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Standing, I started to pace, testing the doors and windows, just to see. He lazily watched me, amused at my attempts. When I spotted an ax near the fireplace, I picked it up. That got his attention. He slowly stood, but I wasn’t aiming it at him, but the window. It shattered, covering the bed in shards of glass. The last thing I wanted to do was crawl through the debris, but I didn’t have much of a choice. He grabbed at me but I slammed the ax into his arm with as much force as I could manage. A wet thunk was followed by a scream and I knew my shifter strength had given me enough to slam to the bone. Without hesitation, I shifted, leaping from the window and running for my life. He may have accounted for the door and locked the window, but he didn’t expect me resorting to shattering it.
My feet hit the ground and from the smell of the area, I was no longer anywhere near home. There was a hint of salty sea air and the sound of seagulls a few miles away. The trees here were different, and the air was warmer. What the hell? How strong was this tracker’s magic?
First, I needed to get the fuck away, because I could now hear the crunching of glass and his grunts of pain. I picked one direction and stuck to it, praying I’d reach civilization at some point. I’d avoid wolves like the plague and keep running until he’d lost my trail.
Rain had recently fallen and the ground was covered in mud. Dropping down, I rolled my wolf around until my black and white fur was a goopy brown. It’d dry as I ran, especially if I found the sun, but it would mask my scent enough for me to get to freedom. Or at least I hoped it would.
The hours ticked by, pure adrenaline and fear keeping me moving. My wolf had slowed to a walk an hour ago but I couldn’t find it in me to stop moving. I’d passed towns and even a city, I’d figured out we were in California from the highway signs but had no clue how the fuck he managed it still. Callum might have gotten an answer from Ava but hell if I would know it. And it wasn’t like I had their numbers memorized. But… maybe I could contact Dave’s shop? Someone was bound to help me, right?
* * *
I’d walked all night,refusing to stop outside of a quick sleep inside of a hollowed-out log. But the moment I heard a howl in the distance I moved on. I was fairly positive it was a dog but luck clearly wasn’t on my side so I didn’t tempt fate.
When I reached a small town, I stopped at the edge, circling until I found someone with clothes outside. There was a sundress that looked the right size and had enough extra room that hopefully no one would notice I was bloody and covered in mud underneath. That and it was black.
When I had it on, I hurried to an outdoor rain barrel and cleaned myself enough, then I walked to the little police station. When I walked in, the lady at the desk looked up, eyes going wide as her eyes raked over me.
“You okay, honey?”
I let tears well in my eyes and shook my head. “Can you help me?” It wasn’t nice to play to her instincts, but I’d been through enough it wasn’t hard to channel that real, raw fear.
“Of course. Do you want to tell us what happened?” she asked. But my attention was on the glass front windows that revealed me a bit too much. I backed away and she noticed. “Come on back here first.”
I relaxed once I was farther in the station and away from view of the street. She grabbed me a bottle of water and brought me back to an office instead of an interrogation room, which was a nice touch. The station was full of noise and the bustle of officers moving about their business, nearly all of them casting me curious looks. I guess it wasn’t every day a frantic, dirty woman came running inside, terrified.
“Can you tell me what happened?” She was someone who genuinely was in a field they should be. She looked fierce, but compassionate. Her hair was braided back and in a tight bun on her head, her dark-brown eyes full of concern and kindness. I liked her right away.
“Some man grabbed me, I was passing through and he snatched me when I got off the bus. I managed to break away when we got to his cabin, hence the scrapes,” I explained, continuing on to spin a tale that wasn’t too bad. “I just need to call my family to come get me but I don’t have a phone.”
“Of course honey,” she offered. “But if you could give us some information on this guy it would help. We can get you to a hospital to get checked out as well.”
“No, I don’t want to press any charges, I just want to get home,” I admitted quietly. They couldn’t force me and she must have saw the determination and stubbornness in my voice because she pursed her lips and dropped it.
“All right,” she sighed. “Who can I look up for you?” I quickly gave her the information for Dave’s Garage and she tapped it into her phone and handed it over.
“Hello?” My eyes went wide and I hung up as the tracker’s voice echoed through the line. I slammed it down with more force than I meant to and she stared at me like I lost my mind.
“I have to go,” I said, swallowing hard and getting up. She didn’t stop me as I ran through the door and kept moving. Asking a pack for assistance would likely be suicide. Around here, who knew which pack he was friends with, and I wasn’t going to walk into the mouth of the beast alone. Even I wasn’t that stupid. I’d find myself a captive just like Meira.
As I passed through town after town, I made mental notes of their names to give to Antonio if I ever found my way back there. The reality of my situation sunk in and my heart clenched.
I had no money, no phone, no way to contact my guys, and very little hope. How the fuck would I get myself out of this one?
ChapterTwenty-One
Leven
Pain lanced through my head as I regained consciousness. A flood of memories hit. Walking into the garage, being hit with magic and paralyzed, then eventually succumbing to unconsciousness.
Turning over, I pushed myself off of the floor, glancing around to find Nyx. He was a few feet away and still out. Callum. I needed to call Callum.
Reaching into my pocket, I let out a relieved breath at the feel of my phone. I dialed the alpha and he answered on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?”
“He got her,” I started, immediately launching into the full explanation. “I’ve got to check on Dave, get Nyx up, then we’re heading back to you.”
“Oh god. No. Fuck. Okay, I’ll meet you at security. I got some answers from Ava, it might help us,” he said frantically, stumbling over his words in his haste before hanging up. Rushing over to Dave, I pulled him away and let out a relieved breath. He was still breathing, knocked out with a spell but mostly unharmed. Well outside of the blood on the floor and the obvious broken nose that put it there. He must not have had time and went for dramatic effect.
