Not My Alpha (Completed)

Chapter Forty-Three - The World Seemed to Hold Its Breath

Another hour passed before we made it to a forest. Because of what happened with Kade, Raven made sure to take things extra carefully. For her, this meant pausing every thirty seconds. I didn't complain, though. In all honesty, we were lucky it was Kade and his brother that wandered in on us. Had it been werewolves, we'd have been screwed.

Knocking them out was fairly easy. Titus was already unconscious, and Kade didn't put up a fight. He knew when he'd lost. We ended up leaving them inside the small dumpster, and Raven did most of the work in putting them there. It was actually her idea in the first place. She wasn't concerned with their safety, but it would have looked suspicious for two humans' to be knocked out in an alleyway.

Raven inched closer to me as we scanned the entrance of the forest. The trees were skinny and tall, the green leaves vibrant despite the ending of summer. A small breeze swayed them lightly against each other, as they were placed close enough together to almost be touching. There was, however, a small gap in the trees. That was where both of our gazes were trained. It was as if we were magically expecting Will to waltz out of the forest, completely unharmed, and still human. Judging by our luck so far, that wouldn't have been too foreign of a notion.

But, we both knew it wouldn't happen. Another echo of screams only solidified this knowledge, pushing me forward to act.

"Come on." I pulled against Raven's arm, lightly. "Do you still know where they are?"

She nodded, but pulled out of my grip, keeping both of us planted firmly in our hiding spot. We were in yet another back alley, this one much like the last. Brick walls lined the buildings, and the concrete beneath our feet was old and stained.

"I don't like this," she murmured, almost too softly for me to hear.

My eyes darted between her and the trees as I bit my lip. "Why? What do you hear?"

"Nothing. Nothing new, anyway."

I listened again for Will's cries. They were less frequent now, but there was no promise they'd ever stop.

"Then what's wrong?"

She hesitated. "I don't know. This was too easy-"

"So, you've mentioned."

Raven scowled. "Am I wrong?"

It was my turn to hesitate. I couldn't answer her. We both knew she was right. But, if I admitted it, then we'd be further away from getting to Will.

"We'll be fine. I've got a gun, remember?" I waved it in her face for good measure. It was awkward in my hands, but I tried not to let it show. Neither of us really knew how to work the thing, but I'd watched Margaret pull the trigger a few times, and figured I could manage.

"Do you even know how to use it?" Raven's voice rose an octave.

"It's easy enough. You just pull the trigger."

"This is a bad idea," she groaned, bringing her fingers to massage her temples. "I just have a bad feeling. We should really think about this. Something could be wrong."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Of course, something's wrong. My brother is dying."

Her lips pressed firmly together once more and she shot me a glare. When she didn't speak again, we both turned our gazes back to the forest to watch for movement. I don't know what I was expecting to see, or why we were still waiting. Perhaps I thought Kade would follow us. Maybe another wolf would be guarding the forest. Maybe Raven was right. 

"Let's go," I told her, standing up before I lost my nerve. I hadn't heard Will in a while, and I was beginning to grow anxious.

Raven hesitatingly followed my actions, and this time, I was the one to lead us forward. At this point, there was only one direction to go.