Epilogue

M ason

The sun hung low in the sky as I led my team through another of Tristan's camps. Usually, on a mission like this, I'd have a ball in my pocket to help me think. Not today. Ever since my bond with Shya sealed, I'd found I didn't need the balls and fidget tools so much. Behind me, Derek, AJ, Milly, Ivan, and Ethan fanned out, searching for any sign of life.

"Another dead end," Milly muttered, kicking at an empty can. The clatter echoed through the silent camp, emphasizing its emptiness.

I saw AJ's face fall, hope dimming in his eyes. "No sign of her here either," he said, his voice subdued.

I placed a hand on AJ's shoulder. "We'll find her, AJ. We won't stop looking."

This was the fifth of Tristan's camps that we'd searched. After Shya and I had killed Tristan, his Pack had fallen into chaos. His Pack had been built on the charisma and vision of one person. With their leader dead, it didn't take long before they turned on each other, desperate to shift blame for their actions under Tristan's rule. In their scramble to save their own skins, they'd given up the locations of all Tristan's camps. We'd been methodically working our way through them, hoping to find AJ's mate and any other captives Tristan might have taken.

As we turned to leave, a rustle from one of the cabins caught my attention. Ivan and Ethan immediately flanked me, ready for any threat.

"Come out," I called, keeping my voice firm but not threatening. "We're not here to harm anyone."

A moment passed, then another. Finally, the cabin door creaked open, and a young woman cautiously stepped out into the fading light.

She couldn't have been more than twenty years old, but her eyes were wary as she looked at us. Her frame was slight, almost lost in an oversized black T-shirt that hung loosely over a pair of worn and dirty jeans. Despite her disheveled appearance, there was a scrappy, determined set to her jaw that suggested she wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Who the hell are you people?" she demanded, her voice carrying a hint of a warning.

"We're not here to cause trouble," I replied. "My name is Mason Shaw, Alpha of the Bridgetown Pack. We're searching Tristan's camps. Can you tell us your name?"

The young woman's eyes narrowed at my words, her stance shifting slightly. I could see her weighing her options, deciding whether to trust us or not.

"Ruby," she finally said, her voice guarded. "My name's Ruby. What do you want with Tristan's camps? I mean, you're welcome to take what you want. There ain't much here, is there? I'm guessing he's dead, seeing as he ain't been back here in weeks?"

I nodded, taking a careful step forward. "He is. We're here looking for people he might have taken captive. How long have you been here, Ruby?"

Ruby's shoulders sagged slightly, some of the fight going out of her. "A few months," she muttered. "They left me to watch the camp and … and no one came back."

I exchanged a glance with Derek. "How did you end up here?"

Ruby hesitated, then seemed to make a decision. Her words came out in a rush, as if she'd been holding them back for too long. "I came looking for my sister. Tristan found me. He told me he knew my sister but that she was dead, and I didn't know what to do after that. So when Tristan offered me a place here with food, shelter, a Pack, well, I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I thought, why not?"

I felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. "What do you want to do now? We can take you back to Bridgetown. The rest of your Pack are being held there for the moment."

She hesitated. "Do I … do I have to?"

"No," Milly replied. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Ruby stared out at the camp and then back at us. "Okay, then. I think I'm going to stay here for a bit."

"Alright. Would you mind answering some of our questions before we go?"

Ruby nodded eagerly, relief evident in her posture now that we weren't a threat. "Yeah, yeah, I can do that."

AJ took a step toward her. "My name's AJ. My mate … she was being kept hostage. Have you seen her?"

Ruby's expression turned thoughtful. "I've heard of you. Tristan's pet bear Shifter who has been twice cursed—once by a witch, and once by the Goddess, giving him a human mate."

Derek's eyebrows shot up.

I turned to AJ. "Your mate is human?" I asked, unable to keep the surprise from my voice.

"Yes," he murmured. "She's human."

Milly narrowed her eyes at AJ. "Does she know you're a bear Shifter?"

AJ shook his head, unable to meet our eyes. "She doesn't know what I am. She doesn't even know she's my fated mate."

Fuck!

I clenched my jaw, processing the new information. AJ's situation was fucked up; no two ways about it. A human mate? That was almost unheard of. And this one didn't even know her mate was a bear Shifter, a cursed one, at that.

We had to find her.

I turned back to Ruby. "Do you know anything about his mate?"

"I know of your mate," she said quietly. "She was here for a time."

AJ's head shot up. "What happened to her?"

Ruby bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable. "Because she's human, they … they sold her."

Rage twisted AJ's whole body, and Ruby stumbled back. I put a hand on AJ's shoulder.

"We can't have your bear putting in an appearance, AJ. Not here."

He took a deep breath, then another. Then nodded to me.

"Who is ‘they'?" Derek asked Ruby.

Ruby pointed to a cabin at the far end of the camp. "The werewolves who stayed there. They were from the army. They're the ones who sold the humans."

Without a word, we moved toward the cabin. The structure loomed before us, weathered wood darkened by age and neglect. Its windows were grimy, offering little view of the interior.

I pushed the door open, wincing at the loud creak that echoed through the camp. The smell hit us first—musty and stale, with an underlying tang of something metallic. Blood, maybe.

Derek stiffened beside me.

"You recognize a scent?"

Derek's face paled, but he shook his head. "No, it can't be him. He's dead."

I frowned as I moved inside; it wasn't like Derek to get a scent wrong. The inside was dim, light filtering weakly through the dirty windows. Dust motes danced in the air, disturbed by our entrance. The cabin was sparse; the main room had a few rickety chairs scattered around, and a worn table stood in one corner, its surface covered in scratches and stains.

The place felt … off. Like it was holding its breath, waiting for something.

"In here," AJ called. I strode to the back room. It was just as sparse as the other one, with a bed frame and a dirty mattress in one corner.

Derek had followed me in but stopped dead, staring at the wall AJ had uncovered. It was covered with photos—all of the same woman. Curly red hair, button nose, a determined set to her jaw.

What the fuck?

"What?" Milly asked, seeing our reactions. "Who is the woman?"

Derek's eyes hardened, his fists clenching at his sides. "Sofia. My mate."

Milly frowned, looking at all the photos; there had to be at least sixty of them. All of Sofia going about her daily life.

"But why? Why would they be targeting her?"

"Because of me," Derek growled. "Because of what I did in the army. And if it is who I think it is, Sofia's in a fuckload of danger."

The Reluctant Mate , Book 5 in the Shifters of the Three Rivers series.

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