Rabid (Kingdom of Wolves #6) - Ivy Asher Page 0,35

my wolf and myself this over and over and over again until I fall into a fitful sleep, with shackles digging into my skin and fangs throbbing beneath my gums.

Patience.

Chapter Seven

My head is slammed against something hard, waking me with a shock.

I hiss and clench my teeth against the pain as I look around, fighting off the white spots now speckling my vision. I can tell the van has stopped, but there aren’t any windows back here for me to get an idea of where we are. My body aches from being bound and battered by the drive, and I scoot away from the metal wall my head just rammed into as I take stock. All of my limbs are still slow and heavy, but at least I can feel them now.

Burke and Conrad are talking, but I can’t hear what they’re saying over the ringing in my ears. Two car doors open and then shut, and a spike of panic tries to push away the pain and disorientation muddling my mind. With great effort, I manage to pull my feet underneath me as footsteps move from the front of the van to the back, and I brace myself in a crouch, begging my body to cooperate.

The second the doors screech open, flooding in afternoon daylight, I clumsily leap from the back of the van at whoever just cleared the path to freedom. My stomach roils angrily thanks to the drugs they shot me up with, but it doesn’t keep me from clotheslining Conrad with the chain connecting my wrists. He shouts with surprise as we both go down, but I’m barely able to bruise his skin, let alone pop his head off like I want to, because Burke grabs me by the waist and tosses me away.

Dry, dirt-packed earth breaks my fall, dust rising up from the force of my landing and clogging my airway. I rip the muzzled gag off my face, coughing and hacking to clear my throat. I toss it away with a snarl and push myself to my feet, body swaying with the effort to stand, ankle chains pulled taut.

“Where’s Hess?” I demand, spitting out a glob of dirt.

“Hess is dead.”

The cold declaration staggers me where I stand in a cloud of dust and dread.

No.

I feel the blood drain from my face right before a rush of anger overwhelms it. My hands curl into fists, and I tense, ready to attack him for all I’m worth, but when the haze of wrath and dust clears, I find myself staring into the barrel of a gun. I have no idea if it’s what they use to tranquilize me or if it’s the bullet-shooting kind, but the sight makes me freeze in place.

My wolf howls inside of me, insisting that we can get to his throat before he can so much as pull the trigger, but I’m not so sure. The dart’s effects are still weighing down my blood and my body, and as much as I want to get to him, I want to make sure I can rip him apart when I do.

I glare at the weak alpha, my stare furious and filled with disdain. He wouldn’t know a fair fight if it bit his dick off. Looking around, I see tall grass and foreign trees. I don’t smell anything other than nature, maybe a hint of water nearby, and a fox den over the hill the van just drove down. I have no idea where we are or why he’s brought me here. My foot shifts, and Burke’s gun-arm springs up higher, just an inch of movement making him trigger happy.

“If you come any closer, I’ll put you down like the pack was begging me to,” he threatens, his unwelcome gaze dropping to my bare body.

A warning growl crawls up my throat, and his black stare flashes to mine. Disgust fills him as he looks at my eyes as though something has changed about me, though I don’t feel anything is different. Cheekbones, lips, nose, they’re all the same. Maybe he just sees the red-hot rage he sparked to life as it burns through my gaze. My wolf and I want to claw his fucking eyes out and drown in his screams as I slowly rip him to pieces.

“Not impressed?” I seethe, gesturing to my face. Regardless of what he sees when he looks at me, it’s made him want to tuck tail and run.

Good.

He made me snap, attacked me, threatened me, tried to