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“We can get you out,” he continues.
“How did you find us?” she asks, coming closer.
“A friend.”
“Are you Ava’s friends?” she asks.
“We are her mates,” I confirm.
“Shit, she was right,” she says.
“About what?” I ask, curious.
“She told me not to give up hope.”
“Have you seen her?” I ask.
“Yes, she sacrificed herself for me,” she says, tears flooding her eyes.
“What do you mean?” I demand, urgent.
“A man found me, said he knew her. She gave herself up so I could go,” she sobs.
“Fuck,” I say, rubbing the ache in my chest.
“Follow our trail. We have friends waiting outside the shield. They’re vampires, so don’t be alarmed.” Kerian points in the direction we came.
“I can’t. The collar.”
I reach for it, testing the metal. I think I can rip it off. “If I take it off, they may know we are here,” I say, looking at Kerian.
“We don’t know where Ava is. It may put her in immediate danger. We can’t.” He looks at her sadly.
“I owe her. I can stay until you find her.”
“Go to the end of our trail. Wait by the barrier. Once we take care of Gill and have Ava, you’ll be free,” Kerian says.
“Thank you.” She walks around us.
I pull out my phone, reading the message from Blue. “Thirteen left.”
Gill and his sick hunters are rapidly diminishing. No one will stop us from finding our mate.
Chapter Twenty
Ava
Fucking asshole. My boss won’t give up. He’s not moving fast, but I can hear him behind me somewhere. He’s not even attempting to be stealthy; his curses ring in the air. My chest is burning, either from the strain of running on empty or (the reason I want to believe) because my mates are close. Their images are fresh in my mind while I’m finding my way through this maze of trees. It feels like I’ve traveled thousands of miles.
The large gash on my leg is stinging like a bitch from when a low-hanging branch cut into me. When I think I can’t go any further, I somehow find the will to keep going. I lost the granola bar I was looking forward to savoring somewhere in these fucking woods. Even with the additional padding on my feet, they throb constantly.
I’m quickly losing faith in human beings. First, Bartlett and Jason trying to control my life, now sick men who hunt shifters. I believed Brice to be an average slimeball, but he was hiding a sadistic side. I don’t think my brother could be this cruel.
I thought I would never be able to make the decision to be turned into a wolf, but lately, the supernatural are showing me the loving care I want. I certainly would be healing if I were one.
I hear someone up ahead and panic. I look around frantically for somewhere to hide. A tree that’s bigger than the others is my only option. I crouch behind it, trying to make myself as small as possible.
A shifter skids into the spot I was just standing, yards in front of my tree. He smells the air and looks around.
