Page 130 of Change

“I—”

Rough fingers grabbed at my ankle, pulling me into the ground. As the earth closed over me, a roar rang loud through my ears.

I was choking, coughing, as a dull ache reverberated across my chest. The rough fingers digging into the back of my legs froze, and a male cursed sharply, breaking through the chaos of the room.

“What’s wrong?” Someone pulled at my foot. “Let’s get moving.”

Maria was ranting, and there was a banging in the background as she growled, “Put her downnow, you son of a bitch—”

“My mother was no bitch.” My captor’s muscles tensed under me, causing his elbow to dig further into my ribs. “We’re wolves.”

“It’s the same thing!” Maria snapped. Then, in a slightly more controlled tone, added, “Besides, that’s not the point. Gloria, you need to dosomething.”

I blinked my eyes open, the darkness retreating to the corners of my vision. Gloria was directly in my line of sight. There was a difference in the way she was carrying herself—even barred against the wall—from what I’d grown used to with the woman.

Her eyes flared a bright caramel golden color, and her thin face looked sharper, more angular, as she bared her teeth to the wolves invading our cell.

“She’s still alive.” Her voice held an underlying order and threat. “These weren’t your orders. Leave her, and we won’t tell.”

The two men laughed, and the one holding me loosened his grip enough to pat the back of my thigh. My arms hung free but, at the moment, there was no way to even muster up the strength to try to push myself up.

“She might as well be dead.”

Suddenly, I was thrown from the man’s shoulder, landing in a breathless heap onto the floor.

“Look at that,” he continued. “It’s only a matter of time at this point. We’ve got the go-head. In this business, we leave no trace behind.”

“Even so,” Gloria continued. “He’ll want you to wait, right? Just to make sure. Don’t do anything stupid.”

My vision was beginning to clear once more, at least enough for me to make out the two men in front of me. Sure, they were nothing but blurred shapes, hazily silhouetted by the meager lanterns from the doorway, but it was enough to know that there’d be no way for me to win a fight against them.

Not that I would be able to win against pretty muchanyoneright now either. I tried to move, even just to shield my face, but nothing was working. I was nothing but a rag doll.

Hopefully I looked as appealing as I felt—because even though my thoughts were fuzzy, a warning still rang in the back of my head at their statement.

We leave no trace.

Why, why, why… Out of everything, why was that the only thing replaying in my thoughts?

“If you wanted to watch, you could have just asked,” said the taller of the men, his wide, toothy grin standing out against the shadows. “Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two. This is our true nature after all. You’re nothing more than a dog.”

This?

I blinked blearily at them, not understanding.

His meaning became clear as the man who’d been carrying me dropped to his knees. He was stouter than the other wolf and was loosening the top buttons of his jacket as he smirked at the other shifters. “This is what happens in the real world, baby,” he explained. “Survival of the fittest.”

“But you’re human, not an animal. You’re not supposed to act like one.” Maria’s growls rang loudest of the protests. “If you so much as touch her, he’ll rip your heart out.”

The taller man was already on all fours, shifting from man to wolf. He was slower than Ada had been, and I vaguely wondered if a shifter’s strength had to do with how quickly they could transform.

If that were the case, then I was about to be eaten by some mediocre talent indeed. It was almost insulting.

Ice flooded my veins regardless—even if they were losers, they could still kill me. Desperation raked through me, and my joints ached, but nothing compared to what would happen once teeth and claws ripped through my skin.

I had to keep running. I wasn’t done yet.

While the wolves were distracted—taunting and shifting—I moved to roll over.