The She-Wolf’s Mate (Book 2 She-Wolf Series)

Ivar

Trinity, Aidan, and I stepped through the gate and it closed behind us. I rolled my shoulders, trying to shake some of the stress and soreness from them. It had been a long night.

“I think that went well,” Trinity said, brightly.

I grunted in agreement. We avoided a major conflict, so “well” was an adequate description.

I started grabbing things I intended to take back to Sam’s house. It would be nice to have my own clothes and a pair of shoes. I grimaced as I grabbed my cell phone. It was a necessary evil these days, but I had actually enjoyed my time being disconnected.

As I slung my duffel bag over my shoulder, Aidan swore and turned to look at me with wide eyes. He held his own cell to his ear.

“You need to hear this,” he said, clicking a button on the screen.

Sam’s voice filled the room.

“Hi Ivar…”

I listened to her message, grinding my teeth and clenching my hands at the effort to hold back Rankor. A constant growl rumbled through my chest. I heard the tears in her voice and immediately felt claws lengthen from my hands as a roar tore out of my throat. Behind me, I heard Trinity clicking on a keyboard.

“Spurnwood is the new Alpha of the Moon Valley Pack,” she said, all business. “It borders Redclaw.”

“Get me there,” I snarled.

“Ivar,” she said, gently. “It’s a vast landscape. Very rural. I’m not sure where we would start.”

“How long ago did the call come in?” I asked as I followed Aidan who was already moving down the hall towards the weapons room.

“The message was left about 40 minutes ago. The first call was about 25 minutes before that,” Aidan said as he started grabbing knives and a gun with silver bullets.

“Fuck,” I growled.

She called me for help and I wasn’t there for her. I didn’t protect her.

“I think we need to start at her house, Ivar,” Trinity said next to me as she pulled her long hair into a bun at the nape of her neck. “Knowing Sam, she didn’t go in without a plan. She would’ve given you a way to find her.”

“Why wouldn’t she have said where she was headed?” Aidan asked.

“He probably threatened her family if anyone followed,” Trinity said, quietly. “She gave herself a head start to do as he asked, but she said in her call she’s expecting you to stop it.”

“Let’s go,” I commanded.

“We should bring a team,” Aidan argued.

“There’s no fucking time,” I snapped. “Trinity can’t transport everyone without burning too much energy.”

I wasn’t sure what I was walking into and I needed my sister at full strength.

“Fine,” Aidan conceded, tapping his phone as Trinity grabbed our wrists. “I’ll have Nelson start scrolling through satellite feeds and see who we have in the area.”

The air swirled and we were standing in Sam’s living room.

“What the hell?” A voice exclaimed behind me.

I turned to find myself staring into the faces of Luke Paulson and Emerick Stone. They were standing in the open doorway.

“Is she here?” I asked without a preamble.

“What do you mean?” Stone snarled. “Isn’t she with you?”

I was in his face in a blink. The rage I barely contained was bubbling to the surface.

“I had to leave,” I spat. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Sam said Luke was in trouble,” Stone said, slowly. I could see he sensed danger in my demeanor. “All she said was that I needed to bring him here.”

“And you didn’t think to ask?” I bit out.

“She told me she couldn’t say!” He shouted. “I did as my alpha requested.”

“You let her put herself in danger!” I was barely holding back from strangling him.

“You should’ve been here!” He accused.

I paused. He was right. I should’ve been here. It was my responsibility to protect my mate.

“What are you doing?” Aidan asked, suddenly.

I turned to find him looking at Luke who was stripping by the back door.

“Mom left a note,” he explained, pointing to a piece of paper and a cell phone he had placed on the end table. “I’m going to get her.”

The rest of us huddled around.

“She’s supposed to go to these coordinates and someone is going to meet her,” he said, kicking off his shoes. “I’ll track her from here.”

“I’ll go,” Emerick said, shaking his head. “Your mom would not be happy if I let you walk into danger.”

“No, I’m going,” I said, glaring at Emerick. “I’ll get there faster and you need to help ready the pack. This is an act of war.”

I could see he wanted to argue, but he could follow the logic of what I was telling him. He narrowed his eyes and gave a short nod before digging out his cell phone and stepping into the other room.

“I’m going with you,” Aidan said.

“You’ll slow me down,” I told him, shaking my head.

“Fine,” he relented. “But I’m going to follow your trail. I won’t be far behind.”

I nodded. I looked up to find a naked Luke on the back deck. I sighed and followed him, stripping as I went.

“You’re staying here, pup,” I told him.

He gazed at me impassively. The way he stared at me without a shred of fear reminded me so much of his mother. My chest hurt at the thought.

“It’s my mom. You can’t stop me,” he said, raising his chin stubbornly. “Besides, I may not know everything about what’s going on between the two of you, but I know enough. I’ll be the alpha soon.”

We stood each stood glaring at the other. I knew the minutes were ticking by the longer I spent arguing with him. He wouldn’t be able to keep up anyway.

“I’m not slowing down for you,” I told him.

He snorted. “Same to you.”

In the next movement, he jumped off the deck and landed as a wolf, bolting to the tree line without breaking stride.

Holy shit, I thought, staring at his retreating form.

He was as large as Rankor, maybe bigger. I had never seen a wolf that could match me in size or strength, but something told me I was looking at the first.

Next to me, Aidan flew over the railing and hit the ground running. He let out a bark, pulling me from my thoughts. I shifted and sailed after the other two wolves, following Sam’s scent.

“Reach out when you find her,” Trinity’s voice echoed in my head. “I’ll keep the connection open.”

Trinity’s power allowed her some telepathic abilities. It took all of her focus and became more difficult with distance, so it wasn’t usually the most practical. In this instance, it would allow her to find us. I imagined she was probably meditating in the open field near Sam’s house, drawing from the plant life around her.

I growled my thanks and surged forward, quickly passing Aidan. Luke, on the other hand, held the lead he had started with. It took my running at full speed to gain any sort of ground on him. No wolf had ever outrun me, especially one so young.

In a matter of twenty minutes we reached the location Sam had been sent and the trail became unclear. We were on a main road. It made us easily visible to any passerby. At that moment, I would have paraded in front of the White House without remorse if it meant saving my mate.

Luke’s wolf, Ender, let out a whine and I turned. He was indicating a stain of dried liquid on the ground. I sniffed it and recoiled.

Wolfsbane, I thought.

They drugged her so she wouldn’t be able to shift and her strength would be limited. I sniffed the ground. They put her in a vehicle that had been parked in the tall grass. Broken plants and shuffled footsteps indicated she put up a fight, probably when they forced her to drink and threw her in the car. I growled at the thought.

It took a minute but I was able to pinpoint the distinct trail of the vehicle that carried her. I pointed my snout in the right direction and Ender nodded. We took off once again at breakneck speed down the highway.