Page 23 of Feral Mates (Ruthless Instinct #1)

“You’re going to need to tell me at some point if I’m going to try and help you.”

We remained quiet as tensions continued to rise.

We were crawling along the interstate. One mile, then another.

At that point, I could see something ahead.

“Let me see what this is. Just relax.” Before they had a chance to object, I opened the door, moving onto the highway.

Still unable to see anything clearly, I stepped onto the rocker panel, stretching as I tried to decipher what was going on.

“Shit,” I muttered, immediately slipping back inside. “It’s a roadblock. The police are questioning everyone. Now, I’m no expert on wolves, but I doubt any canine can drive a car, which makes their activities ridiculous.” I felt the heat of their bodies expanding as soon as I muttered the words.

Not as wolves, but as shifters they could.

“This is risky, but I’m going to drive on the shoulder and take the next exit. It’s entirely possible since the move is illegal that one of the officers will call it in and we’ll be stopped.”

I could tell what I’d told them hadn’t gone over very well.

“Then we will outrun them,” Apollo stated. “When you get to a safe place, pull over. We’ll test your theory on whether a wolf can drive. The answer might surprise you.”

Shuddering to my core, I was thankful I usually remained in the right-hand lane.

I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a speed demon, although there was enough power in the engine that I could outrun most vehicles.

I casually moved onto the shoulder, crawling up very slowly to try to keep from drawing attention.

I found myself holding my breath as I made my way to the exit. When I was only a couple hundred yards away, some other asshole decided what I was doing was a great idea. The driver plowed into the space close enough I almost ran into the back of him.

Someone blew their horn.

Another driver did as well.

And another gut-wrenching moment told me at least one of the officers was paying very close attention to what now the two of us were doing.

At least the vehicle now in front of me was a huge Ford pickup truck with big ass tires.

I trailed behind maybe a little too close, but he was providing decent cover.

Once on the exit ramp, the other driver flew down the road, barely stopping at the stop sign before taking off. He even squealed his tires. Great. More attention drawn to what we’d done.

I had no idea how to get to my parents’ house from here, so I took a right, constantly checking the rearview mirror until the exit itself faded into the distance.

The anxiety was killing me, my pulse racing and the knot in my stomach growing exponentially.

“Pull over, Savannah.” Apollo’s voice was deeper, ripped with a warning.

Instead of arguing with him, I found the first logical and decent location.

When I was stopped, I hung my head over the steering wheel. What in God’s name did I find myself in the middle of?

“This is crazy. Are you certain you can drive? We can’t take any chances.

” I don’t know why I bothered asking. At this point, it seemed as if the three wolves could do anything their host had been able to do.

Even more. I’d already seen evidence of their super strengths, attributes wolves exemplified.

“Just give me directions,” Apollo said as he opened the car door. “I can and will drive.”

After shifting seats with him behind the wheel, I pulled up the GPS, staring at the map. To stay off the highway, the route would add an additional thirty minutes if not more to the trip. In dark roads I’d never traveled.

Apollo returned to the road, adjusting the mirrors and concentrating on paying close attention to whether we were being followed.

“Take a left at the next traffic light,” I directed. The tension remained, lingering with heavy heat and anxiety, suffocating me even more than before.

“It will be alright, little mate.” The agitation in Apollo’s voice made it very clear he was just as uncertain as I was.

We all were.

“What are we going to do?” My question wasn’t about hoping for a magical answer. It was said almost in passing as I stared out the passenger window.

“We survive.” Kai’s deep baritone reverberated in my chest. The two words were primitive yet comforting.

My gut told me Blackwell was behind everything, which would explain his odd behavior.

If the experiments had been planned with use of the animals, that meant Dr. Blackwell had already used his own employees with security clearances to alter test results.

To keep them from the rest of us. We’d keep on working, feeding them with results while they moved forward with ignoring the requirements of the grant.

And maybe worse.

In my mind, I was convinced the explosion had been nothing more than a diversion.

Maybe other employees had started asking questions.

As Apollo maneuvered the sharp turns, I realized he was a damn good driver.

A sudden laugh popped from my lips. Suddenly, this all seemed normal. Just a typical day in la-la-land.

After several turns, we were finally on a two-lane road where we’d remain for thirty miles.

I finally released my clenched hold on the dashboard, sitting back as ominous shadows created eerie forms in the trees.

In my mind they twisted and pulsed as they’d done in the lab.

Furious at the mental attack, I closed my eyes.

Another growl emitted grabbed my attention. “What’s wrong?”

Apollo was staring into the rearview mirror, his jaw tightly clenched. A quick glance into the rearview mirror and the horror returned.

Flashing lights.

I twisted in my seat, staring out the back window. “They’re gaining on us.”

Apollo pressed down on the gas pedal. The engine’s slight hesitation was followed a jerk forward as the turbo kicked in.

“There’s only one,” Kai offered. “Can you outrun them?”

Apollo snickered. “Watch me.”

“No!” I yelled. “We can’t get arrested. You might not survive.”

“What choice do we have, Savannah?” Roman threw out. “If we’re caught, there will never be another opportunity to escape again. We have no place in this world.”

Groaning, I pressed my hand against my forehead. My entire body was shaking from adrenaline and the powerful fear. “Fine. Just be careful.”

With no other words said and going in excess of eighty miles per hour, he managed to power around the curves. Tires squealed. The chassis shimmied, but my little car that had been through eighty thousand miles of driving me safety to work and back performed beautifully.

Still, he couldn’t lose the police car. Whether or not this was about leaving the roadblock or something even more sinister we might never know. Another moment of instinct screamed that we couldn’t stop. Not under any circumstances.

Oh, what are you doing, girl? You’re sacrificing your entire career and possibly your freedom for a crazy theory.

That had proven true.

I’d seen it with my own eyes. With my grip in the dashboard white knuckled, I constantly looked into the side mirror. My God. They were gaining on us.

The situation was becoming almost desperate.

More turns.

Sirens.

The rush of trees passing the windows was even more malevolent than before. Apollo wasn’t giving up, going even faster. Now everything outside the windows was a complete blur.

“Two miles. Right hand turn!” I yelled.

“Hold on,” Apollo snarled. “We’re going to lose them.”

I had no idea how he was able to handle the car with so much precision, but only seconds later, he’d pulled far enough ahead of the police car, I could barely make out the lights in the side mirror.

“Keep going,” I whispered. Every muscle in my body was tense. “The turn is coming up. Slow down. Slow down!” We’d never make the sharp turn.

When Apollo started to turn the wheel, slamming on the brakes, my entire body clenched, bracing for the crash, a horrible impact.

Inertia hit me and for a few seconds, it felt as if I’d been dropped into suspended animation. We were flying, or so it seemed. A quick jerk. The tires thudded.

A slight skid.

Another turn.

And then a full stop.

Panic settled in, a scream bubbling to the surface. I obviously made a noise because in a flash, Apollo’s hand was pressed against my mouth.

“Shush, little mate. Just stay quiet.”

I gripped his arm, clinging to him as my eyes flew open wide. I could see nothing but darkness. He’d turned off the headlights.

He pulled me closer, his hot breath one of two reminders I was still alive.

The other was the hard thudding of my heart.

“Breathe for me,” he commanded.

The silence was unnerving.

Shadows gave way to a slight glow.

Then another sound.

Sirens. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see pulsing lights as they flashed by in an instant. The sound faded until there was nothing left but my pulse echoing in my ears.

Apollo removed his hand, using a single finger to lift my chin. “We’re safe, little mate. We’re safe.”

Safe.

The word was no longer satisfactory.

Maybe we were safe by definition.

But for how long?