Chapter 145

Justin POV

I chased her until I felt like my lungs and legs would explode. She had gotten too fast for even the likes of my Lycan, which seemed both impossible and impressive.

I wasn’t sure if to be angry and or delighted by my little white wolf mate.

But the facts still stood in offense to her being honest of me. If she could shift then that means she never took that poison, so all this time she could have been hiding the truth from me and the Huntsman has still been attacking her, or she stopped taking the poison recently.

Either way, I felt like I had been lied to and stabbed in the spine again. Every time I just want to do what a good mate is meant to and it ends up like this. She runs off, defies me, and leaves me in the dust.

I couldn’t determine if it’s a death wish or a defiant strike where she has to go against everything I suggested. Either way, I didn’t like it, and I refused to find her beaten and half-dead in a field somewhere because of that damn Huntsman. Again.

“What’s the plan?” Randy hummed, coming up to my side where I finally lost her in the chase. “Are we going after her?”

“Well, we have to. She is my mate. I can’t just let her go. But obviously she has no interest in staying here and letting me handle things.”

“A Luna who doesn’t listen to her Alpha. That’s a first,” he remarked sarcastically.

“I want warriors stacked on the outskirts of William’s village walls,” I snarled. “I want it now, too.”

“Of course,” he replied, looking off toward the woods where my mate ran free from me. “You should have just told her what you were doing,” he whispered. “I talked to Oscar. She knows they saw a wizard who forced Martha’s brother to carry out that plan.”

“I decide what to tell her and what to protect her from,” I snapped. “Besides, she is friends with that human more than anyone else. What if she told her just to say that? There’s no telling what they could have planned.”

“I wish you heard yourself,” he growled. “You’re acting like the Luna is some kind of monster who would betray her pack.”

“She defied me,” I said simply. “It’s that simple.”

He shook his head, finally giving in as he walked off toward the warriors. Like clockwork, they filed into the woods, retracing their steps to William’s false pack of misfits. If he didn’t have that fifteen foot wall, he would be dead by now; either by rogues or others.

I watched my pack warriors run off into the distant, each of them well informed by now that if they see my mate, they keep her there and subdue until I can get to her aid. I knew she wouldn’t come back easily.

But if any of them hurt her, they will answer to me later.

I shifted back and ran off as well, into the woods after my chaotically disobedient mate.

It took about an hour for me to finally find his damn compound, but even then, I couldn’t detect her scent. She has obviously been abstaining from my poison, so her scent should be palpable to me, but maybe she moved too quickly through here.

Maybe she didn’t come here at all.

Randy spoke to Oscar about the exchange and I refrained just to keep my nerves and my fury down in the base of my throat. But even now, I feel the anger rising.

I waited for my beta to catch up and when he finally did, we shifted back, keeping ourselves hidden behind the overgrown brush near the wall, between two willow trees.

I thought of my mate under these weeping branches of leaves, playing with her new adorning pixie pals. She was so beautiful and harmless in that moment. Only now she is rough and independent, uncaring of my orders even if it’s to keep her safe.

“What do you want to do? Go in after her or wait and see what happens.”

“If she’s in there, it’s nothing good,” I grunted. “We will have to go in after her. She came out last time so beaten and bruised. She won’t escape easily and I will have to go inside and rescue her while you and the warriors—”

There was a ferocious growl from the other side of the wall and my warriors descended closer to the structure, seeing a little human hop down the edge and hit the ground running. Randy shifted and helped Martha get on his back.

She looked relatively unharmed, as did my pure bred mate who leapt clear over the wall seconds later. I didn’t have time to scold her.

William’s pathetic pack closed in afterwards and my warriors went to battle. Thankfully, my mate had enough sense to take off sprinting for the pack land while my warriors took on the fight behind.

My Lycan took over before I could consider following her, and I teared through as many wolves of William’s as I could, hoping after each time I’ve snapped their necks, it would be Scott’s brother.

Unfortunately for me, William hid behind his wall, and when the brunt of his pack died and the rest ran off, I went down the fresh trail of my mate and my beta, charging back to our pack so I scold her.

Randy set down Martha near her home and I let her go, seeing Oscar greet her in relieved embrace. I wished me and my mate would meet in that regard but I was in no mood to be affectionate with her right now.

She could have been hurt, killed or worse—I refused to praise her on such a task.

I shifted back, Helen catching her breath and she peeled out of her wolfen form. She sunk to her knees and gasped making it to her tired, wobbly stance. I charged for her, seeing her eyes meet mine in expected approach.

She stood up and I opened my mouth, inhaling sharp as I readied myself to scold her.

She swung her hand out, slapping me with an open palm right against my cheek. It stung slightly but even with all her might, it wouldn’t break any bones. Still, it shocked me, and I brushed my fingertips across the warm trace of a handprint on my face.

“You knew Ezequiel had been forced by the same wizard who made me hurt you, and you didn’t even tell me,” she snarled, pointing her finger in my shocked face. “How dare you? You are the Alpha, you should at least trust your wolves, if not your own mate.”

I shook my head after a long, surprised moment. “I didn’t know anything for sure. I hadn’t been given any proof and I wasn’t sure if they were only doing it to give you a false alibi.”

Her hand swung out again and aimed for the same, throbbing spot but I caught her wrist this time, holding it in place as her fingers could probably reach out and graze my temple. At least this time I was swift enough, but it didn’t change the sting of the intent.

She was furious with me, more than anyone has ever shown anger to me, and that’s what made it bad. She could be defiant, but this level of spite was painful from her.

She knew I heard another similar story about this wizard from my dad and I never mentioned it to her.

Instead, I would go straight to the source.

Another good meet and greet with my dear old, dead dad.