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
“I tried that before. I was close. Then, I had to leave it all behind to go make Alec some money.” The pain surged in, as raw and fresh as when he’d turned me over. I guess I did need to think about it. “I hope you got enough for selling me out.”“I didn’t have a choice,” Alec said. He didn’t even turn to look at me. I should be grateful he was so focused on driving, but I knew it was out of avoidance rather than safety.“I don’t think I can do this,” I said.“Do what?” Kyle asked.“Any of it. Go to the camp. Be around all those people who think I’m a total sucker.” I liked the feral shifters. I’d made friends there and it was embarrassing to walk back there after making a fool of myself. “Wait, is this how you pay for things at the camp?”“No, of course not,” Alec said. “Sure, we might get involved in things that are a little shady, but we’d never turn over another shifter for money.”“So I was just an exception,” I said.“None of them know what happened,” Alec said. “They weren’t in
Whispers and stares followed me as I made my way to Greta’s tent. I wasn’t about to stop and chat. How was I supposed to explain what happened? For them to have thought I was captured, it meant that Alec told them that right away. Then, he went and got himself captured. What did the residents think when they saw Alec hauled off? Or had he managed to get captured away from them?I shook my head, trying to make myself stop worrying about the logistics of the strangest failed rescue attempt. And yes, he failed. If he went into captivity with the intention of trying to turn one of my assailants, he was doomed from the start. The fact that Kyle turned was pure luck. Without him hearing about my mark, it never would have happened.I avoided eye contact when I saw Mario walking toward me. I felt awful. We had borrowed his car, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk.“Hey, Lola, I’ve got a new car arriving next week. Want to help me build the engine?” Mario asked.I looked up at him, surprised that