Olivia’s face was ashen as she’d bent over to press a hand to the gash in her leg. Blood seeped from beneath her fingers. She watched in silence as I stepped forward to address the hybrids.
My hybrids.
“We aren’t going to kill her,” I said.
No one argued, but they didn’t back away, either.
“Not until I say. Do you hear me?” I asked when no one moved or spoke.
Emotions slid into place. Acquiescence, then certainty, and finally, loyalty. For one moment, the dozens of threads buzzing within me became a single chord.
“We hear you … master.”
I nodded like it was the most normal thing in the world to be addressed that way.
“But you’re … you’re not …” Olivia trailed off.
“A wolf?” I finished for her. She could barely nod. “I’m more of one than your son was, apparently.”
“He—he couldn’t shift. His father … Leo gave him something to stop it. Stole it from Jeremiah’s lab…”
I didn’t bother asking her to finish. I retrieved my bindings and handed them to Chris. “Tie her up.”
I watched him secure her hands. The other hybrids stood, shifting their weight restlessly. I could still feel their hunger for revenge. I couldn’t blame them, but I couldn’t allow it, either. If I did, I’d be no better than they were, than Olivia.
“What do you want me to do with her?” Chris asked.
“Put her in the box,” I said.
When Olivia was locked up, I went to Cord. She wasn’t moving. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing until I put my hand over her face and felt the wisp of breath against my skin.
“Cord?”
She didn’t respond. I traced the purple circles that covered her arms, blinking back tears. I had no idea where we were, but it was safe to say help wasn’t close. I had no idea what to do for her or if it would even matter if I tried. “Cord?” My voice broke.
I sensed someone behind me and turned. Chris stood there, his hands limp at his sides, his expression blank. I didn’t feel any particular remorse through the bond, just uncertainty.
“Where are we?” I asked him.
“Warm Springs. It’s part of the George Washington National Forest.”
“We’re still in Virginia?”
“Yes.”
“How far to a hospital?”
“An hour’s run.”
I nodded and swallowed the burn in my throat from the tears. Behind Chris, the hybrids crowded around, watchful, silent. I looked down at Cord again. Blood stained her shirt from underneath. I pulled up her shirt and found cuts across her abdomen from where rocks and twigs had scraped her. Purpling bruises blossomed across her ribs and stomach. Some were knotted and swollen. Some were already black with blood congealing under the skin. The damage was too much.
I couldn’t stop the tears. They fell on my cheeks and onto Cord’s shirt, splashing wet spots on the fabric. Chris and the hybrids stayed close but no one interrupted. The buzz in my mind dulled in comparison to my grief.
I’d failed.
Cord could die.
Nothing else mattered.
Not the hybrids, or the bond I’d just formed with an entire pack of them, not Olivia, who’d begun ranting and screaming obscenities at me from inside her wooden cage. Her curses were drowned out by my own mental tongue-lashing.
I’d been stupid to come, and Cord would die because of me.
Chapter Thirty-One
The yelling and crash of branches came to me in a fog. Tears blurred my vision, making it impossible to understand what was happening until it was too late. The first metal stake buried itself in the heart of a hybrid near the outskirts of the group. Its howl cut off sharply. The sound rocked me to the core. The pain on its heels was worse.
I clutched at my chest and bit back a scream.
Chaos followed.
Bodies—humans wielding shiny weapons—broke into the clearing. Half a dozen at first, then at least three times that surged from the trees. The leaders let loose a battle cry. Their eyes blazed, their expressions a mask of determination and controlled hate.
Hybrids dropped by the handful before the first intruder’s face registered. Even then, I wondered if I’d imagined it. No mistake, these were Hunters, but I could swear I’d seen some of them before. I couldn’t be certain through the pain—sharp jabs in my chest, twisted pangs in my gut. And my throat burned with invisible flames. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t move.
A sob escaped. I covered my head with my hands, trying to shield myself against the agony. Nothing stopped it. Like back-to-back tsunamis, the force of it rocked me. I grabbed at my hair, my hands tangling and yanking, searching for something to anchor to—or be swept away into oblivion. I heard my screams, but it felt like someone else wailing and sobbing and clawing at herself.
Then Chris was at my elbow, talking in my ear. “Attack or not? Master?”
Another hybrid fell with an abbreviated yelp. My scream matched his grunt and then we were both silent. I glanced over. His eyes, hard and unblinking, were absent of life. His body shimmered at the edges before fur and paws shifted back to a man with a strong jaw and wiry frame. Blood poured from three different puncture holes in his chest, one still sporting a stake buried hilt-deep in his flesh.
I looked at the rest of them. None were fighting back beyond basic defense. Most looked confused or uncertain and kept glancing at me. The feel within the bond confirmed their hesitation, and suddenly, I knew where the pain had come from.
“Attack,” I whispered.
Chris jumped up and gave an order I couldn’t hear. It could’ve been as simple as an expression. The sound of ripping fabric caught my ear at the same time what was left of Chris’s shorts hit the ground. His shifting was instant, and I knew he’d been holding it back all this time, waiting for my order.
Master. They kept calling me master.
The pain dialed back after that. The hybrids were relentless and vicious. Through the bond, I could feel their determination, their complete unity; they attacked because the alpha ordered it.
That knowledge made my human side a little sick. It was overwhelming and heady to be followed without question, without hesitation, in every command. Dangerous, really. The wolf in me strained against its chains. It knew its power, now, if not from me, from its pack.
Its pack.
I had a pack. The thought was surreal. Unbelievable. Terrifying.
The pain faded to a prick as my bones strained against themselves. My skin stretched tight. One of the hybrids yelped. The point of a knife grazed its shoulder and tore off a chunk of fur.
My control slipped.
Every nerve ending in my body stood on end. My scalp tingled and the end of my fingers went numb. I shut my eyes against the brightness that seemed to come from inside me. The air flickered, like an electric charge after rubbing your hands too long on your pants—times a thousand. My place in the dirt where I’d hovered protectively over Cord suddenly wasn’t the right size for my frame. It felt different. And then I knew: I was different.
My arms weren’t arms. I was all legs and nose and … fur.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think—not even to remember why I’d fought this for so long. My mind was empty to everything but instincts and senses. My muscles itched to be stretched. To run. My canines wanted something to sink into. The forest sounds were magnified, down to the simple call of the cicadas. Smells overwhelmed my nasal passage. Sweat. Dirt. Fear.
And underneath it all, pain surged through me.
I stepped back, overwhelmed.
Then, from beside me, Chris grunted. I remembered what had driven me here. My pack. The pain. I had to stop the pain. For me, and for them.
I hesitated, hating to leave Cord exposed, but the second my paws pushed off the ground, my worry faded. The moves were foreign, but even as a beginner, I was fluid, graceful. My muscles coiled and bunched like a spring, and when I pushed off, I sailed
. My feet landed silently. I felt weightless—and dangerous. Like a predator.
I shoved myself between Chris and his attacker and bared my teeth. Chris shifted to cover my flank. Dear God, I had a flank.
My attacker slashed out with his knife. His movements looked slow—laughably so. Had he been this bad before I’d shifted? Everything magnified. The trees, the dirt, even the wind. I hadn’t even felt a breeze before. The pain I’d felt through the bond wasn’t the same, either. It wasn’t exactly more bearable, but it became easier to understand. When my chest reverberated with an invisible blow, I knew where it came from. Not just that it came from my pack, but I could identify which pack member and where they were standing—or lying, by then.
Separating the buzz of emotions in my mind took no effort. Everyone had a distinct taste, and some part of me knew instinctively who was who. The connection went deeper. The loss was real, like we’d been friends, though I still didn’t even know their names, where they’d come from, what brought them here.
My attacker sliced the air again, this time getting closer to Cord. The threat registered even if he hadn’t meant it that way.
“Enough,” I said. It came out in a low growl. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you don’t back off.”
The Hunter blinked in surprise, his knife momentarily suspended. “What?” he said.
“I will call them off. Just stop the attack.”
“You’ll … I can’t.”
“They aren’t bad. It’s different now.” It was impossible to explain all that had happened in less time than it took another hybrid to fall, but I had to try. I couldn’t bear it like this. The pain might’ve been easier. The grief was not.
“Different how? You’re hybrids. Look at the eyes.”
“They changed. They don’t follow the same master anymore.”
He frowned. “Wait a minute—your eyes aren’t yellow. Who are you?”
A pang shot through me, tight and hard. I looked over in time to see a hybrid turned human again fall to the dirt in a heap. An arrow protruded from her shoulder. Her pain seized me and I felt the struggle as her heart tried to beat around the pierced tissue. My knees wobbled. My head drooped. Chris scooted in, standing over me. I could feel the protectiveness radiating out of him.
“What’s the matter with her?” the Hunter demanded.
“She can feel what’s happening to them,” Chris said.
“Stop attacking. We’ll stop too,” I said through a whimper.
The man paused, weighing our words. Someone called to him, and his eyes flickered with renewed determination. “We’ll stop when you’re dead.”
He drew back the knife and thrust it out. Even before my teeth sank into his wrist, I knew the knifepoint had been meant for Chris. I didn’t try to reason with or understand the irrational protectiveness I felt toward him. In that moment, he was my pack. I was his. We fought for each other. It was that simple.
The man’s flesh gave like tissue paper underneath my canines. His blood seeped into my mouth, awakening something dark and ugly deep inside me. He pulled against the pressure and screamed when my jaw didn’t give, and still, I held him there.
Someone hit me from behind, sending me rolling, and my jaw wrenched free. The forward motion, paw over shoulder, disoriented me. I couldn’t tell which end was up. My attacker figured it out first and pinned me. This man was faster than the last one had been. I saw the raised stake gleaming in the light, and I reacted.
My teeth closed over flesh. Blood soaked my mouth. I heard the crack of bone under my teeth and released my hold, ready to do it again if necessary. But the stake faltered. My attacker cried out, and I froze. Our gaze locked.
“Alex?” Horror washed over me. I swallowed his blood and my stomach rolled.
“T-Tara?” Pain and confusion clouded his features. He slid off me.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”
I sat up and watched him scramble away. “You bit me.” His face went white, his lips pressed together in a hard line.
“I didn’t know it was you. Are you all right?”
“You shifted,” he said, ignoring my concern and his injury to stare at me in disbelief.
“You left me.” The words were void of the accusation I’d intended. All I could do was look fixedly at his wrist, bleeding and mangled.
“I wanted to save you from … them,” he said. “It’s the only way I know.”
“They aren’t my enemy anymore.” You are, I thought. “Call your people off.”
“What? Why?” He shifted and winced, clearly in pain. His eyes were glassy now.
“They’re only protecting me. If you stop, they will too.” Another hybrid fell.
I cringed. “Alex, please,” I begged. “I can’t take this … it hurts.”
His eyes narrowed and he seemed to finally realize how much pain I was in. “Fall back,” he said, the strain in his voice distorting his words. “Fall back,” he repeated louder. He had to say it three more time before anyone took notice. One by one, Hunters ceased their attacks.
“Fall back,” I echoed and the hybrids backed away. Some looked disappointed.
Chris appeared at my side. “What now, Master?”
“Guard the prisoner,” I told him. He walked toward where Olivia still huddled in the box, shouting orders to the others. I looked back at Alex. “Thank you.” The adrenaline in me waned, leaving behind exhaustion.
“Don’t thank me. You don’t know … I messed up.”
“You’re shaking,” I said.
“It stings a little.” He attempted a smile.
I scooted closer, slowly, knowing instinctively he wouldn’t want me to hover, but unable to sit by and watch him fade like this. He didn’t protest. It scared me to think he was past the point of arguing. One of the other Hunters came forward and knelt beside him, a tall man with broad shoulders. His hair hung in his face, but the scar made him easily recognizable.
“Professor Kane,” I said.
“Tara? That you in there?”
“Yes, sir.” I wasn’t sure the title “sir” was necessary for someone who’d technically tried to kill me, but I went with it. Old habits.
“You’re a …”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
He looked from Alex back to me. “You bit him?”
“It was an accident.”
He frowned and inspected Alex’s wound without another word. For me, his silence said it all.
“There’s a clinic, a quarter mile that way,” I said, nodding toward the trail.
“Not much we can do for him there. Unless you’ve got a healer.”
“No, I … she’s not here.”
“They’re on their way,” Alex said through gritted teeth. The guilt in his words, in his expression, stopped me.
“How do you know? Where are they?” He didn’t answer. “Alex. What did you do?”
“We don’t have time for this,” Kane sad. “We’ll have to get him to the clinic and hope she shows in time. Show us the way.”
He helped Alex to his feet. I rose on four paws and found Chris over the sea of wolf faces. “I’m going to the clinic. Stay here, with her.” A growl escaped, but he nodded. I looked back at Kane who had an arm under Alex, holding him up.
“Someone else needs to carry her,” I said, gesturing to Cord. Kane gave a quick order, and another man stepped forward and scooped her into his arms.
I led the way.
Halfway to the clinic, I shifted. One minute I was limping along on four paws, the next I had two legs and two arms, one of which hung unnaturally from its socket. My knees gave out. The pain washed over me, and I heard myself let out a piercing scream that echoed around us. Before the sound died away, someone lifted me from the ground. They draped a jacket over me, but my relief was small. Being naked was nowhere near my biggest concern. My shoulder throbbed. Stabs of pain shot up and down my arm, from elbow to shoulder. The rest of my body ached and groaned against each jostling step.<
br />
I tried shifting back, craving the release of it—I hadn’t realized until now the pain had been easier as a wolf—but it wouldn’t come.
“You said they’re coming?” Kane’s voice came from somewhere behind me. “How close?”
“I don’t know,” Alex answered. “I slowed them down. Here. Speed dial four.” Alex’s voice was muffled and weak.
I heard buttons being pressed and then Kane’s voice muffled by the jacket thrown over me. The jostling continued. A moment passed and the call ended.
“Thirty minutes. Just hang on,” Kane said.
Alex grunted.
I wasn’t sure if Kane meant him or me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Tara.”
My lids fluttered. Even the thought of prying them open made my muscles ache. Could eyelid muscles get sore?
“Tara.”
The voice came again, stronger, more insistent. I recognized that voice. The sound of it brought an onslaught of mental images: blood, gnashing teeth, and mangled bodies littering the forest floor.
I wrenched my eyes open to escape it. The face that stared back at me was almost as horrific as the broken ones in my head. But at least this one was alive. Relief flooded me. I sat up and almost toppled out of my folding chair. I lifted myself off the thin mattress.
“Cord! You’re alive!”
“I feel like shit. This is all your fault.”
I smiled. Yeah. Cord was awake.
“What the hell happened? Where am I?” She looked around the room, wincing at the movement.
“We’re in the clinic. Relax, we’re safe.” Unless something happened to Alex. If that happened, I was pretty sure all bets were off. “Olivia’s in our custody,” I added when she blanched and tried to get up.
She lifted a hand as if to touch her face and then lowered it, apparently thinking better of it at the last second. “Fill me in, and make it quick. I feel like I might pass out again.”
“Not sure how much you saw—”
“Four walls and the end of a two-by-four was the extent of my view.”
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