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CHAPTER TEN 
     
EMERY
When I wake up, I’m being smothered in fluff. As I wallow around in the dark trying to figure out which way is up, and why it’s so fucking fluffy in here, my back hits against a prickly wall. I still, fighting off the panic starting to bubble inside me over the thought of being enclosed in something. That’s when I remember I have the flashlight and start smacking around for it.
“What’s going on?” Graham asks.
I ignore him but he has a hard time ignoring me when I smack his face in my hunt.
He lets out a grumble. “Stop. What do you want? The flashlight?”
I hear him pick it up before plopping it down in my hand with some wolf saliva included. Quickly, I turn it on, shining it right into his eyes as the sight of him calms me.
Which is ridiculous. If anything, it should make me more uneasy.
He squints at me, so I turn the light off before realizing I’d really prefer it on and turn it back on, right into his eyes again.
He sets a paw on the flashlight, pushing it down. “Can you stop blinding me?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Well, try.”
“I don’t know that I want to,” I realize as I lift the flashlight out from under his foot and very slowly move it toward his eyes. “Seeing you in pain is distracting me from my pain.”
Graham sighs, clearly not too in love with my explanation as he sets his paw on it again. “I see.”
I look down at where his paw is brushing against my hand. “Good, I’m glad you can see with my flashlight in your eyes. It’s impressive. I’d actually assumed it’d be hard to see.”
He sighs again and uses his paw to push the light back down. “How’s your arm?” he asks before shifting. Clearly, it doesn’t matter what I say because he takes the light from me and pins me down to check it over. “Still looks a bit red.”
He unwraps it and grabs the first aid stuff he’d brought with him before cleaning and wrapping it again.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I want out of here,” I admit. “Being locked in this little… hay cave is driving me crazy. I really do want out. Do we actually have to wait for the kid to come back?”
He hesitates as he looks up, like he can see through our hay fort and the barn roof to tell what the weather is doing. “I can still hear the storm raging on; I’m not sure it’s going to slow anytime soon. But when it does, we can be on the road again. I’d really like to at least get some directions out of the kid. If the next town over is twenty miles from here… we want to make sure we’re going the right way.”
“What if we steal the car from him?” I suggest. “They have to have a vehicle.”
Graham seems to think about it for a moment. “I really don’t like the idea of doing something illegal when trying to flee. While I know in the grand scheme of things that stealing a car isn’t the worst, it’s still something that could be used against us to make it seem like Stone’s men are in the right because suddenly, we’re nothing more than liars and thieves. Before you know it, ‘killers’ will be tacked on, even if we didn’t do anything. If we can find someone to willingly drive us or walk, it’d be best,” he says, always the saint.
I sigh because I’m more than prepared to say “fuck you” to all of them and take what I need to get away from here. I really just want to get to the village. Will that even offer me any more safety or save my sanity? I’m not sure but getting away just seems like the best thing to do right now.
“You’re getting yourself worked up again,” Graham says, snapping my attention back to the matter at hand.
I narrow my eyes at him. “No, I’m not.”
He gives me “the look” which makes me feel like being even more stubborn. “Okay, there is absolutely no way for me to know how you feel with all of this, so let’s do something to help or distract you,” he says, voice soft as it often is when dealing with me for some weird reason.
“I’m fine. I don’t need help or anything,” I say.
“So stubborn. Let’s play a game. Who is more stubborn, Quinn or you?”
Well, that’s easy. “You. I win. What do I win?”
“I don’t know. What do you win?” he asks.
“Striptease.”
Graham glances down at his rather clothesless self. “I’m already naked.”
“Then I guess you just gotta dance,” I say.
He chokes down his laugh, which makes me smile a little bit despite myself. “I’m not a dancer. Trust me. I’ve tried going to bars and have been talked into dancing a time or two, but it never ends well.”
I’m rather amused by this idea. “I want to see you dance.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t. Emery… I really do want to help you,” he says as he holds a hand out to me, like he wants to cup my face.
“I don’t know why.”
“Because you’re worth it. You seem to have this very negative opinion of yourself, but you’re worth way more than that,” he says, which I think is just ridiculous.
I’m just not sure I can get myself to understand this. “Why do you like me? Why are you trying to help me or care about me? Why don’t you just… find someone better?”
Graham reaches out to me and plucks some hay out of my hair. “Why do you think there’s someone better?”
“You’re like talking to a wall,” I growl.
He groans the moment I turn defensive. “And you’re like talking to a rock.”
“I’d rather be a rock than a wall.”
“Well, I’m more than pleased being a wall,” he says.
I sigh and drop my head, sort of ashamed of myself for instantly snipping at him. “I don’t want you to end up being an asshole. I have nothing left to give, Graham. I lost a part of myself when my family left me. I lost another part when Stone and Mercer destroyed me. And I lost the final part when Raylon took what was left. There’s nothing left of me to give, so stop trying to find something there.”
Graham looks determined. “They didn’t take any of you, Emery. You’re all still right here in front of me. All they did was stab you in the back and make you feel like the reason you were alone was because of you. Did you ever stop and think that it wasn’t you? It was never you? It was all them?”
I hesitate as I try to think of something to say back to him, but I don’t even know what to say anymore.
Thankfully, I’m saved from having to say anything by the sound of the barn door opening and the noise of the rain magnifying. As the door swings shut, Graham listens carefully.
“I-It’s just me… if you want to come out. I brought more food,” the teenager says.
Graham pushes the hay bale back and slips out first to make sure things are alright. I’m more than relieved to get out and follow suit, not at all taking note of his bare ass as he crawls out.
Why is he trying to get in my head? Why is he trying to reason with me? And why is my shifter side trying to assure me he’s right?
A few others come out, including Brennan, but the rest stay hidden.
The teenager seems reserved as he holds a box out to Graham. “Food. I know it’s not a lot…”
“This is wonderful. Thank you,” Graham says as he gives him a big smile. “Do you know how much longer this storm is going to be going on for?”
“Um… I think it’s dialing down and should end in the next hour, maybe?”
“Can you get us a phone we can call someone with?”
“I-I only have a regular house phone, but I can’t… I can’t let you call anyone. You’d have to go into the house and my pa would see,” he says as I notice he’s fumbling with his wrist. There’s something off about this kid.
In my cold delirium of last night, he just seemed like a quiet kid willing to help, but I’m starting to question that.
As the teenager turns to do something, I press into Graham and whisper, “There’s something going on, we need to go. Get him to tell us where the way out is.”
Graham nods and follows the kid. “So when we get going here, which way is the best way out?”
“You can’t go yet, my pa might see,” he says nervously.
“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t leave until later,” Graham says. “You said you’d let us know when we were good to go.”
He nods slowly. “Yeah… but… I’ll get you a map. A map would be best.”
Graham gives him another soft smile, but I’m done playing with the kid and rush up to him. He immediately cringes back like I’m going to hit him, but instead, I grab his wrist and yank his sleeve up, revealing a deep bruise.
“Who hurt you?” I ask.
“N-No one,” he says as he pulls back, eyes averted. I’d been through enough foster care to see the signs of a kid who is being abused.
“Do you want me to make it so he can never hurt you again?” I ask.
He hesitates before shaking his head. “Nothing’s going on… I have to go.”
I step in his way so he can’t make a quick escape. “You don’t have to go back to him.”
“It’s not…” He shakes his head and turns toward the door before pulling it partway open. He stops in the open doorway before looking back at us. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Graham asks.
He bites at his lip. “I-I wasn’t just… out last night,” he says. “My pa sent me out… to find you guys. They thought you’d trust a kid… they’re hurrying to… to get here. To take you guys. You have to run. But please, take me with you.”
“Get your horse and let’s go,” I say to the boy as Graham seems to process this information.
“How far away are they?” Graham asks.
The kid shakes his head. “I don’t know. I was just doing what my pa said.” Then he rushes out the door and into the sprinkling rain, presumably to get his horse.
“Fuck,” Graham says. “I should have known better than this. I should have… fuck. Come on, everyone.”
As everyone begins to gather around, Graham slides the door open just a crack to look out. “Closest way into the woods is the way we came from. We’re going to be backtracking some, but we might have to in order to make a wide berth around the farm.”
“Let’s get moving,” Will presses as the rest come out from their hiding spots to join us.
“I’ll wait for the kid,” I urge Graham.
“No, you’re not waiting,” Graham says as he reaches for me. “Come on.”
I stare at him in pure defiance so he takes a deep breath. “Umm… Brennan—” he starts, like he’s planning on having Brennan lead them.
“Graham, go. Literally, if you don’t lead your pack right now, you might risk everyone’s lives,” I say.
He grabs for me again, like he’s just going to drag me after him if I don’t go with him now, but I give him my most stubborn expression, making him hesitate. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I ask, wondering if he’s just waiting for me to let my guard down to drag me off.
Graham nods, even though he looks hesitant. “Please, Emery. Please don’t get hurt. Please come as soon as you can, and if something seems sketchy, leave the kid.”
“Got it,” I say, knowing fully that I’ll do whatever I want.
I’m a bit stubborn like that.
Graham hesitates. “I hear movement.”
If it were the kid, I’m pretty sure Graham wouldn’t have hesitated, so I step up behind him as the door slides open and the young man stands there. He looks terrified and it’s clear why when I see a man standing behind him with a gun.
“Now, all of you need to quietly get the fuck back in there and just wait patiently,” the man says.
I hook Graham’s arm and pull him back, even though he clearly wants to face the man. Then I slowly start moving my way back toward the stacks of hay.
The human gives me a cruel smile. “That’s right, now all of you, sit down in a fucking circle and just wait patiently,” he says as he pushes the kid who’s presumably his son to the side and aims his rifle at us. “Come on now.”
Graham looks over at me as though I might have some magical way of getting us out of here alive. If I had more time, I’d have tried to find a way out the back to end this, but any kind of movement will instantly draw attention.
“What the fuck, man? We didn’t do anything wrong,” Will says.
“Down. Now.”
Graham waves for him to sit down and Will looks at him expectantly, like he wants him to just become a bullet sponge in the off chance it’ll stop the situation somehow.
“Sit,” Graham says, and Will kneels down before sitting next to Jayla who has Willow pulled close.
Graham guides the others down before reaching for me. But I can hear something outside the door—a movement that seems to be drawing the attention of our captor.
“What the fuc—”
The man reels back as I see the shovel slam into the back of his head, presumably wielded by his son. I shift and slam into the man, driving him to the ground. But the man is like a fucking brick. Even as he goes down, he doesn’t stay down and slams the butt of his gun into my bad shoulder.
Pain shoots up into my chest and down into my paw as I see black a moment before I hit the ground on my back. I look up as I notice the barrel of the gun line up right between my eyes a moment before Graham slams into him, tearing him to the ground.
“Run,” Brennan growls as he takes off, leading the way as a good handful of the shifters rush after him. Graham grabs for me as I hear a gunshot ring out. I look up, startled as I realize the first human wasn’t alone.
“Please, stop. They’re not hurting anybody,” the teen says as the newcomer grabs his wrist and yanks him forward before swinging his gun toward Graham. I do the best thing I can think of and push forward, grabbing onto the throat of the first man. The gun shifts to me, but he has to know that if he fires, I’m going to crush the man’s throat. I’m going to absolutely destroy him, and no one will stop me.
“Let go of him,” he says as the man I have the throat of draws really still.
Graham slides forward so he’s between me and the gun as the teen stops moving, jerking the man to a stop.
“I told you this was a tricky fucking game you’re playing,” the man still standing says to the one I have ahold of.
That’s when I see a flicker of something behind them.
Brennan.
He must have swung around the back after escaping into the trees. He lets out a growl and the man, startled, shifts his gun quickly, but it’s too late. The moment the gun is off me, Graham shifts and grabs onto him, tearing him to the ground.
I clamp my fangs down until the man stops moving, but I don’t think it’s long enough to have killed him. Graham was right. As soon as we start adding bodies (especially human ones) to the mix, we’d end up the bad guys no matter what the others had done to us.
The teen looks terrified as Graham shifts again and grabs his arm. “They’re alive, come on. If you’re going with us, get your horse,” he urges as he waves to the teen’s horse that is saddled but standing in the middle of the yard, like his father had ripped him away from it before he could make his escape.
He gives a nod and runs for the horse that he climbs onto and urges into a trot to meet up with us. He reaches down for me, making me hesitate as I realize he’s wanting me to ride behind him because of my arm.
“I’m fine,” I say to Graham, even though it’s throbbing from the hit.
“Shift, at least for now,” Graham says. “We’re going to have to run hard.”
I hesitate before shifting. Before I can even get situated, Graham grabs me and throws me onto the back of the horse.
“Can we take one of the vehicles?” I ask pleadingly.
The teen shakes his head. “There’s only one road leading out, and according to my pa, they’re coming for you on it. They’ll stop you before you get far. I know a way that’ll lead us around to a different way out.”
“How did your father know we were coming?” I ask.
The teen shrugs. “I don’t know. He got a call. Maybe from one of his military friends? I don’t know. But they told him to find you guys. Pa told him he couldn’t handle all of you with just us. Then he came up with the idea of having me lead you back. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it.”
I shrug since it’s not like he could have done something else.
I grab onto the saddle, feeling a bit awkward and naked and having no idea what I’m doing on the back of a horse, but the kid pushes her into a faster gait. My hands tighten as it turns from bumpy to a smooth rocking motion as he directs the horse straight down the road. It isn’t long before the rest of the pack fall in line.
“I’m going to die,” I realize as I squeeze tightly onto the saddle. “I would rather hurt my arm further than go through this torture.”
“I won’t let you die,” he says, but he’s also like a child—okay, maybe he’s not even ten years younger than me, but still, he knows nothing.
“How old are you?” I ask curiously.
“Fifteen.”
As I guessed. “What’s your name?”
“Otis. Yours?”
“Emery.”
“Emery… I’m afraid I’m making a mistake,” he says as he directs the horse deeper into the woods.
“It’s because your father abused you long enough that you assume you are. You’re not.”
He doesn’t seem convinced but gives me a hard nod anyway and keeps moving.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER ELEVEN 
     
QUINN
I can’t stop pacing. Rowan was supposed to call me immediately after meeting his father yet I haven’t heard anything from him. He had Ari send me a text before they reached the location, but that was well over forty minutes ago. Is he still talking to his father? And if so, why the hell won’t he or Ari answer their phones?
Logan is horribly quiet as he sits across from me. I’m sure he’s just as panicked as I am, but he’s much more sensible and just sits calmly while I do everything in my power not to appear like I’m losing my mind.
“I’ll be right back,” I say with a smile before darting outside and nearly running face-first into Enzo and Harper.
Enzo used to be in charge of Apollo’s security and manned the gate while we were at the pride. Now I have him here helping Trenton out with security until Graham returns. He’s been doing an amazing job and seems to work well with Trenton who has really stepped up.
“Enzo, just the person I was looking for,” I say as I rush over to him.
“Of course, alpha,” he says, turning to me as Harper hesitates, unsure if she should follow or not.
“Harper, you can help too, if you want.”
“Sure,” she says as she hurries over. “Anything you need.”
I really hope I’m not being unjustly anxious. “I might be… let’s say… jumping the gun here, but I’m afraid something happened with Rowan and Ari, and I have to head there now,” I say. “Stay on high alert. Everyone stays inside, no one leaves their homes.”
“I could go for you, sir,” Enzo says. “I honestly don’t mind.”
I shake my head, knowing that there’s no possible way I could just sit here while someone else went out to fetch Rowan.
“Quinn,” Logan says as he walks up behind me.
I slowly turn to face him, not sure I want to when I know fully well he’s going to try to be all sensible and shit with me. “Yeah?”
“Just calm down. I’ve alerted Deke what’s going on and he’ll get a crew headed there. Police officers from that jurisdiction will be able to be there within five minutes and search the area.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. I suppose that makes more sense than me driving two hours at breakneck speeds only to find that Rowan was just having a heart-to-heart with his father.
Sounds unlikely, though. It’s more probable that Ari and Rowan are performing a sacrifice using George’s body.
I pull out my phone and call Rowan again. When the phone doesn’t go to voicemail this time but is answered, relief floods through me.
“Hello?” Silence. “Rowan?” I ask, since he’s not answering.
“Not quite,” a familiar voice says. “I take it this is Quinn?”
It takes me a moment to realize exactly who’s on the other end of the phone. “Raylon… what the fuck is going on? Why do you have Rowan’s phone?” I ask, dread filling me.
“Why do I have Rowan, you mean?” he asks, sounding quite pleased with himself.
My stomach drops as the realization sets in that he’s with Rowan. He has Rowan. No, no, no. I knew better than to send him without me. Why did I do that? I shouldn’t have even let him go.
“Really, Quinn, we just want you. Nothing has to happen to Rowan if you just listen to me,” Raylon says, voice sharp.
How the hell could this have happened? Were they following him? My hand clutches tightly onto the phone as I listen to him. “What do you want?”
“Equal exchange. You for him and the short one,” he says.
“Fine, where at?” I ask, knowing I’d drive anywhere to get Rowan back.
“I’ll send you a location, and I want you to come alone. If you come with anyone else, we’ll kill Rowan and that little annoying thing,” he says. “Understood?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there,” I say. “It’s about a two-hour drive for me to go where Rowan was heading.”
“How about I throw you a bone, and we’ll meet in the middle. Don’t delay or you’re going to pay for it, understand?”
I don’t even know what to say to him. I don’t know that there is anything to say to him, so when he hangs up, I just lower the phone. Quickly, I try to think of some lie to tell Logan, Enzo, and Harper, who are all staring at me.
“Raylon?” Harper whispers. “Raylon’s got them?”
“I’ll get them back,” I say as I stuff my phone in my pocket and rush back for my house to grab keys. Before I get far, Logan snatches my wrist and I’m dragged to a stop.
“Quinn—”
“I’m sorry, this is my fault,” I say, knowing he has to feel as awful as I do knowing Ari is with them. “I promise I’ll get Ari back.”
“Quinn, I need you to think clearly for a moment,” Logan says. How can he sound so calm? “If you go to them, they probably won’t let Rowan and Ari go or even do an exchange. They’ll use them as leverage against you, like they are now.”
I shake my head before pulling free and rushing into the house. “It doesn’t matter, I need to get them back. I have to get them back. I’ll do anything.” Grabbing the keys, I turn, only to find Logan blocking the doorway. “Don’t you want Ari back?” I ask as I catch his eyes, confused why he’d even hesitate.
“Of course I want him back. I want him back more than anything. But right now… I need you to think. We need to talk to Deke and make a plan of action.” He steps up to me and sets a hand on each shoulder. “Raylon is planning on using your bond against you. He wants you to rush in and fuck up, but you’re not going to, okay? You’re going to stop. You’re going to think about your pack—about getting our men back safely and keeping yourself out of it. The issue is, even if Raylon does an even trade, what do you think Rowan’s going to do?”
I grimace, realizing he’d rush after me like the last time and get captured all over again.
Logan nods. “You’ll have accomplished nothing.”
My phone beeps, so I pull it out and look down at the address Raylon wants me to meet him at.
“We’re going to head there together and alert Deke about what’s happening. We’re going to work some things out during the drive, and if we have to, you can drop me off somewhere if he wants to meet alone,” Logan says.
I take a deep breath before nodding. “Okay. Thank you. You’re right. I’m sorry. When it comes to those two, I think I’d just give up everything for them.”
He smiles at me. “I’m well aware, and I would too. I’m going to get some supplies. If you so much as get in that car without me, I will hunt you down.”
“I won’t,” I assure him, and I know I need to listen because right now, I need someone with me to calm me down so I don’t make a mistake.
While I wait for him to return, I set Harper and Enzo up with the task of alerting the others and keeping everyone safe.
“We’ll be just fine,” Harper assures me.
“I know. Just don’t… let anything happen… keep them as safe as you can, so maybe cram everyone into the town hall.”
Enzo gives me a big smile. “I’ve been on guard duty for many years. I promise I have it down.”
I’m sure he does, but it still feels weird passing my pack over to someone who isn’t Graham or Logan. Trenton and Kaiya see what’s going on, and I’m grateful for their help as well. Once the four of them set to work, I lean against my car, trying to reassure myself that my pack is in good hands. Then I start examining the location Raylon has given me. It seems to be in the middle of nowhere, but so are most locations in this area. If my phone is correct, it might be a parking lot for a hiking trail or overlook.
When Logan returns laden down with gun cases and on the phone with Deke, I feel a smidge more at ease, but anxiety is still roiling inside of me. The moment he’s seated in the car, I slide behind the wheel and notice he’s put the call on speaker so I can hear Deke.
“As soon as you send me the location, I’ll get you information on it. The officers who have reached the initial location see no sign of Rowan, Ari, or the others. We have them searching the area, and we’ll be back with you as quickly as I can. Please don’t do anything without consulting me first,” Deke says.
“We won’t,” Logan agrees.
“We’ll get them both back. We won’t stop until we do,” Deke assures him and the two end their call.
“I should never have let him go without me,” I say.
“There’s nothing you can do about the past. You can only keep your eyes on the future. Now let’s make them regret this.”
I nod, really hoping we can.
      
ROWAN
“Who are you working for or what are you doing?” I ask my father as Ari flies down the road. It’s clear he’s heading in the direction of the pack, but I’m not quite sure if that’s the correct call. If my father is working with them, they shouldn’t see our pack, but on the other hand, they probably already know everything about us that they need to know.
What I really need to do is stop and call Quinn to find out what he wants me to do with my father and this information.
The only issue is this area is pretty desolate, and we haven’t come across a stop yet to call anyone. And then when we do, how do I keep my father from screaming for help? Of course we’ll look like the bad guys since we’re shifters.
“Rowan, I have no information to give you,” my father says, rather calm for being back here with a gun aimed at him. “What do you possibly want from me? I tried my best to keep you out of it. I tried to separate you from all of this. I could have called you to me weeks ago but I didn’t want to risk dragging you into it. But I’m no longer given a choice.”
I’m trying to do everything in my power to not freak out. To remain calm and keep my voice steady. “Why would you do this? Why would you ruin so many lives? You have to know what you were doing.”
Father looks me dead in the eyes, clearly not at all concerned about the situation. “Ruined lives? They’re merely animals, Rowan. I don’t hear you crying about the lab rats or mice that get experimented on.”
“That’s not fucking right either, but these are people you’re talking about. They are the same as you,” I say, knowing that would send my father over the edge. How dare I compare him to a shifter!
Father’s face sours at that sentence. “They are nothing like me. Your mother deceived me. She lied to me because she thought she could trick me into treating her like she was a human. She regretted that the moment I found out what you and Brennan were. I tried fixing her too, but there was no hope for her.”
“What?” I ask as the information sinks in. “You told me she left! You made me think for years it was my fault my mother left. You… you…”
My mind flashes back to my father keeping me and my brother locked up in the basement, not only that but refusing to let us out of the darkness in order to “repent” for what we’d done. But it wasn’t my fault. He always acted like it was my fault my mother left and my leopard came forth, but I couldn’t control my shifter side. “What did you do to my mother?” I ask. He’d told me for years she left because of me—because of what I was. At that time, I hadn’t realized shifters took after their mother, because my father refused to educate us on shifters. The only thing we were allowed to know was how disgusting they were. How they were freaks of nature. How we were awful.
I’m so caught up in my own mind that when Father lunges at me, I don’t react until he slams my head against the window. I jerk back as he grabs for the gun but I just barely manage to pull it out of his reach as he moves in.
“You fucking…” he growls as he grabs for me. I pull back and kick him right in the side, shoving him back as Ari jerks the wheel, startled. It knocks my head into the window again, making pain creep into the back of my head.
“Stop moving or I’ll—” Ari stops talking as my father takes that moment to grab the seat belt and wrap it around Ari’s throat.
Desperately, Ari grabs for it as he slams on the brakes while I quickly reach for my father before remembering I have a gun in my hands. “Let go of him,” I order as I aim the gun for his chest. Sadly, the shot Ari got in on him back at the parking lot seems to only be a nick on his shoulder that isn’t bothering him too badly.
Father smirks as he shakes his head, like I’m being absolutely foolish. “You wouldn’t shoot me.”
“Yes, I would,” I say, more determined than he’ll ever know as the years built around his abuse start to consume me. Why did I let him control me for so long? Why did I think it wasn’t abuse?
And just as I go to pull the trigger to get him off Ari, the car dips down into a ditch and we’re all thrown forward. My head slams into the seat in front of me as the car lifts into the air before it hits down on the hood. I’m disoriented as I hang from my seat belt while the car begins to slide down the hill that’s along the side of the road. It doesn’t make it far before it rams itself into the side of a tree with a loud crunching of metal.
Suddenly, my father slams his foot against the side of my head, making my vision black as I feel him grab for the gun that I’d lost at some point in the crash. As my vision clears and the disorientation begins to leave me, I realize the back door is open and my father is scrambling up the side of the hill.
“Ari, are you okay?” I ask as I look into the front seat where he’s struggling with his seat belt.
“I’m either alive or dead, I can’t tell,” he says.
“Fucking hell, what a mess,” I say as I push against my seat belt, letting it release which sends me crashing down onto the roof of the car. Instead of continuing to fumble around in my human form, I quickly shift and slip out of the vehicle as I turn to see my father nearly to the top of the hill. He hears me and turns on me, gun I’d lost held in his hand as I fixate on him.
There’s no way he could outrun me, but he sure as hell could still shoot me. “Fuck off, Rowan. You don’t want me to have to kill you, do you?” he asks, and I wonder if he would. Is every ounce of him that once cared for me completely gone?
I can’t speak to him, but I’m sure my father doesn’t need words to tell how pissed I am. Why this monster thinks it’s his right to ruin my life, I’ll never know. If he hated us so much, why not just let us go? Is this his version of “love”? Or how he assumes he must care for us? By “fixing” us?
“I really don’t want to fucking shoot you, Rowan, but I will,” he says as he backs out onto the street.
I keep moving slowly toward him, truly wondering if he would shoot or not.
Suddenly, I hear sirens as I bound up onto the road just in time to see my father toss his gun into the tall grass and run toward the police car heading this way. I rush after him, too fixated on stopping my father to really think about what I’m doing.
“Police. Get on the ground!” the officer shouts as the car rolls to a stop.
“Help me! Please! This monster is trying to kill me,” Father yells, hands up in the air.
“Police, get on the ground!” he shouts again, but if I do, Father will get away. He’ll get away again and I need to stop him before he destroys everything I’ve worked for, everyone I’ve loved and cared about.
Suddenly, something slams into my side, and for the briefest moment, I think I’ve been shot until a jolt of electricity courses through me. It puts me down hard and fast as my body convulses. Someone’s on me quickly, and I don’t even realize they’re there until they have me pinned to the ground.
I need to tell them what’s happening so they understand that I’m not the bad person here, but I’m still in my leopard form and my world is spinning around. When I finally regain my senses, I see Father doing his very best to try to convince the cops that he’s innocent and this deranged shifter chased after him.
I need to get up. I need to explain what’s happening, but I can’t do anything like this.
The other officer gently guides my father back toward their car where they leave him before the two make their way over to me. I see a flash of movement and look over at the tiny ocelot peeking over the ridge. He’s camouflaged enough that I don’t think they’ll notice him if he doesn’t want to be seen.
I’m honestly not sure what I want Ari to do to help the situation, and he seems less sure than me. If only they’d let me shift so I could explain, but the guy pinning me down doesn’t seem to be planning on it anytime soon.
The other officer is making a call for backup when I hear the familiar sound of a vehicle heading toward us. In the front seat, I recognize the shifter who’d been with Raylon and Diego. I don’t see the other two with him, but they could be hiding down out of sight of the police, prepared to attack when given the chance to get my father free. The police try waving them on but when the SUV stops, the officers seem to realize something’s going on.
“Please continue on,” the officer who isn’t pinning me down says.
The driver is still as he watches them, and I struggle under the officer I’m with, wanting to get his attention to tell them. Ari, seeing what’s going on, shifts.
“They’re with the human. They’ll try to kill you!” Ari shouts.
The officer pinning me down jumps, startled to see Ari there, and the other officer swings his gun onto Ari, which is the absolute last thing he should have done.
Now that the attention is off the driver, he lunges out, shifting quickly into his other form as he goes barreling after the police. The first officer shouts at him to stop, but the shifter pays no mind to him as I see my father dart past them for the open door of the SUV the shifter had driven.
The first officer opens fire on the shifter that’s determined to kill them as the one pinning me down grabs for his gun. The shifter immediately tackles the lone cop to the ground as the man holding me down opens fire. The shifter, taking note that my father is safely in the vehicle, turns back to join him, but my father clearly isn’t planning on waiting.
He guns the SUV, slipping past the shifter and the officers as the shifter looks on in surprise. If he doesn’t know that my father is a master at stabbing people in the back by now, he’s got a lot to learn.
The shifter darts off into the woods, leaving the rest of us in silence.
“We’re innocent. That guy was trying to kill us,” Ari says as he comes out with his hands raised. “Please. Just get us away from here.”
The officer the shifter had tackled to the ground is groaning as blood oozes from a wound on his side.
“Can I help him?” Ari asks the man who seems to be at a loss for words.
“I… fuck… what the fuck was that?” he whispers.
He lets up enough that I manage to shift under him, wishing I could get up, but at least glad I can talk to him. “Please, I need to send a call to Special Agent Deke Warren. We need to stop them. We can’t let them get away.”
The man seems too shaken up to comprehend what I’m saying, and instead, rolls me onto my stomach and handcuffs me. He ushers me into the car before rushing over to help his partner. It isn’t long before Ari is also ushered in, handcuffed. And then his partner is helped into the front seat.
The lack of nearby hospitals probably leaves him with no choice but to start on the journey himself instead of waiting for an ambulance to help. The officer is busy on his radio explaining what happened, but I don’t have time to waste. “Please, Officer, we need to contact Special Agent Deke Warren. I’m with the West County Tactical Tracking team, and that man there is wanted. We have to catch him before he gets away. His name is George Sinclair.”
The officer nods. “Okay. Okay. You have a number for the department?”
“I… can’t remember Deke’s number, but he told us how to contact him if we can’t get ahold of him,” I say before giving him the information Deke had given us.
He nods and starts fiddling with his phone as I sink into the seat. My whole life has been thrown upside down, tossed into a fucking blender and turned on high without the lid on. It’s a fucking mess, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
“I’m sorry your dad is a dickbag,” Ari says quietly as he leans into me and sets his head on my shoulder, something he only ever does with Logan or Quinn.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” I say, really appreciating him being with me. Of course I’d rather Quinn be beside me, but having Ari here has made this a whole hell of a lot better.
Even if he does try to steal Quinn from me far too often. I just hope they get ahold of Quinn or Deke soon enough to make this whole thing end.