Page 6 of His Rejected Mate

The danger behind us should have taken all my attention, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Kira. For all I knew, Simon could have already turned her feral, or worse, killed her. The thought alone made bile rise at the back of my throat, and an icy ache pierced my heart.

Eventually, the wind shifted. Crew and I glanced at each other as the mangy stench of the feral shifters reached our noses.

“Change course,” Crew said, pointing in a different direction. “Use the wind while we can.”

If we could smell them, then we’d finally gotten upwind of the beasts. They would have an almost impossible time catching our scent while we were in that position. Crew was smart and quick on his feet—I had to give him that. He’d come to the same realization as I had, though even quicker.

The three of us hurried, taking a forty-five degree angle from the path we’d been on. Eli explained that this route would add three or four hundred yards to our journey, but not having the ferals on our tail would be well worth the extra time.

Easy for her to say. The woman she loved wasn’t locked away with a psychopath. Every second mattered.

The plan worked, though. We’d gone about a quarter mile before the scent of the ferals became so faint as to be almost nonexistent. We’d put enough distance between us and them that we were comfortable talking as we continued our light jog back to Haven.

“I’m positive this Simon guy has his labinsidethe volcano,” I said. “The side closest to the mansion, from what I remember.”

“That’s one of the main areas we’ve suspected,” Crew said. “That, and a fairly well-hidden underground cave near the swamps, and some caverns in the face of the ocean-facing cliffs to the north. Honestly, the volcano was our best bet. Easier access for air-dropped supplies, more access to all the different parts of the island, plus it’s fairly centrally located.”

“It’s part of why we’ve always tried to give it a wide berth,” Eli added. “A lot of weird things happen near it. Simon has seen Crew before. Has his eyes on him.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise.

Crew nodded. “He’s tried to capture me at least four different times. I don’t think he likes failure. Now, it’s more of a matter of pride, I think. It’s one of the main reasons I don’t like anyone other than Eli leaving Haven. There’s no reason for others to get hurt or captured just because Simon has a hard-on for me.”

Within ten minutes, we were back at Haven’s hidden entrance. We’d barely gotten through all the traps and tunnels that led to Haven proper before J.D. came rushing up the tunnel toward us, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

“Did you find Leif? Is he okay?”

Knowing Kira was lost somewhere had put my temper on a short leash. “Yes, dammit,” I hissed at him, unable to stop myself. “We fucking found him and then lost him. We lost Kira, too.”

J.D. shrank back a bit as I glared at him. From farther down the hall, more footsteps hurried toward us.

“What do you mean you lost Kira?” Zoe asked. Mika, Chelsey, and Gavin trailed behind her.

A deep, weary sigh shuddered out of me. I couldn’t talk, terrified I might actually burst into tears of fear and frustration.

Zoe, obviously far less afraid of me than J.D., stomped over and shook me. “I said, what do you mean? Where is Kira, Wyatt?”

“Gone. Gods almighty, she’s gone, okay?” My voice was strained, on the verge of breaking. My hands shook.

“Motherfucker,” Gavin growled, rounding on me. “I knew she wouldn’t be safe with you!” He pointed an accusing finger at me. “This is your fault. If I’d been out there, you could fucking guarantee I wouldn’t have let Kira out of my sight.”

“You piece of shit,” I snarled as I leapt toward him, ready to paint the walls with his blood, and damn the consequences.

The only thing that stopped Gavin and me from mauling each other were the others. Crew and Eli wrapped their arms around me, while Mika and J.D. did the same to Gavin. All Gavin and I could do was stare daggers at each other.

It would so fucking good to slam my fist in that Fell fucker’s face, I thought.

“Enough!” Crew bellowed, silencing all of us. “We have bigger things to worry about.”

His words were like ice water splashed on my rage, and I shrugged out of Crew and Eli’s grip. “Everyone calm down,” I said, holding my hands up to show I wasn’t going to fight anymore.

Crew eyed me warily, but he and Eli stepped back.

“Bickering like kids won’t stop anything,” Crew said. “It’s a waste of time. Simon has taken Kira—we’re at least we’re ninety-nine percent sure of that. We have to figure out a plan to storm his lab and get her back. We need a few days to organize, then we can head there to rain hell down on Simon.”

I nodded along with his words. “Yeah. The only issue is, I’m not waiting afew days. We need to head back out ASAP. I plan on heading to the volcano by nightfall. If the whole plan is ready by then? Great. If not? I’ll go by myself.”

Eli sighed. “I thought we talked about this, Wyatt.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com