the deal is still on

How?" I laugh. There's no purse or even pockets in her outfit. Her shirt is white and soft cotton so thin can 

see the curve of her breasts under the cloth. Her pants are dark gray cotton, fitting loosely around her hips and short, hitting her shins.

"I'll... I'll... do whatever you want." Her eyes widen and her cheeks color as she realizes what she just said. Stepping back, she bumps into a tree trunk.

The girl is so desperate to find her mother, she'd offer her body?

I snarl at her. "Go back home to your pack."

A beat passes and then she growls back. "There's a reward for finding my mother."

I purse my mouth. "So you're a runaway."

"I'm looking for my mother!" she shouts, her cheeks turning red.

"You might as well be a runaway," I say, turning my back on her and walking away.

I can feel her stare boring into me.

Could she be the one we've been hunting for all these years?

"Hell, all the packs rejected her just like the prophecy. She's our ticket

out of this nightmare, man." 

My gaze slides past him to her. She licks her bottom lip and I have to look away. It's distracting as fuck. Being outcasts hasn't exactly lend itself to getting laid regularly.

"I can get you a reward... whatever you wish," she says in a wavering voice.

"You can?" Dex smiles, turning on the charm. "What kind of magic do you have?"

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. "It's not magic, it's something else."

"What?" I ask, interested that she has some sort of special ability.

Aspen snorts. "She's a witch."

The girl's eyes glimmer and her mouth tightens. "I'm not a witch. I don't do magic."

"Then how can you-" I say, thinking in my gut this is fucking stupid to even entertain this idea.

"Because," she inhales a shaky breath like she's debating if she can trust us or not, "my mother will pay. She's a witch."

Fuck me. "Didn't you two learn your lesson from last time we entertained a witch's daughter? No way are we doing this. We take her back to the pack right now."

"This is different." Dex cuts in between me and the girl, lowering his voice. "She's half-wolf and maybe she's right. Maybe her dear old mom can break the chains on us."

I shove him away from me. "You're too fucking sentimental. The only thing that will happen if we take her to her mother is we'll be lucky to leave with our fur intact. Her mom could be a fucking pyromancer and send fire to our balls with a fire spell that's never quenched."

He grimaces, but I don't back off. Both of them should know better than to trust a female and especially one that has even a drop of witch blood running through her veins.

Dex rubs his golden stubble on his chin, looking off into the distance. "She could be our ticket out of this hell."

"You're an idiot," I scoff.

Dex focuses back on me, his glare threatening. "And you're a coward."

"What do you think, bastard?" I clench my fists. "That we'll just take the girl to her mother and we'll fucking see then, huh?"

Dex winks and flashes a grin. "Sounds like a plan."

The girl's face brightens, and her

eyes are shining with hope. "You'll help me?"

She must have cast a spell on all of us for me to even consider this. I clench my fists tighter than unclench them. What the hell. If this works, we could be free before the winter.

"Yes, we'll take you to your mother," I say, my voice low and grumbly. "But if we smell anything fishy, we'll drop your ass no matter where we are or what's chasing us."

She nods vigorously.

"Fuck it." My wolf ties me up in knots inside over this. He wants to run, to be free. To hunt and fuck and not worry about the ramifications. "You stay with us. You do whatever we say without question. Without arguing."

"Sure." She gives me a watery smile.

The three of us head in the opposite way of the barrier. She walks next to Aspen. With her blue hair and his auburn, they look like they could be circus performers. Not that I've ever seen a circus, but my mom had a storybook of one with pictures.

"We should head to our camp for the night," I say.

Doy node but he's too busy

the night," I say.

Dex nods, but he's too busy staring at her ass. He should know better than to get distracted.

The chance to see our old pack again and make things right is too good to pass up. I squeeze my eyes shut briefly as my heart hurts at the thought of seeing my sister again.

She'll be sixteen this winter.

I shake my head, and my gut tightens. Too many damn years I've gone without being able to see her, without being able to talk with her. Is she tall like me and dad? Or is she short and feisty like our mother was?

"So, what do you think?" Dex points his chin at the girl's back. "Think she could be the one?"

My wolf agrees with him, clawing inside my chest to be free. "She could be feeding you bullshit and you've both been eaten up by a pretty face."

"What female would do that and be rejected by an Alpha's son and in front of the whole goddamn pack world this side of the mountains?" He kicks a stone that skittles down the path.

"That so?" I shrug. "Could be she wants adventure and to see the world before settling down." Or she doesn't

before settling down." Or she doesn't know the fucking horrors out here. Ones we've had to deal with for nine fucking long years.

We make it back to camp, and she looks around like she expects a damn hotel or something.

The giant cottonwood tree, whose exposed roots jut out across the ground, stands open in the center of the camp. Its branches fan out like fingers.

There's a hollow in the ground by the trunk so we've built lean-tos. A wall of brambles, fallen branches, and thorny vines we've ripped up surround the base of it and create a wall on one side.

Sap covers the tree's trunk, giving off a rich, earthy odor, which helps hide our smell from predators.

All around are scattered leaves, creating an unbroken perimeter around the tree in a five-foot and ten-foot diameter. Nothing can shamble across the first line without waking us up.

She rubs her arms. "No fire?"

"You're kidding, right?" I arch an eyebrow. "You want the monsters to come to a buffet of us while we

sleep?"

Her face pales. "Those are just rumors to keep wolves with the pack and behind the barrier."

"And how many times have you been past the barrier? Or away from your pack?"

"Well-" She shuffles her feet. "Never. But that doesn't mean "

"Let me stop you right there, sweetheart. Monsters are real. And anyone tells you differently, they're lying."

She crosses her arms, lifting her chin. "My name's Jessica  and I've had my share of monsters."

"Wolves?" I chuckle. "No, these make your animal brethren seem like lost pups in comparison. I've seen a beast strip a man of his flesh in seconds. The unfortunate soul's insides still smoking in the early morning air."

"Stop it, Raven," Aspen frowns at me and sits down on his tattered blanket. "You're scaring her."

"She should be fucking terrified." I shove a loose branch back in place to keep the wind off us. "Maybe then she'll realize what a stupid mistake this is and ask to be taken back."

"No." She shakes her head 

can't go back there."

I roll my eyes. "I bet if you ask nicely, the pack will let you back in. And maybe that fated mate of yours will realize his mistake and be willing to help you find your mother and make sure that the creatures don't eat you."

She shakes her head and moves closer to Aspen.

Whatever. My bet is once we travel for a day or two and she sees one of the creatures, she'll be begging to return. Or she'll freak out enough that she'll shift, which I have no doubt she can do and she's just playing us. That will prove to my two friends here that she's not part of the witch's prophecy to cure us.

"Get some sleep. We leave at first light." I lay down on my blanket, turning my back to her.

"Out here? Don't you have a tent or something? I saw you both near a roamy one with woven, silken threads."

Dex flops down with a grunt. "Nope. Just having a bit of fun while we were there."

I can tell by his tone that he and Aspen tried to fuck some females but 

got distracted finding Jessica. The one we've been searching for to break our pack's curse.

"Here," Dex says, and I hear light patting, "You can sleep by me. Promise I don't bite."

"Why don't you have a tent at least?" She settles down between me and Dex, but I don't turn around.

I continue laying there, staring out into the darkness. Trying to ignore her female scent of wild lavender and musk that I could get drunk on.

"Don't you get cold during the winter? Or what if it rains?"

Aspen clears his throat. "You aren't lying when you say you've never been on this side of the barrier. Not even during your rebellious stage?"

She pauses for a moment like she is choosing her words carefully before she answers.

"No," she says so softly I almost don't hear her answer. "Or maybe I'm getting a late start on my rebellion."

If that's what she thinks this is, she's going to be in for a rude awakening. I give her two days tops before she turns tail and forgets this adventure.