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Vale glares at me and storms past Lucien, who sighs, and then his head swings to me. There is blame in his eyes.
Snorting, I lie back down, exhausted. I am starving, and I need to conserve energy between all these shifts, the healing, and torture.
I can almost feel myself slipping into a deep sleep, which is dangerous, but I cannot stop it.
I’m drained.
The storm wakes me, the roar of thunder rattling the cage bars as lightning brightens the room. I blame the lack of food for making me sleep for so long. I come to with a gasp and scramble to my feet, my eyes widening when I see Jai opening the cage door with a gun in his hand.
Fuck!
Looks like he has given up playing games. He will kill me tonight to end this. My nostrils flare as he comes at me.
I don’t shift back, and when he pulls the trigger, I dodge the first bullet and leap at him, smacking him to the side. The gun skids across the floor, even as he throws me into the bars. I get up quickly, using all my energy to fly at him, and he falls back, his arms coming up to stop my teeth from sinking into his neck. I claw and kick at him, gnawing on his arms as he reaches for the gun with his hand. With a grunt, he kicks me off, and I go flying once more.
Landing on my feet, I lunge at him again as he grabs the weapon. This time, I bite the gun, crushing it, and toss it away before changing and pinning him with one arm across his throat.As I stab my claws into his neck, I watch him bleed, knowing I pierced the artery there. He stops struggling, and his eyes widen as he realises he received a killing blow.
Leaning in, I sniff him hard. “For someone who is part wolf, you truly hate your own kind.” I push off him, pulling my claws out, and watch his blood spurt as he covers his neck. I leap at the cage door.
It bursts open, falling to the ground as Lucien and Vale stumble to their feet. I spare them a glare as I land on my knees and then race outside into the pouring rain. Lightning arcs across the sky, the ground shaking with the thunder as I jump up and over the fence and then plunge into the forest beyond, changing into my wolf as soon as I am within the shelter of trees.
My body is dragging with exhaustion, but I don’t stop running.
For the second time in my life, I am running from hunters.
From Vale.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Go after her!” Vale roars, flying out of the open door.
I spare a gasping Jai one look and take off after my brother and Quinn, adrenaline pumping through me so hard, my heart races.
I had been in a deep sleep before the gun and the crash of the cage door woke me, but it didn’t take long to figure out what happened.
I’m instantly drenched, the rain almost obscuring my vision as thunder rolls and lightning cracks.
“Go that way!” Vale orders as he sprints towards the other side of the forest. I hesitate only for a moment before hurrying into the trees, stilling at the clear paw prints I see in the mud, leading deeper into the forest. My hunting instincts kick in, and I follow the path easily, even when it twists and turns, leading me astray until I find her.
My head jerks up as a growl splits the air and she slinks from the trees, leaping up onto a huge boulder. Her head is lowered in a threatening posture, and her paws are spread. She’s ready to pounce.
There’s a snap deeper into the forest, and she glances away for a moment. It gives me my chance, but I don’t move. I juststare as rain streams down my face, chilling me to the bone as my clothes plaster against my body and lightning cracks overhead, illuminating her dark fur.
The wolf turns back to me, her blue eyes blazing. I have my gun, I could kill her, but for a moment, I see Quinn, not the wolf, and like my brother did all those years ago, I step back.
Her snarl subsides, and she cocks her head, no doubt wondering if it’s a trap. I don’t blame her. I don’t know either.
“Now we’re even,” I tell her and turn away, letting her leave. When I meet Vale back at the front of the old mill, his blue eyes narrowed, I shake my head.
“I couldn’t see her. She must be long gone.”
“Fuck!” he roars, tugging at his hair until we hear a cough and we spin.
Jai stumbles from the mill, clutching his throat as blood pours through his fingers. Water slides down his pale face as he crumples to his knees. “Help me.”
I’m there in an instant. I lift him and carry him inside, laying him on his cot as Vale rushes over, first-aid kit in tow. “Let me see,” he demands as Jai shakes his head, his eyes wide and terrified.
He has the look of a man who can see his death.
