AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sniffled, swiped a hand under her eye, and then turned to me with a small smile. “We should get going.”
Sloane helped me get turned around. The other group was already a few yards ahead of us. We would have to hurry to catch up. I got the feeling they would leave with or without us. It made me wonder if they’d taken the women with them and left when they shouldn’t have. The pack should have stayed together to better protect everyone as they were fleeing.
We’d have to be careful around them. If they only cared for themselves, it put us in danger.
Sloane lifted my arm up higher on her shoulder and grabbed my hand, drawing me from my thoughts. “We need to keep moving. Are you sure you’re okay?”
I forced my feet to move forward. “Sweetheart, we’re getting out of here today. Both of us, I promise.”
She grunted as we made it over a small decline, and she was forced to bear more of my weight than she probably needed to. Her grit made me love her all that much more.
“Are you doing okay?”
She let out a breathy laugh. “You’ve been tortured for the past few days, and you’re asking me if I’m fine?”
The irony didn’t get lost on me. “Hey, it’s been rough for all of us.”
Her shoulders rose and fell under my arm. “It really has. But this is a good turn of events. We just need to get Sawyer with us, and I have a good feeling that things will start to go our way.”
Getting Sawyer out was going to be a lot tougher. He was always under my dad’s scrutiny. Sawyer was Dad’s right-hand man, the next in line for alpha of the pack. I didn’t envy the role he had to play. And I knew that it ate him up inside, the things he had to pretend to be okay with, and the things he was forced to do to seem like he was loyal to our father.
No one wanted to get out more than Sawyer. He had to stay. As much as I hated to admit it, him being here kept us one step ahead.
Sloane pointed and started walking faster, making me glad I was more stable on my feet than I had been a few minutes ago. “Cars are just right there. Come on. We are so close.”
I followed the direction she was indicating. There were a few dozen large SUVs lined along the edge of the street.
We were close to freedom. I could taste it on my tongue. I trembled as my pulse spiked. I had a renewed sense of energy, like maybe I could run five miles right now.
The other group was ahead of us and were already helping the women into the car. They popped the trunk open.
Sloane sped up again, heading for the back. She helped me get in first and then crawled in behind me. We sat opposite each other so we could stretch our legs and have a little more room. It also allowed us to both be able to see out either window.
One of the guys closed the trunk, and then everyone got in, slamming the doors shut behind them. The engine roared to life, and we made our way down the road at speeds that were definitely not legal. The driver had turned off the headlights, making our flight even more perilous on these back country roads that had their fair share of sharp twists and turns.
We were going so fast that we couldn’t have stopped even if we’d seen them sooner.
I opened my mouth to warn the driver, but it was too late.
One of my father’s SUVs pulled out onto the road in front of us. The tires squealed against the pavement as the driver slammed on the brakes.
Sloane screamed. One of her arms went up to the ceiling, and the other grabbed the back of the headrest.
The tires screeched, and the car vibrated as the driver tried to stop. It was no use. We were going to hit them.
I dove toward Sloane, hoping to protect her. But I wasn’t fast enough. Metal crunched and glass shattered. The car was forced to the side. The back end swung out, fishtailing. I cracked the side of my head on the window, making my vision darken and pain explode down the side of my face.
The rear of the car found the edge of the road and teetered for a moment at the top of the slope. We rolled backwards, the car picking up speed as we descended. The uneven terrain threw us around, making me crack my head on the back seat.
I scrambled across the back of the car toward Sloane, covering her with my body a second before the car hit a large tree.
She screamed, and a chorus of squeals filled the car. The back glass shattered, raining down on us. The car groaned, and smoke filled the cabin, making it hard to breathe and see.
The two guys up front yelled for everyone to get out. The doors opened, and everyone exited. They took off at a run, never once looking back at us.
Sloane thrashed beneath me. “My foot. Lincoln, my foot is caught. I can’t get it free.”
I slithered around so I could see. The roof had caved in on us, and the entire back end of the car was smashed. Thankfully, I wasn’t stuck in any way. I managed to turn myself and get to her foot. The car had crushed in around her leg, trapping her entire right ankle.
