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Just as Santee grabbed his cell phone from his pocket, he heard Marvell pull into the driveway. Dang it. The call would have to wait. Instead, Santee shot off a quick text to tell Beckett that he was home and then hurried downstairs.
When Santee reached the living room, he was slammed against the wall. Pain exploded in his head as he looked into Marvell’s angry eyes. “You weren’t at work. Where in the fuck were you?”
He backhanded Santee, adding more pain. Santee felt something warm trickle down his upper lip and smelled blood, but he was too terrified to wipe it away.
“You lied to me, you little fucker.” Marvell curled his hand around Santee’s throat. “Tell me where you were all morning.”
“I got to work, and they didn’t need me.” Santee was thankful he still had his uniform on. “I decided to hang out in town.”
“Lair!” Marvell pulled Santee forward then slammed him against the wall again, rattling Santee’s brain. “I just left your job, and your boss said they didn’t call you to come in today, which means Orion lied.”
Every bone in Santee’s body shook. He felt tears burning in his eyes as he desperately searched for an excuse that Marvell would accept. Nothing came to mind. Santee was too terrified, and his brain shut down on him.
“You’re forbidden to see Orion again.” Marvell dragged Santee to the kitchen, where he threw Santee to the floor. “Why did you lie to me, and where were you?”
There was no way Santee was going to tell Marvell about Beckett.
Santee whimpered, scrambling backward as Marvell advanced on him. He knew better than to try and run. Marvell was too fast, and Santee would never make it out the door before his brother caught him.
“I went for a walk,” he said, his voice trembling. “In the forest.”
“Lying to me again,” Marvell snarled.
Santee closed his eyes, trying to think of a way to escape. But he knew it was futile. Marvell was too strong, and he was too weak. He was trapped.
His heart pounded wildly, his palms slick with sweat. He knew what was coming, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Santee curled up into a ball, trying to protect himself from the blows he knew were coming.
But Marvell didn’t hit him. Instead, he hunkered next to Santee and said, “I’m going to make sure you never lie to me again.”
Santee didn’t know what that meant, but he knew it was going to be bad. Maybe the worst beating yet.
Something snapped inside of him at that moment.
Something that made him think of all the decades of pain, of how his brother had tortured him when their parents weren’t around, how Marvell had made it seem as if he was just goofing around with Santee when he hurt him.
And now that their parents were gone, how Marvell had unleashed his full wrath on Santee.
When Marvell cocked his foot back to kick him, Santee rolled to his side, shoved to his feet, and raced toward the front door. He must have taken his brother by surprise, because Santee made it out the door and was racing toward the forest before Marvell could catch him.
Then Santee shifted, knowing he was ten times faster in his bunny form. Hopefully his head start worked to his advantage, because Marvell would use Santee’s scent to find him.
As Santee raced through the forest, he knew the one thing he couldn’t do was go straight to Beckett’s house. If Marvell was still able to track him, even after Santee used the water, he didn’t want to lead his brother to Beckett’s.
He was determined to protect his mate because if Marvell knew about him, his brother would add Beckett to that list of names he planned on giving the hunters.
If he hadn’t given it to them already.
Too afraid to look back, Santee put on a burst of speed when he heard noises behind him. He wasn’t sure how long he ran or in what direction. Everything was a blur.
His heart was racing way too fast, and his muscles were burning like crazy. Santee wouldn’t be able to keep up this pace for much longer. Then he spotted a solution.
A skunk waddled onto his path.
It wasn’t the best plan, and Santee would stink to high heaven, his eyes possibly burning from being sprayed, but that was better than Marvell catching up to him.
With the last burst of speed he had, Santee plowed right into the skunk then stopped, bracing himself for what was to come.
