After the second ring, Alexis picked up.
“Marjorie?”
“Alexis, I’m not alone.”
“The car—”
“I won’t make it, Alexis.”
“Marjorie!” Angela screamed behind me.
I ignored her and kept moving, picking up speed as I got closer to the bathrooms.
“Please, don’t be locked. Please, don’t be locked,” I whispered into the phone, having momentarily forgotten that Alexis was on the other end.
“We’re on our way, Marjorie. Where are you right now?”
A roar shattered the tranquility of the silence that had surrounded us up until that moment. Startled, I jumped and turned just in time to see the two wolves running in my direction.
I screamed and ran as fast as I could toward the bathrooms, ignoring the pain in my knee. The second I was in, I shut the door and looked for something to barrel against the wooden frame. There was nothing there but a garbage can. I couldn’t lock the door either since all the locks were on the other side.
“Marjorie?” Alexis called out to me. “Where are you?”
“In the bathrooms.” Since I couldn’t use anything to keep the werewolves from barging in, I decided to use myself as a shield. I sat on the floor with my back to the door and both feet firmly planted on the opposite wall. I knew my puny human strength could never compare with theirs, especially when taking into consideration that my right knee was in really bad shape, but I was willing to take a gamble. I didn’t want to die and neither did I want to end up kidnapped by the Gandillon pack.
“Stay put. I’m almost there.” He assured me in a much calmer tone that I thought he should use. I was one step away from losing it but he seemed unaffected.
“Alexis—” I stopped. It was too quiet. Shouldn’t the wolves be barging in by now? “I don’t know where they are.” It was dead silent. I couldn’t hear anything aside from my own ragged breathing.
The two wolves had been close enough that they should have been right on me the moment I shut myself inside the park’s public bathroom, but it was still. Suspiciously quiet, and that freaked me out even more. I couldn’t hear anything, nor could I make out any movements behind the door.
God, the second door! In my rush to put some walls between the wolves and myself I completely disregarded the fact that there was another door at the other end of the bathroom. I glanced to my left, staring down the long, narrow hall to where three of the four white sinks were visible. The door itself was blocked from my line of vision by a wall so I had no clue whether or not it was locked. Even if it was, I doubted that would keep the predators out.
“Oh, God. What do I do?” I said more to myself than to Alexis.
I shuddered just thinking about the possibility that one of them could be ramming itself through that other door at any moment. The four stalls to my left would provide no protection should I decide to hide in one of them. My only option would be go out the same door I came in through, but that could lead me right back to the wolves waiting outside.
One of the wolves could be stationed just outside the door while the other one circled around. Either way I had no way out. Nowhere to run to. Nowhere to hide.
“Where are they?” I gripped my cell to my ear as I pressed my head against the door behind me. I couldn’t hear a thing. Not even Angela. She’d been screaming my name when I came inside. She had gone quiet too.
“I’m here, Marjorie. Hold on. I’m coming to get—”
All hell broke loose.
The door behind me shook violently as something big and heavy slammed against it. I let out a bloodcurdling scream and dropped to the floor. I couldn’t hold it. My right leg was in bad shape. There was no way I could apply enough pressure to keep the door in place so I crawled to my left, still gripping the phone in my right hand, and managed to make it out of the way just as the wooden frame cracked down the middle with a second blow.
A mixture of growls and roars could be heard and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were celebrating the fact that they had me cornered and with no way out. Or were just excited over the potential hunt.
Realizing they were coming in—and were going to be on me in a matter of seconds, I pulled myself up with the help of one of the stall’s door and started limping toward the other end of the bathroom as fast as I could. The door would burst open at any moment so I had no time to loose. I rounded the corner to my right and made it to the door, relating a silent prayer of thanks when I saw it wasn’t padlocked from the inside.
Praying it wasn’t padlocked from the outside either, I grabbed for the doorknob, but as soon as my fingers grazed the brass knob, the door was yanked open from the other side.
Chapter Fifteen
“Marjorie!”
Relief washed over me the second I spotted Alexis standing there, bathed in sunlight. His hair was tousled, his jacket was gone, and his pants bore the clear evidence of claw marks on his left thigh, but at that moment, he became my savior. Nothing looked more spectacular than he did, and I was so grateful he was there, I felt the need to shed a few tears.
“There...they...” I pointed to the dark hall behind me with my thumb.
He grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the bathroom, slamming the door shut with his elbow. I shoved my cell phone into my jean’s pocket and slipped my hands in his.
“I know,” he said, pulling me to the side of the building. “We have to get you to Kyran.” He pushed me into the wall and turned, pinning me in between the brick barrier and himself.
“We?” I grabbed his arm with my free hand, not even realizing how hard I was squeezing his bicep. At the moment, he was the only thing protecting me from an assault, and although we could both be overcome any second, having him with me gave me a small measure of comfort. Or the illusion of safety. In reality, things were looking pretty grim.
“There.” He pointed to a location in front of him and it was then I spotted the biggest werewolf I’d ever seen in my entire life, barreling down the hill at speeds I thought impossible for something so huge.
I’d seen the Rousseau version of werewolf. I’d seen Santos. But this was very different from both. He was equally impressive, if not more terrifying, than either. This werewolf was taller, bulkier—especially around the shoulder area—and it seemed to have a little bit of a mane around the neck region like that of a lion’s only not as pronounced. It was also pure muscles from head to toe. This wolf looked as if it ate steroids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“Oh, my God,” was all I could say as the large wolf rushed down past us to the opposite side of the building I came out of. “Who is that?”
“Bray,” Alexis replied.
“He...doesn’t...”
Alexis turned his head slightly to the left so that he could look at me over his shoulder. “Look like us?” When I nodded, he said, “I know. He’s of the royal family, remember? The purest of the bloodlines. Come on. We have to go.”
“Where?” I didn’t feel safe pinned against the wall, but the idea of heading into the woods didn’t appeal to me in the slightest either.
“Kyran is just beyond the caves, waiting for you.” He turned, grabbed my arm, and started toward the same hill the giant of a werewolf had run down from.
I walked alongside him, looking back only when a series of growls broke out. I had no problem at all spotting Bray, his huge form stood over one of the wolves, claws gleaming in the sunlight as he threatened the much smaller wolf. His intent was clear.
Unable to watch him finish the wolf off, I looked away.
“What’s going on?” I glanced over to the picnic table where Angela had been but I found it empty. “Where’s Angie?”
“I don’t know. She wasn’t there when I got here. I’m guessing someone must have whisked her away. I heard a car drive up as I was running down here, but I couldn’t see who it was,” he explained. “Come on. Hurry.”
“But...your car?” I spared a glance to the car an
d realized why Alexis was taking me up the hill as opposed to taking me back to the car and driving off. For what I could see, it appeared as if something had been done to the motor. There were a bunch of cables hanging loose and the battery, broken in half, lay next to the driver side wheel.
“We need to get going,” Alexis warned. He urged me up the hill, but it wasn’t easy for me. With my bad leg, I could only go so fast and the more I tried to hurry up, the more my knee hurt. Alexis didn’t give up though. He kept me going in spite of my groans of pain, practically dragging me farther into the dense woodlands.
Eventually, once we’d traveled quite a distance to where I could no longer hear Bray’s larger than life roars, I pulled my arm free of his fingers and leaned against a tree. I massaged my knee, taking extra care in not aggravating it more.
“I can’t, Alexis.” I fought to keep my breath under control. I was exhausted. “It hurts too much.”
He stood next to me and took a moment to observe the area around us.
“We need to keep moving. There are more of them coming.”
“I need to rest.” I gazed up at him and pleaded with my eyes for a break. It was a life and death situation. This I knew all too well, but I was already fatigued, and the throbbing in my knee wouldn’t let up.
“Come here.” He slid one arm under my knees and the other behind me, picking me up off the ground. “We’ll probably take less time this way.” He gave me a reassuring smile before taking a sharp turn to his left, continuing down a path that led to one of the many small caves scattered throughout the park.
“What’s really going on?”
“Hold on. I’m getting you out of here.” He jogged without a problem in spite of the fact that he carried me in his arms. He didn’t even break a sweat nor did he get out of breath.
“I’m sorry, Alexis. You were right.” He’d had reason to doubt Angela, and I had defended her along with Kenny. Though I hadn’t seen Kenny, I was very open to the idea of accusing him of being behind this setup too. As far as I was concerned, everyone else were conspirators.
“Not now, Princess.” Even our current predicament couldn’t put a hitch in Alexi’s humor. The smile he rewarded me with testified to how unbelievably patient he was—even under stressful situations. “We can have the whole I-told-you so speech later.”
I looped my right arm around his neck and held on as he picked up pace, running now instead of jogging. I wanted to ask where he was taking me since he was going deeper into the park instead of the main road, but I didn’t want to distract him in case he was listening for potential threats. So I bit my lip and glanced behind him over his shoulder.
It was only a glimpse—barely a speck of reddish brown fur—but the second I saw it I knew things were about to turn deadlier.
“Alexis!” I screamed, but it was too late. In moments, I felt myself flying as the creature careened into Alexis, forcing his grip on me to break abruptly. I hit the floor with a sickening thud, my left shoulder taking the brunt of my fall. I groaned and winced as I tried to move, but found myself out of breath and in a lot of pain.
I opened my eyes, looking for Alexis, but all I could see was a pair of blurry figures wrestling nearby. One of them wore clothes. The other did not. One was in full werewolf form and appeared to have some form of advantage because of it. But both of them were in a battle that could very possibly end in death.
I squeezed my eyes shut and settled my head back down on the ground. I needed a moment to regain my bearings. Everything hurt, my extremities especially. My head throbbed. My knee ached. My entire body screamed in agony. That had been one hard fall. I wasn’t sure my body could take more of what I’d dealt with already—and so soon after Santos practically put me on death’s doorstep.
I lay on my back and released some air. I breathed in softly and exhaled gently. At last, I could take a breath without feeling as if I was choking on air. My relief was short-lived, however. Pain radiated down my left shoulder to the tips of my fingers and respite was soon replaced with discomfort. I had no idea if my arm was broken or if I’d a dislocated shoulder, but it hurt badly enough that I thought either was a possibility.
I reached up with my right hand and felt along the top of my shoulder. Nothing stuck out so I took that as a sign that maybe I had no broken bones. “Alexis,” I whispered.
I heard a snap. A quick but very audible crunching of bone moments before something landed just a few feet away from where I writhed in pain on the leafy ground. Fear coursed through me. I was terrified to open my eyes and see Alexis lying still next to me. The image alone was responsible for the sense of panic that soon took hold of me.
“Marjorie.” A wet hand touched the side of my face, startling me. “Are you okay?”
I opened my eyes and found Alexis kneeling to my right. “Alexis, I was so scared to find out you were the one lying next to me, dead.”
He reached down to help me sit up. “I’m fine. Albeit, I can’t say the same thing for the other wolf.” He nodded in the direction of the werewolf.
“I don’t want to see,” I admitted. One time witnessing the carnage with my own eyes was more than enough. I did not need a reminder.
“We have to hide.” He placed a hand under my arm to help me up.
I leaned on him, trying my best to put most of my weight on my good leg, while trying to pull myself upward with my good arm. It wasn’t easy but somehow I managed to stand and face him.
“Hide? Here? Why?”
“We’ll never make it to Kyran. There are two groups of wolves. Both are flanking us.” He pointed behind him over his shoulder, and repeated the process with me. “If we run forward or back they’ll overpower me. I need to hide you long enough for Bayard and the Trackers to get here.”
I cocked my head to the side, trying to put my ears to good use, and listened very carefully to my surroundings, but I couldn’t make out anything except for the chirping of some birds somewhere nearby, which suddenly grew silent. This, I took, as an indicator that something was coming our way.
“Bray is heading this way. He’s right behind the other wolves. I know there are a series of caves around this area, but I haven’t had time to case them out. Which one is the closest?”
“Yes. Some were closed down to the public because of potential endangerment but some are still open. There’s the Crystal Cave not far from here.”
Alexis pulled me off my feet, and said, “You guide us. I’ll take us there.”
I pointed to his right. “Down the slight incline and to the left.”
He nodded and took off running toward the cave I’d mentioned. I held on as well as I could, biting my lip every time he jumped over a fallen log or a rock formation. The motion sent fresh waves of sharp pain down my arm. I didn’t know what was wrong with it, but I was convinced something had to be broken or dislocated.
Unfortunately, I had no time to put too much time into it. I had bigger problems chasing after us.
In less time than it would have taken me had I hiked my way to the cave, he found the location and carried me inside. Depositing me carefully on top of a small boulder, Alexis turned and glanced out the entrance of the cave.
“How deep is this cave?” he asked, his eyes never stopping in their observation of the land beyond the mouth of the cavern.
“I haven’t been in here in a long time, but I remember Tracy and I found a small room to the left,” I explained. I rubbed my knee vigorously, trying to get rid of the soreness. “This one is the biggest cave in the park. It got its name because back in the early 1900’s some tourist found a small crystal in that room I told you about. But a lot of people questioned the authenticity of his story when excavators dug and explored the cave for months and never found any other crystals or minerals of any kind.” I spoke to keep myself calm. I wasn’t even sure Alexis was paying attention to me, but I needed to hear the sound of my own voice. It was a cruel reminder that I wasn’t dreaming. This was actually happening. Angela had se
t me up and the only person keeping the wolves from getting what they wanted was Alexis.
It was hard for me to maintain complete composure because I knew things were looking bad for us. We were being hunted down and one little mistake could cause the loss of valuable lives.
“Is there room back there big enough for you to hide?”
I gaped at the back of Alexi’s head. “Why? You’re not leaving me here, alone. Not again. You promised you wouldn’t go far and then they came after me.”
His shoulders slumped a bit. “I’m so sorry, Marjorie. I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but things got complicated and I ended up having to put a few more betas down.”
Something had kept Alexis from making his way back to me. But where were the others? Where was Kyran? Gage? Simone? Bayard?
“Alexis, please, tell me what’s going on.”
“The alpha sent his top Trackers.”
My fingers instinctively wrapped around my wrist and squeezed in an effort to keep me under control. There was only so much I could take, and I was one bad news away from my breaking point. My heart was pounding so hard inside my chest, I was sure it could be heard a mile away.
Living in fear was not living.
“These aren’t just any Trackers, right?”
“No. These are top dogs. They are not here to play.”
Even though Alexis couldn’t see me since his back was to me, I nodded briskly, my nervousness showing with every dip of the head.
“So, he’s finally coming after me.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Bray won’t let him get you. We won’t let him get to you.”
Being optimistic wasn’t very easy, considering we were trapped in a cave with two groups of werewolves heading right toward us.
“Is Kenny involved?”
“Damn it.” Alexis turned to face me. “I’m sorry, Marjorie.” He rushed over, kneeled down next to me, and shut his eyes. “Things have just taken a turn for the worse. I won’t let them hurt you. I won’t let them win. If they get their hands on you, there’s no saying what they will do.” His eyes opened and stared up at me, the irises glowing a shade of silver. “You’re going to have to forgive me for this.”
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