“How can you be so sure of that?” I followed after him but I had a hand on my weapons as a precaution. If anyone tried to sneak up on me, they wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
“Because this is just another cookie crumb meant to torment us.” He picked up Jane’s discarded clothing. I could smell the blood in the air. It was strong and pungent — fresh.
“Is it hers?” I asked, horrified by the idea.
“Of course, it’s hers.” He shoved the clothing into my face. “Don’t you recognize her sweater? The t-shirt she liked so much? The jeans that made her ass look like it was out of this world?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Roman was really testing my patience with his hysterics. “But is it her blood? Because it doesn’t smell that way to me.”
“What do you know? Your nose has always been defective. Why would it start working now?”
That’s when something snapped deep inside of me. I couldn’t stop myself in time. I went flying towards my mating partner, bringing him to the ground. “Get a hold of yourself, Roman!” I shouted as I threw down a punch. “Because you’re acting like a whiny little bitch.”
He laid there, stunned.
For a second, I feared that I had punched him a bit too hard.
“Fuck, you’re right,” he said. “It isn’t her blood.” He grabbed her shirt and brought it to his nose, breathing it in. “It’s stag blood.”
“See. You’ve gotten so caught up in all this that it’s clouding your judgment. You have to focus if we have any chance of finding her.”
He frowned. “I just can’t stop thinking about what she must be going through and how this is our fault. If she were still living her normal human life, she wouldn’t have been put through this kind of dangerous situation.”
“You and I both know that one way or another, she would have found us. Fate works whether you want it to or not.”
“You sound like Cynthia,” said Roman.
“She is a wise woman.”
“Who lost our mate…”
“I doubt it was Cynthia’s fault,” I argued. “Knowing Jane, she probably ran away in hopes of helping us.” I shook my head and offered my hand to get Roman off the ground. “And sorry about punching you in the face.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He popped his nose back into place. “I needed some sense knocked into me.”
“Right. Now, let’s get back on track before it’s too late.”
Roman was about to say something but that’s when I felt the presence of unwanted visitors. Looking around, I realized we were surrounded. Apparently, we had gotten so caught up in our conversation that we had neglected to notice them.
“You stand on our land,” said the obvious leader of the pack. He wore traditional garb which meant that there was nothing but a thin square of cloth covering his manhood. I tried to keep my eyes from that focal point but it was rather difficult when it was so brightly embroidered. “And now you desecrate me with your eyes.”
“I mean, you pretty much painted a bull’s-eye on your junk,” quipped Roman in his usual fashion. Well, at least he was back to normal.
“Look, we need your help. There is a pack of nomads that need to be stopped. We were once members of a clan that resided to the north. Our bloodline lived there for many, many years until one day, they destroyed all of it. Our members were massacred and our land made infertile by chemicals. We’ve been on the path to revenge for a long time now. But they’ve stepped over the line by taking our mate. She is with pup. We need to get her back.
Some of the members seemed sympathetic to our cause but the leader didn’t flinch. “Why should we sacrifice our lives for your sake. You mean nothing to us.”
“Because if these monsters are not stopped, they will come for you. Perhaps not today but someday you will lose everything to their bloodthirsty violence.”
“Sir —”
Someone attempted to speak but the leader held up his hand.
“Very well, if you want our help then you will need to beat me in combat and prove to us that you are an Alpha worth fighting for.”
I nodded. “If that is what it takes to convince you then bring it on.”
“Are you sure about this?” Roman whispered into my ear. “That guy is covered in scars. He’s seen a battle or two.”