Page 70 of The Alpha's Chosen Outcast

I sincerely hope that I’m wrong about that part. I know it’s what the elders want. I know they wanted her executed as soon as they found out she was in the city.

She disobeyed the rules of exile, and the punishment for that is death. Even as a wolf, she’s no match for an assassin.

That’s it!As a wolf. I can sense her. I may be able to find her the way I had before with her parents’ help. I didn’t bring the book we used. I try to recall how we did it.

I’m sure that I’ll figure something out once I sense her. I call Melissa and tell her and Raymond to meet me here at the cottage. One thing I know is we’ll all need to be in the same place for this.

Much to my chagrin, Callie, Sam, and Logan show up with Melissa and tell him that Raymond is coming up behind them. He stopped for lunch, obviously not realizing how serious this whole thing is now.

Heather’s friends, surprisingly, are the ones that seem to get it the most. Perhaps, as humans, they are naturally more suspicious.

Sam is checking her phone to see if the “find my friend” feature works. Callie is making tea. Logan is setting up his laptop at the dining room table. I’m not sure what he’s planning on doing, but it looks like they’re all mobilizing.

Melissa, on the other hand, seems frozen. Callie pulls out a chair and puts a teacup in front of her. Next, a small pot of something steaming and aromatic sits on the table.

They know her house, her life, and where everything is. They really are like her family. And I need to make sure that none of us lose her.

Logan types frantically on his keyboard and moves his finger on the trackpad, intensely studying his screen. Callie is pouring a cup of tea about a foot away from his machine.

“He’s protective of that thing.” She looks up at me. “Don’t let any food or liquids get near it.”

I nod at her, then sit down across from Logan. Callie puts a cup down in front of me and pours some tea. She doesn’t have anything else out to add to it, a tea purist. I like that.

The aroma hits me full-on, then. It’s chamomile and rose hips, healing and calming. But nothing can settle the fear in my stomach.

The warmth does help me think better, though. A moment later, Logan sits up straight and exclaims, “A-ha!” to no one in particular. He turns the screen around, and I see a large red dot pulsing on a map of the area.

“She’s in the woods, just a few miles north of town.”

He sounds sure and Melissa turns to him, putting her tea down.

“What do you think we should do?”

Logan looks at me. “You can sense her, right? You said you guys are mates. This shows us about a three-mile radius. You can narrow it down further if you change, though, can’t you? That’s how the whole wolf thing works, right?”

I’m a bit perturbed that he knows so much about the customs of mates. That doesn’t really matter now. He’s right. That map shows me the vicinity, and I can narrow it down with the sense of my mate once I change. What am I waiting for?

I get up and head for the door. Raymond stops me before I can open it.

“I’m coming with you.”

I stare him down. I’m his alpha now. If I tell him he can’t go, then he won’t have a choice but to stay behind.

Is that really what I want? I could use the extra support, and there aren’t any other wolves around that I know of. Melissa is still sitting at the table with her tea, watching us, frozen and distraught.

“You can come, but stay behind me,” I tell him in a low voice. “I won’t let anything get in the way of saving my fiancé. That includes you. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.

I’m sure Heather went after him, thinking she could negotiate. There’s no negotiating with an assassin. He’ll either kill her or make her disappear unless I get to her first.”

“Can you make him back down as Alpha?”

That’s a good question. I’m not really sure, but I can’t tell him that.

“It’s possible. I’m newly made as Alpha, and he’s worked for the elders for decades. I know my father used him.”

Raymond scrunches up his face. “He did? For what?”

“Now’s not exactly the best time to have that conversation. Right now, we need to get to those woods.”

---