Page 46 of Bullied Wolf Mate

“Lorelei!” I yelled.

The only thing that answered was the caw of crows.

“Fuck,” I growled, running my fingers through my hair. My eyes swept the area, and my nostrils flared. But there was nothing but Lorelei’s too-stale scent. They were long gone.

“Maybe they took her to the rest of the girls,” Sam said. “If we can find out where she is, we’ll know where the others are.”

“Even if that’s true, we don’t know where that is,” I snapped, unable to keep my temper under control.

“Cool it,” Tannen growled. “You’re not the only one who has someone they’re worried about right now.”

“No shit,” I snarled back. “But right now, if we don’t get to Lorelei, then none of that is going to matter.”

A low growl rumbled in Tannen’s throat. His fingers lengthened to claws, and I could tell he was ready to jump at me the first chance he got. Honestly, I welcomed it. I wanted to attack something,anything.

Declan’s words pulled me back to reality. “Mark’s right. If we don’t get to Lorelei soon, Inara’s going to get exactly what she wants,” Declan said, coming to stand next to me. “And the girls and Lorelei will be as good as dead.”

“I’m very aware,” I snapped.

“Calm down. I’m siding with you,” Declan said. The calm in his words cut through some of my own spinning anxiety.

“We need to get to The Trove,” Jameson said. I could see the panic in his eyes, his worry over Georgia, but he kept his cool regardless. He turned to Declan. “Do you have any idea where it might be?”

“She said it was by her house,” Declan said. “If they aren’t there yet, they will be soon. I’ll bet if we get there, we can catch their scent and track them from there.”

“Great,” I said. “That’s useful, but only if we have a witch who can open a portal.”

Jameson frowned. “The witch on the side of town might have something. The one we bought the amulets from. She offered to sell us something that could form a portal as well, but it was too expensive. I think it was a knife.”

“Whatever the price is, I’ll pay it,” I growled. “Let’s get to her before it’s too late.”

Jameson gave a curt nod, already shifting back to a wolf. I was about to follow suit when a hand went to rest on my shoulder. I turned to see Declan.

“We’ll get her,” he said. “I promise.”

Chapter 20 - Lorelei

Every time I traveled by portal, I was reminded of just how unpleasant it was. It flipped my stomach upside down while somehow twisting it into a pretzel and releasing butterflies into it. I grimaced as I seemed to spin and not spin at the same time. I squeezed my eyes shut, but that only made it worse. Bile rose in my throat, and I wondered what would happen if I threw up while traveling through a portal.

It turned out I didn’t need to find out. Though it had felt like a century, it was only a handful of seconds before I stumbled out of the portal on the other side. I staggered forward, groaning and collapsing to the ground on my forearms and knees. I tried to pull myself out of the queasiness, forcing myself to focus on the sensation of cool, damp grass and soft dirt beneath my palms and between my fingers. Sweat that hadn’t been there moments earlier prickled on my brow, and I groaned again.

I glanced around, taking in the familiar sights that I hadn’t seen in over a month. It felt strange being back here. My cottage, normally a place of solace and comfort, looked cold and sterile with no lights on. The garden I tended had overgrown and filled with weeds. The door hung off its hinges from when Orin and the others had broken in, a moment that felt like a century ago.

It was strange. I had expected a pang of longing or joy the first time I saw my cottage after all this was over. Instead, I felt something like regret. All I remembered was the years of isolation there. Looking back on what I had experienced over the last couple of months, my craving for solitude didn’t feel as strong as it once had. In fact, I realized that as much as I loved my cottage out here in the woods, it wasn’t what I wanted anymore.

That knowledge slammed into me, blowing me away with the force of an epiphany. But before I had time to digest it and what it might all mean, a foot nudged my ribs, dragging me back to the very real and prevalent threat before me.

“Get up,” Inara commanded. “Or I’m going to assume you’re intentionally dawdling, and you don’t want me thinking that, darling.”

I pushed myself up, clambering slowly to my feet. Orin and Inara looked perfectly at ease, neither of them looking the least bit green from their time in the portal. Inara examined her nails, brushing the hair from her face with disinterest before finally deigning to look at me again.

“Where is this place, exactly?” she asked, her eyes still glinting greedily.

I brushed the dirt from my knees, taking my time before answering. I still needed to find a way out of this, or no one was getting out alive. The problem was, I still hadn’t come up with any satisfactory idea that could give me a solution on how to get out of this mess. And time was running out. I couldn’t stall much longer. I didn’t regret running away, but I thought I would have more time to come up with something. Instead, Inara had forced me onto a speeding track I had no safe way of getting out of.

“It’s this way.” I jerked my head down a familiar trail. “Hope you brought your walking shoes.”

I turned, heading down the trail without looking to see if they were following. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Orin materialize at my side, ready to spring into action should I do anything he didn’t like. I ignored him, continuing to press forward. I deliberately dragged my feet, wanting to give myself enough time to think of some way to get me out of here.

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