Head Hunter (City Shifters the Pack #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,80

know why you’re doing this.”

“Why do I not believe you?” Geordie added from the other side of the room. He stood well back. Maybe he didn’t want to get his hands dirty. “Tell me, Percy, why the fuck should I believe you when I have goddamn video that shows me you were creeping around that night?”

I swallowed hard and whispered, “I don’t know. I didn’t see anything. I saw the new cars in the parking lot and you said you had a meeting so I left. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Bullshit. You would have loved to fuck up my plans,” he shot back. His expression turned ugly. “Uppity bitch, acting like you’re better than everyone.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. Tears started anew and slid down my cheeks and dripped onto my chest and thighs. I hiccupped and choked on each word as I forced it out, not above begging. “I don’t care about any of this. I’ll leave. I’ll leave the city. You’ll never see me again.”

“Too late for that,” the black-eyed man said. He put the hammer down just long enough to put on latex gloves, then carefully selected one of the fingers on my right hand, holding it out flat.

I tried to curl it down, tried to keep him from holding on, and screamed. I screamed and wrenched against the ties, panicking even more as the hammer flashed and a snap of pain shot up my arm.

Geordie looked annoyed. “Stop making so much noise unless you’re going to talk. You already got your boyfriend killed. Who else do we have to get rid of to make sure you learn a lesson?”

“No one. I told no one.” I sobbed for breath, trying not to move my hand. I shook my head. “Please. I can’t...”

The black-eyed man lifted the hammer again. “What did you see?”

I screamed again, begged for them to stop, for help, for a reprieve, but it didn’t matter. The hammer flashed again and again, and it didn’t matter what I said or how fast I talked.

Chapter 33

Dodge

Dodge couldn’t move. They’d moved him. He recognized that in the blur of the world around him. The wolf still struggled for control, wanting to escape the iron restraints that Evershaw exerted over them. He growled periodically and someone would mutter something at him and jab a syringe into his thigh or bicep, and the world would get blurry and slow once more.

But he heard them talking. The three wolves who’d been outside guarding Persephone’s building had all been knocked out or shot, dragged off somewhere and left for dead. All three survived and were recovering, although they insisted on helping search for Persephone. The entire pack mobilized and chased through the city.

Dodge groaned and tried to force his eyes open. “Persephone.”

“We’re looking,” Rafe O’Shea said from close by. “My best trackers are hunting through the city, and the witch is doing whatever she can to find her. The packs are breaking down the doors of every associate Bridger has and beating the shit out of whoever they find. We’re doing everything we can to find her.”

It wasn’t enough. Dodge needed to find her. He didn’t trust anyone else to get there fast enough, even if he had three bullet holes in his chest. The wolf surged up and he felt his form slipping, shifting, and everyone else around him cursed and moved in sudden, jerky movements. Evershaw snarled and pinned Dodge’s shoulders, despite that his shoulders sprouted hair and realigned.

More yelling. Dodge’s control slipped as weakness and pain overrode the last shreds of his humanity. He slipped and slid through the restraining hands as the wolf wrenched them free of the pack restraints. Evershaw tackled him but it wasn’t enough to stop him.

Dodge bolted despite the dozen humans and wolves who stood in his way, and careened through the house. It was Deirdre’s house, though he only noticed it because everything smelled familiar. A red haze crossed his vision and Dodge lost control of the wolf body. He lingered as a passenger in his own mind.

The wolf tore through the cellar doors and then he stood in front of Silas: the only other wolf he trusted to have his back and help him find Persephone.

Then they both launched into the fresh air, avoiding the pack chasing after them, and fled into the city. The only thought that drifted through Dodge’s mind was “we hunt.”

He hunted. He would find her. And anyone who’d hurt her would pay