Page 65 of The Alpha's Mates

I didn't know what he meant. I couldn't see them, so I held onto their voices like a lifeline. "It's everywhere."

"What is Minx?"

They couldn't see it?

Crack!

I screamed as something bashed against my bubble, making the mist part as whatever it was slid away into it again. An imprint was left where the mist had been forced away, but I couldn't puzzle out what I was looking at. It wasn't shifter, or human.

"Reese!" Soren barked, as though I could fix whatever was happening and come back to them.

The mist swirled as the thing slithered around my little spot. I didn't dare move. I was a badass alpha female...who was aboutto piss her pants in fear. And really, I didn't feel too badly about it. Anyone who wanted to give me shit was going to get a dare that they come and stay a night inside the Dreiken Wood. If the daytime was shaping up to be this bad, I was really dreading what would happen once the sun fell below the horizon.

"Reese," Calder whispered, his voice soothing me even as the creature bashed into my bubble again and again. "You need to come back to us."

"How?" I asked, my eyes darting around, trying to see through the mist. The creature didn't seem to be able to penetrate whatever was shielding me.

"Close your eyes," Soren ordered, his voice deep and demanding. It made me want to obey him without question. "That's it, Little One. Do as I say."

I closed my eyes and took a breath in through my nose, holding it for a second before slowly exhaling.

"Now open them."

The mist was gone. My mates circled around me, concern on their faces. I looked around, confused as to what had just happened. "What the fuck?" I launched myself into Atlas's arms. He held me, his deep purr vibrating his chest as he tried to calm me down. I was shaking so hard, I was sure my knees would give out if he wasn't holding onto me.

"It's okay, Little Warrior" Atlas said softly, running his hands over my hair. "You're safe with us now."

"What was that?" I demanded, as I pulled back from his embrace. I explained what had happened, then locked eyes with Calder. "Did you ever see anything?"

His lips thinned out. "Only one thing, but it wasn't necessarily scary."

"What was it?" Soren demanded.

Calder shook his head, not wanting to respond, but an irritated look from his alpha had him replying. "It was my mother."

My eyes widened. "You saw her?" His family had been killed by raiders when he was young. How had he seen her here?

"I...don't know if it was really her," he admitted. "Or something that wanted me to think it was."

Reaching for him, I took his hand and let him pull me into his side. I wrapped an arm around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder, giving him comfort in the only way I could at the moment. If our departed loved ones were trapped inside this place... It didn't bear thinking about. "The Moon Goddess wouldn't allow that," I said out loud. When they all looked at me, my belief strengthened. "She wouldn't let our spirits reside in a place like this," I insisted. "We're supposed to go to be with Drennen."

"Only if you're good," Atlas pointed out.

Drennen was the father of the three sister Goddesses. He was the one who'd given them their dominion over the sun, moon, and sky, while he chose to reside over shifters as they passed on in life. He was there as we took our eternal sleep, watching over us. Protecting us.

I shook my head. "If they're evil they go to Shroul." I straightened, glaring at the twisted trees around us. "Evenhewouldn't live in a place like this."

"And my mother wasn't evil," Calder pointed out. He was right. By all accounts she'd been a wonderful woman and had loved her son with all her heart. She'd died trying to protect him from those who would harm him. Someone couldn’t sacrifice like that and then end up here. I refused to believe it.

"Let's keep moving," Soren suggested, his eyes landing on me. "If you're ready?"

"I am," I told him, feeling steadier now. "Just...stick close."

Their chuckles were a comfort. I didn't have to walk through places like this alone anymore. Not that I'd been alone the last time either, but I’d had to be the strong one. Now we all shouldered that burden. We were going to need each other’s strength for this trip. The hours passed without incident and soon my shoulders had relaxed once more. There were screams and groans. Howls and whines. The woods made noises that would make your hair stand on end, all around us, but nothing else jumped out. At least not until the path ahead widened into a large clearing.

"That's suspicious," I said waspishly. I wasn't about to trust anything this place gave to us. My hand darted out and I smacked the Trat Nut out of Calder's hand before he could lift it to his mouth. I hadn’t even seen him bend to pick it up off the forest floor. "Don't eat that!"

He looked at me like I'd grown another head. Who knew? With this place he might have if he'd eaten that nut.

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