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They were quiet on the way there. Jude could feel, in snippets, Graham’s anxiety, as a little of it slipped through his normally cool demeanor. “We’re gonna find her,” Jude said.
But by the time they were riding in the car, Jude had started to worry that they’d lost her entirely. What if she’d gone back to her apartment, grabbed her stuff, and simply left town? What if his instincts weren’t correct?
Traffic was nightmarish, but Jude was still glad they hadn’t taken the car initially. He watched the passing scenery, remembering the time they’d spent with Delilah at each of the businesses.
As they passed Mario’s, he remembered the initial call he’d received from an insistent Graham. He remembered tailing her to the stoplight, and for an instant, he was filled with hope. If he could run into her then, with so many odds stacked against them, surely they’d be able to find her now.
As he steeled himself with confidence, the world looked a little less bleak. He was certain they were going to find her, and failing that, that she’d find her way home.
Looking at Graham was like looking at a cracked mirror. He could see Graham’s own mind filling with doubt. Jude even thought he might have sensed a little guilt in him—for what, he wasn’t sure.
When they finally pulled up to the Fang District, and the park’s outward-facing entrance, Jude could feel a familiar sensation clouding over him. “She’s here.”
Chapter 23
Delilah
Delilahcouldfeelthejolt in her knees as the soles of her sneakers hit the pavement. Walking on the park path that would lead her into the forest, she considered her next move even as she tried not to think about the events that had led her there. How could they do this to her?
Graham was such a traitor! He had been trying to buy her off her old pack this whole time! How could she be so stupid?
She hoped Jude wasn’t in on the deal, but she hadn’t been able to anticipate Graham’s involvement, so who knew how low they were willing to stoop? It was possible that they both knew everything—even that she had been the trade that they wanted to make.
I bet they’re both back at Graham’s laughing about the whole thing right now!What the hell do I do?
The path disappeared into the trees and wound its way through the ever-thickening forest. Delilah walked faster and faster until she found a path that had never been finished. It just ended at the edge of a clearing.
She walked to the middle of the grassy oasis and spun in a circle, trying to decide which direction to go.There is nowhere to go,she repeated to herself.I can’t start over again.
She chose an open trail with hard-packed soil that looked as though it hadn’t been taken in a while. Her stride became harder, more insistent, and then broke into a run. Accelerating through the pines and hardwoods, she didn’t care that her feet were hitting the ground too firmly, that her paws would leave tracks.
Fur bristled across her back and neck as her coat grew thick and long. The colors of the forest grew darker and more vivid as her eyes changed color, her retinas more receptive to the light that scattered from the low-hanging clouds.
Nothing had gone right today. First, there was the mix-up at the bakery and then the stupid taxi driver fiasco, and then, when she had tried to leave Graham’s house, her only choice to get to the forest was public transportation.
Normally, the bus didn’t bother her. She liked to lose herself in crowds and feel that she might be anyone taking a stroll, or going shopping, or headed to visit relatives. She enjoyed the feeling of blending in.
Today, however, the bus ride had gone on interminably. The conversations she would usually tune out were tinny and irritating. The sights and smells were too numerous and grated on her nerves. She felt nauseated, dehydrated, and confused by the time she finally made it to the park.
Among the trees, the dirt scraping under her claws, the wind in her ruff, the ferns brushing against her legs, she ran until she forgot all about the hardships of the day. She ran until she could barely remember the name Grimmaw, until Graham and Jude almost didn’t exist. Almost.
Panting, she came to rest at the base of an old oak tree. The wet, cloying air tore at her lungs. Maybe she could ask the tree how it had stayed in one place so long with everything that wanted to eat it, build a home out of it, or simply get it out of the way.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she curled up between the ropy sinews of the tree’s roots. Feeling hidden and safe, Delilah felt that she could ask herself the question she had been running from—Why does this hurt so badly?
Why should she care if men proved themselves to be what she had known they were all along? It was a disappointment, to be sure, but why should it pierce her to the core like it did? If she had expected all alphas to be like Clark, why did it shock her to find out that Graham and Jude fit the pattern?
I was falling for them.She hated to admit it, even to herself, but the truth was as real and solid as the cool, rough bark at her back. Her tears fell. What would she do now?
A low bark drew her attention and she opened her eyes to see the reason she should have cared if she had left prints. Graham and Jude stood before her in wolf form. If they had sought her out as humans, she may have had a chance at running.
Still worth a shot.She bolted, tail straight behind her for balance, body close to the ground so she could get the most distance out of her perfectly timed leaps. She could neither see nor smell any sign that they had been able to follow her. She must have caught them off guard.
Good. Nowtheycan see what it’s like for a change.Just as her confidence that she had been able to outrun them had reached its peak, she screeched to a halt to avoid a head-on collision with Jude’s giant, jet-black form.
Crashing through the underbrush, Delilah changed direction, only to be stopped short by Graham. Lithe and quick, he had hemmed in her only other escape route. She twisted out of reach to double back the way she’d come.
She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to run. The only problem was that there were two of them and they were experts at cornering their prey. They met her every stride, closing in on her from a distance so she knew she had nowhere left to go.
