AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I don’t know, but Quinn trusted me, something no one else ever has, and I want to try because she’s right. This won’t end well for any of us. We have to stop this before it’s too late. It’s up to us—two enemies who became unlikely friends—because there is one thing I know for sure.
Quinn and her family do not deserve to die, not for simply being born as they are. They just want to be left alone and have peace. Why shouldn’t they get that? I can do that. I can keep her and keep my family safe. We can stop this before it’s too late. Taking a deep breath, I turn back to the woods and begin to run again, faster than I ever have.
It's up to me, the fucked-up half-breed.
Surprisingly, the trip back takes half the time. Once, I would have refused to look at why, but now I just glance down at my body and know it’s because of the beast inside me. It’s good because the quicker I’m back, the quicker I can save us, even if it means tapping into that prowling animal sliding under my skin.
Quinn was right. I’m faster. I can feel the strength in my body and the heightened temperature, sounds, and tastes.
Everything is brighter and more beautiful.
Everything is just . . . better.
I find myself outside of the motel. I don’t even know if they are here, but even as that thought crosses my mind, some deep-rooted instinct in me screams. It has me lifting my head, and before I know it, I’m sniffing the air as my brain sorts through the sensory overload—exhaust fumes, paint, cigarette, weed, piss, cum, sweaty bodies . . . Bingo.
I can smell them.
I can smell Lucien and Vale, and it smells . . . fresh, though I don’t know how I know that.
Finding my courage, knowing they might kill me now for what I am, I head to our room.
I left as a human, as Jai, their brother, but I’m coming back as something else and asking them to help me stop this. They will call me a traitor, and they will be within their rights to kill me, but a small part of me hopes they won’t—hopes they still care enough about me to at least hear me out before they mount my head on a spike and parade it through the hunters’ base as if to say you were right.
Lucien might, but Vale . . . Vale is unpredictable, and that’s coming from me.
When I stand before the door, I take a deep breath, knowing it could be my last. I can hear their whispered conversation, but I don’t bother to wait. I knock to give them warning, so theydon’t feel threatened, and then I step back, holding my hands up behind my head to show I have no weapons.
I can hear their footsteps, even though they try to keep them quiet. The soft tread on the cheap carpet is followed by silence, and I know they are checking through the peephole. I keep my face calm, and then the door rips open. An astonished Vale and Lucien peer at me, both fighting to get through the door.
“Jai,” Vale finally whispers.
“Hey.” I cough. “I don’t suppose you could let me in?”
That breaks them from their stupor, and I’m yanked inside the room, the door slamming shut and locking. I watch as Vale quickly sprinkles the pixie herbs across the window and door to mask my scent. “I don’t know how the fuck you got out of there alive, brother, but I’m so happy,” Lucien booms, clapping me on the shoulder before tugging me into a hug. “So fucking happy. I thought we’d lost you.” He pulls back, his face stern. “Don’t ever pull that shit again, you psycho.”
I can hear love under his anger, and my wolf laps it up.
I always thought I was so alone, so isolated, and that I didn’t need anyone. I was just fooling myself. I glance at Vale. He’s leaning against the door, watching me. “Which raises a good question—how did you get away?”
“I didn’t,” I admit shyly. “They let me go.”
Vale’s expression transforms from calm to panicked, his eyes widening. “Shit, it’s a trap!” They both dive for their weapons as I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed.
“It’s not a trap. Calm down,” I order, even as they take up position. “Guys, it’s not a trap.”
They aren’t listening. Vale is barking out commands as Lucien scans the perimeter.
Sighing, I let some of that unrest inside of me leak through. “It’s not a trap!” I roar, and when they turn, I know my eyes are glowing and my skin is moving with my beast trapped inside.
I know what I must look like. In fact, I glance into the darkened TV to check my reflection and yep, glowing, haunting eyes and sharp teeth. My skin moves as if something is trapped inside and wants out. I even look bigger.
It’s then, when they take a good look at me, that I scent their fear.
“Jai.” Lucien’s voice is low, careful, but I see his hand inching towards his cursed blade, and my heart splinters a little at the gaping hole in our brotherhood now. “What’s wrong with you?”
Sighing, I slowly lift my hands and place them on my thighs. I splay them there and calm down, knowing my eyes go back to normal, and I glance between them. “We need to talk, and we don’t have much time, but know this: if you still have any trust, any love for me as your brother, then you will trust me in this. I will not hurt you. I never could. You are the only family I have.”
Lucien swallows but drops his hand. “Then let’s talk.”
