“You can try.” His sneer made him even less attractive if possible. “But they are in the middle of the desert and not above binding disobedient females.”
“Binding me?” Bending, I sank my teeth into the hand that gripped me. Followed it up with a sharp knee to the groin. He crumpled to the ground with a pathetic shriek.
I spat blood on the forest floor, wanting his foulness out of my mouth, and then, without giving him a chance to recover, I was off again.
This time, instead of downhill like the gully, I ran upslope, hoping to get some distance so I could hide.
But while I’d been struggling with the beta, the others had come into sight. Their feet pounded the ground and I was already tired. How would I ever be able to go on? The question was answered when I ran out of trail and found myself perched on the edge of a cliff.
It had to end sometime.
I’d had a good run, at least recently.
In my mind, I bid farewell to all the people who’d helped me and especially the three alphas who I’d never make love with. Three was looking normal now. Way more normal than what my own pack had in mind for me. I’d give anything to be able to mate them and live happily ever after, at least for a while.
Chapter Twenty
Carver
“There!” Diesel shouted and, as soon as the words left his mouth, we all took off at a run. She was surrounded and on the edge of a cliff. Behind her was certain death, in front of her, a different kind of death. Being caught by the people she’d run from.
The people who tried to trade her like a commodity instead of a person.
She retreated one more step and then had to flail her arms to get her balance back.
Aries and I got there first, pushed through the group of jerks, and flanked our mate. Diesel shoved the men out of his way and stood in front of her.
“I don’t want them to take me,” she spoke. Her body vibrated with terror. “I’d rather jump from this cliff than live as someone’s lesser mate. I won’t be traded.”
I turned to her. “You think we’d ever let that happen to you?”
She didn’t answer.
Diesel glanced at her over his shoulder. “Over our fucking dead bodies, baby. They won’t touch a hair on your head.”
One of the taller men walked closer, his palms extended. The alpha, if my senses did me justice. “Now, gentlemen.” I scoffed. Like he knew anything about being a gentleman. “This is pack business. Josie is a member of our pack and so I’m the one who says what happens to her. She belongs to us.”
“Fuck you!” Josie’s entire body moved with her curse. I had one hand on her arm, afraid that one wrong move would send her over the cliff. We’d only known each other for a couple of weeks, but I wasn’t sure our small pack would survive losing their mate.
“Who is the alpha of this tiny pack?” he asked.
We all contributed to the pack equally but Aries was our alpha. His power was stronger than ours, naturally. If he was a murderer, he would be the alpha of a huge pack. “I am.” Aries stepped forward.
Josie placed her hand in his as worry tainted her scent.
She was worried about us?
An alpha and his pack chased her for miles and were trying to take her, plus, she’d given herself the alternative of throwing herself from a cliff and she was worried about her mates?
“I think we can come to an agreement here. What are you willing to give us for Josie? She’s been a drain on resources and time and energy since she was born, and she’s of questionable lineage. There’s no place for her in our pack. So, what are you willing to pay for her? I’m sure you’ve heard of the other offer on the table.” His beady eyes darted to Josie and she growled.
“She’s not property. She’s our fated mate, and she’s a part of this pack now.”
The jerk looked around Diesel. “That’s strange. I don’t see any claiming marks. And she still smells unmated to me.”
Fear settled in my chest.
Deep inside, I realized there was no chance for negotiating with these people or finding a way for them to leave.
