Moon Bound

15. Ryder

Carina flies from the cabin, her feet smacking against the wooden floorboards as she takes off. She rushes down the steps, past the camp of onlookers and into the woods beyond. Her heartbeat increases with each second and she throws herself into the midst of the woods, covered by the darkness of the night.

How do I know?

Because she’s all I hear—all I smell.

All I want.

Mate.

My f*****g mate.

The tingle in me earlier—one I’ve never felt before—brought s*x with Carina to a whole other level. But when it fizzled out, it left behind clarity, desire, and need. The necessity to protect her, to f**k her. The desire to have her in my arms. And the realization that somehow, someway, a witch is my true mate.

Willpower pins my arms to the wall because she needs to get far away from here—from me—and never come back. The only thing that stopped me from finishing the claim was the small piece of logic that decided to show up in that one second and remind me she’s a witch.

My body thrums with the demand to hunt—to chase. The wolf in me wants to shift, to find her, and to f**k her. To claim her as mine. The small piece of normal still existing is reminding me how unrealistic my craving is. I don’t love her, and she sure as hell doesn’t love me. This was supposed to be a single hook-up before I sent her on her way, back to the coven she’s rolled out of.

The thought of her leaving sends unpleasant chills down my spine. My wolf can’t let her leave—not now. The pack needs its alpha to take a mate and now, I have one.

My true mate.

One bonded to me in ways that go beyond normal mating.

I close my eyes to seek her out. Mentally, my nose works to trace her scent—one of fear, confusion, and cinnamon. Visually, I stalk her. The broken branches when she smashes her way through the forest, the leaves kicking up at her flurry, and the animals that poke their head out from trees to watch her dart off.

I can see her and I will find her.

I should let her go.

The thought brandishes my chest painfully. She’s mine and I will be bringing her back here.

Logic and desire—human and wolf—continue their battle in my mind until I hear, “Knock, knock.” Lucas’s voice calls out as he twists open the door. “Hey, so, Carina took off—Ryder?” His gaze settles on me, the skin between his eyes crinkling. “What’s happening?”

Logically, I’m aware he’s being a trustworthy beta and friend, checking up on our ex-capture who just took off running into the night woods, but the larger, irrational part of my mind is imagining killing him in eighteen different ways right now for even asking about her.

“Lucas, she’s mine.”

“That good, huh?” His teeth bare in a wolfish grin.

I rip away from the wall, momentarily distracted by this conversation. “No, Lucas, she’s mine. My mate.”

His mouth drops open, his arm falling to his side, slack. “No,” he says in a rushed whisper, his head shaking back and forth. “No, Ryder, that’s impossible. She isn’t a shifter. How do you know?” As the words drop from his mouth, his eyes finally catch the bed beside him, followed by the clothing at his feet. I spot her bra resting on the bed, clear evidence of what we’d done, and long to tuck it away out of his sight. “Oh,” he finally adds.

Finished with this conversation, I can’t ignore the pulsing in my head. Hunt her. Find her. f**k her. Mate her. Claim her.

“I need to go.” I push past him.

“Ryder, wait.” Lucas hops in front of me, as if he’s going to stop me.

I push him to the side. His attempt is insignificant compared to each part of me already miles ahead, chasing her. I shove out the door, past the crowd of drunk people, past the females who eye me, and out of the camp, already shifting into my wolf.

Four legs are faster than two and my nose gains millions of receptors. Nose to the ground, I trace her anxiety-ridden scent all through the trees, around bends, and onward. My mate is smart. She didn’t run in a straight line. While she may have gotten farther if she did, she was prepping for when I tracked her. Tracking three circles rather than a straight line is more difficult, but what she doesn’t know is her scent is now imprinted on my mind and I could find her from even farther away. Anything she does now is irrelevant to the burning inside of me.

My paws chew up the woodsy ground, my body thrumming with craving each step I make. Every tree I pass points the way; every leaf directs me forward. Her scent changes from fear to confusion, as she’s wondering why she’s running away from me.

I’m wondering why she’s running away. Why did I chase her off?

Needing to claim her is the only thing on my mind. f**k the pack and f**k the witches. At this moment, she’s the only thing that matters. I’ll publicly claim her as mine and fight anyone who dares challenge me on the decision. Even Father liked her.

When a wolf chooses a mate, the claiming bite seals them together. In the case of true mates, the only difference is, I didn’t choose her. Fate did. The pack has no ground to fight this, regardless of her species.

Her scent trail is ending, but there’s no sign of her. I push on, through the next line of trees and—

Nothing.

Her scent is gone.

I spin, scanning the area. Empty.

Fuck. I shut my eyes, seeking her out, but black intercepts me, as if she vanished from Earth, or was never here to begin with. A howl climbs my throat, ready to call the pack to help me find her. Hell, I’ll use every pack around until someone finds her and drags her home to me.

She claimed she can’t travel with her magic and since she’s not once attempted before, I don’t imagine her lying about it.

“Hey, wolfy!” The voice cuts off my building howl, and I circle the immediate area, finding a woman. Slight, long blonde hair that overhangs a velvet cape. It’s her again—the witch who spelled the cuffs.

Mary, my mind reminds me.

I shift back to human, not caring I’m without clothing. “Mary.”

“Nice memory.” She smiles. “You won’t find her.”

My teeth bare. Mary is clearly involved once again, having known exactly who I was about to inquire about. “Why’s that?”

“I took her back home.”

My stomach flips and another growl builds in my throat. This one not a call for help though, but the one-second warning she’ll receive before I rip her throat out. My body shifts, lowering to the ground and preparing to change back.

“Why?”

Her eyes roll, as if this is amusing. When in fact, it’s the least most amusing thing I ever heard of. “You supernatural males are all the same. Slow it down.”

“Wouldn’t have to, if you didn’t take her from me. She’s mine. My mate.”

Another eye roll. “You’re not telling me anything new. I see all, in case you’ve forgotten. Wondered why I spelled the cuffs in the first place? This is why. The Goddess has me involved. She wants you two together, but first I’m here to,” her lips purse, “give relationship help… so to speak.”

“You’re crazy,” I scoff.

“The last one didn’t believe what was right in front of him and was so bent on vengeance and money.” Her gaze moves to the side, focusing on something far away. “Yes. What I see is still unchanged. If I didn’t take her away, you’d lose her anyway.”

Lose her? I only lost her because of this inane witch. “She’s my mate,” I insist again.

“Which is something Carina doesn’t know yet. Trust me, if I left her here for you to catch up to and you attacked, teeth out to claim her, appearing like that?” Her hand gestures to my naked body and up to the eyes I know appear manic. “You’d scare her and you’d lose her. Remember, Carina isn’t a shifter. What you feel, she doesn’t. She has a life she needs to get in order before she can return to you.” Her words die down into a chuckle. “Trust the process and let fate roll out first. I didn’t lead you astray earlier.”

Her words inject themselves into the rational side of my human brain. She’s right. Carina isn’t a shifter. If I claim her, I’m sure I’d lose her because this isn’t normal for her—she wouldn’t understand. Still, the fibres of my being, my wolf, wants to ignore this witch and hunt for its mate.

I straighten, muscles unlocking for the first time since I dragged Carina back into my cabin with me. An action I now question if I should have done at all. Had she left earlier or I held back temptation and not walked over to her when she was by the fire, none of this would be happening.

Fire shoots up my chest and into my head, burning away any thought I had. If I never took her back to my cabin, I wouldn’t know who she truly is to me. We both would have went on living; I would have taken another female to be my mate eventually, and both our souls would remain incomplete for the rest of our lives.

Everything I felt toward Carina makes sense now. My fascination with her. The comfort I found in her presence. My soul knew before the rest of me.

“Good,” Mary murmurs.

My body may have stopped the hunt, but my mind still runs with so many questions. “How is any of this possible? Shifters can only mate with their own kind.”

She grins, crossing her arms. “You do have a brain in your pretty head. At no time have I said what Carina is.”

“She’s a witch.”

Her eyes twinkle. “Is she?”

A rock hits my stomach. What is she saying?

From her pocket appears a chain and dangling off it, a pendant. A symbol of a tree topped with a moon, and one I’ve seen engraved on so many items.

“This is the symbol of my pack. How did you get it?”

Her shoulders lift in a shrug as she drops it in my outstretched hand. “I gave Carina one exactly like it.”

“Why?”

Again, she shrugs, but I’m noticing she knows too much for that to be her response.

“Give her time to figure it out. In the meantime, study the history of your pack.”

With those ambiguous words, she exits, leaving me alone, mate-less, and howling at the sky.