by T. S. Joyce
“Please let me go home,” another taunted her.
Axton pointed through the woods with a bloody finger. “That way is the main road. Reach the asphalt, and we’ll let you live.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“Probably wise. Werewolves aren’t known for their trustworthiness, but what choice do you have?”
Behind him, bones snapped and men hunched over. Snarling, growling beasts burst from his pack one-by one, each twice the size of a regular wolf with bloodlust glowing in their eyes.
Lexi couldn’t breathe from the terror that settled into her chest. She backed up, shaking her head in denial. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t!
Her back hit the undercarriage of her jeep, and she whimpered, clutching her knife in a white-knuckled grip.
Axton’s face was elongating, his frost-colored eyes locked on her as his bones broke and his muscles reshaped gruesomely. And right before he morphed into a black-furred wolf, he fell to his hands and knees and snarled out, “Run, little bunny.”
With a gasp of horror, she bolted around the Jeep and looked around the back of the house for their cars. They had to drive here, right? But even if she spent the time to find them, would the keys be inside? Probably not, and then she would’ve wasted her two-minute head start.
She didn’t have time for the tears that blurred her vision as she sprinted for the dirt road that would lead her to safety. Tears would slow her down, and she needed to keep her head, not fall apart right now.
She had to reach the asphalt of the main road.
Think!
Lexi dropped the tote bag and stripped out of her white chef coat. She wore a navy tank top and black skinny jeans underneath. They would still smell her easily enough. Hell, she was probably leaving a trail of fear-scent behind her, but at least she wouldn’t be a fucking beacon in the white coat.
Behind her, the howl of a wolf rose on the wind, followed by another and another. God, if she could’ve just gotten the call into Ryder sooner, or even if it had rung once, her number would’ve flashed across his caller ID, and he would’ve known she needed something. Now, no one would know she was in trouble until it was too late. Until she was cold and lifeless in these woods.
The image of him mourning her burst against her mind. Fuck. She couldn’t’ leave him like this. He’d been hurt enough.
Don’t think like that. Just run. Fight. Live. Be strong.
Lexi pushed her legs faster as she bolted down the even ground of the dirt road that would lead her to the main turnoff. The wolves would find her easily here, but if she cut into the woods too soon, she faced the possibility of getting turned around or lost.
The knife flashed in her hand every time she pumped her arms, and it settled her fractionally. At least she wasn’t weaponless. At lease she could take one of the wolves with her.
Go for the throat, not the ribs. Cut arteries in the neck, render the esophagus helpless.
Her legs burned, and her lungs felt like they would burst. There was movement to her right in the woods. It was a lone, white wolf, keeping pace with her and cutting in gently. Shit. Had it already been two minutes? They were so fast!
Panicked, Lexi swerved into the woods on her left and cut an angle due north toward the road. The ground was uneven and harder to run on. One twisted ankle, and she would be done for. Howling came from her right, and now there were two wolves, the white one and a dark gray one. More pressure, and she was veering off course. What choice did she have? They were too close.
She skidded down a hill on her butt, hand out behind her to steady her from toppling over as she dislodged dirt and leaves on the way down. She knew where she was—the creek. If she went straight across and kept the moon on her left, she could still make it to the road.
As she reached the creek bank, pain slashed through her palm as she cut it on a rock. “Fuck,” she gasped out breathlessly, clenching her hand into a fist to staunch the immediate wet stream. If they couldn’t smell her before, they sure as hell would be drawn by the blood. Another wolf song lifted on the breeze, this time on her left. They were closing on her, and she had to move.
Lexi pushed upward and ran straight into the creek. It was flowing steadily because of the spring rains, and when she reached the middle, she sank in to her hips. Frantically dragging her legs through the current, she plunged her injured hand into the cold water and hoped it helped.
Lexi yanked her shirt over her head, then wrapped the tank around her hand and gripped it hard to hold it in place. Wincing at the pain, she clutched her knife tighter and sprinted through the woods. The terrain eased into an incline, and she huffed and puffed as she climbed higher and higher. She didn’t recognize this area anymore, but there were three wolves on her right. And to her horror, there were now three on her left loping beside her through the blue trees, snapping at each other, snarling, waiting for something Lexi didn’t understand. She was completely trapped into moving wherever they wanted her to. Seconds stretched to minutes, and it felt as if she was in a dream. One where she ran and ran and never escaped the shadows that were chasing her. Terror pushed her on, even when her body wanted to give out. Even when her legs shook and her stomach heaved. The incline evened out, but she could hear them. She could feel them right behind her. Any second the wolves would be on her. Their teeth would be shredding her flesh, and she would die on her stomach, alone.
Ryder, Ryder, Ryder.
She almost didn’t see the ledge until it was too late. Lexi locked her legs and skidded on the loose dirt. She spun and went to her hands, clawing desperately on the dirt to stop herself. Her foot slid off the side, and she grunted in panic as she scrambled back onto solid ground. A rock dislodged under her and tumbled down. She listened in horror for the rock to hit the ground below with a resounding crash. Seven seconds.
That’s when it hit her—what the wolves had done.
The road was so close, less than a quarter of a mile due north, but separated from her by this ravine. The wolves had hunted her as a pack, pushing her and maneuvering her until the road wasn’t possible to reach. Until there was no way she could win this game. She hadn’t ever really had a chance. Rage and fear boiled in her middle as a massive black wolf approached.
She moved to run to the side, but the white and gray wolf were there, teeth bared and glowing against the shadows. On the other side, there were four more wolfs, stalking closer, heads lowered, razor sharp teeth promising a painful death.
Axton lifted his chin and perked his ears like he was proud of what he was doing. Like he was proud he’d hunted her down and won. Proud murderer.
Lexi spat at him. “You’re a coward.”
Axton’s eyes narrowed to slits, and he lowered his head, eased backward on those massive paws of his like he was giving his pack a gift. The gift of flesh. The gift of killing. He and his people were mindless psychos who had convinced themselves killing was just what predators did. But she knew bigger predator shifters than them, and the Bloodrunners would never disrespect human life like this.
The wolves snapped and snarled, but Lexi couldn’t go out like this. Not under their teeth. Oh, she knew what the bite of a werewolf would do to her. She would be Turned in the last moments of her life, and she would be damned if she died a member of Axton’s pack.
She would die human, and fuck the werewolf games.
Lexi gripped the bloody shirt to her chest, breath shaking in terror. The air smelled of pennies. The wolves went mad, snapping, ducking forward and back. There was pack dynamics she didn’t understand. A feeding order maybe. Didn’t matter now.
Biting her lip against the whimper of fear that clawed up the back of her throat, Lexi stepped backward. The wolves lifted their heads in unison, ears erect, confusion in their eyes.
God, she didn’t want to die, but it was coming either way. Knife out, she took another step back, and her heel brushed the ledge. The wind whipped against her bare back, as if Mother Nature was trying to keep her upright.
“No blood for you,” she said in a shaky voice. “You lose.”
As the gray wolf leapt at her, his eyes deranged, his lips curled back to expose all those razor sharp teeth, Lexi launched herself backward off the ledge.
At least she was taking one of them her.
Just as she fell and the ledge promised to hide her view of the chaos, something massive and black barreled down from the sky and blasted into the gray wolf an instant before the animal hit her in the chest. Her attacker was knocked sideways and away from her, his mouth open and shocked as a high-pitched cry screeched from his throat.
Wait, wait, wait, was that Wes?
If Wes was here, then…
“Ryder!” she screamed when she caught a glimpse of the snowy owl above her, his enormous wingspan blocking out the moon.
He pulled his wings to his sides and dove for her, but she was falling too fast. She struggled against the destiny that was coming for her. Struggled against her death. She could see him so clearly, every feather on his face whipping in the wind, every black speck that decorated his snow white feathers. His gold eyes were like two glowing suns in his face as he tucked his wings tighter against his body.
Seven seconds. That’s all she had, and it was almost up.
Tears burned her eyes, but she had to be strong because he wasn’t going to reach her. She hoped he would pull up in time and save himself. He should hear what was in her heart before he lost her. He should see she accepted her fate so it would be easier on him.
“Ryder,” she choked out as the wind in the trees below kicked up. “I love you.”
And then she squeezed her eyes closed and braced herself for the pain.
And it…was…horrible. But not the pain she expected. Her arm felt like it was ripped from its socket and shredded by razors. She screamed at the dizzying, excruciating pain as she was jerked in a different direction. Ryder had one of her arms but his grip was off and his long, curved talons had raked up her forearm with the force of his desperate pull.
The outsides of her vision collapsed inward as sparks flew this way and that. She couldn’t breathe. It was as if the oxygen had been sucked from her lungs, and now something massive sat on her chest.
She tried to focus on the stars to keep from passing out, but something had blocked the sky, and everything was dark. An earth-shattering roar shook the mountains, but Lexi still couldn’t force a single molecule of air into her lungs, and the pressure and pain were too great.
Fire streaked across the cliff, illuminating the fearsome face of a beastly dragon, and blistering heat blasted against Lexi’s skin.
And then everything went dark.
Chapter Sixteen
Lexi rolled over in her sleep, but flinched away from the slashing pain in her arm. She bolted upright, clutching it across her chest, as if that would stop the burning.
Heart pounding, she looked around the dim room, lit only by the soft glow of the bathroom. She was in ten-ten, and her arm was wrapped up like a mummy limb.
Harper was sitting next to her on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest and a hollow look on her face. And in that moment, everything came crashing back down on Lexi. The terror, the exhaustion, the feeling that she would never see Ryder again, and then the pain. So much pain.
“Where’s Ryder?” she asked, wanting desperately for him to hold her and tell her everything was all right.
Harper shook her head sadly and whispered, “I don’t know. Wes went to look for him.”
Lexi’s mouth went dry as a desert, and she looked down at her bandaged arm. “Is it bad?”
Harper bit her lip hard, then nodded. “Yeah. You’ll be scarred. Weston was raised a Gray Back. He can put anyone back together, but Ryder had to really dig in to pull you up. Wes saved the use of your hand, but…”
“But it looks bad. It’s okay. It’s okay,” Lexi chanted, bobbing her head. “At least I’m alive.” Nothing in her wanted to look at her arm or the stitches she could feel pulling at her skin. It still felt like someone had dipped her arm in gunpowder and lit a match, but pain was good. It meant she was still breathing, still here.
“Alana, Aaron, and Wyatt just left. I told them to go get some shut-eye. I thought you would sleep until morning, but I wanted to stay just in case.”
Lexi offered her a tremulous smile and settled against the mattress. “What happened, Harper?”
The Bloodrunner alpha picked at a loose thread on the comforter. “Axton and the Valdoro pack made threats when I was trying to settle these mountains. They wanted the land, but the previous owner chose to sell to me. Axton said the vamps would finish us off, but they didn’t. We chased the Asheville Coven out of the area a few months back, and I guess the pack’s need for revenge flared up again. They targeted Ryder.”
“It felt like he targeted me.”
“Same thing,” Harper murmured. “If you had…” Harper swallowed hard. “If the Valdoro pack ended your life, it would’ve destroyed Ryder. And Ryder’s pain would’ve echoed through the crew bond and maimed us one by one until we were all sick and ruined. And they didn’t just go after you tonight, Lexi. While you were running for your life, Ryder’s dad showed up at Drat’s, and he just…destroyed Ryder.”
Lexi sat up straight. “Oh my gosh, what?”
“Axton apparently paid Robbie to keep Ryder distracted while the wolves took care of you.”
“What did he say to him?”
“I think that’s something Ryder will have to talk to you about. Wes told me part of it, but I had to stop him. Doesn’t feel right taking part of Ryder like that without his permission. He’s been hiding a lot of pain for a long time.”
“Is he okay?”
Harper cast her a quick glance, her blue dragon eye glowing much brighter than her human brown eye. Slowly, she shook her head. “He saw the ghost of his past—the one that’s haunted him his whole life. He looked in the face of the devil himself as Robbie told him awful things and admitted to being paid to betray him. To hurt him. To hurt you. And then Ryder watched you fall, Lexi. I’ll never forget the look on Ryder’s face as he watched Wes stitch up your arm where he’d hurt you. He needs time.”
She understood, really she did, but it didn’t stop the bone-deep desperation to be near him and let him know he wasn’t alone.
“What happened to the wolves?” Lexi asked, trying to distract herself from the ripping sensation in her heart.
“Axton and four of his wolves got away.”
“And the others?”
Harper’s voice went hard as stone when she answered. “I burned them to nothing and devoured their ashes.”
Lexi’s heart thumped against her sternum as she remembered how terrifying Harper’s roaring, fire-breathing dragon was when she’d come to help save her. She was just now realizing how dangerous the steady-voiced woman beside her really was.
Harper leveled her oddly-colored gaze on Lexi and promised, “I’ll do the same to anyone who ever tries to hurt you again, okay?”
Lexi nodded and whispered, “Okay.” Dangerous though she may be, the Bloodrunner Dragon was loyal to her people, and with that last oath, Harper had just declared Lexi a part of her crew and under her protection.
Lexi settled back beside Harper and rested her temple on the Bloodrunner Dragon’s shoulder. “Thanks, alpha.”
Harper set her cheek gently on top of Lexi’s head and huffed a shallow sigh. “Anytime.”
Chapter Seventeen
The sun peeked over the mountains, casting the horizon in bright orange. Ryder rubbed his hand over and over his three-day beard and thought of Fishing Mornings. Fishing Mornings were when Bash, Clinton, and Mason would take him out to Bear Trap Falls near the trailer park, and they would all watch the sun come up while they waited for fish to bite.
He’d had it good. Not only did he grow up under Mason, but under the other Boarlanders as well. Robbie had shadowed a corner of his heart for way too damn long.
A limb s
napped, and Ryder looked back over his shoulder to see Weston making his way up the trail. “How did you find me?” he croaked out in a sleep-deprived voice.
“Your spot ain’t as secret as you think.” His blood brother sat down on the log beside him, his camouflage baseball cap shielding his eyes from the early morning sunlight. “Did you get any sleep?”
“No. My mind has been going around and around all night. Wondering what if I hadn’t gotten to her, you know? I can’t get the fear in her eyes out of my mind. You know what she said at the end, right before she was gonna hit the ground?”
“What?”
“She told me she loved me, like she was already forgiving me. Like she was making sure I would know she wasn’t mad for not being able to save her.”
Wes nodded for a long time, and then carefully he said, “Have you been thinking about what your dad said?”
“You mean about why he gave up his rights? About how he wanted to torture my owl from me? Fuck, we should’ve let Kane have his dumb ass. Pisses me off.”
“Just pisses you off?”
Ryder inhaled deeply. He could tell Wes was worried. Could sense it. Could practically smell it on his skin, but this wasn’t the part when he spiraled. “I got closure yesterday.”
Wes jerked his dark gaze to Ryder. “Yeah?”
Ryder made a single ticking sound and picked a long blade of wild grass, began shredding it into small pieces. “It’s different when you see evil when you’re an adult. When I was a kid, I was supposed to listen to him. I was supposed to believe him because he was the adult and I was the child. He had me good and convinced he was a shitty person because I wasn’t a good enough son. That stuck with me. Just dug into my brain and sat there like a parasite this whole time. But yesterday, I saw him for what he is.”
“A steaming pile of shit?”
Ryder huffed a laugh and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Can I tell you something?” Wes asked.
“Anything, brother.”
“That bullshit your dad said about you being like him? He’s dead wrong. You have this immovable loyalty to the people you care about. It drove me nuts when we came back here and you just accepted Wyatt, accepted his apology just like that.” Wes snapped. “But it’s also been something I’ve always admired about you. Once a person makes friends with Air Ryder Croy, they’re under your wing for life. You don’t give up on people, man. You know who you remind me of?”