Page 62 of Rejected Nanny Mate
I didn't tell Kiera what I was doing. Instead, I woke up each morning for the next four days before dawn and shifted, running through the forest, past the territory line into Joe's territory, and laid in the leaf litter near the treeline of Malcolm's property, waiting to see Mia leave.
She finally did on the fourth morning. Malcolm had taken his big wheel late in the night and gone to work, and he wouldn't be home for days. A few hours after sunrise, Mia left and took off into the forest on the other side of the property.
Bingo. It was time to figure out just what she was doing with her spare time. It hadn't been lost on me that she hadn't even left to see Rose, but while that pissed me off, her being a bad mother wasn't going to prove my innocence. I had to stick to my plan, even though I just wanted to punch her.
Mia's scent trail wasn't hard to follow, and I followed it to a small clearing where a dilapidated cabin stood. I could sense Mia, but the energy coming from the cabin was dark and buzzing. It felt like there was more than just Rose's mother inside.
I laid low to the ground, ears forward and listening. I could hear Mia's voice, low and monotone, and it sounded like she was chanting.
Then, impossibly, I was hit by the overwhelming, unmistakable scent of ozone, and I felt the sickening magic skitter across my nerves.
It was the magic surge. The chanting had been a spell, and Mia had used that spell to create the surge. Shock rolled through me, but I didn't make a move. Instead, I crept closer, desperate to hear what Mia was saying.
I froze when I heard her voice again, but she was talking to someone else, not spellcasting anymore.
“See? I can cast them in minutes now,” Mia bragged. “We can make our move soon.”
“And you're sure they don't suspect you?” A slimy male voice asked.
“Not at all. Her friend was even the one to cast the identification spell and saw the fake magical signature I'd put on myself. They all believe it was her. The Alpha is confused and distracted. The territory is weak.”
“Good,” the voice said, “Our Alpha will be pleased.”
“Thank you, Beta,” Mia simpered. My ears flattened to my head as the puzzle pieces fell into place in my mind. She wasn't trying to leave her old toxic pack; she was working for them, trying to take over Joe's territory somehow.
I didn't need to hear anymore. I had to get back to Joe and warn him of what was about to happen, but when I turned to run away, a figure stepped in my path.
“Well, well. Are you eavesdropping, little wolf?” the person asked, and when I tried to run, he blocked my path. “Ah ah, if you run, you're going to have to take a nice long nap.”
Furious and terrified, I snarled, baring my teeth. The stranger shook his head and tsked. I charged him then, hoping I could knock him down and be gone before he recovered. But instead, he caught me mid-air, and his fist came down on my temple, hard.
I yelped and fell to the ground, pain ricocheting through my skull. I looked up at him through blurry eyes, and he grinned. “You might want to stay down.”
My vision swam as I tried to hold on, but it went dark a moment later, and the world fell away.
Chapter 25 - Joe
It had been a week since I'd heard from Gwen, and no matter how hollow it left me feeling, I refused to falter. The pack grew more and more unsettled that I refused to banish Gwen from the territory permanently, but I'd grown tired of pretending that fairness was all that mattered.
I was the Alpha, and I believed that she was innocent. I didn't give a fuck if it was my feelings for her blinding me. I wanted Gwen back, and I was sick and goddamn tired of waiting.
I waited for her to reach out, day after day, and still there was nothing. Samson confirmed that she was still alright, but it wasn't enough. I needed to hold her, touch her, and make her understand that I believed her above anyone else.
On the day my patience ran out, and I decided to go and speak to her, whether she wanted to hear from me or not, everything changed. I was pulling on my boots when I felt a sharp stab of distress in my mind, followed by rage, terror, pain...and then an emptiness so vast that it left me reeling.
It took me no time to figure out what was happening. I was feeling Gwen through a bond. A mate bond, the same one I’d felt her through the night Mia was attacked. And something was terribly wrong.
My gut reaction would have been to rush off and find her, but with the surges and all the weird shit going on, I knew that it would be a mistake. It was a hit to my pride, but I didn't want to take any chances. If Gwen needed rescuing, I needed all the help I could get.
Before I could second-guess myself, I grabbed my phone and, one by one, called the other Alphas in the pack alliance.
***
Scott, Samson, and Jayce arrived within an hour. I felt a swell of gratitude for the alliance and the strength it provided when I saw them all standing there, not arguing for once, ready to help me.
I laid it all out for them, and when I revealed that I'd felt Gwen through a mate bond, they'd all been shocked. I didn't shy away from it. There was no time, and no reason, to deny it anymore.
I'd known it for years, but I'd just refused to admit it to myself. Gwen was my mate. And now something terrible had happened to her.
