“Why would you want to come with us? Did you forget what happened to you the last time you were in this forest?”
Sara looked at Levi, and then away. He didn’t know that Christian was her fated mate too, which was why she couldn’t sit in the dorm while he was in danger. But she couldn’t say that to Levi.
“He is my roommate, and I want to help if he’s in trouble,” she explained.
“Aww,” Kai cooed, lifting his arm to rest it on her shoulder as they walked deeper into the forest. “What a sweet roommate you are. Would you do the same for me?”
Levi shot a dirty look at Kai, his hand resting on Sara’s shoulder, and then said, “Let’s shift, we’ll cover more ground running.” Then, frowning, he turned to Sara. “Are you strong enough?”
She nodded. “Yes, I can keep up.”
He nodded once, and then took hold of her upper arm and brought her with him behind some trees. Kai scoffed as he began taking off his clothes.
When Levi had her hidden from Kai, he started removing his shirt. Sara blinked rapidly and then turned to look away.
“Be quick,” he told her, “Christian could be in mortal danger.”
She gulped and nodded, then started walking away. “I’ll change over there”
Levi grabbed her arm and stopped her retreat. “I’ve seen everything, and so have you. What are you shy about? Besides, we are mates.”
Sara gnawed on her bottom lip. He was right. He had already seen her naked, more than once.
“Bring your shirt with you,” he instructed, now fully naked as he arranged his clothes in a pile at the bottom of the tree.
She nodded and started undressing. He shifted and turned to watch the other side to ensure Kai was not stealing glances.
After all three had shifted, they decided to split as they searched. But they didn’t allow Sara to go on her own, and she paired up with Levi.
They ran for a long time, getting deeper into the forest and towards the west while Kai covered the east. Eventually, Sara got too weak to keep up, and she told Levi to go ahead, that she didn’t want to delay the search.
“Do you think you can survive in this forest on your own?” he demanded, and then through his mind, asked Kai to meet them at a certain point. To Sara, he said, “Shift, and I’ll carry you on my back.”
“You don-t”
“Sara!” he growled, impatient.
Without another word of protest, she shifted forms quickly and slipped on her shirt, and then climbed onto his back. He was a mighty white wolf, and she only weighed about a hundred and ten pounds.
“Hold on,” he instructed, and then began making his way towards the point he had asked Kai to meet.
He couldn’t run as fast with her on his back, and by the time they met up with Kai again, he was complaining that they should never have brought her with them.
“Did you think it would be fun?” he asked, his voice riddled with irritation. “I would have covered much more space by now if it weren’t for you.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologised, contrite.
“I can carry her,” Kai offered.
“Fuck off,” Levi said.
“Stop complaining, then.” They moved at a steady pace for a while before Kai came to a sudden stop and lifted his muzzle in the air. “Stop. I’m picking up something.”
And then he started towards the east. A short while after, they came across bodies of dead rogues scattered all over the place.
Sara gasped as she took in the scene. She counted eight bodies. Her insides twisted. Kai had said that Christian fought with his Beta. Could he have gotten into a fight with the rogues too?
“Could it be him?” Kai asked Levi as they got closer and inspected the bodies. It was clear that they had been killed by a wolf.
“No,” Levi answered automatically, before adding, “I hope not. Let’s see if we can pick up his scent.”
Soon, they realised they couldn’t detect his scent. The air was mixed with the smell of the dead rogues’ blood and their many scents, so it was hard.
“Let me try,” Edna told Sara. “I know his scent, I should be able to follow it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. He is my mate. If I can’t sense him, nobody can.”
“Okay,” Sara agreed, and then stroked Levi’s neck to get his attention. “Let me down, I’ll shift and help you guys.”
“I think we’ve already established you are not much help,” he shot back.
“My nose is working just fine,” she told him. “Let me down, Levi.”
“She is right,” Kai said. “We could use an extra nose.”
Grumbling, Levi lowered to let her get off his back. She removed her shirt and shifted, and then stood still and closed her eyes, breathing in the air. The stench of blood was too much, and she thought she would puke when Edna cried happily, “I got him!”
Before Sara could catch up, her wolf was sprinting away from the bodies, towards a thick cluster of bushes.
The two males went after her, demanding an explanation.
“My wolf caught his scent,” she explained, letting Edna lead the way.
“How?” Levi demanded. “Kai and I have lived with him for a longer time and can’t sense him, how can you?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, focusing on Edna’s senses. “Does it matter?”
“Yes!” he snapped, and then he was suddenly in front of her, his red eyes burning into hers. “Were you with him? Is that why you can sense him?”
Even though he was talking to her through his mind, his anger was clear. She dug her paws into the ground as she came to a stop.
As far as she could tell, he didn’t want to be her mate anymore, not after the incident in the bathroom with Kai. And yet he got angry and irritated whenever he thought she had done something inappropriate with another male.
He didn’t care about her, at all. The only time he reacted was when he thought someone else was getting too close to her.
If someone saw how he behaved whenever Christian or Kai got close to her, they would think he was a possessive mate who had already marked her.
It was the same case with Christian. He was still keeping their bond a secret, but always took every chance to get between her and Levi. Did any of them care about the mate bond at all, or were they more interested in asserting their dominance?
Before she could reply to his accusation, Edna cried, “I can feel him!”