“Hey!” I shouted at him. “I’m right here, you fucking asshole!”
And then I ran. Away from our territory. Away from the wards.
Away from my pack.
Away from Joe.
“Ox!” Gordo cried out behind me. “Don’t do this!”
There was another song then.
It was deep and guttural, more scream than howl.
The song of a predator having found his prey.
I headed for the bridge, no real destination in mind, just away away away.
There were piles of writhing earth ahead where Gordo’s magic had called up the rock and the soil to cover the Omegas. I jumped over them, Omega claws breaking through and trying to grab me. A single claw scraped against my calf and there was a moment I thought I wouldn’t make it. I felt the scrape against my skin, a small flare of pain, but the Omega couldn’t grab me in time.
I landed on the other side of the Omegas, glancing over my shoulder in time to see them rise from the earth, teeth bared and eyes violet. Gordo was farther behind them, staring after me, horrified. A large wolf prowled between them, waiting for me to get enough distance away to make it a good hunt.
The Omegas went for Gordo before he could trap Richard. His tattoos flared to life again as they rushed toward him. The ground under his feet shifted, rocks rising from the earth and spinning around him. He flicked his wrists and they shot toward the approaching Omegas, knocking them back and down.
Richard ignored them.
He only had eyes for me.
I ran because I had people I loved to keep safe.
I ran because Richard had shifted his attention from Joe to me, and I would do everything to keep it that way.
The bridge was dark. I could hear the wood creaking.
Then, the pounding of a wolf’s paws against the dirt.
He was coming for me.
For a moment, I swore there was another wolf running with me, a great wolf, an Alpha wolf, a wolf I knew had died years before.
For a moment, I swore my mother ran with me, arms pumping, feet stomping upon the earth, hair trailing behind her.
I pushed myself harder.
I wouldn’t be able to outrun Richard forever, but if I could get far enough away, then I’d—
I was close to the old bridge.
I would cross it and hope it was stable enough. The drop was only ten feet to a creek below, but I didn’t want the whole thing coming down on top of me.
I hit the bridge, feet against the wood.
It groaned under my weight, the beams above me shuddering with every running step I took.
I was at the middle, sure I was going to make it. I didn’t know where I’d go next, but I was going to fucking make it through—
Osmond dropped down from the shadows on the far side of the bridge, half-shifted, face smeared with blood and dirt. I skidded to a halt, almost falling forward. I caught myself at the last second.
A wolf snarled behind me.