Page 68 of The Alpha's Mates

My eyes flashed to Soren's face, shock holding me still.

"I mean," he shrugged casually, "she lived a pretty shitty life mainly because of you. Her sons sound like giant assholes, so she only stayed to protect you, Little Wolf."

A buzzing started up in my ears. His words were like a slice to the heart, but the minute I heard the nickname, I knew I was in trouble. "Arune."

I stood, staring at the man who wasn't my mate. I knew the minute he said that first hateful thing that it wasn't him. Soren wouldn't do that to me. Now that I'd caught on, I felt the blankness inside her. I couldn't feel Soren's emotions, or hear his thoughts. It was nothing but emptiness as I looked at him. The same for Atlas and Calder. They were gone. I was alone in the clearing with the Sun Goddess.

"You’re a smart one," Arune sneered. She'd given up the ploy and looked like herself again. "Too bad it's not enough to save you." She lunged forward, grabbing me by the throat and squeezing until my eyes watered from lack of oxygen.

I wasn't asleep this time. What was going on? I wheezed, grabbing onto her forearm and half shifting so that my claws dug as deep into her muscle as they could. She howled in rage and released me. I didn't waste time. If it was like before my mates could see me. They would follow me. I bolted down a path, trying to outrun the murderous bitch behind me.

"You can run," she called out, laughing, her voice echoing all around me, "but you cannot hide."

I ran faster, knowing that she was right. I couldn't hide from her. But I could try to wake up, or snap out of it. All I knew was I wasn't going to stand there while she killed me. Worst case scenario, I would fight her. I'd managed to draw blood. It didn't matter that she was an immortal being. I hurt her. Whatever was happening, it worked both ways.

Tree branches slapped me in the face as the woods closed in around the path I was on. My lungs were burning, even though Iwas in damn good shape. Time moved differently here. To me, it seemed like I'd been running for minutes. It could be hours for all I knew. It never felt like you'd only been inside the Dreiken Wood for twenty-seven hours. It felt like a lifetime according to all who were willing to speak about their time in the wicked place.

I shoved against the brush now blocking my path and stepped out into another clearing. Arune was nowhere to be found. Neither were my mates. "Guys?"

Nothing.

A slithering sounded from the woods behind me, so I jumped further out of the way of the trees. I looked around the clearing, something on the other side catching my eye. There was a small pond in the center, but that wasn't what had drawn my attention. A stone altar sat at the far end of it, just past a copse of trees.

I needed the break. Since Arune didn't seem to be chasing me right now, I could take the time to rest. To hopefully wake up. I walked around the pond and bent a little to read the inscription on the altar.To those who are lost. Take heart. Believe in thyself. And when in need, ask for help.

Frowning, I stared at the stone. That was a weirdly upbeat message for a place like this. I kept my hands locked together over my stomach. I wasn't about to accidentally touch the damned thing. It could summon something else and that was the last thing I needed. This whole damn place was filled with magic, and I already had one huge problem I didn't know how to deal with.

Should I wait here for the guys? Or keep moving and hope I meet them on the other side of the woods?

A rustling in the trees behind me had me spinning around, hand raised and claws out, ready to fight whatever came through those trees next.

"What are you doing? Why the hell did you leave the clearing?" I blinked as Soren stepped out of the trees, looking around in confusion. Atlas and Calder were right on his heels.

"Jesus Minx, you scared the shit out of us."

"I could barely follow your scent trail," Atlas added, giving me a disapproving look.

Stepping backward as they got closer, I growled. All three stopped, shock written all over their faces. "Prove to me who you are," I demanded. I was trying to read them through our connection, but I still wasn't completely in control of that ability and my racing mind wasn't allowing me to concentrate.

"What?" Calder asked. He stepped forward, but stopped again when I stumbled back.

My wolf was begging to come to the surface, to help me protect ourselves. "Do it," I snapped, unable to explain further. My adrenaline was pounding through my system. My hand shook in front of me. I didn't want to hurt my mates, but if this was more of the Sun Goddess's trickery, I was going to rip her to fucking shreds.

Before they could say anything, a roar split the air. The ground trembled beneath my feet.

"What the fuck is that?" Atlas asked, spinning around.

There was no time to worry about who was friend or foe, because we all had to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed by the ten foot tall creature that burst out of the trees and into the clearing. The creature was made up of clay and mud, the thick substance dripping down its face as it bared its teeth at us.

"Holy shit! Golem!" Calder yelled as he rolled across the ground and came up in wolf form.

Soren shifted as well and Atlas followed suit.

A golem? They were things of legend, but if we were going to run into one anywhere, it would be here. The three wolves were already attacking the monster, pretty much proving to me thatthey were my mates. Unless the Sun Goddess was also afraid of Earth Golems. Even if that was the case, the enemy of my enemy was my friend. Temporarily.

I didn't have the chance to shift, because Calder's wolf was snatched up by the golem and tossed away just as quickly. He collided with me, knocking me to the ground. I groaned in pain and his quick whine of apology lingered longer than he did. He bolted back into the fray. My mates were keeping the golem distracted, so I looked around. Maybe there was something that could help us. There had been a random uplifting altar here. Who knew what this forest was capable of producing.

“Help,” I called out. “If anyone is there, we could really use it.” I didn’t know who I was asking. Who had etched the words into the stone nearby, but I was willing to take help from anywhere I could. When no one responded, I sighed and looked around.

---