for they were about to have new victims. Swallowing hard, I shoved all thoughts of what we needed to do from my mind and focused on the task of protecting my cadre during the night. I didn't plan to wake them. As leader it was my burden to bear the weariness settling into my bones. I needed the other three as fresh as possible for what was to come.

CHAPTER 28

Reese

The sun was shining. The birds were singing as they pillaged the grass on the plains for seeds. I was with my mates and completely in love. It should be a glorious morning. And yet my stomach was roiling so hard, I thought I might puke up my breakfast of jerky and water. There was a metallic tang on my tongue that wouldn't dissipate no matter how much I swallowed.

"The sooner we go in, the sooner we get out," Calder said, trying to sound chipper. He didn't do upbeat very well.

Steeling my spine, I stepped into line behind Soren. Calder and Atlas brought up the rear as the Dreiken Wood's shadows consumed us. Just crossing past the first row of trees sent shivers over my skin. I'd been in these woods before. We'd crossed them on the way to the Selkin Forest, where Soren’s pack lived, and I could still hear the whispers in my dreams. I didn't want to go back inside. But it was too late. Here we were.To turn back now would be the end of our kind. We had no choice but to move forward.

My eyes darted around. There were no birds here. No squirrels scrounging for nuts. They knew better than to cross the threshold into the woods. This wasn't like the Selkin Forest, or any other on Elaria, for that matter. This was something else entirely. Magical, like Calder had said. Only it was dark magic.

I turned to look at Calder and saw him staring straight ahead, his jaw set. He wasn't happy to be here either. The other two hadn’t ever entered the Dreiken Wood. They didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure whether it was better to know, or not.

The trees were so thick that barely any light shone through, making it hard to see what lay ahead of us. We tread upon a dirt path I knew from experience could disappear at any moment. It was as though the woods played tricks. Tested you. Anything that did live here was warped. Dangerous.

"You've been through them."

I jumped as Soren's voice broke the silence within the trees. It was as though a hush lay over the land when you were inside. "Yes," I replied, even though it wasn’t really a question.

"Was it bad?"

"Clover had nightmares for two months straight," I told him, giving him a weak smile when he turned and looked at me over his shoulder.

"It's better not to talk," Calder warned.

We fell silent, but kept moving. The woods had a time limit. That's why anyone who was asked about how long they were inside always answered in hours. It wasn’t about distance. You couldn’t just bolt through and know you only had two more miles to go. The price you paid to traverse the woods was a full day of your life. Though some had reported to be lost for multiple days. Most came to a general consensus that it took twenty-seven hours exactly to make it through the DreikenWood. Everything about your experience inside was...terrible. As though the woods fed on your fear.

Even when you left it wasn’t over. You took a piece of the woods with you. Twenty-seven hours to make it though, physically. Mentally, some never left.

A branch snapped, the sound ricocheting through the silence and causing us all to stop as one and stare hard into the dimly lit trees to our left. I wasn't breathing. Forcing my lungs to expand, I sucked in a breath as I searched for threats. My wolf was snarling inside of me. A warning in and of itself, but I couldn't see anything. Couldn't smell anything. My usual impeccable night vision was grainy and wavering. And it was as though I was completely nose blind. It had happened before. I wondered if the others were experiencing the same.

After a few heartbeats, Soren's voice cut through the tension in the air. "Keep moving." He wasn't bothering to speak quietly anymore. He sounded pissed. Antagonistic in a way. He wasn't going to back down to some fucking trees.

That was the exact feeling I was getting from him, thanks to our new connection. I stifled a laugh. This wasn't the time to show joy. I didn't want to know what the woods would slap me down with if I dared to do that.

"What are you laughing at?" Atlas teased, coming to my side, a smile playing over his face. He was trying to lighten the mood, as he always was.

"Nothing," I muttered, ducking my head and staring at my boots as we continued walking. He was sticking close to me now, but a grim expression once again covered his face. Was there ever a mood other than somber and uncomfortable in this place? Terrified. Alone.Hungry.I froze in my tracks. That last one hadn't been my thought. Oh Goddess. Terror flooded me as I watched mist begin to roll over the toes of my boots.

My head snapped up and once again, I was alone. In the middle of the Dreiken Wood. "No." My voice echoed as mist poured in from the rows of trees crowding the path I stood on. "Guys?" I called out, spinning in a circle, searching for my mates. This was bad. Really fucking bad.

"Reese!" Calder's voice sounded like it was coming from a distance.

"It's okay, Little One."

"We're here." Atlas's voice joining in made me sigh in relief. They were all here with me.

"Whatisthis?" I asked. When me and my pack of females had gone through the woods before, we'd heard all manner of things in the shadows, but we hadn't seen anything. Even though it had scared us, there'd been nothing bad that had happened.

Another branch cracked from behind me. I whirled around, sharp breaths tearing from my throat, eyes darting around. The mist was so thick it was as though I was in a tiny bubble of clear air, surrounded by the thick, almost foamy, substance.

"Snap out of it, Reese," Soren ordered.

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