Rebirth of the Alpha's Slave Mate (Samantha and Kade) novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Tyler’s POV

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“Focus, Tyler! Guard your left!”

The morning sun hadn’t even come up yet when the slam of the wooden training sword sent Tyler sprawling across the ground. The sand of the sparring ring filled his mouth, forcing him to cough and sputter as he pushed himself to his knees.

Melvin stood over him, panting, his brows drawn together. “What was that, boy?” he barked, although he held his hand out to help Tyler to his feet. Tyler ignored it and stood on his own, dusting himself off. Melvin’s jaw feathered.

“I’m sorry,” Tyler muttered in a rough voice that had nothing to do with the early hour. “I’m just a bit distracted today. Didn’t sleep well. Had weird dreams.” Dreams about Elena bleeding out on the ground. Dreams about Kade standing over her body with blood on his hands. Dreams about not making it to her side in time…

The Delta frowned. “Well, you can save your distraction for later. Right now, you need to focus. If this were a real battle, you would have been dead ten minutes ago.”

Tyler’s teeth clenched as Melvin handed him his training sword again, but he knew the Delta was right. He needed to focus. If Elena needed him at any point, he wanted to be ready to strike—even if it meant taking down Alpha Kade himself.

The very thought of that awful man’s name made Tyler’s hands tighten around the hilt of his training sword until his knuckles turned white. Tyler didn’t trust this situation with Elena in Crescent Hollow one bit; it had been several days since he had last seen or heard from Elena, and she refused to leave Crescent Hollow.

She was willingly staying there. With the monster who enslaved her and tormented her for years. Tyler thought she was going insane when she said she intended to stay.

But she said her child was there. Tyler couldn’t force her to leave-not when she was so insistent on staying. Despite his reservations, he understood why she wanted to stay there. But it didn’t mean that he would like it. He was terrified for her.

Tyler forced his mind to focus once more, lowering into his fighting stance. Melvin came at him with an overhead swing that forced him to block, then deflect the blow. Their training swords scraped and separated with a loud crack, and Melvin stumbled back a step.

“That’s better!” Melvin said, going in for another swing. This time, he feinted left but slashed right. Tyler prepared to parry the blow.

But then it happened.

Tyler felt a sudden pang in his chest-right below his heart, where the bond he shared with Elena resided. It was as if the bond had suddenly been tugged from the other end, yanking on his rib until he swore he could feel the bone fracture. Then, a sense of desperation rushed through him that was so great that it made every muscle in his body freeze.

In his moment of distraction, the training sword cracked across his shoulder, sending him sprawling again. But this time, Tyler didn’t feel the pain. He didn’t hear his trainer’s scolding.

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He only felt her.

Elena.

She needed him. Now.

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Tyler didn’t waste any time. Ignoring Melvin’s protests, he scrambled to his feet and took off toward his pickup truck, nearly tripping over his own feet in the dim morning light during his haste. He fumbled for his car keys in his pocket; he didn’t know what was happening, or what he was going to do once he found Elena.

He just knew he needed to find her.

Lana, spotting Tyler sprinting across the lawn, caught up to him in quick strides. “What’s happening?” she asked.

Tyler didn’t even look at her. “It’s Elena.”

“I’m coming with you.”

As Tyler unlocked the truck, he glanced at Lana and saw the decision in her eyes. She had made up her mind, and there was no changing it now. Besides, he might need an ally if there was going to be a fight, and Lana was a good fighter.

Tyler didn’t protest as Lana climbed into the passenger seat. They were driving through the front gates before Samson and Natasha even had a chance to run outside, wondering what was going on.

As Tyler drove, his knuckles white as sheets around the steering wheel, everything in his mind narrowed to that singular point of panic that he felt through the bond. The further he sped through the winding forest roads, the more he felt it.

Elena was in trouble. Serious trouble. Possibly even on the brink of death.

Tyler didn’t even want to consider what might have happened yet. He just focused on getting to her side, on finding her before it was too late.

Eventually, about three miles outside of Crescent Hollow territory, the agony in the bond crescendoed. Tyler pulled off onto the side of the road and leapt out of the truck, turning around several times before his wolf honed in on a specific direction: east. Into the woods.

Lana came to stand beside Tyler. “She’s in there?” she whispered, and he nodded. The roads between territories were dangerous enough, but the woods? That was basically a death sentence for a lone woman like Elena. Tyler wasn’t sure how she survived the trek on her own the first time, but he wasn’t confident that it could happen again. Especially not now; not when she seemed to be in grave danger.

Lana and Tyler didn’t hesitate. They took off into the woods at a full sprint, weaving around trees, leaping over exposed roots and fallen logs. Tyler let the bond guide him, pull him closer. With each step, the agony became more potent and more terrifying.

In those moments, as Tyler searched for Elena, a sense of dread washed over him that was somehow even greater than that of potentially losing a mate.

In those moments, Tyler feared far worse than that.

Chapter hg.

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He feared losing a sister.

Finally, Lana pointed up ahead at a form laying in a small clearing. “There!” she said, skidding to a stop. Careful!”

Tyler froze. There, up ahead, was Elena’s still body laying on the ground. The air smelled of blood and something acrid, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

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