Page 8 of Forsaking His Mate

I rush over to the truck and slide onto the bench seat, shutting the door behind me. The clang of metal meeting metal is loud in the otherwise silence of the mountains and trees.

Quickly, I pull on my seatbelt, suspecting I’m going to need it for whatever is about to happen. Safety first, right?

Hester starts the engine, which roars to life immediately.

I laugh nervously.

In the movies I watched with my pack mates the truck never starts the first time.

Hester turns to me.

“I know you’re scared, but I promise I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

I hope that is an oath she can keep, because these hunters are determined. They found me in the middle of nowhere and they had no objection to cutting through pure-blood wolves to get to me.

I swallow my fear as she hits the gas, putting her foot to the floor. My hand presses against the window to stop from sliding in my seat as she takes to the road at speed.

If the hunters don’t kill us, Hester’s driving might.

When the road straightens out, I peel myself away from the door.

“Where are we going?” I ask. The big wide world can feel huge and terrifying if you’ve stayed in one place all your life.

“I have a place. It’s warded against hunters. We’ll be safe there, provided we reach it.”

That doesn’t fill me with happy thoughts. “Let’s make sure we do,” I mutter.

Her lack of fear surprises me. Discretely, I sniff the air, trying to catch her scent.

There is wolf there, a hint of it, but something else, like the air after a storm.

She smells like me.

“You’re smelling my magic,” Hester says. So much for being discreet. “You don’t need to be afraid, Tessa. I really don’t mean you any harm.”

“No offense, but I don’t know you,” I say. “And I’m starting to think I’m crazy for getting into a truck with someone who charged through my mind without so much as a ‘hi, mind if I come in?’”

“No, you don’t know me, but I am a friend. Your father didn’t want to admit what you are and what your life would be if others knew about you, but you should never have been out here exposed like this.”

I frown, staring out of the windshield at the path cut by the headlights.

It is remote out here, far from civilization. I don’t see any house, farmsteads or any sign of life in fact.

I can understand why my father chose the area for our pack. We have the freedom to run without being caught by humans, to hunt, and to live in peace.

Or at least we did.

That peace will never be recovered. My pack will always feel the trauma of what happened today.

I won’t be there to mourn our losses and grieve for the wolves who sacrificed their lives for me.

My wolf whines, wanting us to go back and comfort our pack. I haven’t dared to turn on the pack bond yet, scared of what I may hear.

“I don’t understand any of this,” I admit, my voice cracking. “I know I’m different. I’ve always known that. I could never shift, and I didn't smell the same as my pack members, but what am I?”

Hester focuses on the road, her fingers tight around the steering wheel. “Your father never told you?”

“He told me I was special, but nothing else. I thought he was trying to comfort me after my failed first-moon ceremony.”

---