Page 7

Ivy

The fresh, earthy scent of the forest filled my nostrils, mixed with the sweet and woody scent of the poplar trees.

A light breeze brushed against my fur, cool and refreshing on this warm day.

Poplar seeds danced in the air.

One tickled the tip of my snout and I sneezed.

Nose twitching, I shook my head and kept going.

I’d just entered the small clearing when the wind shifted.

Stop!

Rieka demanded.

Hackles rising, I tilted my head, sniffing for whatever she’d picked up.

That scent …

Familiar.

Potent.

And completely unwelcome.

Baylor.

Briggs's ruthless enforcer was here . In my territory.

Give me control , Rieka bade.

Already in wolf form, I refused to disappear. No , not yet .

My heart hammered against my ribs as I looked around, alert and cautious, trying to keep my shit together.

Had that bastard sent Baylor to find me? To force me to return? It was the only plausible explanation. Why else would he be here?

To kill us , Rieka determined. It's what Baylor’s good at.

I stayed low, looking through the dense evergreens.

Their lemony-mint aroma mingled with Baylor's earthy musk making it difficult for me to locate him. Rieka poked at me, tense, ready to lunge.

There. A flash of movement. Tan skin and dark cropped hair. He wasn’t even trying to hide, nor had he shifted into his animal.

"I know you're there, Ivy," Baylor called out, his deep voice carrying through the misty forest. "No use hiding from me."

The urge to attack pulsed through me, primal and urgent, as a rapid flood of memories battered my mind. But I held back, gauging and waiting.

Baylor stepped into the clearing, hands spread in a deceptively non-threatening gesture. His near-black eyes glinted. "Your Alpha wants you to come home, Ivy. No more hiding."

Fury sparked through my veins. Home? To the traitorous Alpha who discarded me? I snapped my jaws in response, a clear warning.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be," Baylor warned, taking a measured step closer. "You know this won’t end well if you resist. May as well come willingly.”

Getting myself killed felt like a better option than getting myself dragged back to Darkwood and the pack’s Alpha.

I paced at the clearing's edge, never taking my eyes off the dangerous male. If Briggs thought I'd come willingly, he was dead wrong.

"Last chance, Ivy. Come quietly and we can avoid any nastiness between us. Just think, you can go back to living under your Alpha’s care where you belong. Live in the Alpha and Luna’s cabin. Wouldn’t that be nice?"

With strength I didn’t know she had, Rieka surged forward, slamming me back into the depths of our shared consciousness.

Oh shit! I thought, suddenly a bystander watching her leap straight for Baylor's throat.

He reacted instantly, pivoting to meet the attack head-on. Rieka's jaws clamped down on Baylor's forearm, tearing through flesh. He grunted but didn't falter.

I struggled to surface, to regain control, but Rieka's rage over his suggestion to live with the Alpha couple consumed us both.

She lunged again. He dodged, delivering a brutal kick to the ribs that sent us sprawling.

With a moment of control, I rolled, stumbling until I was on all four paws. A metallic tang lingered on my tongue as I panted heavily.

Baylor circled, dark eyes assessing, calculating. "Stand down," he commanded, voice laced with authority.

Rieka’s lips curled.

She pushed me for dominance once more. We were no match for Baylor but my wolf didn’t seem to accept it.

To end this we needed to escape. Gathering the last scraps of strength, I went for his Achilles, aiming to hamstring him.

Baylor proved his superiority. He stepped aside at the last second, letting my momentum carry me past him. A powerful blow struck the back of my skull.

Stars exploded across my vision. I stumbled, legs giving out beneath me. The world tilted and blurred. Rieka's presence flickered like a dying ember.

As darkness closed in, Baylor's words echoed in my fading consciousness. "Sleep now, Ivy. This is for the best, trust me."

Too weak to speak, I cursed him in my mind. Then, I fell into the void.

Eventually I became aware of a distant sound, one I hadn’t heard in many months—the highway. A groan escaped my parched lips as I slowly clawed my way back to consciousness.

My head throbbed, skull feeling two sizes too small. I blinked blearily, trying to make sense of my surroundings.

The cushioned surface I was on vibrated beneath me. The rumble of an engine filled my ears.

I tried to move, to sit up, but found myself restrained. Thick ropes bit into my bare skin, chafing my wrists and ankles. The acidic tang of wolfsbane mixed with the scent of my own blood.

He bound u s, Rieka snarled.

I glanced down, realizing with a start that I was back in my human form, clothed in an oversized t-shirt that definitely wasn't mine. Baylor's scent clung to the fabric, overwhelming my senses.

Rieka moved restlessly under my skin. He dares to dress us in his garments?

Would you rather I be naked?

She sniffed and curled into a ball, ignoring me.

I tugged at the ropes, testing their strength. They held fast, the wolfsbane sapping my energy, preventing me from shifting.

The truck hit a pothole, jostling me roughly. I bit back a curse, pain lancing through my battered body. Every inch of me ached.

I shook my head, immediately regretting the action as the world spun. I needed to stay sharp.

For now, all I could do was wait and watch, biding my time until an opportunity presented itself. I lifted my upper body as far as I could in an effort to look out the window.

Baylor's dark eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, catching my gaze. "Hello, Ivy. Your body burned through those tranqs quicker than I anticipated."

"I won't go back," I rasped, my mouth dry and throat raw.

"You don't have a choice. Briggs wants you returned, so returned you’ll be."

"Why? He rejected me so he could mate with … with someone else."

My cheeks heated. I was too emotional to even say her name. Too weak.

Baylor's jaw clenched, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "The Alpha's reasons are his own. It's not my place to question them."

"Of course not. You're just his loyal dog, aren't you? Following orders like a good little soldier, retrieving an unwilling female so your Alpha can do who-knows-what to her."

His eyes narrowed, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "It won’t help you if you act like this with your Alpha."

“I don’t have an Alpha.”

“Fortunately, you do. Brigg’s is a good Alpha and you should be thankful for that. You have no idea what it’s like living under a tyrant. None.”

Baylor hadn’t been born into Darkwood. If he’d lived under a tyrant before he joined us, I didn’t care.

“I’ll be thankful when I rip out his fucking throat.”

Baylor slammed on the brakes, sending me tumbling to the floor. Before I could recover, he was on me, his hand wrapped around my throat, his face inches from mine.

"Listen closely, because I will only say this once," he warned, his breath hot against my skin. "Never threaten Briggs McClellan’s life in front of me again. Understood?"

I met his gaze, refusing to back down. My lips curved. “Will you promise to kill me quickly if I do? To put me out of my misery?”

His face blanked, releasing his hold as though I’d burned him.

With little effort, Baylor slid his hands underneath me and lifted me up onto the backseat of what I assumed was his giant pickup truck.

He looked me over. “You’re a mess.”

“Come talk to me when your true mate rejects you in front of your pack for someone else, someone like her , and tell me again how thankful I should be.”

He stared down at me for a long moment then returned to the driver's seat. My eyes opened when I heard the distinct sound of a zipper.

Without warning, he pointed a tranq gun and fired a dart into my thigh, his aim flawless even without looking. The sharp sting of the needle pierced my skin, followed by a burning sensation as the drugs flooded my system.

“This will make it easier on you, Ivy. It’ll also help if you try losing some of that hatefulness while you rest.”

I snarled, fighting the effects of the tranquilizer, but it was a losing battle. The drugs were too strong and I was too weak.

My limbs quickly became heavy and unresponsive. The last thing I saw before I surrendered to oblivion was Baylor's watchful eyes in the rearview mirror.

Maybe I’d have to kill him, too.