Page 4 of Challenged Mate
No.
I shut down the thought.
Don’t go there.
It didn’t matter what I felt for Asher.
He betrayed me and all but condemned me to a lifetime of disappointment by winning the Alpha Games… by winning me for his alpha.
My heart ached. My wolf whined inside my mind. She felt our connection to Asher and his wolf, and she didn’t want me to sever it. I buried my face into the leather seat, urging her to calm down. I had enough trouble handling my own emotions, I didn’t need the stress of dealing with hers.
Thankfully, her protests grew silent and my mind was, once again, left to wander…
Lying on the back seats, thoughts jumping from one subject to another, I dozed off.
Then, my shoulder jostled.
I sprang into a seated position. My head swung from side to side, and I wiped drool from my chin.
Chase leaned over the back of his seat, his hand still stretched out towards me. “Hey, sleepyhead. We’re about five minutes out.”
I rubbed my eyes and nodded. Pushing loose strands of hair behind my ears, I turned to take in our surroundings.
We were still on the dirt road, driving through the forest. The trees were green with no traces of snow or ice. Vaguely, I remembered learning approximately eighty-five percent of Alaska was permafrost. Either we were in the southern portion of the largest state, or the Wilds Pack magic made their environment more hospitable than the frigid parts of the state.
Honestly, I didn’t know which was more likely. I knew so little about the Wilds Pack, their territory, or the magic they wielded.
The minutes ticked by.
A bright clearing peeked through the forest ahead. Asher drove past the last row of trees, and I knew we’d entered Wilds Pack territory.
Two
Breath caughtin my throat as I got my first view of Wilds Pack lands. We drove down, approaching the community at an incline, allowing me to see the entire area in one frame.
Blue, red, and gray buildings were organized in neat rows, bordering smooth streets. Their height ranged from one story to three stories. I noted the three-story buildings were concentrated on the periphery of the small town. Sharpening my sight, I noted the pristine, green lawns in front—recognizing they were actually homes.
Figures moved along the streets—small dots from this distance. Some traveled quickly, but it didn’t look like those individuals drove a car. A motorcycle, maybe?
I drank it all in. There were playgrounds and well-kept parks. And there wasn’t a speck of snow to be seen.
Definitely magic.
“You look shocked.” I pulled my eyes from the stunning community and noticed Chase watching me with a smile.
“I am,” I admitted. I thought the Wilds shifters lived like frontiersmen from the eighteen-hundreds, but the community look like a well-run, modern, and populated town.
“This is our largest community,” Chase provided. “But we have several more spread across the state.”
“Why wouldn’t you all be together?” In the Summit Pack, no shifter lived more than ten miles from the rest. Our wolves were pack animals. They didn’t like being far from one another.
“Some of us like our space,” Chase replied.
I frowned at the un-wolfish behavior but didn’t comment.
“How many shifters live here?”
“About one thousand.” It was Asher who answered.
