Chapter 23


    The road winds back and forth as we gain elevation. The


    mountain is steep enough to ski and it’s heavily wooded. The headlights cast shadows through the


    pines and fir.


    I’ve never been here before.


    I wonder if Aaron has.


    He brings the vehicle to the mountain top and parks. “Get out,”


    he tells me.


    slowly unbuckle my belt. It’s significantly colder here than where we’d been and I didn’t think to bring a


    coat. I don’t have my medications. My phone’s about to die.


    This is the type of deserted stretch of forest where you’d go hunting for the weekend.


    Or where you’d bury a body.


    After the things I’ve said tonight, I have to wonder why Aaron has brought me here.


    n a battle of strength against this wolf, there would be no


    contest.


    2/4


    “Come on,” he says quietly. “It’s this way.”


    He grabs a big duffel bag from the back of the SUV and then


    walks through the dark to the edge of the mountain top.


    I can’t see with the same precision he does. And the gold sh


    of his wolf’s eyes tells me his night vision is easily ten times better than mine. I let him lead the way.


    An owl calls and there’s a low hum of different insects. Gravel


    or stones crunch as we walk, so this roadway is maintained in


    some way.


    Again I want to ask where we’re going and more importantly, why. But this wolf won’t reveal anything


    he isn’t ready to and there is no point in arguing over it.


    I just have to hope that I’m not walking to my own grave.


    That would be the ultimate coup, though, wouldn’t it?


    Aaron kills me, pins it on my father or my pack in some way.


    Hmm.


    I slide on some uneven stretch of ground and in a sh, he has


    my arm and he’s holding me in ce.


    “I, uh, I’m okay.”


    He grunts and keeps walking.


    3/4


    I nce up as the clouds lift, and moonlight floods this area, showing too many stars overhead to count


    and a valley below


    that’s bisected by a curving stretch of river.


    “It’s beautiful.”


    “It is,” he agrees.


    I hadn’t intended to say that out loud.


    Perhaps a mile or so down the trail, there is a sh of reflection. As my eyes adapt more, I see the


    straight lines of a cabin, and more glints of the moonlight on ss windows.


    “Is that where we’re going?”


    Aaron nods and picks up the pace.


    He hefts the giant bag a bit higher on his back. There’s a ng and thump, sounds I’d associate with


    heavy objects.


    I gulp.


    Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret


    We make it to the cabin without any incident.


    Which probably sounds silly, but it’s a win in my book.


    I breathe a deep sigh of relief.


    This is from N?velDrama.Org.


    “Worried about falling off the trail?” he asks.


    “Amongst other things.”


    He snickers.


    “Wait here,” he tells me. “Let me check out the ce first.”


    I’m pretty sure if there was some danger, he would’ve sensed


    it already. Also, this is Alpha Aaron Rathborn, there isn’t


    anything on this earth that he fears. And I know he isn’t going inside to dust the ce or freshen up.


    But I dutifully stand outside, shivering and waiting.


    After a few minutes, he reappears.