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Bounding over the embankment and toward the road, she leaps in the air. The SUV is getting closer and closer, its nose aimed right at the rear end. Everything slows while my wolf flies through the air. I can see Sean so clearly in the car, the look of rage on his face. He catches my wolf out of the corner of his eye, his mouth opening in a slight part as recognition hits.
She lands on the hood with such force that the vehicle swerves, and Sean loses control. My wolf’s paws slip on the slick metal, and she tries to gain purchase. She’s thrown against the windshield, and a crack splits the air as she tumbles up and over the roof, landing in a hard thud on the blacktop. Sean slams on the brakes, and the red lights around us turn white.
Move!
She rolls out of the way just as Sean attempts to back over her. Instead, his rear tires hit the side of the road and sink into the mud. He puts the car into gear again as my wolf stands, every bone in her body aching. Flooring it doesn’t work. The tires spin, kicking up mud. He’s too far into the embankment to get his SUV out.
He roars, the sound penetrating the steel surrounding him. He forces the car door open and steps out. “Where are you, you little bitch?”
My wolf won’t back down from this fight. She steps out into the road in front of his car, and he turns to spot us. The headlights blind the side of her face, but she stares him down, anyway. Her lips pull back, a threatening growl ripping from the rear of her throat.
Sean stalks forward. “Why can’t you just behave?” he seethes. His skin starts to ripple, and his fists tighten at his sides. He throws his head back, the veins in his neck protruding. Squeezing his eyes closed, he bellows into the night. Several deep breaths later, he gains control over his wolf, stuffing him inside the cage he’s been putting him in.
His poor wolf.
Another growl rips from my wolf’s throat. She lunges at Sean, the fiercest sound cutting straight from her mouth. His eyes widen as she comes at him, her jaw gaping open for an attack.
At the last second, he sidesteps her and then throws his arm out, fist catching her in the ribs. Pain ripples through us. She falls to her feet, head down. A whimper careens from her throat, but she shakes herself off and stalks toward him again.
He wipes his face with the back of his hand. “You thought you could escape me?” The laugh that bubbles forth is maniacal. He’s turned himself into a vessel with no compassion. “What? You didn’t think I’d be paying attention when my wolf tracked you. We’re still connected, Mia. As soon as I was able to take control again, I came for you. We’re going back to Daybreak, Mate.”
My wolf snarls at his careless use of the word. We know what it means to have a real one now. We have everything we need in Nathan. Using mate to describe us is a taint of how special the bond really is. She lunges for his throat, and he catches her in the air, squeezing her body. His elbows dig into bruised ribs, and she cries out, which only spurs him on. “Shift!” he commands.
My wolf wants to laugh at him. He has no control over her; no alpha power to make her do something she doesn’t want to do. She resorts to clawing at him, ripping into his face until he lets go.
She scrambles away as I cheer her on from inside.
“Fucking bitch!” He reaches his hand up to his face, gingerly touching the claw marks. When he pulls his fingertips away, fresh blood runs down the sides. The look in his eyes transitions to darkness. “I’m going to kill you. There are no witnesses out here. I’ll tell everyone you tried to run away, but you got lost out here and died. They’ll believe whatever I say.”
My wolf circles him. His evil smirk has nothing on the low growls ripping up her throat. He’s slowly been killing me since we were paired—leaving me alone at the academy, heartbroken; taking me away from my pack; then the outright, obvious attempts to murder me after I got here. He’s sadistic. Pure poison in its truest form.
He tries to pull alpha over me again. “Come here.”
My wolf sits. We’re completely separate from him now. He can’t rule over us. I barely even feel the thrum of Daybreak through my veins, so I doubt he’d even be able to pull pack hierarchy over me. He’s nothing to me now.
The more I stay away from him, the angrier he gets. If his temper gets too out of control, he might shift again, and that will turn the tide in my favor since his wolf and I are on the same page.
He knows better, though.
“Fine,” he seethes. stalking to the trunk of his SUV and grabbing a crowbar. At first, I think he’s going to come for us, but he does something worse—he goes for our escape car.
My wolf leaps at him, her jaw finding his hip before clamping down. He screams, elbowing her in the face until she unhinges her hold at the blossoming burn where he connected. He brings the crowbar up, and she runs away, but not before he catches her in the flank. She cries out in agony, sprawling on the ground. That fucking hurt. She tries to stand among the rippling discomfort, but another whimper rolls through her when she’s met with nothing but aching throbs.
His quick footsteps sound behind her, and she rolls out of the way as the crowbar comes down again, hitting the pavement this time. He tries a third time, catching her in the shoulder.
Another explosion of agony ricochets through us. The whimper she gives is half growl, half pain. He brings the crowbar back again. This time, she gathers up all the energy she has left and lunges for him. Despite her discomfort, she pushes through until she sinks her teeth into his leg. He howls, but she doesn’t let go. He hits her on the other flank, and she whines but still doesn’t relieve her grip.
A familiar growl rips through the air. My wolf looks up in time to see Nathan flying toward them. His white teeth gleam in the moonlight as he arches over her and sinks directly into his target: Sean’s neck.
She releases her hold as Sean falls back, landing on his ass and shoving Nathan’s wolf away. The teeth marks in Sean’s neck ooze with blood. A maniacal laugh hits us, and my wolf’s ears perk up. Mate?
Nathan’s wolf turns his head and stares at mine. Mate?
A sound pours from my wolf’s mouth that’s half agony, half excitement. We’re not mates by fate. We shouldn’t be hearing each other in our heads.
Nathan’s wolf moves toward me. Hurt?
His distraction gives Sean enough time to pick up the crowbar again. His fingers wrap around the metal before he gets to his feet. Watch out! I warn.