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I raised my arm to block the hunter’s attack. Though I was in no shape to give him my all, I had enough in me to hold my own and get a few shots in. I’d expected a hunter to be an experienced opponent with a repertoire of techniques. This guy had to be a rookie. He was a lazy fighter and made stupid mistakes, relying only on his brute strength. If he was going after shifters, he needed to hone his other skills; strength matched against strength wasn’t enough. I’d learned long ago to never rely solely on my shifter abilities; it took training and discipline. If I depended on my shifter strength alone, I’d have been out cold with the drugs coursing through me because I wouldn’t have been able to withstand his punches and kicks.
Then, as any asshole did when they couldn’t gain the upper hand, he cheated and grabbed for a canister on his belt. The next second, I was gritting my teeth to stop from screaming in agony as he sprayed wolfsbane in my face. I staggered back and tried to stay upright so I’d fall on the floor and not against the bars. The skin on my face felt like it was melting off the bone.
Audrey’s screams reverberated through the room as she flung profanities at the hunter and threatened him with unspeakable pain. I didn’t know she was such a bloodthirsty little thing. She was creative with her vocabulary.
The door flew open, and the uproar I’d caused got the attention of Kyle, which had been my end goal all along. He wasn’t the good guy by any means, but he didn’t have the same douchebag complex and didn’t rise to any of the bait.
Kyle hadn’t been back here since dragging Zander away earlier, but he must have run a tight ship because the second Kyle walked into the room, Blondie hurried out of my cell, rushing to explain himself and tripping over his words. Before he’d gotten a sound out, Kyle lifted a hand and the putz shut his mouth.
“Go clean up Giselle’s mess. She’s done with the shifter and has left the compound.”
Kyle looked around the room, showing the other hunter he was dismissed. Blondie looked uncomfortable, giving Kyle a wide berth as he left without a word.
The marks from the beating were already healing, but my shoulder was worse off, and the pain was lancing me from head to toe. It didn’t matter. I was too focused on what Kyle had said. Who was this Giselle? And what did she do to cause a mess? I wouldn’t be much of an alpha if I didn’t worry that Zander might be dead.
Staggering a little on my feet, I used my most commanding alpha voice. “What happened to Zander? Did you kill him?”
Ignoring me, Kyle entered Diana’s cage and checked her vitals. “She’s still alive, for now. She’s just having a severe reaction to our drug. It’s not the first time it’s happened, and it won’t be the last. She’ll sleep it off and be fine, so calm your alpha ass down.”
Happy that Diana was okay, I took the time to really examine Kyle, and the more I watched and listened to him, the more I noticed so many familiar little things. He shared the same mannerisms with my mate. There was no denying it any longer. This top hunter was her older brother. How in the world had he chosen to become a shifter hunter if he’d known what Tori was? Shouldn’t he have been protecting her? My stomach swirled, and I wanted to be sick.
Tori had her secrets. Who knew if she’d told her family anything after she’d first shifted? She’d told me she ran and never looked back. Had she been afraid of what Kyle would think, or was there something bigger going on that I hadn’t figured out yet? If Tori had confided in me, I could’ve helped her sooner.
I wished we were together at the manor right now. Preferably curled up in my bed or in the kitchen while I fed Tori and then feasted on her.
I stopped myself from getting carried away with thoughts of Tori’s body and forced my mind back to the present. I’d studied this room closely, but I still had no plan that would allow us to escape. The room was a fortress. Any spot we could possibly muscle through was corked with silver. The hunters hadn’t wasted an inch of this place.
These hunters knew what they were dealing with, which made them even more dangerous. Because what was more dangerous than an enemy who knew their opponent forward and backward? I’d been trying to figure out the hunters for years, but without stooping to their levels, we’d never had the chance to get the inside hook.
Suddenly, Audrey screamed at the top of her lungs and curled into the fetal position. My heart thrummed, and sweat slicked my palms.
“Audrey?! Audrey, what’s wrong?” I was seething at the hunters. Was it the drug? Had they given her something else? “Talk to me, Audrey!”
She didn’t stop screaming.
Kyle hurried over to her and stopped in front of her cage. He knelt on the floor. As soon as his knee touched the floor, Audrey jumped up and reached through the bars. She wrapped her hand around Kyle’s neck and slammed him against the bars. Once she had him in a chokehold, she grabbed the gun from his waist holster and aimed it at his head. Her movements were so fast and stealthy that my jaw dropped in surprise.
Before the gun was cocked and pulled, hunters piled into the room, their weapons drawn and aimed in Audrey’s direction. Luckily, she was smart enough to place Kyle in their line of sight. With how quickly the hunters had responded, the room must have had cameras all over.
Audrey trembled as she held Kyle by the throat, the gun wavering in her hand as she held the barrel pressed against his temple. For all her bravery, I was willing to bet the spoiled daughter of the Greenthornes had never handled a weapon, and it scared the crap out of me. So many scenarios played out in my head, and if she was shot and killed, I didn’t think I’d ever recover. The guilt would eat me alive.
“You’re going to let us go, or I’m going to kill your captain.” Her body shook, but her voice was steady and didn’t waver.
Kyle laughed. “Ignore her. She’s bluffing. She won’t do it.”
She pushed the barrel harder against his head. “Watch it. I’m not fucking bluffing. I’ll do it. I have nothing to lose now.”
With hatred in his tone, he scolded Audrey. “I’m sure you will because you’re a monster. Killing is second nature to you. It’s what you do.”
Every muscle in my body stiffened. That was the exact same way Tori had spoken about shifters when we’d first met. I ached, knowing my beautiful mate had been brainwashed into this garbage. Anger simmered under the surface of my skin. The most strikingly beautiful and determined woman I’d ever set eyes on—an innocent shifter—had been raised to hate herself so profoundly.
The hunters were torn about what to do, wavering back and forth between Kyle and Audrey. Watching the scene closely, I only envisioned one outcome: Audrey’s blood spilling on the ground, and it’d be on my hands because I couldn’t protect her.
I refused to let that happen. We’d find another way to get out of here.I wouldn’t hesitate. Furthermore, the hunters were trigger-happy and would take the first smidgen of an opportunity to make the shot.
“Let him go, Audrey.” My tone was soft, my eyes trained on her, making promises that I prayed I’d be able to keep.
Slowly, her trembling hands lowered, and she dropped the gun. She listened to her alpha like she was supposed to, and for that, I was grateful. Having her blood on my hands was unacceptable.
