Surrender (Fated Souls Book 1)

by Elle Lincoln

  It seems almost too high, but in the next instant as another eye peers through the opening, I pull the trigger. The recoil reverberates up my arm, and I stumble back into the wall. A cry rings out, telling me I hit my mark.

  But that cruel laughter rings out, threatening to break the peace I struggled hold onto. Each shrill spike of his voice sends a shard of ice through that barrier, penetrating it. Curses sputter from the beast on the other side of the splintered door, each recounting all the things they want to do to me, but only bits of words register as my ears ring from the gunshot.

  Yet the other one stays just out of sight as he slowly peels the door back. Metal screams in the small room, and anticipation thumps inside my veins like a live wire. My arms shake from holding them up as the other man’s groans turn to whimpers until he quiets.

  “You killed him,” comes a stony voice. He doesn’t care, he’s just stating a fact, his voice cold and hard.

  I killed him. That detail slowly sinks in, trying to drown me. I let a few tears spill down my face as I refuse to regret what I did. Survival. That’s what this is. I won’t die today. I will survive.

  Just a little closer. But he peels the door back, and in a swift action far faster than my eyes can track, he rips the door from the last remaining hinge and uses it as a shield as he runs toward me.

  I’m going to die.

  No!

  I drop down just as the metal door rams into the wall above my head, causing bits of metal and wood splinters to rain down on me. I roll out of the way as hands grip my waist. My fingers tighten on the gun as my scream echoes all around me. Fear claws at my insides as I swing the gun down and shoot.

  The flash of the gun sparks in the haze of red light, the silver bullet lodging itself into my captor’s shoulder. I refuse to think about his naked body pressed against mine as his arms loosen just a bit. Blood flows down his body, his face a mask of rage and pain.

  “You bitch!” he screams, spittle flying in my face.

  I have the briefest moment to realize I know this man. He stood in front of my truck. The angry scars across his chest prove that. His grip tightens as he pushes through the pain, taking me down to the ground.

  My head slams against the cold stone, and I groan in pain, my ears ringing further. I kick and scream for all I’m worth. My finger tightens around the trigger as his blood drips on me. Once more, I aim and shoot, and this time the bullet pierces his stomach straight through to splatter on the wall behind him.

  His body goes limp and I push him off, shock threatening to steal my breath. With a cry and a heave, I scramble out from under him, darting to the stairwell where another man lies. His eyes are glassy with death, staring up at the ceiling that washes him with that red glow.

  Run, Bean, just fucking run and don’t look back.

  Chapter 23

  My sneakers squeak as I lean down and grab the flashlight I dropped. I flick it off and run up the stairs, scanning the hall through the red haze. My breaths come out in pants and wheezes, feeling tired and exhausted, while blood splatters my body. I can feel the grime and sweat lingering on my skin, and I long for a shower.

  At the top of the stairs, my fingers shake as they tighten on the trigger. Nix wouldn’t have left me. Not willingly. I push open the door, the hinges squeaking. Pulse thumping, I step into the mess hall.

  All around me, the chairs sit in scattered disarray and dishes lie in broken heaps. The tables are smashed into pieces with fur and blood coating their surfaces, spiking my nerves. Once more shock threatens to take over my body, my muscles clenching and unclenching in painful spasms. The red haze gives the room a dystopian feel. A reality that exists only in dreams and nightmares.

  I’m alone. I don’t see Nix or Dakota anywhere, which means there were probably more wolves in here than I thought. I step over the debris and head toward the door, my eyes continually darting around the room. One of the far doors flaps open in the storm, the steady thump a drumbeat in the broken space. No longer does the thunder rumble and the lightning threaten to take the building down, instead the rain falls in gentle sheets.

  I press open the door to the outside where the world sits in a state of calm. Nothing but rain greets my ears as pitch-black blankets the area, the clouds shrouding the moon and stars above.

  I wish I had even an ounce of night vision, but I’m nothing more than a human girl with intended wolf mates. I’ll add that to my demands when we are all fully mated. Blowing out a breath, I step onto the gravel drive, wincing as the sound shatters the silence.

  Yet I hear no howls. No rustling in the woods. Not a damn thing. My eyes flicker to the truck. If I can get there, I can lock myself in, grab the spare set of keys—considering one of the guys still has my keys or they were lost amongst the mess inside—and take off.

  Fear threatens to grip my muscles, and I push it down into a chasm I’ll review later. Here and now, I’m not safe. I tap my back pocket. My phone was lost somewhere inside, but inside the truck there’s a satellite phone.

  I take another step, my sneakers crunching again.

  Do I run?

  Do I take one slight step at a time and just hope no one hears me?

  Cold washes through me with my nerves. If I get through this, I will learn to become a badass. I will learn to shoot better and make lethal shots. I will hone my body into a killing machine that not only consumes doughnuts with speed, but also decimates those who try to kidnap me.

  I’m going to run for it. Here’s to hoping they didn’t lock the damn truck.

  My muscles clench and bunch. I exhale a slow breath while taking a long inhale. I flick on my flashlight. Then, at once, I push my body for all it’s worth and sprint to the truck.

  My legs scream at me, demanding an enormous bottle of meds when this is all over. Just ahead, the truck glimmers in the ray of my flashlight, and a sob tears from my chest.

  I’m so close. So close.

  I slide on the gravel, slamming into the hood, and reach for the door.

  Locked.

  No. No. No. Wait. There’s always a spare. I dart toward the tail pipe, my fingers reaching over rust and metal to the magnetic key chain Pepper installed. My fingers grip the keys just as the brush rustles in woods. I grab the keys, my heart racing and my body trembling.

  I roll to the side, staying crouched, my eyes wide as they flick from side to side. Watching, waiting for the shoe to drop, for whatever that was to chase me. To attack. Kill.

  I suppress another whimper and try to quiet my mind, wondering where the hell my mates are. My mates. My heart calms just thinking of them, of my need to get to them. I’m finally claiming them as mine. Mine to keep.

  As soon as I see them, I’m licking each one of them. If I lick it, then it’s mine.

  A crunch pulls me to the present. I can’t think about them right now. I need to survive and live to make those licks happen. I stand up, sliding the key into the lock.

  I look up. Through the windows, on the other side of the truck, a wolf stands at the tree line. Though his body is dark in the moonlight, his eyes glow with a haunting quality. His hair isn’t falling out, but he doesn’t look quite as healthy as the others. His coloring is similar to Athos’s, but I can’t be sure with the tinted windows.

  Even still, his eyes track me. I know with everything in my being that this wolf is not a part of the pack. He doesn’t belong here. Yet... I don’t fear him. That alone should bother me. Instead of my body reacting with fear, my heart slows. He may not want to hurt me, but his purpose is still unknown.

  I open the door slowly, the click like a gunshot in the dark, quiet night. The wolf’s head jerks to the side, his jaws opening in a snarl, jowls dripping. It finally freaks me out enough to react. That’s all it takes for me to move my ass. I climb into the truck, slam the door, and lock it just as his body crashes into the metal.

  I can’t think about that, not right now. My fingers shake as I insert the keys and turn the ignition over. That rumbling pu
rr washes over me, making me feel calm, but it’s nothing more than a false sense of security.

  Sliding the seat up and missing my booster, I jam the brake and throw it in reverse at the same time the headlights catch the wolf. I don’t look, I don’t watch as I keep spinning the truck and jerk it into drive.

  Feet to the floor, I tear out of there and down the driveway as fast as I can. My nerves exploding inside me.

  I don’t stop thumping and grinding down the long lane until I hit the end and throw it in park. Checking the locks, I dig under the seat for that satellite phone. My fingers wrap around what I hope is my salvation, also ending the flight response.

  As the adrenaline releases, my body shakes even more and tears spring to my eyes. I power the phone up, but before I can even send a call out, it rings. I’ve never answered a phone so fast in my entire life.

  “Hello?” My voice wobbles as I reach for my booster seat and prop it under me.

  “Sabina!” Nessa’s soft voice drifts over the line and my tears break free.

  “You are psychic!” I cry into the pitch-black of the night. I flick on my wipers as the rain picks up once, more mimicking my tears.

  “We are close, where are you?” Ash’s voice takes over, her concern clear, but her tone remains determined.

  “I don’t know.” My voice is nothing but a shaky whisper. “I don’t know if you can even get through.”

  “Leave the wards to us, Bean.” Donovan. My shoulders sag. The guys are with them. The entire crew is running to my rescue.

  But I’m not the one who needs rescuing. I’m nothing more than a coward. A sob rips from my chest in hysterical wails. I blink away the tears, but they just keep coming. My ears ring with the rush of blood as voices drift over the phone. Voices I can’t concentrate on. I wasn’t paying attention on the way here. I don’t even know where I am.

  “I left them.” My mind breaks through the haze my emotions try to drown it in.

  “Who did you leave, Sabina?” Connor’s hard, cold voice shocks me. Yet I’m silently grateful for it and the demand in his tone. It sends a pulse of shock up my spine, granting me a speck of focus.

  “Athos, Nix, Christian, and Liam. I left them.” I sit there in the dark, my washer blades flinging rain away as the storm outside picks up once again, matching the growing storm inside me.

  “Sabina, what would you have done?” comes Nessa’s soft voice. Her understanding pierces me through the phone line.

  I glance down at the gun in my hand. “I killed someone.” Reality weighs upon me like an anvil. “I killed two someones.” I would have done it again too.

  “Listen to me, Sabina.” Connor’s icy tone claims my attention. I stop sniffling long enough to listen. “As you are, there is nothing you can do, and I’m damn proud of you for killing someone who was trying to kill you.”

  “How can you even know that? How are you guys even on your way here?”

  “I saw your death in a dream.” Nessa’s tone holds a thread of worry. “Sometimes dreams are just dreams, but—”

  “She demanded we leave right away, so we did,” Ash finishes for her. “Do I need the rangers in on this, Sabina?”

  “I need—” What the hell do I need? What do I even want right now? I close my eyes as I sit there, listening to the rain pelting the top of the truck.

  “Can you feel them, Bean?” Don questions.

  I don’t even bother to wonder how he knows about my bond or any other detail for that matter. Instead, I focus on his words and what they mean to me. My heart beats in my chest, steady and calm as I concentrate. Like a little beacon, I can feel their lives wound with my own. Each one beating in time with my heart. “Yes,” I whisper.

  “Good. If you want to feel them, focus on that beat.”

  I throw the truck in drive just as a crash sounds from the back like nails on a chalkboard. Making a rookie mistake, I glance back, finding the wolf from earlier in the truck bed throwing himself at the window. A scream rips from my throat as I slam my foot onto the gas.

  The truck skids back and forth on the gravel, but that damn wolf doesn’t budge. I focus on the road as the satellite phone emits panicked voices. I bring it to my ear, the gun lying heavy in my lap, but the thought of shooting the wolf behind me churns my stomach.

  I don’t think I can harm him. Which makes this whole situation even more messed up.

  “Sabina!”

  I drive down the road, trying to jerk the wheel back and forth to dislodge the wolf. But I’m not a freaking racecar driver. Hell, I’m barely managing as it is right now.

  “Sabina.”

  “Shit.” I press the phone to my ear. “I don’t know what to do!”

  “Can you get to the cabin? We just breached the wards.” Connor’s haughty voice comes through the line.

  “Yeah.” I can. I can make it. “But I have a passenger!”

  I don’t mention I have no idea where I am.

  “That’s fine. When he sees me, he will leave.” Connor’s cruel tone sends my imagination into overdrive as I picture the serious twin shooting him in the chest. Sorrow stabs mine at the thought.

  “You can’t kill him!” I glance in the rearview mirror, still seeing the wolf even though I’m now going nearly fifty in a forty-five.

  “Sabina.” Don’s voice mirrors his brother’s, the only difference is the slight tenor.

  “You can’t kill him!” I shriek, swerving down the road.

  “Fine,” Connor grinds out. “Where are you? We just hit your lane.”

  “I have no idea.”

  “How is that possible?” he growls.

  “Not now, Irishman!” I speed down the unknown road until I swerve to a stop at an intersection. Recognition hits me, and I head off in the direction where I’m sure the cabin is. “I’m on my way!”

  Doors slam as Ash’s voice breaks through the crackle in the line. “Passcode.”

  I give her the new passcode as I see the lane entrance just ahead. The truck nearly goes on two tires as I jerk the wheel, and I mentally add learn how to drive a racecar to my list on how to become a badass and not a damsel.

  Damsel.

  My heart breaks at leaving the guys behind. But what can I do? How can I save them? I repress another sob, because never again will I feel this way.

  Never. Again.

  Ahead, the A-frame glow in my headlights. I skid to a stop behind Don’s SUV. My eyes flicker to the porch where Nessa and Pepper stand with wide eyes. Pepper didn’t once say anything while on the line. That’s unusual for her.

  I turn to see Ash walking out of the ground floor doors with a gun in her hand. Well, that answers that question. Connor and Donovan, though, are what draw my attention.

  The twins step out from around their car, their hands splayed with sneers on their faces. Though they wear jeans and basic shirts, the energy that crackles the surrounding air hits me through the truck. Their lips move, but I can’t hear the words from here. I crack the window, except all I can hear is silent chanting.

  Behind me, the wolf howls to the moon, and deep in the woods, answering howls echo back.

  Then, because as if I wasn’t living in some odd fucking twilight zone, sparks dance in Connor’s downturned palms while Don lifts his to the sky. Lightning crackles overhead.

  My heart drops.

  Mages.

  The word flickers through my head right before lightning crashes behind me, ripping through the truck. A scream tears through the cab as the wolf howls in protest. I spin around to the charred ground, then to the wolf who hops out of the truck and hauls ass into the woods.

  I can’t think. Not as the storm finally dies down, and with it, the twins’ hands relax. I just stare at them. My world crashes down around me until anger sparks in my gut.

  I try to open the truck door, but I only end up slamming it back into me since I can’t think straight. I try again, sliding down and stumbling in the gravel, the headlights still shining on the twins.

>   “Am I the only one who didn’t fucking know?” I shout to my family, my friends, anger infusing my words. “You could have warned me. I fucking left them! You could have come to me, helped me help them.”

  Donovan takes a step forward, only for Connor to smack his side, holding him back. It’s he who speaks next. “You think this is something we just talk about?”

  “Damn you. Damn you.” I point to each guilty twin then to Ash. “And damn you!”

  “Sabina.” Ash’s tone is saturated with hurt.

  But the past few days are finally catching up to me, the emotions ripping apart my insides. “How could you? I could have protected myself, I could have tried to keep them safe!”

  “Did you mate with them?” Connor asks casually, indifferent to my meltdown.

  “That is none of your business!”

  “It is my business, Sabina. If you mated with the full sub-pack, you wouldn’t be this helpless princess!” For a moment, I’m too stunned to reply, too stunned to even move.

  A roar splits through the air before a blur crashes into Connor, his body flying backward. In his place stands Christian, his face seething. He stares down at Connor then over to Don who holds his hands up, backing away.

  “That’s what I fucking thought,” Christian snarls at him.

  He can do and call him whatever he wants. I don’t even give a shit that he’s naked. A whimper escapes my lips as I run to him. My body aching and sore, I run to him.

  I toss myself at him, my hands running over his face and chest as he catches me, and I anchor my legs around his waist. “You’re okay. You’re okay.” Then reality crashes down on me. “I left you. I’m so sorry I left you. I left Nix. I left Dakota.”

  “Hey, Damsel. It’s okay. We are okay.” His hands grip my ass, hauling me closer as he buries his head in my hair. “You’re okay.” That last one, though, isn’t for me, it’s for his reassurance that I’m really there and in one piece. His inhale is long and slow. “There were too many rogues, they attacked all at once. Lying in wait. The rain hid their scents.” His words spill out, trying to tell me what happened in lumps.