Page 19 of Mating Season

“Need for what?”Damn. This girl is strong.

We probably shouldn’t have fed her.

“To help the other girls,” Amber said as she and her sister dragged me through the woods. “And you’ve already stood up once to Cindy. This is fate. You’re the perfect woman to save the season.”

Um…

Save the season?

10

Ranger

After rechecking the printed maps in human form, we made our way deeper into the White River National Forest traveling as a pack of angry beasts. We’d only passed one hiker the entire day. The bird shifter took flight after one look at us, leaving his binoculars behind.

Our muscles were burning, but we were running on pure adrenaline. This pace wasn’t sustainable for long. Alpha instincts had me wanting to slow down and check on the wolves at the back of our herd, but I forced myself to focus on what lay ahead of us.

These wolves are not my concern.

I know.

My wolf was on a mission. Some primitive drive had taken control. He saw this as a test. A way to prove his devotion and earn his mate. I’d call his devotion “sweet” if every mile we traveled didn’t make me want to kill every single production member of this show.

The drones were a pest that refused to die. I’d assumed they’d run out of batteries or range, but it was like they were fueled by magic.

I wouldn’t put it past the show to have paid off some witch to spell their recording equipment. Which got me thinking.Ivan could…

I shook my head, trying to dispel that thought. I’d already pushed him too hard. As Alpha, I demanded a lot of my pack, but I knew when to back off. He’d either expose the footage or he wouldn’t. And if I couldn’t get more out of Chad, I wouldn’t stress. There were other ways to deal with pricks like the Tulias. Right now, my only goal was Aspen.

I had to get to my mate.

Foster yelped behind me.

His pain caught my wolf off guard. He whipped around, growling at all the wolves to stop as Foster tumbled over himself, rolling down the hill from the overgrown path we ran.

“What happened?”My beast was panting with spittle dripping from his jaws as he trotted to Foster’s side.

Jones’ gray wolf laid down beside his mate in the tall grass, whining as he licked his ears.“Let us see it.”

“It’s fine,”Foster whined.

“It’s not fine.”Jones nipped his ear.

I shifted into human form and reached for his front paw, not wanting to waste precious time on their back and forth when as their Alpha I could sense his pain.

Foster’s wolf bared his teeth and scooted backward to hide the injured limb.

“Give it to me,” I growled.

His paw inched forward as Jones’ wolf nudged him encouragingly.

I caught his paw and turned it over. Cursing idiots, I pulled out the green piece of a broken beer bottle that had gotten wedged between the second and third pads.

“Thank you, Alpha.”Foster breathed a little easier as Jones started licking his mate’s paw in relief.

I nodded; glad we caught it before it healed over. Shifting with a piece of glass embedded in the skin hurt like a bitch. It took magically altered metal to keep our piercings during a shift and even then, I wasn’t as tough as some of my guys who liked their bars in sensitive places.

I took a second to look over the three members of my pack and make sure they were okay as the wolves gathered on the hilltop above. They were all coming in now, giving the slower beasts at the back a chance to catch up.