claim me against my will. And now, a fissure has opened inside of me like the cracked earth after an apocalyptic quake.
Rabid, he called me, expelling it like a repulsive curse. Am I rabid? Is there something wrong with me and my wolf? Maybe, but I’ll take it if it keeps him the fuck away from me.
I shake with the effort not to shift as my wolf surges forward, demanding Burke’s blood. I remind her of the gun and the chains on our limbs and beg her to bide her time. Not yet.
“You’re a fucking stain,” he snarls, spitting on the ground like he’s purging his mouth of the foul words, as though they might be catching. “A malignancy to our kind. You and your wolf are defective—a disgrace to Totemic shifters everywhere.”
Conrad crosses his arms next to Burke and nods in agreement, though his eyes keep straying to my breasts and to the juncture between my thighs.
My legs are shaking with the effort it’s taking to stand, but I lock my knees and keep my spine snapped straight, refusing to let myself fall. “Then shoot me,” I challenge, wondering what the hell he’s brought me out here for. “Be the spineless piece of shit that everyone knows you are.”
Our kind doesn’t use guns against each other. Doing so is considered the epitome of weak. We use teeth, brute force, and instincts, not bullets. The fact that he uses darts is bad enough, but if he kills me here today, at least my death will show him for what he is. A feeble alpha who could only win by cheating, and there’d be no denying it this time. The pattern would be clear, and no pack would ever let him live that down.
Burke smiles, and I reassure my wolf that one way or another, we’ll wipe that arrogant grin off his face, even if we have to do it without teeth. Slowly, he backs away from me, moving closer to the van. “You think I’d kill you, make things easy for you after what you’ve done?” he taunts, just as Conrad gets into the driver’s seat and starts the engine, a door slamming shut in his wake.
“After what I’ve done?” I hiss, hands curling into fists, making the shackles around my wrists bite into my skin.
Burke jerks the barrel of the gun at me as though he’s telling me to stay put. I glare at him but don’t press my luck. If they think dumping me in the wild is going to get rid of me, then they’re dumber than I thought. I’ll hunt, I’ll heal, and then I’ll come for them.
As though my thoughts are written plain as day across my face, Burke’s smile grows even wider, and the sight makes an uneasy trickle drip down the back of my neck. He backs up all the way to the passenger side and gets in, shutting the door behind him, gun still pointed at me out the open window.
I take a step forward just as Conrad slams on the gas and jerks the van forward, but Burke’s shouted words stop me in my tracks. “Say hello to Ruin Falls.” A horrible gleam in his eyes freezes the air in my lungs. “I’d start running if I were you.”
Kicking up dirt and dust, the van speeds away down the narrow dirt path, and all the blood drains from my face.
No.
The name Ruin Falls pounds in my ears in time with my galloping heart. I spin around frantically as though wolves are sneaking up on me at this very moment, but there’s nothing there. Only trees and grass and the cloud of dust left in the wake of another cowardly move. I immediately hurry toward the tall grass and crouch down in it. I wince at the soreness in my muscles and at the suddenly too loud clinking of my chains, wishing I didn’t feel so exposed.
Ruin Falls.
I try to listen for the sounds of predators stalking me through the tall grass, but all I hear is the wind as it tickles the tall light-green blades, bending them to its will, the same way this savage pack will if they get their hands on me.
I pull in deep lungfuls of air, but I don’t smell any wolves on the gentle breeze. There’s no hint of territory markings or indication that the pack is nearby, but that doesn’t make me feel better. Sweat starts to kiss my skin, and my leg muscles tighten