Claiming Her Beasts (Claiming Her Beasts #1) - Dia Cole Page 0,57

street.

Bitterness filled me as I cloaked myself and followed his orders. I’d come so fucking close to having my freedom and everything I’d ever wanted, only to lose it all.

By the time Dom parked the transport vehicle inside the gates of a private school several miles away, I was drenched in blood. I’d taken out my rage on any infected who had the misfortune of stumbling close to the vehicle, and it showed.

As I tried to wipe my face clean with my hand, Dom jumped out. “Wait next to the truck and don’t interact with anyone, Hunter.”

“Woof,” I said automatically.

His lips twitched at my inside joke, but I felt hollow. Back when we were a team, I’d acted like a dog when I felt he was treating me like one. It normally resulted in him taking his commands down a notch. Not today.

Turning away from me, he stalked across the courtyard to speak with soldiers who were helping civilians off a bus.

Their conversation was lost on me the moment my mate climbed out of the transport vehicle.

Even wearing a shell-shocked expression and covered in blood she was stunning.

I physically ached with the need to touch her, but I settled for watching her shout at Darcy. “What are you doing? Don’t you dare drop him.”

My mate was such a bossy thing. I loved it.

“Shut your pie hole,” Darcy replied, unceremoniously dumping Reed on the ground.

Lee cursed out Darcy while her sister jumped out of the truck and checked on Reed.

The cocksucker didn’t look any worse for wear. In fact, between the two of us, he’d made out with the better deal.

My envy for the unconscious human grew as I watched Lee and Eden drag him toward the long line of men, women, and children waiting to enter the school. It took twenty minutes for them to make it inside, where I finally lost sight of them.

Dom seemed to have forgotten me. His attention bounced between his radio and the incoming and outgoing transport vehicles. Occasionally, he barked orders at the soldiers, most of which seemed to be Titans like himself. All of them seemed to be in a race against time.

To make space for the growing crowd of civilians, Darcy moved the transport vehicle around to the side of the school. I had no choice but to walk next to the vehicle and wait while she parked it. She seemed unaware of my presence as she stalked back toward the front gates.

I wearily slumped against one of the back tires and faced my next dilemma. Dom had ordered me to cloak myself, however, it wasn’t physically possible for me to hold that state for much longer. Once I became visible, my chip would automatically punish me for not following orders. In the old days, I would have brought this to Dom’s attention, but now I’d rather let the pain kill me than ask for his mercy.

As I braced myself for the oncoming agony, my mind turned to my mate. I needed to see that she was okay. Throwing caution to the wind, I closed my eyes and pushed my consciousness out of my body.

Rising as an incorporeal mist, I flew around the school building where Dom stood with a radio pressed to his ear. “What do you mean evac isn’t coming?” he shouted.

Although I couldn’t feel his emotions in this disembodied state, seeing his mounting frustration filled me with grim satisfaction. It seemed we’d be at the school longer than he’d expected. Maybe much longer.

Mulling over the possible implications, I flew through the brick walls of the school. Then I traveled down a crowded hallway, past classrooms, and through a set of double doors that led to a gymnasium teeming with humans. Some huddled together on bleachers in the back, some sat on whatever belongings they’d brought with them, and some argued with the unfortunate soldiers trying to keep order.

Adding to the chaos were the half a dozen children racing from one end of the basketball court to the other, their joy a dark mirror to their parents’ anxiety and fear.

Not finding my mate there, I searched adjacent rooms. The boys’ locker room was empty, but a faint echo of voices drew me deeper inside the girls’ locker room. I flew through the restroom stalls and lockers before finally finding Lee and her family in the shower area.

Reed lay on the white-tiled floor, a shirt bunched under his neck.

Eden, who was free of handcuffs and shackles, cleaned dried blood from his