Page 127 of The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate
Surprisingly, Violet doesn’t argue. She just nods.
Darius’s jaw eases slightly.
“Lydia, you’ll be on somebody’s back, as well. You haven’t healed enough yet.”
My words have Lydia nodding. “I was going to say the same thing.”
Finally, we move out. We run as silently as possible through the forest, the wolves spread in long, flexible columns that adjust to the terrain without breaking formation. Darius’s soldiers are on my right flank, my own on my left. Sienna’s thighs grip behind my shoulders, her cheek against the side of my neck. Violet rides Darius. Lydia is a few feet behind us on a Moonvale soldier’s back.
The sunlight moves through the tree leaves above us as the miles go by under our paws. After resting overnight, we reach the outcropping above the compound at the end of the second day.
I crouch behind the lichen-covered rocks. The valley opens through a thinning of the pines, a clear view down to the wire. Sienna slides off my back carefully, one hand still gripping my fur as she lands. My ribs are stiff from holding her weight. I don’t tell her.
My wolves drop behind the rocks in their long line, shoulders heaving, eyes on the perimeter below. They remain on four legs; I want them coiled and ready to move on the first signal.
I shift and dress where I am. Darius does the same, ten yards off. Violet stands next to her mate. Lydia comes through the line behind Sienna. The five of us are the only ones in skin. Everyone else around us is wolf.
I look at the compound.
A shallow bowl of cleared land, trees pushed back a hundred yards on every side. High chain perimeter, watchtowers at the four corners, two guard positions at the gate. The central holding building squats gray at the center, two outbuildings flanking it, a service road running north into the trees.
Twelve at the fence. Two on each tower. Four at the gate. The rotation is tight, the men spaced in even thirds along the wire, no slack.
Inside is still the unknown. Intelligence said sixty fighters. I’d put it higher now, maybe a couple hundred. A place this big with only sixty doesn’t make sense to me. They might only have counted that many, but I bet there are a lot more inside.
The wind has picked up. I can smell wood smoke from the compound—along with a rancid stench underneath it.
Lillian is in there.
I let myself feel that for three seconds. Then, I push it down.
I turn to Darius. “Six hours?”
He nods once. “The men need it. So do we.”
He passes the order down his line in the low, pack-bond pulse alphas use when there is reason not to say it aloud. The wolves nearest him settle in waves, bellies on the ground, ears still up. Mine do the same seconds later on my own pulse. Thewolves go quiet in stages until the only sound at the outcropping is wind.
Sienna sits downand leans against the rocks a few steps away. Her knees pull up. She rests her cheek against them, eyes closed for a moment, and I see the toll the run has taken on her at last, the strain from the curse she has been carrying without complaining about it.
I lower myself beside her. My arm goes around her shoulders. She leans into me without opening her eyes.
“Lucas.”
“Sienna.”
Her fingers are threading through mine. “If we don’t make it out, I want you to know that I really do love you.”
The fear behind her words weighs heavily on my heart.
“We’ll make it out, Sienna.” I assure her. “We’ll break the curse, as well. You and I will not let history repeat itself. We’re going to have many years together. So much time together that you’ll get bored of me.”
She chuckles softly. “I don’t think I could ever get bored of you.”
I press my lips to her temple, my voice low. “When we return, I’ll hold a grand mating ceremony for us. I will officially make you my luna, and we’ll have beautiful children with your eyes and your smile.”
She burrows into my chest. “I like that dream”
“It’s not a dream,” I tell her firmly. “I will make it so.”
