Page 11 of Betrayed Wolf Mate

I wasn’t going to let her get away again.

“Shit,” Klyte said when Jameson finished. That word summed up the situation rather nicely.

“So, what are we going to do?” Alek asked. “Fight the demon, beat him, and call it a day, right?”

“Not that easy,” Rand said grimly, sitting up from his reclining position. His mouth was a thin line of concentration. “Demons aren’t easy to kill. And they’re powerful. Most of them are stronger than shifters by a decent margin.”

“How much experience do you have with them, exactly?” Jameson asked.

“I used to run with a group that hunted demons before Malcolm recruited me,” Rand said, scratching his stubble.

“Regardless of how strong they are, we have to kill him,” I said.

“We will,” Jameson said. “But if demons are as difficult to take down as Rand says, then we need a game plan.” He looked over at Stella, who was leaning against the wall near me. I had positioned myself as close to her as she would let me. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach, and she was looking at the floor.

“How much time do you think we have until he gets here?” Jameson asked her.

She glanced up. “I hid my trail fairly well, so it’ll be hard for shifters to find me. But I don’t know if Akron has some sort of special way of tracking me. For all I know, he could be right behind me.” The way her voice wavered toward the end was the only clue as to just how frightened she really was.

I wanted to go to her, to wrap my arms around her and tell her it was going to be okay, but I held back. It had been years, and as much as I wanted to comfort her, I couldn’t imagine she wanted to be comforted by me. Still, the urge was there. I wanted to be next to her. Not just to comfort her, but so that I would know she was safe.

“Rand, have you ever heard of Akron?” Jameson asked.

Rand frowned, brow furrowing as he tried to remember. Then he shook his head. “No. But I’ve still got some friends who run in those hunting circles. I can try to find them and figure out if they know anything.”

Jameson nodded. “Do that.”

“I can do some research,” Tannen offered. “See if anything comes up.”

“I’ll increase patrols in the area,” Luke added. “Which means you guys are going to get a lot more steps in. I want to hear about anything suspicious.” He glanced over at Stella. “Any chance you can give me some descriptions of the shifters? The ones most likely to come chasing after you, at least?”

She nodded.

“You’re going to need somewhere to stay, too,” Jameson said to her. “And I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to stay somewhere alone until we get a better idea of what we’re dealing with.”

“She can stay with me.”

All eyes turned toward me, including Stella’s. “I’ll protect her,” I added.

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I can find somewhere to stay.”

“The whole point of us helping is so Akron won’t grab you in the middle of the night,” I said. “You need to stay with someone. I have a spare bedroom, and my place is on the edge of town. It’s out of the way, but close enough that if anything happens, help won’t be too hard to get.”

“That’s got to be a record for a Sam monologue,” Klyte said. “Four whole sentences.”

I growled at him. He held out his hands defensively and fell silent.

“It is a good location,” Evelyn said thoughtfully from where she sat next to Oliver. “Honestly, probably the best place for you right now.”

I shot Evelyn an appreciative glance.

“I…all right,” Stella said, and it was impossible to miss the reluctance in her voice. “But I don’t want to be locked up or confined or anything.”

“The town is safe,” Jameson said. “But I would suggest you don’t go out into the woods on your own until we learn more. Is that fair?”

She nodded. And despite that she was obviously not particularly happy about the situation, it was impossible not to feel hopeful about what might come next for us. And she was here. I had thought I would never see her again.

It was fate. It had to be. I knew about fated mates, those pairs who would inevitably find one another regardless of time or distance. Situations or circumstances would always bring them back to one another, no matter what got in the way.

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