Page 64 of Just One Bite

Chapter Fifty-Three

Parker

Olivia stopped responding to me. Why did she stop?

I slam my fist into the dashboard. My head is pounding.

“We’re almost there,” Aster says.

“Just stop talking,” I growl. His voice and the sound of the engine revving as we drift around corners are setting me on the brink of a full meltdown.

I’m too panicked to give a shit that Aster is my companion for this. There wasn’t any time. Darien put an alert out for Cane’s car when he realized Olivia had been taken. There’s blurry footage of him exiting his car with his pack, and getting on a train with someone tucked under a coat.

I didn’t give any thought to grabbing Aster by the shirt and making him drive us in one of his super cars.

He’s doing it with ease. The tires screech as we round another turn, and I have to grip the handle above the door.

“Gavin’s gathering his pack at the end of the train line in the city.

He’s tried using his connections to contact the conductor, but it’s not getting through.

Cane has likely already thought of it. Sounds like he’s been planning for a while.

There’s one little bridge the train goes under.

We’re going to have to make a jump for it. ”

“We?”

“I’m coming with you. ”

“No way.”

“I can’t have you killing the only witness, can I? Plus, in case you forgot, you’re packless. His whole pack is on that train. You need my help.”

“Fine. I don’t fucking care.”

“Olivia. Baby, come on. Talk to me.”

It’s been more than fifteen minutes since I last heard from her, and I can’t think of anything else.

“I can’t hear her anymore.”

“Well, we’re closer to her than you think. We’re almost to the bridge.”

“Stay awake, baby. I’m almost there. It’s going to be okay.”

“Why can’t I hear her?”

“She’s probably just too weak right now. Keep your head. Olivia’s one stubborn bitch if I’ve ever seen one. She’ll fight.”

Before I can react to that comment, we come to a screeching halt and I’m out of the car before it stops moving. Behind us, members of his pack funnel out of their SUVS and sports cars. We’re surrounded by mountains and trees as far as I can see.

I hear the train running on the tracks. Its lights burst through the night, illuminating the mountainside as it grows closer and closer. The ground shakes, but it might be me on the cusp of shifting.

“He’ll likely be in one of the back cars.”

I shift in an instant. Aster follows suit.

Then we charge, running into a full sprint to the edge of the bridge.

I’m seconds behind him when he jumps the bridge, and we crash on top of the train car.

I run and leap onto the back of the caboose and thrust my fist through the window, the glass bursts and embeds itself in my skin as we scramble inside.

A few members of Cane’s pack shift before my eyes. And Aster and I tear into them one by one. They’re not a match for us at alpha capacity. I don’t think Cane anticipated Aster helping me mow through his pack in the back of the train car.

I leave Aster to clean up the stragglers and keep moving, only injuring them enough so they don’t follow.

Her scent is here. I push through the train car faster, knocking over furniture or anyone who gets in my way.

Then I see him. Cane turns around, his eyes glowing .

We’re in some type of dining car with tables lining the windows on each side. The hanging lights above the tables shake as the train curves.

Where is she?

“How?” he snarls. I’m expecting him to shift and match me, but he scrambles under the table as I bound forward on all fours.

A gunshot rings through the air.

I stumble back. There’s heaviness in my chest. Wetness. I step forward again.

Another gunshot.

Then another.

Cane’s shaky hand points the barrel at my head, but I knock it from his hand. There’s pain when I breathe out.

I slam him into the floor again and again, screaming the words in my head I know he can't hear.

Fucking coward, shift and fight me! I drag him under me by his coat, and a slew of blood drips, staining his pale face.

There’s barely anything other than pure instinct to kill.

Cane’s frame grows taller and taller as he shifts into a white werewolf, forcing me onto the ground.

He snarls, leaping toward me in the cramped space. My body is slowing, and the power runs from my limbs.

He enchanted the bullets.

It doesn’t matter though. Cane is in my way, but he’s not about to be. I swipe him across the face as hard as I can and the blood splatters across the window. He lets out an echoing howl. More will come to his aide.

I go for his neck and miss only by a few inches. The enchantment is stealing my strength, but I still get his shoulder, cutting through flesh and muscle, down to the bone. I lock my jaw, shaking him back and forth.

His claws pierce the wound in my shoulder, and I let go. Stumbling back, I growl. I can feel the bullet wounds now. One in the shoulder. Chest. Stomach? Ah, no, missed. It’s a little to the left.

“You couldn’t beat me, so you cheat. Typical Cane.”

He’s coddling the shoulder I shredded.

“Who cares about cheating if it gets the job done.”

I stumble but catch myself.

His lips curl, showing a long row of teeth. “ Don’t look too good. ”

“Look better than you.”

I need to find her. I’m running out of time.

Pulling a table from the wall, I fling it toward him and bound forward. We struggle against the weakness. The pain. The blood.

His teeth are around my arm, and mine around his other shoulder.

“Stop,” he pleads.

I don’t. I can’t till he’s not in my way anymore.

“Fuck, you’re bleeding.” Aster emerges a little battered.

I let go, my body aching.

“I’ve got to find her.” I motion for the door.

“I got him. Go.”

Staring into Cane’s green and yellow eyes, I growl. “If you ever want to finish this, I’ll be waiting.”

I let go and run into another horde from Cane’s pack, raising my chin and emitting a deafening howl that shakes the walls of the train car.

"Get in my way and you’re dead." I stare them down, sprinting forward, and they barely dodge me as they cower and hide.

Her scent is swirling in the air. I’m in the right car. I stop when I reach a locked door. A faint heartbeat lingers inside.

Olivia.

In one blow, I punch through the door, splintering the wood and tearing at it with my teeth.

She’s lying on the bed, with her hair wet and stuck to her forehead. Her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are barely open.

“Parker.”

I cradle her in my arms. “I’m here. I’m here.”

I’m faster in Were form, and search for the restroom. It’s in the next room over, and there’s a little tile shower in the corner. It’s barely big enough for us to fit in, so I shift into my human form and turn on the cold water.

“I’m so hot,” she says, her eyes closing and rolling back into her head.

“I know, baby. It’s going to be okay. I’ll fix it, just stay awake for me, okay?”

The cold water runs over her, pooling in her lap. It has to be enough, right? She barely stirs, and I move the hair from her eyes.

Under me, a sea of red swirls, but I don’t care. She has to be okay.

“Hey, stay awake. Please. ”

I press my head to hers. Her pulse is weak, but my touch is healing her. It’s working. I say it over and over in hopes of believing it.

“I’m so tired. I’m hot. I want to … I … want to stay.”

“You will. You’re cooling off, it’s going to be fine.”

“I want to stay …” She slumps into me.

“You will.” I close my eyes. My limbs are heavy, and I’m tired. More tired than I’ve ever been, but I have to stay awake. I have to heal her.

Her grip on my forearm loosens. We’re surrounded by red.

“No. No. No. Please don’t leave me, baby.” I sob.

There’s no life without Olivia.

“Please don’t leave me. I just found you.”

I rock her softly, concentrating on the gentle heartbeat in her chest. The world goes numb around me as I hold her. It’s just her and me. Like it’s always been. It’s how it’s supposed to be. The edges of my vision blur.

“Stay with me.”

“Stay with me.”

“Stay with me, please.”