Chapter 4

Thyme heard something crack behind her and she paused for a heartbeat then swung around to face whoever was following her.

Liam stepped out of the shadows.

She relaxed from the defensive stance. “You hit that branch on purpose, right?”

“I didn’t want to scare you, and I can tell you’re tense,” he said.

She frowned as she looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Know me so well, do you?” he asked, rocking back on his heels.

“Well, you were my dad’s best friend and I’ve known you my whole life. Plus, you have some tells,” she said, thinking about the furrow between his brows when he was worried. And that furrow was there right now, and deep. Something wasn’t just wrong , it was very wrong. A knot formed in her gut, and she fought the urge to wrap her arms around herself.

“Really?” He hummed. “Leif has officially petitioned to take over the pride.”

“But he’s not twenty-one yet. And he’s not mated, either.”

“He’s broached the subject of mating to Ariel, and she’s agreed to a discussion after the full moon. It’s a partial promise of mating, which is more than you have.” He cleared his throat. “I spoke to a few males to see if they’d be willing to enter into a mating promise with you.” He put his hand up when she opened her mouth to protest. “They each said an emphatic no. While I couldn’t get them to confirm, I’m fairly certain that either Brilla or Leif, or even Jacob, spoke to the unmated males and either promised them something if they wouldn’t mate you, or they threatened them with physical harm. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a combination of the two.”

She blinked in surprise. “He threatened them badly enough they were willing to turn down the chance to be alpha male of the pride?”

“Or he promised great rewards with it. It wouldn’t surprise me either way. I assured the males that they wouldn’t be in danger from anything he did, that I’d put a stop to it, but none of them were willing to tell me who put them up to turning you down or what would happen to them if they did agree to mate you.”

Her shoulders slumped. “So you’re going to let Leif battle me? He’ll kill me, even if you say he can’t.”

“I read through the laws again, because I was sure there was something that could help in this situation. Trust me, I don’t want Leif to be alpha, but I can’t change the heredity of the position. What I can do, according to our laws, is give you until the next full moon to secure a mate. If you don’t, you’ll have to fight Leif. I can only promise to intervene in that scenario, before it goes too far, but one way or another, in the next thirty days, you have to find your mate or you’ll be facing off against your half-brother to fight for the right to lead.”

That knot in her stomach turned to lead and rolled around, bruising her insides. “He’s too cruel to be alpha, Liam, you know what he’s like. He’s got none of my dad’s good qualities and all of Brilla’s bad ones times ten.”

“Then you need to choose a mate, Thyme. Our laws are finite and must be followed. If I could change a law to protect you, I would.” He reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Go hunt tonight and find new grounds for our people, and then get up tomorrow and find a mate.”

“You make it sound like I could simply find one by going to the store.”

“I don’t know about that,” he said with a chuckle, “but you’re beautiful and kind, and any male would be lucky to have you by his side. Use your charms to convince a male that being your mate, being alpha male, is better than what Leif has promised, that you’re worth it. Because I believe you are. I’d change the laws if I could, Thyme, it’s just out of my hands.”

“I know. Thanks.” She sighed and fell into step beside him as he headed toward the clearing where their people gathered on the full moon to hunt and hold ceremonies.

She stood with Dana and her family as the elders told the pride that in thirty days there would either be a mating ceremony or an alpha battle, and that they wouldn’t abide anyone interfering in the ways of their people. It was a subtle dig at her half-brother and stepmom, but Thyme doubted it would amount to anything. Liam could only do so much within the bounds of their laws, and while it was monstrously unfair that she now had a month to find her truemate or face off against him to fight for her rightful position as alpha female, she had to do what she had to do.

She stepped away from the group and headed into the woods, waving off her best friend and finding a quiet place to strip and shift. She wasn’t in the mood to chatter about anything, and had too much on her mind.

She could at least find suitable hunting grounds. Maybe in the process she’d find her truemate, too.

Now wouldn’t that be something?

She stared up at the night sky, the cool air making her skin prickle and her cat want to come out. Stars winked, and a breeze brought the fresh scents of spring growth and woods. Somewhere out there, her truemate was looking up at the same sky as she was.

Wherever you are, I need you.

Find me.

Thyme wasn’t sure how long she was out or exactly where she was. She’d started off north, leaving the pride’s territory behind and following a creek as it meandered. Then she headed east for a while, stopping periodically to sniff around and hope she stumbled upon some game.

She tried not to think about the situation with her family, tried not to worry about the month that loomed ahead, knowing if she couldn’t find her truemate, that she’d be facing her brother in a battle that she would surely not survive.

Something within her urged her back north, so she changed direction once more.

Her mind was a jumbled mess, her nerves entirely shot.

How could Leif do that to her? Did he hate her that much or did he want to be alpha that bad?

She’d grown up expecting to become alpha. She’d trained for it, been taught to fight and lead. But so had Leif. And she might be able to kick ass, but he was ruthless and violent in a way she wasn’t, and he knew it.

Pausing near the edge of a road, she looked both directions, her heart panging as her ears twitched. Was that a howl she just heard?

She stared across the road at a thick forest that seemed to stretch on for miles. There were no road markers to let her know where she was, no homes or buildings on the road that she could see.

She listened intently but didn’t hear anything else, and she wondered if she’d imagined the howl.

Padding across the road, she leaped over a small ditch and scented her way into the trees, trying to catch the scent of anything—prey, predators, or humans.

Her heart panged again and she stopped, wondering what the hell was going on.

Was it just nerves? Was she so strung out with worry over her half-brother that she was imagining wolves and heart palpitations?

Holy crap she needed to chill out.

Huffing and shaking herself out, she growled at nothing in particular.

She needed to get her head on straight. The one thing she could do right now was figure out if these woods had any game in them so her people could move territories and hunt.

She’d worry about Leif once she figured out the hunting situation.

Because at this moment, her people were hunting in woods that had no game in them, and for sure the elders were breaking up fights as the males grew restless and took out their frustrations on each other.

Then she’d deal with Leif.

Even if it meant taking a male for a mate who wasn’t her truemate, and giving up on the hope of finding her forever guy.

Something rustled nearby and her instincts kicked in.

Game!

She leaped forward and a few bunnies scurried away, their little furry butts disappearing. But not for long, because Thyme was a great hunter, and this had to be a good sign.

Bounding after the bunnies, Thyme pushed aside everything else going on in her life and focused on the chase. She’d get the damn bunnies, find out if there was other game around, and then she’d figure out where in the hell she was.

Hopefully somewhere good where her people could settle and start over.

As she caught sight of the bunnies again, she smiled to herself and let out a few little happy purrs.

The chase was on!