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“Fine. Laken gave you that rule?” he asks suspiciously.

“No. I thought I would add it. It’s one he should have put on the list.”

“Where is this list?”

“I burned it. He wrote them all down. I figure those were the most important.” I smiled at the memory of Laken’s face when I threw it in the fireplace while he watched.

“You didn’t read the rest of them?”

“I skimmed it.” I shrug, glancing at him. “I don’t like to be restrained.”

“Right,” Logan drawls.

“Have you heard the joke about the cheetah and lion who walk into a bar?” I ask, smirking.

“No.”

Fuck, this is going to be fun.

Chapter Three

Saylor

Isit on my heels behind the tree and close my eyes.

I’m so freaking tired. I haven’t slept in three days. I’ve barely eaten. I’ve put hundreds of miles between the searching Alpha and me. I hope I have covered my tracks, and my scent enough.

The plan hasn’t exactly been perfect. I was going to ditch one of the cars, leave my scent in the wrong direction and pick up another. But the last car broke down while I was in the middle of nowhere. I have no problem traveling by foot, but it’s difficult when I am running on no sleep. My body is failing me.

I open my backpack and grab a protein bar—my last one. I have two sips of water left. I was hoping in another hundred miles to stop and stay in a hotel, have a hot meal, and have a shower. I took the chance yesterday to stop at a rest stop and clean up. Luckily, they had showers. So I don’t stink too bad.

I pull my baseball hat lower on my head and scan the area. I can see nothing but trees and grass for miles. I love the smell ofthe forest. The darkness and quiet feed my soul. This is where I always want to be. My animal needs this surrounding her. I have neglected her needs. I shift and let her out as much as I can. It’s difficult to do when I am always on guard, hiding my true self. I don’t want to do this forever. I have to decide how to end this. Since my mom died, I’ve been surviving on memories, anger, and panic. I can’t live my life this way anymore.

My cheetah has been quiet.

I talk to her with pictures and feelings. She is different than me but the same. When we are in animal form together, we are one. In my human body, she has her own opinions and emotions. She has the same desire as me to get safe, kill the Alpha, and live in the woods.

She is pushing me to shift. She wants to run within the trees. She wants to be free for the first time in our lives.

Me too, bitch.

Grant is the Alpha of the pack of cheetahs that has been stalking me. Not everyone is lucky enough to find their mate and have children. Instead of waiting for the universe to choose the perfect mate for them, his pack have forced those who aren’t to service them, even going so far as to force the bond. It’s not just our kind who is being forced. Human women are at risk, too. Trying to change someone that is not chosen for you is risky and almost always ends in disaster. Humans usually become stuck in between forms, the animal and their human body. The process is too much for their fragile bodies without the universe guiding the bond.

Attempting it always ends in disaster. The universe can choose human women to be a shifter’s mate. She then has to accept them and the bond to be turned into one. If she doesn’t, the shifter will be forever alone, pining after them. For us, our mate is the one. Once we meet them, we are tied to them. Shifter women immediately go into heat when they meet their mate.It can be painful if it is ignored. Being around their mate will relieve some of it, but the ultimate goal is to be mated and filled with the seed from their mate to continue the expansion of the shifter community. The bond must be completed with a bite, usually during sex, to be completed fully. Most of the time, the bites are given at the same time, but they don’t have to be, at least if they are both shifters. If one of them is ready to be tied to the other, they can choose to mark them first. The connection will start and build for the one who did the marking—they are now bound to the other. Even though this can happen, the one that is marked won’t be as desperate in their emotions. But just the scent of them, being close to them, connects us. Once mated fully, they can feel each other’s emotions and they can communicate easily in shifter form.

Grant wants me, regardless of my choice or the fact I am not his mate. He has a handful of loyal pack members who blindly follow his lead. They are the ones he sends out to track me down.

My mom has told me the stories of their behavior within the pack. My parents were once part of it. Of course, at that time, Grant’s father was the Alpha, but he was no less cruel. They treat women as their pets, and not in a good way. The women take care of them in every way.

My dad walked into the Alpha’s house and witnessed him violating a young cheetah. He defended the woman. He paid for his interference with his life. The Alpha trained his son at a young age to kill, rape, and torture the innocent. Grant was ten and dealt the killing blow.

I feel guilty I don’t remember, but in the same breath, I’m glad I don’t.

My Mom fled in the middle of the night. She waited until the men were drinking heavily. She tried to get the other women to come with us. They chose to stay. She did what she could to convince them, but they were too terrified of the consequences.

God, I miss her.

I miss physical touch. I miss hugs. I miss having someone give a shit. I miss going to bed, knowing someone will still be there in the morning—until the one day when they aren’t.