Page 22 of Ruthlessly Mated (Shared Mates #2)

K ita

Pinned by indecision, and with no clear safe route any of us are prepared to take, we do nothing.

This suits me just fine, because nothing was my plan all along.

I want to see Alexander dash himself against the humans.

I want to see him crushed by the creatures he considers so far beneath him.

People fear ancient evils, but they don’t understand how weak they can be.

Plagues that used to wipe out entire populations can now be bested with a simple pill.

The world has evolved to defend against evils of all kinds, and I believe Alexander is ripe for a rude awakening.

My mates spend the day prowling and talking.

Well, Tailor and Conroy do, anyway. Damon sits back, quiet as ever, and lets events unfold around him.

He is unhurried in every sense. I have slept with all three of these males.

That’s quite amazing to me. I really thought I’d stay a virgin forever. I never had a plan to meet anybody.

And now I’ve been mated over and over and over again. I’m glad. It’s nice to have gotten properly laid before I die.

Alexander arrives at the city the next night.

His army comes with torches that burn red, snaking across the desert in a generally menacing way.

I’m sure there’s no practical reason for that.

They’ve just added a chemical compound to make it turn a vampiric color because they know that humans’ heads are easily fucked with.

Their first act of war is to set up great big speakers outside the city walls.

The city guard fires a few pot-shots, but the vampires are quicker than bullets and pretty much just step out of the way before they can be hit.

That’s going to pose a technical problem for the humans.

I hope they’re working on ways around it.

“Are they going to fight, or are they going to host a rave?” I mutter the question as we watch their prep on the television. The humans have the whole thing being covered by drones, of course.

“Worse. They’re going to talk,” Conroy growls. “We need to be ready to move. All of us. I want four bags ready, fully provisioned. We should try to get some walkie-talkies, or cheap phones. Burners. We might have to split up, and we need to be able to get back in touch.”

“Sure. We’ll go to the sudden escape store,” Tailor says. “We’ll ask for their four wolves sneaking out of a hostile city pack.”

I snort. Tailor isn’t usually this bluntly sarcastic. I like that side of him.

“Humans!”

Alexander’s voice gives me chills. In person it is chilling enough, but delivered through multiple booming speakers it is almost too frightening to stand.

I see Tailor flinch, too. He came off rough in his encounter with the vampire.

Conroy seems unaffected, but I’d put money on him seeming unaffected no matter what was happening.

“Give me the wolf whelp, and none of you humans need come to harm.”

“Fuck. He’s just told everyone that there’re wolves inside the city. That’s going to set them off like crazy. They’re going to be absolutely wrapped in silver head to toe by morning,” I curse.

“We should do that too. Silver foil looks a lot like aluminum foil, we can make paranoid human costumes so we keep fitting in,” Tailor replies.

“Help, I’m a paranoid human. I think supernaturals are fixated on me for no apparent reason,” I giggle.

“Most vampires wouldn’t bother with me because I mostly eat poison, but I think I’m the hottest, most edible little snack to ever walk the Earth, even though most vampires don’t even hunt because people beg to be fucked by them in droves, and werewolves prefer steak and fries to human flesh, most of the time. ”

Conroy glowers, but Damon smirks. He gets my sense of humor.

As we predicted, the city is in an instant frenzy. You can actually hear the panic in each of the individual homes.

Then things get worse.

A small plane flies over the city, the underside of it open to release a fluttering torrent of pamphlets. They spiral into every nook and cranny, collect on roofs and in gutters, and some of them are picked up by people.

Damon sneaks out the door and grabs a small handful of them.

He drops them on the kitchen table. They all display my face. I’m a little younger in the picture, about eighteen, and I’m holding a trophy cup that I won for a fencing tournament.

“Cute pic,” Conroy says.

“Oh, yeah, and the text underneath is just fucking adorable.”

Wanted: Wolf Girl for Theft, Murder, and Vehicular Assault.

Reward: Ten Million.

“I’ve got a price on my head! That’s exciting…”

I sink down in my chair as Tailor gives me a sharp look that I know very possibly precedes another spanking or lecture or something far worse. “I mean, how terrible,” I mumble. “What a horrible thing. I can’t believe this has happened.”

“We have to get her out of here,” Conroy says. “Should have gotten her out in the beginning.”

“Can’t do it any more now than we did in the beginning,” I say.

“We could just make a run for it.”

“Sure, because now there’s an entire city actively looking for me, an active army looking to kill supernaturals, and then a ring of hostile vampires who are also trying to catch me. It sounds super easy.”

“Let’s get some sleep,” Tailor says. “Tomorrow morning, we will make an escape. Daylight means we get rid of at least one of those factors.”

When morning comes, the city is in an absolute uproar.

Everybody is looking for the Ten Million Dollar girl.

I combat being found by wearing big jackets and about ten sweaters.

That’s not comfortable in the desert, but it changes my outward appearance a little bit.

I’ve also found a brown curly wig that’s super cute, and some thick glasses.

I am having the time of my life.

I know it’s wrong. And I don’t dare admit it for all the lecturing I’d get. I can only imagine the absolute thrashing I’d get if Tailor thought for a second I wasn’t as stressed and worried as the rest of them.

I want to give the truck a bit of a makeover.

Alexander will recognize it, because he got to see it very close up right before it smashed into him.

I’ve convinced the guys to let me down to the truck yard in my disguise to do a little painting.

Paint’s easy to come by because most people are hoarding toilet paper and bullets.

I never meant to cause all this chaos, but I can’t say I’m sorry. I’m very, very not sorry. It’s about fucking time the world experienced the consequences of everything I’ve been through. They say vengeance is best served cold. I say it’s best served dramatic.

While the guys work on whatever plan they’re working on, I give the truck a makeover.

I’ve painted it Rock City colors, which I think will help it blend in for lots of different reasons.

No trucks are permitted to leave, but when they are, I can just get in wearing my probably-a-guy outfit and pose as a delivery driver, which I am.

Damon comes to get me around lunchtime, nudging me away from the truck and taking my hand.

They knew where I was, and I am almost certain that he has been lurking around this whole time anyway, making sure that nobody is coming for me.

I’ve never felt that someone had my back as completely as I do now that I have my mates. Damon especially. He is my shadow.

He takes me through a whole lot of back alleys, avoiding people.

The city is under lockdown, but a lot of people are out hunting for me.

Anybody they don’t know is a potential target.

It’s really messing with the lives of most young women because small roving bands of amateur bounty hunters are pretty much ready to round anybody up.

Alexander has caused chaos—and not the kind he wanted. He’s no closer to getting to me, or to his maker’s heart.

When I get back to the apartment, my mates are ready. They’re standing with the energy of men who are about to burst out the door and do something heroic or maybe stupid.

“We’ve come up with a plan,” Conroy says.

“Oh?”

“We’ve located an exit toward the mountain side of the city. Looks like a secret way out designed to be taken by those who have clandestine business.”

“You mean you found a smuggler’s tunnel.”

“Yes.”

“No city is truly impenetrable. People ensure that over time,” Tailor chimes in.

“Well, that’s good. Is it big enough for a truck? Because I’ve got the truck all sorted out. And I’ve got this delivery driver outfit that nobody recognizes me in. Did you know the new Wolf Queen is also a delivery driver in Eclipse City?”

“Stop reading stories about her. She’s a bad influence, and I’m sure they’re all lies,” Tailor says.

“She can read the stories. They keep her quiet,” Conroy says. “Bad influences are everywhere. If she wants to be bad, she’ll be bad. Doesn’t matter what she reads.”

“I think she should be consuming improving material,” Tailor says. “We are trying to mold her into…”

“You’re trying to raise her,” Conroy snorts. “She’s a fully grown woman. She’s not going to change now. She’s going to keep being the same brat she was before we met. Personalities don’t shift that much.”

“Maybe not, but I think people can be shaped. We all have to adapt to our circumstances, and they change us, don’t they. We were one thing when we ran the port and we’re something else now that we’re… whatever the hell we are.”

Conroy looks at him.

“You’re right. We don’t change.”

“What?”

“We haven’t shifted. Not even once. We haven’t been ourselves.”

“Aren’t we escaping?” I remind them.

“We’re escaping in animal form. It’s safer. Faster. Wolves are much quicker than people. So we’re going to practice.”

“Why?”

Conroy looks over at me, his brows lowered. “Because we have not ensured that we all can.”

“So this is a test for me. And we’re going to do it in the middle of the city that is specifically looking for a female shifter. That’s crazy.”