*****

*Corey*

I grabbed a few rocks from the ground before I threw one and watched it skip across the water eighteen times before it disappeared beneath the surface.

"Is there anything you aren't good at?" I heard Jayden mutter, more to himself than me.

I chuckled looking at him. We were beside the river while Trent and Hayley were somewhere in the trees. I would have known where if I had been able to hear or smell them but our werewolf abilities were still being suppressed by the forest, and thus I had no idea where exactly they were but I knew they couldn't be far – well, wouldn't be far.

"Singing. Writing. Sketching. Playing the guitar – or any other instrument for that matter." I said. He rolled his eyes but chuckled. "Come on, let's see you try." I threw a rock at him which he barely caught and it made me laugh. "When we get home I need to teach you some basic hand-eye coordination," I said.

"Shut up." He got up before he chucked the stone at the river.

"Whoa, good one for your first time." It had skipped five times.

"I guess I'm just talented like that." I laughed at his response.

"Glad to see that you two seem to be getting on fine." I turned to smile at Hayley walking beside Trent.

"Are we swapping?" I asked.

"Yeah," Trent said. I threw the rocks at him and he caught them all swiftly without any trouble. I gave Jayden an amused side-stare that broke into laughter as he glared at me.

We left the others and walked through the forest before I suggested we stop when we were a little while away from the others but we could still hear the river splashing. It was much colder being so far away from the fire and I automatically glanced over at Jayden to see if he was wearing a jacket because an unhealing Omega could probably die in the cold. I did not plan to say anything if he was not, but luckily he was clad in a thick jacket.

We watched for about two hours and I was bored out of my mind but kept my mouth shut about that as we sat down against a tree and exchanged short sentences about random things occasionally going silent when we heard a noise. Eventually, the sky began to brighten ever so slightly and I glanced at my watch.

"I think it's time we got back and woke the others," I announced while standing up. It was about five in the morning and bits of bright light could be seen through the trees.

"Wait," I looked at Jayden. He had been standing for the last half-hour, I had gotten the feeling that he was becoming restless but didn't want to question him about it and just let him be.

"What's up?" My brows rise in question.

"I, Uh... I was wondering... Since... We're almost there..." He was speaking slowly, nervously.

"What is it?" I asked chuckling. Why was he so afraid to speak?

"You're my original mate. Would it really be that big a problem if we just..." He drifted.

What was he asking? "You want me to kiss you?" I asked quickly. I actually wanted to. There was always a lingering need to taste his lips again since we had kissed, I tried to shove it away and ignore it but it was always there. I figured that it was a mate thing, not because I liked kissing him specifically.

"No – NO! I-I mean... Well... A hug would be... fine." He said softly, "One – Just one time. Before we 'fix' this." He chuckled awkwardly.

I shook my head. Fix? Why did that sound so wrong? It was not though... It was what I needed. Probably what we both needed because he needed to be less attached to someone like me.

"Fine. One last time." I wanted to feel the sensations again. They were different with my mate than with other people and I was sure it wouldn't be the same with a new mate.

"Yeah? A-alright." He gave a smile but made no move towards me.

I chuckled reaching out to grab his hand and the familiar feeling of heated desire filled me. I pulled him closer before locking him into a tight hug. It felt great, he seemed to fit into my arms perfectly. I took a few seconds to focus on the weird effects being near him seemed to have on me, the feeling of my heart racing, his scent blocking out any other at the moment which usually would have caused my wolf to panic but it was so comforting. I felt calm and yet too excited to just leave it at hugging him, every part of me urged for more. It felt so right to be with him but I couldn't let myself believe it was. Maybe just for the moment, though...

"Corey?" Jayden spoke as he looked up at me, "We need to go." He chuckled.

"Not yet," I mumbled letting him go just slightly so I could see his face properly.

"I-I didn't mean..." He mumbled looking nervous.

"But you can't deny that you want to," I said.

"I'm not denying it. I just... I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or pressu –" His words drowned out as I leaned in to kiss him. The movement seemed to amplify everything I had been feeling when we hugged.

"One time. Just once." I mumbled against his lips as adrenaline ran through my body and my stomach fluttered.

He responded quickly, not being as shocked as before and for that moment I felt like nothing else mattered. We were completely alone and it felt amazing. I felt amazing, I could feel that he did too and that made me happy. I smiled feeling his hand run through my hair as the other held my neck pulling me closer to him. I loved the feeling of his hands on my skin. It just felt perfect...

But I had to stop. I couldn't get his hopes up and I couldn't let myself believe that it would be alright to admit that I felt something for him so I broke away and gave him the perfect face smile.

"Let's go find our witch." I turned from him quickly to avoid seeing the hurt on his face. I knew that kiss would give him hope and I was mad at myself for doing it. I shouldn't have done it but couldn't stop myself. It was selfish, but it was the last time. I had to do it because it was the last time.

"Can I ask something though?" He spoke softly.

"Sure." I didn't turn back to him.

"Do you..." He cleared his throat, "Do you feel anything but the pull?"

"No." I didn't hesitate to spit out that lie. "I'm sorry, Jayden, you're a great person. You'll find a better mate." I added glancing back at him with a smile before I left through the trees.

He would. I had no doubt he would because he deserved that.

-----

It had been another few hours of walking and once again we were all worn out. It was like the forest was never-ending. Every time I thought we were close to where we needed to be it seemed like we suddenly had so much more walking to do.

"I hate this fucking forest!" Sean hissed. Yeah. Me too. I had never felt more worn out in my life.

"What was that?!" Kaden hissed when we heard scratching.

I pulled out my gun. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to fight in the state I was in. I was pretty much about to faint from exhaustion and thirst because we had run out of water a while ago, I knew everyone felt the same way.

"Corey, hold on." Sean let out a sigh as he pulled out his own gun. "We don't fire unless we need to. Run ahead, we'll catch up." He told everyone.

"Catch up how? You won't be able to follow our scents or hear us." Izabella said.

"Then go west, we'll follow," I said.

"Or instead of us leaving and possibly running into more trouble, we could all just stay together and take care of whatever that is before we move on," Jayden suggested. No. No way in hell he was staying if there was something dangerous nearby.

"We won't be able to 'take care' of it if we have to take care of everyone else at the same time," I said.

"Who said we need taking care of? I can hold my own and I know Jay can handle a gun." Kaden said.

"I don't care what you two can do. I'm not risking anything. We're older, we're in charge. Go."

"Yeah. All of you follow Trent, we'll catch up. Move." Sean said.

Izabella and Hayley shook their heads at Sean and me. They knew we weren't going to budge.

"Let's go." Trent pulled out his pistol and began to lead the way through the trees.

"Be careful," Hayley said.

"We will." I smiled reassuringly before they left. Sean and I began to head through the trees carefully but stopped as we heard more ruffling. "That sounds like a wolf," I said. We had lost our abilities but this was basic.

"Yeah... It's alone? A rogue?" Sean let his hand fall to his side although still clutching his gun as he clicked on the safety, "Come out." He ordered, "Now, and we will not attack." I watched as a grey wolf stumbled out before us. Judging from its size, it was definitely not a normal wolf, it was a werewolf. Way too small to be a Delta or higher ranking, though. It must have been a Gamma wolf. Just an ordinary werewolf. He was pretty dirty clearly from having been sneaking through the forest. "Rogue?" Sean asked.

The wolf nodded in response. We had figured petty much. Wolves never moved alone.

"I take it you cannot shift while in this forest?" I asked. Again, a nod. "We should have had some of us shift. We would have been able to hear further." I said to Sean.

The wolf growled offering help.

"Why would we accept help from a lone rogue?" Sean raised his gun, "Why should we trust you and not kill you right now?" He added. Rogues could be pretty dangerous, although this one seemed to still be able to communicate so he had not gone completely savage.

The wolf replied and I narrowed my eyes. "Someone's following us? Why would we believe you?" I asked.

I watched as he let out a growl in response.

"He has a point," Sean mumbled. He did.

The wolf had said he would have no reason to lie to us, but if he proved himself worthy we would accept him into our pack. He growled more telling us he had been rogue for about ten years and it was the hardest life a werewolf could have, especially when trying to stay sane. He said he knew we had no reason to trust him, but we just had to because he knew the forest inside out and could help us get away from the person following us.

"Why would we need your help when only one person is after us?" I asked.

His answer made me pause. 'Because he's been watching your mate'.

How would this rogue know who my mate is?

"My mate?" I asked slowly.

'The guy you were making out with this morning,' he growled in response and I froze as Sean's wide eyes turned to me.

"What?"

*****