Chapter 147: Grace
I stumbled through the woods attempting to keep up with the others. I regretted that I stopped working out with Maizie during my breakdown. Now that we were moving through the brush, I was more than a little winded.
“Come on,” Rhys said as he fell into step beside me. We met up with about 6 warriors when we left the packhouse that Rhys had organized with his top warrior Kate. All 6 of them had shifted and surrounded us as we made our way through the overgrown paths.
“I’m trying,” I told him breathlessly.
Maybe I should have stayed behind. But the uneasiness in my soul told me I had to go. There was something about the way I had struggled to sleep, and maybe even a connection to my dreams. I wasn’t sure exactly. But I knew I couldn’t stay in that house and wait.
“I know, love.” He stated, looking down at the phone he was carrying before handing it off to Heather.
She looked at him in surprise and in confusion. “What are you doing?” She hissed at him.
“Shifting.” He answered easily, and it was my turn to be confused.
“Why?” I asked, my voice slightly hoarse.
“It’ll be faster if you ride on me.”
My eyes widened as shock took over. I had rarely seen Rhys’ wolf. I trusted Rhys, but I wasn’t sure I trusted his wolf. It terrified me.
He didn’t give me a chance to answer though. He was already shifted. His wolf was beautiful. I stared at him for a long moment. He made a whining noise and threw his head back in a weird gesture for me to get on.
I sighed and started to move toward him. I ran my fingers through his fur but hesitated to get on.
“You’re wasting time, Grace.” Heather seethed from a few feet in front of us.
Rhys snapped his snout at her, but she just rolled her eyes. I had a feeling that in their younger days they had been closer friends. She seemed to just know how he worked, and I wondered if she had ever thought even for a moment that she might be the Luna Queen one day before being mated to the Beta.
I understood her though. I couldn’t imagine if Rhys was missing like that. I remembered that horrible night when Rhys had gone on the pack hunt, and I had worried like crazy for his safety before I realized that it was actually my safety I had to be worried about. Not that I was glad it was Leon it was Leon who was missing. I was just grateful Rhys was here with me, not missing, not out here without me, but here with me in this moment.
With a steadying breath, I climbed onto the big wolf that was Rhys. I knew nearly immediately that I had made the right decision. The groups speed immediately picked up even if the others were on foot. The brush didn’t seem to really bother the wolves in the way it had bothered me as a human. They were able to cut through smaller gaps than we had before and even the few still in human seemed more capable now. I felt bad for slowing them down in the first place.
I leaned down as low as I could on Rhys’ back. I was practically flat against him, and I used the time to rest a little. I was exhausted. It had been hard work to walk, and it was honestly hard to stay seated on Rhys, but it was for the moment a little easier than trying to keep up by walking.
Rhys slowed and let out a whine, looking back at Heather, and I assumed he was mindlinking them all something. I wondered if the day I marked him, if we would have that ability too. I didn’t think I’d ever get the pack link like that, but I would like to be able to talk to Rhys in that way. It would make my life easier.
“He was here.” Heather whispered.
I sat up a little, trying to see what it was that they were looking at, but I didn’t see anything. In fact, it looked exactly the same as it had for the last twenty minutes. I didn’t even see any impressions in the ground to say that anyone had been here at all.
Rhys wiggled beneath me, and I knew he wanted me to get off of him. I jumped off, landing with both feet together, and Rhys immediately shifted into human form, kneeling down next to Heather.
“He was here.” Rhys confirmed, pulling at a single piece of cloth that looked like it had been ripped off of Leon’s shirt.
It was so small I hadn’t even noticed it, but now that Rhys had pulled at it, it wasn’t hard to see that the small piece of fabric was covered in blood.
“Fuck.” Rhys shouted, running his hands through his hair.
I stared at him. His muscles tensed, and I could see every scar on his skin. He looked so good. His tan skin glowed in the little light that seeped through the trees. He looked totally in charge, and every bit the Alpha King I knew him to be with everyone staring at him to see whatever he led us to next.
Wait... He was standing here naked in front of everyone. In front of the other women. A possessive growl escaped my lips without my permission, and I placed my hand on his shoulder.
He turned toward me with a slight smirk on his face, and shock in his eyes.
“Yes, Grace?” He asked, drawing out my name.
I shot him a glare. He knew exactly what he was doing, and I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment.
“Let’s. Go.” I said through gritted teeth.
“You heard the lady,” Rhys called out to our group. “Let’s keep moving toward the last known location of his phone!”
He shifted back into his wolf form, and I climbed on furiously. He was playing with me, but we had more important matters at hand. So, I pushed away those feelings, and off we rode even further into the woods, hoping that our next stop would lead us right to our missing Beta.
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