My whole body tensed like a spring as I threw the door open. Without thinking, I exploded forward, expecting to have to run through Kyle. I only got a few steps before I slammed right into Tyler’s broad chest and fell to the ground.“I thought you’d try something like this,” Tyler said. “Told you taking her clothes wasn’t enough to stop her. Though I have to admit, I thought you’d be streaking naked down the hall.”I clutched the towel tighter around me and tried to regain some of my dignity. “You know I don’t want this. Why keep pushing me? Just let me go.”“We’ve been through this, Lola. And you’re out of time. I will claim you as mine tonight. I’d much rather you agree to it. I think you might even enjoy yourself.” He offered his hand and I turned away from him.Pushing myself from the ground, I held the towel tight and glared at him as best I could. “I will never stop fighting you. Even if you managed to complete the bond, you’ll never have my heart or my submission.”“Tyler, can’
His touch made me feel calmer. For a moment, I considered crawling into his embrace and letting him hold me. I’d be protected and safe in his arms. Part of me ached for it. Holding myself back was harder than I thought it would be. The mating bond was growing. Alec had been right. Even Viki was right. I was feeling something for Tyler.“I am not okay.” I wasn’t even referring to my injuries. The thought of having feelings in any way for this piece of shit was not okay. None of this was okay.Ace leaned down and spoke quietly. “Show him the mark,” Ace whispered. “How long have you been lying to us, you little bitch?”He had kept his tone low enough that nobody aside from me could hear him. I didn’t know how to respond. He wasn’t outing me in front of everyone, but he knew.“This ends now, Dad. She’s my mate. I will not have her disrespected like this.” Tyler stood and grabbed a blanket off a chair. He walked over to me and draped it over my shoulders.Grateful, I pulled it around me. I
Six grown shifter males seemed like overkill. Or maybe it was a compliment. Either way, with that many outside my window, I wasn’t taking that exit. With an irritated sigh, I backed away from the window. There had to be another option.I walked to the door and crouched on the ground to look under the crack. Details weren’t clear, but there was obvious movement and shadows indicating people guarding the door.They weren’t taking any chances of me getting lucky enough to get by them. I knew I had two choices: accept my fate and yield, or find a way to fight.Giving up was easier and I would be lying if I said I hadn’t contemplated it. Thankfully, the pity party hadn’t lasted long. Thinking of the look on Alec’s face when he saw me alive was enough to push me. I needed him to know that he wasn’t successful at getting rid of me. I was going to get out of this. Without a mating bond.I dumped everything from the drawers, I checked in the closet, I even crawled under the bed. The room was f
“Your friend is in the basement. Locked in a cell.”“I don’t have any friends.” The words stung, but it was the truth.“He got himself captured to try to get to you,” he said. “The feral shifter. Alec.”My chest tightened. He’d come back for me? How was I supposed to react to that? He was the reason I was here in the first place. He sold me out for the toxin and cash. I was nothing to him. For all he knew, they’d kill me the moment he walked away. He’d sold me out. Him coming back changed nothing. “So what?”“Don’t you get it? He tried to play both sides. Or he grew a conscious. I don’t know what feral wolves do. Either way, they caught him at your window. You were still unconscious.”“How is any of this helpful to me?” I demanded. “Are you trying to threaten him in hopes that I’ll fuck your friend?”“Seriously, Lola. Get over yourself. I’m trying to help you. Can’t you see that?”“Nobody helps me,” I said.He lifted his shirt again. “I am a protector.Youare my alpha. Not Tyler. You.”
The seconds dragged by, turning into the longest minutes of my life. I didn’t have a clock in here, but I was pretty sure it had been nearly a half hour already.Shit.I’d totally been played.I shouldn’t have believed Kyle. What was wrong with me? Why was I constantly seeking allies when I knew everyone was just going to let me down in the end?The door opened and I spun on my heels to face the newcomer. Kyle’s hair was a mess, his eyes were wide, his cheeks flush.“What happened?” I had planned on asking more questions, but it was clear by his disheveled appearance that something was going on.He pressed his finger to his lips, then bolted for the bed, sliding under it and pulling the comforter down over the edge to hide him. Before I could figure out what was happening, the door opened again and a huge, bald shifter male peered in. His nose looked like it had been broken a few times and his bushy eyebrows made his eyes look like tiny specks on his squishy, pink face.Baldie stomped
My body protested the running, cramps biting into my sides. Wincing, I slowed down, pushing through the pain, unwilling to stop. I might not be sprinting anymore, but I wasn’t about to ease up until I was in the clear. I’d gone days without enough food or water. I was exhausted and not at my usual fitness levels.As soon as we got to the cover of the trees in the woods, I stopped to catch my breath. I glanced back at Tyler’s house. Flames were coming from the window of the room I’d just left and smoke rose in large clouds. In the distance, I heard the sirens racing to put out the fire. They’d be distracted for a while.“This way to the barrier,” Alec said. “We can’t stop yet.”“No. You don’t get to lead the way.” I turned to Kyle’s wolf. “How do we get out of here?”The wolf started walking and I followed without looking over at Alec. For all I knew, Kyle was leading me into a trap. I didn’t give a damn where we were going if it meant I could walk away from Alec and not listen to him.
“Where exactly are we headed?” I asked from the back seat. I’d happily declined the front. It was too close to Alec for my comfort.“Camp,” Alec replied.“You can’t be serious. That’s the first place they’ll go looking for me,” I said.“I don’t think so,” Alec said.“They know you came back for me. Why wouldn’t they try looking at your camp? Even if not to find me, to ask for information.”“I’m glad you finally acknowledged that I came back for you,” he said.“That’s what you got out of that?” I scoffed.“I got myself caught,” Alec said.“He made them think he had a recipe for the toxin so they went after him,” Kyle said, his tone giving away his disbelief. “Somehow, they think you gave it to him.”“Wonder why they’d think that?” I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.“What am I missing?” Kyle asked.“My grandfather, the one who was cursed, is the same asshole who invented the toxin. Turns out the thing that Wolf Creek uses to maintain its dominance is the same thing that cost me a ch
“The bond between the two of you is strong,” Kyle said. “Tyler was already changing his mind about forcing the bond. He wanted you to get there on your own. It was Ace who pushed.”“I don’t care. There will never be anything between Tyler and myself. Ever. Do you understand?” I was pissed. How dare they even suggest such a thing.“Well, once you re-claim the pack, you can do whatever you want with him. Send him to the caves, banish him. The choice will be yours,” Kyle said.“I want the bond broken.” I wasn’t even about to go into detail about the wholeclaiming my packthing.“And what is all this about my father?” There was far too much going on right now. “How does everyone else but me know this information? Does everyone in Wolf Creek know?”“He told me,” Kyle said. “And trust me, nobody else in Wolf Creek knew or your life would have been very different.”“But you know now?” I asked. “Who my supposed father is?”Kyle nodded.“My mom said I should stay away from him. She said the rea