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“Let’s end this,” he says softly before running in the opposite direction.
“Ready?” I ask Kerian and Bash.
“Ready to get our mate,” Kerian responds.
Bash just nods.
We leave Ryker and Serenity and walk in the direction she pointed. My stomach clenches painfully, but not from hunger. I didn’t even think of reaching for the bag of chips in my pocket. I can’t eat until our mate is safe.
Maybe Serenity is wrong. I don’t feel anything different. All I see is grass and green for miles. I’m about to say something when it happens. A pressure comes over me, pushing me to go back. We grunt from the shield swallowing us, allowing us to enter.
Suddenly we are inside a bubble, a forest surrounding us. I have to duck at the knife swinging at me. We landed in front of two men. They were prepared; they saw us coming. Bash blurs behind the man and twists his neck. He falls lifeless to the forest floor. Shit, now I have to forgive him; he saved my life. I could have taken the hunter, but still.
Kerian gains the upper hand on the other man, forcing his hands behind his back and taking him to his knees.
“Where’s the woman?” Kerian growls.
“Fuck you,” he replies. Kerian snaps his wrist, and he howls in pain.
“Where?”
“Probably underneath a lucky hunter,” he says stupidly.
I flash my claws and dig them into his neck, forcing his head back. “How many hunters are there?”
“Twenty,” he gasps.
“How many victims are playing?” I ask.
“Six.”
“Where is the woman?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“I don’t know. Two of the hunters are missing. They haven’t checked in.”
“How big is the perimeter?” I ask.
“I don’t know.”
I dig a claw into the side of his neck. “How big?”
“I don’t know, I swear. This is my first time here,” he says desperately.
“Did you kill tonight?” Kerian asks.
“Please, just let me go, and I’ll never come back.”
“Answer the question.” Bash flashes his fangs.
“Fuck, yes. I’m sorry. Just let me go,” he says fearfully, his eyes locked on Bash.
“You are number eighteen, then.” Kerian nods at me. I push my hand through his neck at the same time, and Kerian breaks both his arms. “Seventeen more to go.”
“Which way?” Bash asks. We look around us. There’s no path, just trees. It’s two in the morning, with little light to go on. Our wolf eyes will guide us, but Ava doesn’t have that advantage.
Just knowing she’s here, alone and scared, terrifies me. I freeze, my mind taking me back to my time running and hiding. I have never felt so small and insignificant as I did while I was in the game. I close my eyes, tipping my head back—it even smells the same. It doesn’t just smell like trees and grass. It stinks like fear and desperation. It saturates your skin, your mind. It took months to scrub the smell away. It lived on me for far too long— the torment in my brain gave it food to stay alive within me, on me. I flinch as I once again hear the metal of the cage slamming after me.
“River,” Kerian calls.
