Page 36

With a power born of desperation, River's wolf gathered herself and leaped. Her claws scrabbled against concrete, finding tiny imperfections to grip into and dig deeper in. Higher, higher, her powerful legs drove her upward in a desperate climb.

She reached the top and carefully tried navigating between the coils of razor, but voices rang out behind her, and she panicked.

River's wolf leapt from the wall to the ground below, and the razors hooked into her skin.

Her leg snagged, and she scrambled to get free.

Yanking hard, her leg flayed open. Blood gushed from the wound, but the razors dug deeper into her muscle.

She yelped. She has to keep going. Screw the pain.

River yanked her leg hard and cried out as she tumbled to the asphalt below.

The air rushed from her lungs, and she lay on her side, unable to move for several seconds.

Stars blinded her eyes, and her heart thundered.

Blood slicked her fur, and the smell made her gag.

Even so, she couldn't help but smile. She'd done it. She was out.

River's wolf tried to stand, but her rear leg couldn't hold weight. She yelped as sharp burning pain shot through her all over. Blood slicked down her leg and pooled around her feet.

Not good. Not good.

River had no idea how long she had before she might pass out from blood loss. She had to move. River spurred her wolf forward, and on three legs, hobbling down the road with no idea where she headed.

She'd gone several blocks when she dropped to the ground, half on the sidewalk, half in the road, and breathed heavily. Exhaustion threaded through every muscle. She had to keep moving. Titan could find her there.

Her wolf howled in pain, and her body shook. River tried to get her wolf to her feet, but she couldn't lift her head. She tried to force a shift back to human, but it was all she could do to stay conscious.

The sounds of a vehicle approaching sent a shiver of fear through her. She needed to hide. She looked around but couldn't make her limbs work. Her heart pounded as the vehicle drew closer. Pop music blared out of the open windows. A van slowed and then stopped, its lights blinding her.

Pl ease, goddess, don't let it be Titan. Please don't let it be Titan. Not that she could imagine Titan or any of his men listening to the latest female pop star belt out a song about breaking up with her boyfriend.

The driver's side door opened, and a teenage boy hopped out. He rounded the van and raced to her.

"Holy crap! Who did this to you?"

He stroked River's ear, and she whined.

The boy looked over her, stripped off his shirt, and wrapped her leg. Then he slid his hands underneath her side.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll get you help. Just... please don't bite me, okay?"

The boy struggled to lift River into his arms, and for a moment, she thought he might drop her, but he didn't. He opened the back of his mommy van and laid her inside on the itchy carpet. He covered her with a small blanket.

"I promise I'm going to help you. Just don't die."

The van door lowered shut, and then the driver's side door slammed and the vehicle lurched forward. The teenage boy's voice drifted back to her, a stream of worried muttering as he navigated the streets.

"Hang on, girl. Just hang on. There's an emergency vet clinic about ten minutes from here."

Relief washed over River in waves. She was out.

Away from Titan, from the compound, from the prison that had held her for so long.

Her wolf body trembled, partly from pain and partly from the overwhelming realization that she'd done it.

She'd gotten herself out. She thanked the goddess, thanked herself, and, most of all, thanked her wolf.

We did it, girl. We did it. We're safe. Our baby is safe. Thank you. Thank you.

The boy talked to her, his voice a comforting anchor as darkness began to encroach on the edges of River's vision. "My mom's gonna shoot me for getting blood all over the van, but whatever. You're gonna be okay. You have to be okay."

River wanted to thank him, to communicate her gratitude, but her strength and consciousness faded rapidly. Blood seeped through the makeshift bandage, her leg throbbing with each beat of her heart.

The last thing River remembered was the gentle sway of the van as it turned a corner, and then blackness claimed her.

Bright lights pierced through River's consciousness, dragging her back to awareness. Voices surrounded her, urgent and confused.

"…never seen anything like this…" said the teenage voice she recognized.

"…losing too much blood…" said a female. "…need to stabilize her before…"

River blinked, her vision swimming as shapes gradually came into focus. She was still in the back of the van. Fumes from the van burned her nostrils. A woman in scrubs examined her leg while the teenage boy hovered under the neon sign, muttering.

"The laceration is extensive." Her voice was clinical yet concerned. "She's lost a significant amount of blood. This isn't something we can handle here."

"What do you mean?" The boy's face paled.

The vet straightened, fixing him with a stern look. "This isn't a dog, young man. This is a person."

"No, it's a wolf or a husky or something. I found her on the side of the road!"

"Do you think I'm blind? Or crazy?" The vet gestured toward River. "This is clearly a woman with a severe injury."

River realized she'd shifted back to her human form. The pain, blood loss, and unconsciousness of her wolf must have triggered the involuntary shift. She lay exposed, nothing covering her but the small blanket.

The vet turned to River, her eyes softening with concern. "Miss, did this boy harm you?"

River struggled to find her voice, her throat parched and raw. "No," she managed to croak. "He... helped me. He saved me."

The teenage boy froze, his eyes wide with shock. "But ...you were a dog." His face contorted in confusion. "I saw you. You were a dog with silver fur."

"We need to call an ambulance." The vet reached for her cellphone.

"No!" River's voice came out stronger than expected, stopping the woman's hand mid-air. "No hospitals."

"He'll find me." River clutched the blanket as a wave of dizziness washed over her.

The teenage boy shuffled forward hesitantly. "Who? Who's after you?"

River's eyes darted between them, weighing her options. These strangers had shown her kindness, but involving them further put them at risk. Still, she needed to reach Ares and Apollo.

"My name is River," she said, her voice growing weaker with each word. "I need you to call Apollo Wolvenguard. Tell him where I am."

The vet's eyebrows shot up in recognition. "Wolvenguard? The businessman?"

"Please," River begged, darkness creeping at the edges of her vision again. "He'll come for me. He's my mate."

"This is ridiculous," the vet argued, reaching for the phone again. "You need a hospital now. You could be in shock or delirious from blood loss."

"If I go to a hospital, Titan will find me," River insisted, her words slurring. "Please. Call Apollo or call Ares Wolvenguard. Tell them River is..."

Her vision tunneled, the van spinning around her as consciousness began to slip away once more.

The last thing she heard was the teenage boy's voice. "I think we should do what she says."

Then darkness claimed her again.

River floated in and out of consciousness, fragments of conversation drifting through the haze of pain and exhaustion. She was lifted, and something warm was draped over her naked body. They laid her on something hard and cold, and then she bumped across the asphalt toward a blue neon sign.

"…stabilized the bleeding…"

"… can't keep her here…"

"…said Wolvenguard, like the billionaire?"

"…dogs don't just turn into people…"

A cool hand brushed her forehead, followed by the sharp sting of a needle in her arm. River wanted to protest, but her body refused to respond. Her wolf lay dormant, completely unconscious.

Time became meaningless; minutes or hours might have passed as River drifted through layers of awareness. Images flashed behind her eyelids: Titan's wrathful face, the concrete wall looming over her, the desperate flight through the forest. And last of all, the faces of her mates, calling her home.