Page 110
A hissing sound filled my skull, and it took a half-second for me to realize it was my breath bursting in and out of my nose as panic threatened to overtake me.
“Now, now, Chad,” a voice said from behind me. “Let’s not think with our dicks.”
I yelped, whirling around to find a new guy.
Dark complexion, heavy muscles, hatchet face.
I recognized him from one of the videos we’d watched.
He’d been there in the warehouse when Kyle had turned that first man into a wolf.
Cold eyes stared at me, the kind of eyes you’d see on a reptilian predator. An alligator or a snake.
“You won’t be touched,” he said to me. “The boss was real clear on that. Me and my friend here both enjoy living too much to go against that.”
“Wh–where’s Porter?” The question tumbled out, even though I had a good idea what had happened to him.
The dark-skinned man chuckled and nodded toward the truck. “Baldy’s taking a little nap in the cab. A nice, long nap. I’d be more worried about yourself if I were you, honey.”
I glanced at the truck, and my heart lurched. I didn’t want to believe it, but these weren’t the type of men to take prisoners. They were killers. Cold and callous. Tears threatened to spring to my eyes, but I needed to think, not mourn.
“Let’s get this over with, Jamal,” Chad called out. “Someone could drive by any second.
Jamal clawed at my arm, dragging me closer. He held a white cloth, and I caught the bitter, astringent scent of chemicals. If I didn’t do something now right now, I was as good as dead.
I kicked out, my foot connecting with Jamal’s balls.
His face crumpled into a mask of agony. Behind me, Chad cursed.
I ran for the woods behind my house, arms pumping, legs flexing.
I hadn’t run this fast since I’d been on the middle school track team.
That had been many years ago, and I was no longer as lithe and athletic as I’d been at twelve, yet knowing I was sprinting away from death and possibly worse gave me the burst of adrenaline I needed.
Within seconds, I was in the forest, the two men behind me screaming curses at me, their voices growing closer.
I had to get to safety. There was no way I could outrun two shifters.
No way in hell. Not even an Olympic athlete could do that.
I tried to think, to get my bearings. I hadn’t been in the forest for a while, and I couldn’t quite remember the layout.
The forest of Harbor Mills circled the whole town, even leached into it in the form of parks and recreation areas.
Mine and Stormy’s houses were only a couple neighborhoods apart, bordered by the same stretch of forest. Stormy’s house was four miles away by car, but closer through the forest. While I didn’t want to bring danger to her, it was my only option. I turned west.
I used the trees, bushes, and brambles to help separate me from my pursuers.
“That’s it!” Chad screamed behind me. “I’m gonna beat your ass, lady.”
My heart thundered as I zigzagged between the trees, jumped boulders, and nearly slipped in a pile of leaves.
A wolf’s howl erupted from behind me, and I nearly pissed myself.
I could imagine those pointed white teeth sinking into my body, and I picked up speed.
The dull roar of my heartbeat nearly drowned out the sound of pursuit.
“He’s on you, bitch!” Chad called. To my dismay, he didn’t even sound winded. “Gonna catch that fine little ass.”
No, I thought . No, you fucking will not .
From the right, a blur of gray and black burst from the underbrush, saliva dripping from snapping jaws. Jamal lunged toward me, paws outstretched. Without thinking, I tucked and rolled, going down an embankment, and Jamal crashed into a tangle of limbs against the mossy ground.
My body was no longer my own to control now that gravity had me, and she was a goddamn bitch.
With each spin, roll, and tumble, I slammed into a rock, branch, or hard-packed earth.
Nothing felt broken, but my breath was ripped from my lungs when I crashed against a severely rotten tree.
Rather than stopping me, the termite-eaten pulp shattered into a billowing cloud of wood dust that choked me. My side throbbed from the impact.
As I hit the bottom of the embankment, I could taste blood in my mouth where my teeth had cut into my cheek. Every inch of my body screamed at me to stay there, to catch my breath and recover. But my pursuers were still coming.
“Get up,” I mumbled to myself, heaving air into my lungs. Digging at the dirt with my fingers, I clenched my teeth. “ Get up !”
Against my body’s wishes, I managed to get to my hands and knees, and a moment later, I was sprinting again. My head rang from what might have been a concussion from the fall, but the fear pushed me, washing away the pain and disorientation. I was close. I had to be.
Putting on more speed, I tried to ignore the shouts behind me. I glanced through a break in the woods and saw a street sign. Holy shit, I was close. That wasn’t just wishful thinking. I was parallel to Stormy’s street. A little farther, and I’d be there.
Behind me, one of the men slipped and fell.
I heard him let out a canine growl before the sound of padding paws returned.
A bit more. Less than a hundred yards now.
I could see Stormy’s house through the foliage.
Could see the sunlight glinting off her windows.
I was within striking distance now. Once in her yard, I’d start screaming for her, shouting for her to call the police, to call Cole, to open the door.
She’d do it, we’d slam it shut, lock it, and wait for Cole to arrive.
I could see it all happening. I only had to get there.
A hand closed on the back of my t-shirt and yanked hard.
The collar of my shirt dug painfully deep into my throat, making me gag and throwing me off-balance.
My head and chest went backward, my feet flying out from under me.
I crashed to the ground with a brain-rattling thud.
An explosion of pain shattered what little thoughts I had left as a hand came down on my cheek with a crack.
More blood filled my mouth as my lip split.
“Fucking whore!” Chad spat on my face. A warm, gelatinous glob of mucus splattered onto my cheek. Had I not been in so much pain, I would have retched at the hot slime oozing down my face.
“Let’s get this over with,” Jamal said.
I blinked, eyes fuzzy with pain, as Jamal lowered the white cloth and pressed it to my mouth and nose.
That astringent scent I’d caught earlier overwhelmed me.
Each breath I took burned as the chemicals filled my lungs.
Chad pinned my arms, preventing me from struggling, but it wasn’t necessary.
All the fight had left me. My body was exhausted.
I glanced to the right and watched in horror as, through the trees, Stormy came out, holding Shiloh.
Unaware that her best friend was struggling for her life mere yards away, she plucked a flower and ran it across Shiloh’s face.
Shiloh giggled loud enough for me to hear it.
The faint, musical sound of her laugh broke my heart.
Help was so close, yet they might as well have been a million miles away.
A moment later, the world went dark.
Table of Contents
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- Page 110 (Reading here)
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