Page 64 of Never His Mate

As I book it away from Audrey’s cabin, heading toward the woods, I regret letting her convince me to walk back to her place. My Jeep is on the other side of the mountain and while I could shift and get back to it sooner, that still leaves me with the whole “driving while naked” problem.

Now, if only that was the sole problem I have to deal with...

I thought something was wrong before. Know what? I was totally right. I’ve learned to trust my gut. Something tells me that the night’s not over yet, and I believe it.

I pour on the speed.

Halfway back toward where I left my Jeep, I notice that my nose… my nose has stopped working, like I’ve developed a sudden cold or something. I can’t scent a single thing—not the woods, or the earth, or anything else—and hell if I know why it’s failing me for the first time ever. At least my eyes and my ears are working because, without them, I wouldn’t have realized I was being tracked until it was too late.

And, honestly, it just might be.

I’m an alpha, but I’m not invincible. As I stop short, I count three different hooded figures surrounding my front half. Whirling around, I find another four waiting at my back. Picking up on the echoes and the shadows in the distance, I’m sure even more are lurking in the woods. Audrey must’ve sent a call out to the pack when she caught me outside of Ryker’s cabin, because this seems… planned, almost.

And it’s not just the way they form a circle around me that has me on my guard. It’s the hoods. I see the black hoods hiding their faces, like they don’t want me to figure out who they are—with my sense of smell out, I can’t—and I know that I’m not just in trouble.

I’m in deep, deep shit.

“Remember what happened at the council meeting,” rumbles one of the faceless shadows. A big guy, and I’m suddenly thrown back to the night I left Accalia when one of Ryker’s larger enforcers tried to stop me from going. “She’s more dangerous than she looks.”

“A female alpha,” whispers another. “Can it really be true?”

“Doesn’t matter.” I know that voice. That’s Jace. “Ryker will only accept her as his mate. This is for our Alpha.”

“For Ryker,” echoes the others.

Hang on—

They can’t honestly think they can force me into mating Ryker, right? I mean, sure, it’s the full moon, and it wouldn’t take much to perform the Luna Ceremony that ties us together forever, but he promised that he’d get me to change my mind. That he was up for the challenge.

That he’d never use his alpha status to make the choice for me.

Only Ryker isn’t. It’s the rest of the Mountainside Pack that’s turned on me.

That’s my cue. I don’t care what they’re doing, or why, and maybe I’ll eventually ask Ryker about it one day, but right now? I’m out of here.

There’s no time to return to my Jeep. If I have any hope of escaping whatever Ryker’s pack has in mind for me, I’ll have to rely on my wolf outrunning them.

One problem: it’s not just my nose that’s broken. I… I can’t shift.

Panic flares up inside of me. It’s an unfamiliar feeling, and one I really, really don’t like; it’s right there with being afraid. Ever since I started shifting as a young pup, there’s never been a moment when I gave my body the command and it just didn’t work… until now.

It’s supposed to be instantaneous. When a few terrifying seconds tick by and I’m still stuck in my skin, I back up, looking for a different escape, but I can’t find one. The circle is closing in on me, my wolf anxious and scared, and I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.

I don’t even have my claws. I’m more defenseless than I’ve ever been in my entire life and I hate it.

So when Grant suddenly appears behind the circle, I want to go after him again. He’s someone to fixate on, someone to blame, but as much as it sucks, I have to accept that I’m no match for him in my current state.

Audrey’s mate isn’t wearing one of the hooded cloaks like the others, but he’s obviously on their side. I get a perverse jolt of pleasure to see that he’s rubbing the heel of his hand against his sternum, wincing as he joins the circle. He moves carefully, like he’s still recovering from my attack. Considering how hard I hit him, there’s a good chance I cracked a couple of his bones, maybe even a rib or two.

Good. He fucking deserved it.

Once I can tap into my wolf again, he’ll also deserve what happens next. They all will.

“What are we waiting for?” He gestures at me with his chin. “Audrey put a few drops of quicksilver in her drink so even if she doesn’t go down, we’ll still be able to handle her. But it won’t last long. Let’s do this.”

My jaws drops.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

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