The Reluctant Mate

49 Porter

"I've found her scent!" Lee shouted through the link.

In a split second my claws dug into the earth and I was hurtling in a different direction, dodging trees and breaking through the underbrush like it wasn't even there. I knew roughly where Lee was so I didn't even consciously have to plot my course. It only took me a minute to find his scent, and then I found him standing just inside the tree line of a clearing.

There was a house, and he was watching it.

"There're two human guards," he said.

"Human?"

"I don't know what to do with humans," Lee said, pacing around. "Alpha?"

I interrupted before Jason could say anything ridiculous like we couldn't harm humans or something. Keeping the supernatural world secret was secondary to Amanda's safety. And these weren't innocent mundane humans, these were humans who had threatened one of our own. "We're going in there to get her out."

"Of course we are, Beta, but we need a plan." Jason's tone was more stern than usual, and it forced my wolf to calm down.

"I do have a plan. I'm going to kill them all."

"Well that's one possible plan," Krystal said as she and Jason hurried up to me. "Even if it's not a great starting point. Amanda could get hurt."

Jason nodded. "Krystal, check what they've got for weapons."

She didn't question him, but trotted out of the woods casually, as if she were in no particular hurry. She was a good choice, because she was the smallest of the four of us and therefore the most like an actual wild wolf in size. Jason wasn't stupid, I reminded myself in an effort to keep a hold of my own instinct to just rush in and destroy anything that threatened Amanda.

A moment later, I heard one of the humans yell to the other, "There's a wolf here."

"A wolf? So what? We're in the middle of the wilderness, wolves are a part of that. Ignore it. One wolf isn't going to hurt you. They're not as dangerous as everyone acts like they are."

"But, it's walking towards me!" The coward sounded like he was going to piss himself. I would have thought it was funny if I didn't want to murder them both for being a part of the plot against my mate.

"Just scare it away."

"We're already yelling and it's still approaching!"

"Maybe it has rabies. Whatever, shoot it."

"But..."

"But nothing."

A third voice from inside the house joined in the yelling, an unfamiliar man's voice. After I ripped him to pieces maybe I'd put his face back together and figure out his identity like a puzzle. "What do you two think I'm paying you for? Shut the hell up and do your damn jobs!"

"But there's a wolf and it's acting strange!"

"Then just fucking deal with it." He sounded like a whiny entitled pansy. He'd be less whiny and entitled when he was dead. My mouth salivated in anticipation of helping him with that bit of self-improvement. I bared my teeth as I held onto my wolf with all my strength. If I rushed in and Amanda got hurt because of it I would never forgive myself.

"Be careful, Krystal," Jason cautioned.

She just chuckled. "Don't worry about me. They think I'm a normal wolf. As if any wolf is this big. Stupid city humans. Besides, the odds of them managing a killing shot without silver is slim to nil."

"It's still preferable if you don't get shot."

"Aw, thanks, Alpha."

"Michael will be furious if I bring you home hurt." Jason shook his head.

"You can handle an overprotective rogue," she said.

"Could we please fucking focus?" I managed to keep my growl in the pack link. The guards were jumpy enough without hearing audible growls. I didn't know if they had equally nervous backup inside or not.

"You know we are, Porter." Jason met my eyes with his own yellow ones.

"It's coming closer!" A peek showed me the guard looked ready to pass out, holding his shaking gun in Krystal's direction.

"Looks like goon number one has a gun, but not much else, especially upstairs." Krystal stopped approaching the one that was freaking out and trotted around the side of the house. "And number two seems like the more calm and smart one and also probably the more dangerous of the two. He's just watching me, probably trying to work out if I actually have rabies or not."

She trotted back into the forest on the other side and a few moments later rejoined us. "I think they're both completely mundane, and if the one who planned this thinks that's enough, then he probably is, too. I didn't catch any extra scents around, seems like it's just the three humans besides your mate, Porter. They're pretty much zero threat to us so the only one I'm worried about is Amanda."

Jason paused. "Normally I'd say we should find a way in without tipping them off, but I'm more worried about her safety than secrecy. We can worry about the mundane cleanup later. Will she be in more danger if we just rush in there?"

If only she had the link, I could let her know that we were here without tipping whoever took her off and find out how much risk she was in. I regretted how hard I had tried to be patient. Maybe it was the one time I should have pushed her.

"If we could hold off until dark—"

Jason was cut off by the muffled sound of Amanda's scream, scared and panicked, with just a touch of pissed-off rage. I recognized it well.

And my wolf wasn't waiting any longer as I charged forward in a blind rage.