The Beta's Forbidden Mate

Chapter Fourteen

The little car's engine revved to keep up with the furious speed I was maintaining. The city lights were soon lost in the rearview as I raced west, out of Denver and into thickly forested and mountainous regions around it.

Kelly was going to freak out when she saw my room.

Even if I explained everything to her, I'm not sure she would ever forgive me for this.

And that's considering I got back in one piece to tell her at all.

No. I shook my head, refusing to give into those thoughts. If I did, I would give in completely to panic.

And I was having enough trouble focusing on keeping the car on the road. I had a license, but only rarely used it, and my driving was rusty, especially at 90 miles an hour.

I took a deep breath, increasing my speed to 95. All that mattered was finding Asher before it was too late.

Almost an hour had passed since I'd pulled the fire alarm, and he was still alive. I could feel it, just as I could feel the tug of the mating bond leading me west.

But he was far—the wolves must have been moving at great speed after jumping from my window.

Asher must have been right about their rapid healing abilities—it gave me a surge of hope that he was still alright. At least for now.

The mark on my neck pulsed with the tremors shaking up and down my skin.

The woods loomed all around me, their limbs still not filled out with their summer greenery. The budding branches spread out over the cloudy sky in a skeletal canopy, the trees on either side straining to touch.

I'm sure in the daytime it was a lovely drive, but the sun was beginning to set, casting a gloomy, purplish tone to the shadowy forest, and a shiver ran down my spine.

The mating bond pulled at me again. I was getting closer.

He was still alive, I could feel it.

But he was in pain. I could somehow sense that as well, like the bond had forged a link between our emotions.

And Asher's emotions were filled with fear. I was running out of time.

My hands curled tighter around the steering wheel, urging the engine even faster. The trees were a whipping blur of shadows.

Finally, about forty minutes outside of the farthest suburbs, deep in the expansive forest, I felt a change.

Carefully, I braked and pulled over to the side of the road.

He was close. Somewhere to the north of the highway, through the forest.

I stared into the falling darkness, half-expecting to see glowing yellow eyes staring back.

But it was perfectly still, and silent except for the ticking sound of the car's cooling engine.

Part of my brain was screaming at me to turn the car around—to drive back to the safe, normal security of the city and try to explain to my roommate that this had all been some kind of outrageous prank.

But I'd come this far. And if I did nothing, Asher would die.

I couldn't turn back now.

"Okay, Olivia. Let's do this." I put the car in park on the side of the road, got out, and put the keys in the wheel well in case I needed to make a quick exit.

Or in case I never come back, and they find it abandoned tomorrow morning, I thought grimly.

One hand had a death grip on the canister of pepper spray, and the other rested on my thigh, ready to bend down and grab the knife from my boot at the slightest hint of danger.

It was then that I realized what I'd forgotten.

A flashlight. And my phone.

"Fuck!" I cried in a hushed voice, horror washing over me at my mistake.

I could turn the headlights on in the car, but that would only help for the first twenty feet or so. The forest was a black tangle of low undergrowth and soggy puddles of snowmelt. There was absolutely no way I'd be able to navigate it blind.

"FUCK!" I whisper-shouted again.

Maybe I should turn back, I thought miserably. This was a failure from the beginning.

But I could still feel Asher's fear, like a second heartbeat hammering in my chest.

There was no way I could just go home.

Stepping quietly, feeling my way in the darkness, I ventured further into the forest.

My heart was pounding so hard it drowned out every other noise. I made my way from tree to tree, stepping carefully to make sure the ground was secure before I put my weight down.

It took about five minutes for me to realize that it would take me hours to find him. The sun had gone down completely, and the forest was as black as the inside of a cave. Almost no light filtered down from the crescent moon, and the canopy blocked any starlight from reaching the forest floor.

If only I had the keen eyes and nose of a wolf. If I could move with their kind of speed.

I imagined padding silently through the woods, completely at home amongst the thick tree trunks. My keen eyes cutting through the darkness, seeking out prey.

A shiver ran down my spine, and I pressed on.

Eventually, I stumbled onto a small clearing. My cheek had gotten scratched on a thorny branch, and I was pretty sure I'd stepped in four different patches of poison ivy, but jittery excitement sizzled under my skin.

I was getting close.

On the far edge of the clearing, a doe was watching me, her tail upright, her body poised for flight. Despite my fear, I smiled at her.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," I said, panting with exertion. I rested my hands on my knees for a moment, trying to catch my breath.

When I looked up again, the deer had vanished.

Then I felt hot, stinking breath on my neck, followed by a jeering laugh.

"I had a feeling you'd show up." His fingers wrapped once more around my throat. "Now I get to kill you slow, just like I promised."