Page 70 of The Alpha's Mates

His eyes widened. "No. Damn it, that explains how she pulled the Treaty from the pond. She belongs to Lyas, so she’s connected to Arune. You’ve called to me for help," he said, looking at Reese, “and I’ll do everything I can.”

"I have no idea what you're-" I closed my mouth with a snap. He wasn’t paying attention to any of us anymore.

He joined the fight between the women. He hit Arune so hard, she went flying. "Run," he told Reese. "Quickly."

Reese was on her feet, heading for the trees when the ground shuddered again. Roots, the size of my bicep, broke free of the ground, wrapping around us, holding us still even as we struggled. They didn't touch the man or the golem, though. He turned and rushed Arune again, but she held up a hand and murmured something, then with a flick of her wrist she sent him tumbling away. He didn't get up from where he fell, lying still as stone, eyes open and unblinking. Fuck. Was he…dead?

"You've always been a trouble maker, Katashi," Arune said with a shake of her head. "Don't think I won't punish you for the part you played in trapping me. But first," she purred, walking toward us, "I need you to give me that." Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the rune Reese held.

Reese's hand tightened on the pendant and she shook her head.

"Give it to me," Arune demanded. She held out her hand and commanded, "Now!"

Reese’s hand shot out against her will. She was trying to hold onto the rune, but it was no use. It flew from Reese's hand and landed in Arune's waiting palm. She smiled triumphantly as she held it up and admired it. "Finally," she breathed. "After so many years."

"What do you want with it?" Reese asked.

Arune's eyes narrowed on our mate. "It's mine," she snarled, her beauty fading for a moment as she gnashed razor sharp teeth. Seeming to realize she let the facade fall, she composed herself, the mask back in place. "Meddlesome little gods thought they could keep me contained. They wanted tohelp shifters," she mimicked in a snarky voice. She rolled her eyes, her lip liftedin disgust. Lifting her hand, she studied the rune again, then she slipped down the strap of her dress, letting it fall below her breast. She slapped the rune to her skin and my jaw dropped as it was absorbed into her flesh. She let out a loud sigh and smiled as she opened her eyes. "Now, it's time to kill you all."

A roar split the air for the second time and suddenly George was in motion. The tears were gone and in their place was a pissed off look. Who knew clay could be so expressive? Arune looked shocked as the golem flung himself at her. She didn't have time to defend herself before he was on top of her, his hands around her throat.

She screamed, a horrible sound that had us all covering our ears, but George didn't stop. The roots loosened around us and Soren grabbed a hold of Reese, holding her close.

"Go," Katashi said as he slowly got up, shaking his head as though to clear it. I was glad to see he wasn’t actually dead. "She's still weak. It'll take time for the Treaty to give her back her powers. If you're here when that happens, she'll kill you." His eyes slid over to Reese. "If you die, all is lost."

"You're a God," Reese said, eyes wide. "Can't you fight her?"

"Fight, sure. Win? Never. I’m just a minor God, Priestess. There's only so much I can do. But George and I will keep her busy for you while you escape. Your time here has long past elapsed, but you'll still need help getting out of the woods." He held up a hand, his deep red hair glinting in the little rays of sunlight that were fighting their way past the canopy. He snapped his fingers.

I looked around, not seeing anything. "That was anticlimactic," I muttered.

He glared at me, opening his mouth to say something, but a caw interrupted. A crow dropped down from the canopy above, flapping his wings uselessly. He was in a free fall. Katashi caught him with a grin. "Hello, old friend."

Stepping over to my cadre, I watched the exchange with a shake of my head. George went stumbling back, shaking the ground, as Arune managed to get the upper hand.

"Is that the crow from the mountains?" Reese asked.

Calder nodded, but didn't speak.

"Calix," Katashi said, nodding over to where Arune was smoothing down her dress. "We have a problem." The bird ruffled his feathers in response. "I’ll help where I can," Katashi said, as though he was replying to something the bird said, "but you have to get them out of here."

Calix's beady eyes settled on us, and in response he let out a string of guttural clicks. Katashi released him into the air. "Follow him. He'll lead you out of the woods." He gave Reese a faint smile. "Good luck, Priestess."

"Go," I said, shoving at them all. I didn't want to wait around to see who won between one of the twelve and a minor god and a golem. It wasn't going to be pretty. We needed to be as far away from here as possible before Arune broke free and had her powers back.

We shifted and ran, keeping our eyes peeled for the crow overhead, all while plowing through thick brush and vegetation. I growled low as a branch snapped back and hit me in the face. I couldn't say how long we ran, but my sides were heaving by the time we reached the end of the Dreiken Wood.

Soren was in the lead, and there was no light to indicate that the woods were coming to an end. We broke through the line of trees and I snarled, shutting my eyes and skidding to a stop as the sunlight assaulted my senses. We were out. Peeking one eye open, I glanced around. There was nothing but rolling green hills for miles. The land sloped downward in front of us until it reached a river. It wasn't far from here, but it might as well have been on the other side of the world for all the energy I had left.

As much as I wanted to take a break, I knew we couldn't. The crow landed on a rock nearby, letting out ever increasingly loud caws, until I snapped my jaws his way. He wanted us to hurry, but we were busy trying to breathe. Even for alphas, the events since we left Jessu's village had been a lot.

We have to keep following him.

Reese was right. I fell into step behind my cadre mates as they began running after the crow, who'd once again taken to the skies.

“Shit,”Calder muttered, dragging a hand through his hair.

We left the last village on the plains with dismay in our hearts. The leading cadre of alphas had treated us with suspicion and mistrust, but they’d answered our questions before sending us on our way.

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