Page 55 of Sold Bullied Mate

Now, Emin and I round the corner of the canyon and find the northern territory completely different from what it was years ago. Before, when we ran out here, there was nothing—not a soul. Nothing but drifts of dirt and sand, the quiet chirping of insects.

But now, the sounds of growling and bodies hitting the rough canyon floor fill the air, echoing off the walls loudly.

To the left, I send to Emin, launching into the fray, finding a Grayhide and burying my teeth in his neck. He’s surprised by it, and I’m able to roll over him, taking him to the ground, snapping his neck, and moving on to the next.

As we fight, I keep my head up, looking for the alpha leader. Trying to pinpoint where he’s standing, where in the fight he is. It’s my job to find him, take him out, and keep him from targeting my shifters.

Only after twenty minutes of battling, growling, and launching my body at other wolves, watching Emin’s back, circling and clawing, do I come to a startling realization.

The Grayhide alpha leader isn’t here. He’s not fighting alongside his shifters.

Which means one of two things—either he’s excellent at hiding his position among this group, or he’s not here at all. He’s somewhere else.

A shiver runs up the length of my spine as I throw another wolf to the ground and swivel around to look at Emin. The Grayhides aren’t engaging fully, instead running at us then bouncing back, forcing us to either chase them or wait for the next attack.

Other than that first wolf I killed by ambushing him, the others have been careful not to let me get too close. In fact, as I survey the area, I realize that’s the case across the board—we aren’t killing each other. Just continuing a pointless, endless fight.

Emin, I send, thoughts whirring as I take it all in.If this isn’t a real fight, that means—

It’s a diversion, Emin sends back, a growl of his slipping through the bond.

In a startling moment of clarity, I remember Kira’s last premonition, the strange tone of her voice when she’d spoken. It had sounded like her, but also slightly different at the same time. Older. Like Kira in twenty years.

Don’t worry. I’ve got you, baby girl.

Another chill runs down my back at the realization. Someone Kira might trust, despite everything that’s happened to her. She told me herself.

Stay here, I send to Emin.Keep up the charade. Make sure they don’t actually cross the border.

It’s risky, considering the fact that we’re so low on Amanzite, but there’s no other option. I turn and race back in the direction of my house, heart hammering at what I might find when I get there.

I pray that Kira is in the safe room, pissed at me but unharmed.

But something deep in my chest tells me I’m just not that lucky.

Chapter 34 - Kira

“Where are we going?” I twist in the passenger seat and watch as the road to our house comes and goes, and we keep hurtling away.

“Somewhere safe,” she says, eyes resolutely on the road, and a shiver runs over my skin when I look at her. Like something isn’t quite the same. I tell myself that it’s just the anxiety and sit back in my seat, trying to calm down.

“I’ll put it in that damn tree house.”

“What?” I jerk back, looking over at my mom. “What did you say?”

She smiles softly, reaches over, runs the tips of her fingers over the nape of my neck. “I said, I’m going to take you somewhere safe, baby.”

That’s not what she said—I know it’s not, but everything feels strange, the world slightly blurry, so I just nod and sit back against the seat, trying to calm myself down.

We drive for five more minutes, until we’re on the outskirts of Badlands, and she turns the car, pulling into a dusty lot just outside an old wooden building. It looks like it might have been some sort of saloon, a watering hole for drifters, but it’s long-abandoned now, nothing but one other pickup truck in the drive, on the far end of the lot.

“What is this place?” I ask when she comes to a stop, turns off the car, and reaches over to undo my seatbelt. The belt tangles in my arm, and I stop, pushing it off as I climb out after her.

The sun is high in the sky, the air hot and dry, and she stalks toward the door purposefully, only sparing me a brief glance over her shoulder.

“Come on,” she says, “I’ll show you.”

I feel a distant tug, as though coming to me over miles and miles of space, begging me to stay where I’m at, but I ignore it, shake my head, and follow her inside.

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