The Price They Paid: Imprinted Mates Series

reason that I can now is because I’d been so damn busy that I’d forgotten to check in. She wasn’t something that I could unsee.
Once the gods showed you your mate, your soul forever cried out for them. Not even an Alpha was strong enough to deny it. She was the one thing that could bring me to my knees. My kryptonite. Her coat was so damn healthy. Shiny. Long haired. It blew in the wind ruffling back and forth. I circled around her taking in her heady scent. If she was anything like it, she was strong and dominant, but that didn’t bother me at all. I would be the only one that she submitted to. There was something else about her scent. I leaned closer, and the sweetness almost did me in. How could something smell so enticing? I leaned closer to her neck where it was the sweetest. I’d never forget that smell for as long as I lived. Bathing in it would never be enough. I needed to consume it. I needed to consume her.
What was her human form like? The bond between us hadn’t been established, so I couldn’t communicate with her through our minds. I needed to shift to make her comply.
Suddenly, I noticed that she now smelled sour with fear. Maybe I’d scared her. No, there was something else. The smell became repugnant, and the need to get to her overpowered all my rational thoughts. This was all happening in my mind, and I couldn’t do anything here. Wherever she was in the real world, something bad was happening, and I needed to get there quickly.
Awakening, I rushed from the house and headed to the “Exiled Grounds” as I called the land that my father lived on. My brother was there, and I entered the house to find him sitting on the couch. I could smell the toasted turkey and avocado sandwich immediately as I entered.
“I need you to teleport me somewhere,” I demanded.
“Yes, your highness. Let me finish my snack first.” The sarcastic taunting would normally cause playful antics, but today wasn’t that day.
“Now!” I roared. I felt the walls shake, and the windows struggled not to break.
Alec blinked and then stood. “I guess this is serious.”
He moved with haste, but never did he drop that damn sandwich. He stood in front of me, and I touched his shoulders to hold on.
“You know the rules. Clear destination in mind,” Alec said.
I pictured the wolf from my dreams as clearly as if she was beside us. We warped through space until we were standing behind the branches of trees shielding our arrival. There was an interstate in front of us with several cars piled up. Further down and closest to us there were two cars that had collided head first. Neither driver was moving. I could smell death, injuries, and fear in the air.
“Seuss, what is this?” Alec asked. He looked around searching for any signs of obvious threats.
“My mate,” was the only response I gave as I rushed to her. I knew she was in that sports car that was smashed like a tin can. It called to me, and I followed, hoping it wasn’t too late.
There was a lot of blood everywhere. She was alive, but barely. There was movement from the other car, and I signaled Alec. Before that guy got away, I needed to find out what in the hell had happened. I leaned forward and touched the side of my mate’s face until I reached her temple.
My mate was beautiful. Her skin was the color of peanut butter candies, and she smelled just as sweet. Her brown hair carried red like hues hinting at her wolf’s true color.
“I need to find out what happened to you, little vixen. Show me.” I leaned closer to her preparing myself for what I may see.
I summoned her memories, but they came to me in reverse. Though I saw experiences as her, I felt them as me. My enhanced sight, hearing and smell told me things that she may have missed. Including the drug slipped into her drink, strong enough to take down any male shifter. Fuck, she was strong. The fact that she’d made it to the car and driven was a miracle. Who knows what would have happened if he'd gotten her alone.
“Heads up brother. He’s a hunter. We have about thirty seconds before we’ll have to explain what we’re doing here,” Alec said.
“She stays. He goes with us,” I snarled.
Alec was surprised by my response, but he dragged the beat-up bastard from the crumpled car. “Let’s go, Vin Weasel.”
I rolled my eyes at Alec and took a quick glance at my mate. This is not how it was supposed to be. When I met her, we were supposed to have an eternity together. This was happening too fast, and my wolf sought to protect and heal her, but I couldn’t heal her from something that was cursed. At least, not without the antidote. And Bob, as he’d introduced himself to her, was going to tell me exactly what it was.
“Let’s go, Seuss.” Alec’s serious tone meant that it was time to go.
“I’ll see you soon, vixen.” I knew she couldn’t hear me, but it felt right to say.
I’d just found her. It couldn’t be over so soon. It took everything within me to walk away. I watched her the entire time as I backed toward Alec. If I didn’t go, I’d never be able to save her. Help would be here in a moment to stabilize her until my return. They just had to.
I touched Alec, and we faded from the nightmare we’d landed in and surfaced into the darkest part of my lands. Nobody was allowed here unless they weren’t coming back. This torture chamber was created by my great grandfather for this very thing. Getting the truth out of our enemies brought out a darker part of us that needed to be kept in the dark recesses