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Dirt bikes.
This wasn’t an innocent ride through the woods in the dark. Were they looking for me? Had I been foolish to come off the path? Shit.
I couldn’t shift entirely because they’d find my clothes. Plus, I couldn’t have rumors of a white wolf running free near towns—that would bring too much attention. But I could run, and I did.
I heard a shrill whistle in the air, and I took off as fast as I could. Running through the woods with the bikes closing in on me, the headlights weaved in and out of the trees. Which did two things at once—they lit my way, and it also let them see me.
I knew I couldn’t go to the apartment, and they probably knew where I lived, so leading them there would be folly. I wasn’t safe there. I had nowhere else to go, and I needed people. I had one place, so I corrected myself.
It wasn’t exactly safe, but it had the numbers.
Cursing myself for not thinking of it sooner, I swerved and double-backed on myself. They weren’t prepared for me to run toward them, and I took advantage of being on foot as I ran deeper into the woods.
I stumbled once and was furious at myself for doing so because it happened when the headlights had once again found me, and it let them know I was failing and where I was. I’d thought that the more uneven the terrain, the more difficult it would have been for them to follow me.
It became obvious that this was not their first drive through the woods, and I belatedly realized that my pursuers knew these woods better than I did.
My wolf surged forward when a dirt bike suddenly cut in front of me, and with her strength and skill, I dodged out of the way. Pushing her into me as much as I could, I let her pick up our speed.
Vance’s barn couldn’t be too far now—I just hoped he was hosting fights tonight. When the barn suddenly appeared, I saw the almost deserted parking area. I needed more people. Witnesses.
Or I could shift.
Too many lights kept finding me in the darkness.
Humans didn’t know about shifters, and for all my faults and recklessness, it wouldn’t be because of my desperation that they found out from me.
Gritting my teeth against the burning in my thighs and the shin splints in my legs, I decided to abandon Vance’s barn. Breathing heavily, I started running deeper into the woods.
A dip in the ground caused me to tumble forward, and I face-planted into the vegetation. My wolf had me on my feet, even though I could feel the blood running down my face.
The dip meant I had lost the lights for the moment, and she played the advantage. With an inhuman leap, I jumped into the cover of the nearest tree. Climbing quickly, my hands morphed into claws to help me scale the tree.
On a high branch above the ground, I pressed against the tree trunk and hoped whoever was following me didn’t look up when they realized they had lost me. When I was free of my pack, I’d had the foresight to dye my hair black, and I’d never been so glad that I had. Tugging my hoodie up and over my head, I settled in to wait for either morning or their hunt to be over.
One thing for certain? I was leaving town as soon as possible. Vance’s fight may have earned me good money, but it wasn’t worth this.
Trying to school my breathing so I didn’t give away my position, I pressed my hand over my racing heart. This was not what I was used to. Had I been sure who my pursuers were, I would have turned the tables on them.
Instead, I would wait it out, then collect my money from where I’d stashed it—thankfully, not at the apartment—and split.
It was time to move on. I’d brought too much attention to myself here. I’d be more careful in the next town.
I just needed to get out of this tree first.
CHAPTER 11
Kezia
Dawn broke low over the mountains, and it took a long time for the sun to illuminate the woodland I’d spent the night in. The dirt bikes had stopped their search about an hour ago. I heard them grumbling beneath me about what a waste of time their night had been. No one was more pissed off about their tenacity than I was.
Several times, one or more of them would get off their bikes and look around the woodland floor. Flashlights swept the canopy of the trees but not high enough to penetrate the branches I hid in.
If my brother had been in front of me when one flashlight almost illuminated the branch below me, I would have hugged him and thanked him for the rigorous training he put me through. I had no doubt his harsh insistence that I be better and stronger had saved me from a gruesome attack tonight.
Even when the sound of their dirt bikes had faded, I stayed high in the trees. When I heard more movement from the town and more cars on the streets, signaling the town was awake, I cautiously climbed down the trunk and then jumped to the ground below.
I landed clumsily, falling to my knees, wincing in pain as something else cut into me. Pushing myself up on tired legs, I wearily started the walk back to my apartment.
