Our breathing grew rapid as he pounded into me. I was so close to the edge that when he raked his teeth against the back of my neck, my body contracted and waves of pleasure exploded inside me. I orgasmed harder than ever before.
A guttural groan came from him as he finished, and we plopped down on the bed and rolled onto our backs, trying to calm our racing hearts.
The next morning, we all met up in the dining room and found eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns on the table. We all filled our plates and went to the back, looking out toward the mountains, and pushed three black wire tables together. The brown chairs were outdoor ones, so not super comfortable, but the view made up for it.
“Now that we’ve checked out, what’s our plan?” Remus took a bite of his eggs and chewed.
“We go hiking and wait for a tug.” That’s all I had. If it was anything like the other two times, our connection should lead us to her.
“What if there isn’t one?” Ivory asked.
“Then, we’ll regroup, but my gut says it’ll happen.” We had counted on our magic guiding us so far, and I had no other way of finding her.
“The locator spell got us here.” Amethyst smiled and took a sip of her orange juice. “Magic always has a way of helping out when needed.”
The table went silent as we ate and enjoyed being outside and part of nature. The mountains rolled as far as we could see, and I felt at peace just staring at them.
A loud howl came from no more than ten miles away. It was full of angst and pain.
Of course, that’s when the tugging started. I jumped to my feet and looked at the others. “We have to go.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Wait …” Aidan said as he grabbed my hand, holding me still. “We need to think this through and be cautious. There’s no telling what’s going on.”
“Maybe, but I feel the tug too.” Gabby stood as well and nodded at me. “Our girl is either hurt or around a person who is. She might need our help.”
“I’m not saying we don’t go.” Aidan raised his other hand. “I’m just saying we have to be careful. We can’t rush out there and risk becoming outnumbered. For all we know, The Hallowed Guild is already here.”
Shit, I hadn’t even thought that far ahead. “You’re right.” I hated that, and it proved I needed to stop and listen to my mate even if it was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Is everything okay out here?” The hostess stepped outside and stared at our group. Her eyes flicked back behind her. “Some people in here are concerned about what’s going on.”
“Yeah, everything is fine.” Amethyst leaned back in her seat, pretending to be relaxed.
“Okay, you all may want to come in …” She trailed off as if searching for the right word. “A wolf sounds close by.”
Maybe a B&B wasn’t the best idea. I hadn’t considered how much closer we would be in proximity to the humans and how they could complain easily to the owner.
We needed cheap, and we got a night’s rest. Aidan stood and turned to the lady. “We were finishing up and about to go on a hike.”
“Well, be careful.” The lady looked at us like we were crazy as she stepped back into the house and shut the door.
“Let’s go.” Ivory pushed her chair under the table. “If she’s in trouble, we need to make a plan.”
“Let’s take our plates in and go,” Beth said as she collected her dirty dishes.
We all hurried, and soon, we were heading down the concrete path to the beginning of the woods.
“Do you think we should shift?” Ivory rubbed her hands together.
“Not at first. Since we aren’t a pack, we can’t communicate in our wolf forms.” I wondered if, once we fulfilled the prophecy, there would be an exception to the rule between me and the girls since we had a witchy connection.
“Maybe a few of us should turn.” Logan pointed at himself, Remus, and Aidan. “We can use the mate bond to connect with you.”
“Wait …” I looked at Gabby as the off scent finally made sense. “You guys bonded?” Now that he’d said that, I noticed the faint scar of teeth marks on her neck. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because it was between him and me.” Gabby lifted her chin, ready to argue.
She’d been less confrontational but still wasn’t letting me in. I was glad that this might allow her to feel more secure with herself.
“I think that’s a good idea.” Ivory scanned our surroundings.
“Then, let’s go shift.” Aidan kissed my cheek. “We’ll run over to the section of woods and change. That way we can find our clothes easily when we get back.”
“Okay, hurry.” It felt like the more seconds that passed by, the more injured the girl could get.
The three of them took off as we continued our trek down to where the concrete turned into earth.
“Won’t the other wolves be able to smell them better if they shift?” Samuel looked at me.
“Yeah, but we’re stronger in wolf form.” I understood their hesitancy. We’d always wanted to fly under the radar, but this situation already seemed riskier than the prior two marked girls.
“Hey, I’m down with that.” Coral patted her chest. “I’m not out to be a shero.”
“Shero?” Beth bobbed her head, letting her blue hair fall over her shoulder.
“Hell, yeah. Shero.” Coral lifted her chin. “Hero is totally sexist.”
“I like it.” Gabby grinned.
The guys ran to the wood’s edge, entering the woods enough to fall into the shadows. The last thing we needed was for a human to see three wolves running around after what the lady had told us last night.
Our group of seven joined them, and we all took off down a well-worn trail.
“We need to venture off the common path.” Shifters wouldn’t be hanging around the more heavily populated areas.
Aidan linked with me as he trotted westward. I think the howl came from this direction.
The tug was pulling me that way too, so it made sense. “We need to go this way,” I informed the others as we all followed behind him.
Remus stayed to the right of our group, next to Ivory, while Logan stayed to the left, near Gabby. I took the lead with Beth right behind me and the witches in the rear. Right now, there wasn’t a threat, but that could change in a second.
We moved at a good clip, and two miles into the woods, we picked up the musky scent of at least five wolves.
I turned around and placed my finger to my lips. The witches couldn’t smell it, so I needed to signal them to be quiet.
Amethyst stood in the middle, and her eyes caught mine. She nodded as she touched one hand to Coral’s shoulder and the other to Samuel’s, alerting them to me.
The metallic scent of blood hung in the air, which meant someone was injured.
That can’t be a good sign. Aidan trotted over to some low branches.
My eyes followed him, and I almost gagged when I saw trickles of blood along the trees and ground. Oh my God.
Calm down. Maybe she isn’t the one who’s injured. Aidan tried to be comforting, but his concern pulsed off him. He was worried as well.