ChapterTwenty-One
Cindy
The air reeked of wolf. My boys would be so impressed. I chuckled to myself grimly as I held my hands up.
Don’t think for a second I was surrendering to this sorry little attack. My intention was to show them I didn’t have any weapons. We’d come across some real asshole shifters deep in the forest that didn’t know how to fight like animals, and they’d resorted to guns and silver bullets.
There was a chance these wolves didn’t realize it was me. Couldn’t be too often that an old car attempted to rumble down this road at night.
Not one wolf moved a muscle. Nobody called out to me to say oh good, it’s you. Or what the hell do you think you’re doing, get your ass back home to your babies.
No, this wasn’t a friendly warning. Fuck. Heat rose under my skin. My wolf had never backed down from a fight. Even when I was badly outnumbered and surrounded by wolves who hadn’t revealed who they were yet.
“I’m not looking for trouble,” I said. No answer. “Just had to go to Sunset Springs for something.”
It was none of their business. I had every right to use this road. To hire a babysitter and do whatever the hell I damn pleased. I didn’t have to ask permission from any wolf.
“To see your famous boyfriend.”One of the wolves stepped forward. It was Joe, Sarah’s dad.
Damn it. She’d tried to warn me that this could happen in that Green Mountain way, not coming out and saying shit was about to hit the fan. I couldn’t be mad at her, because I’d done it a million times myself when I was trying to passive-aggressively apologize for Pedro’s hideous behavior. But it didn’t stop me from being pissed.
“You forget you’re still mated to another wolf.”
“We were never mates. Pedro destroyed every bond we had when he left. If I pulled a stunt like that, you all would’ve hunted me down and dragged me back. But when he did it, you popped popcorn and watched my life fall apart.”
“He tried to come back, and you rejected him. Humiliated him—”
“No.” This was bullshit. “He humiliated himself, thinking he could do the bare minimum at the last minute to get me back. I’m not putting up with his shit anymore, and I certainly don’t have to put up with yours.”
I’d ignore those chuckles, even though I really wanted to kick some wolves right in their snouts. It was easy to be bold when the fight was fair.
“We’ve been instructed to bring you to him.”Another wolf, Ray, came forward. He was one of the guys that used to stink up my living room with his bullshit thoughts and terrible energy.
The problem with Ray was he was also working with Hugo as part of The Mating Game security team. Fuck. He was supposed to be guarding me from this very thing, not be a ringleader. My night vision was improving as my wolf got closer to bursting through my human form. All the security guys were here. They’d mutinied on Hugo as soon as they got a clear chance to score one for Team Pedro.
“You’ve always been trouble, Cindy. We told Pedro he needed to get you in line, but he was cocky. And he liked you a little wild. He knew you’d never leave him.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. It took everything I had not to scream in the middle of this forest. Not only would it make me look weak, but no one would hear me, except for the wolves who were going to drag me off to parts unknown and offer me to a wolf I never wanted to see again as long as I lived.
Which, if this night didn’t turn around in a hurry, might not be very long. Outnumbered or not, I wasn’t going down without a fight.
There’s nothing wrong with your car,my she-wolf reminded me. Run them off the fucking road if you have to. Right into a ditch where they belong.
It was spring and those gullies were hip deep with ice-cold mountain runoff. I hoped these wolves were strong swimmers.
I backed away from Joe and Ray, knowing better than to take my eyes off the rest of those wolves. The car door was still open. I grasped it, ready to lower myself into the driver’s seat, when one of the wolves lunged for my ankle.
The impact was enough to land me on my ass.
A wolf had me by the hair. Another by the arm. His teeth pierced my skin, and in the shock of the impact, I dropped my phone.
“I need my phone,” I pleaded. “My kids.”
Every wolf here knew the twins and Charlotte. If they didn’t care about me, they had to care about them.
“You weren’t so concerned with your kids when you were whoring yourself out on live TV,”Joe growled. “Or your pack.”
“This pack would let themselves die before they admitted they were wrong!” Another wolf sank his teeth into my leg.
I kicked as hard as I could, but the wolf bit harder. His teeth had to be down to the bone.
My body temperature shot up, and they were about to deal with one pissed-off she-wolf.
I twisted, restricted by the grip of the three wolves it took to hold me down, giving my fur a chance to burst through my skin. The transformation happened fast, and they weren’t able to hang on to me.
My leg still fucking hurt from that bite—injuries didn’t usually carry over after a shift, which meant I’d turned just in time. That wolf would’ve snapped my leg in half if I stayed human. I shook myself out, and taking even these few moments to acclimate to my wolf vision was a luxury.
The wolves were closing in, diving at me. But I was smaller than them. Faster. Smarter.
Yeah. I said what I said.
And if that wasn’t enough to get me out of this pickle, the sheer determination that I was fighting for something better than they were would get me through.
I was taking my life back.
I didn’t have time for doubt and fear when everything was on the line. And it felt better than any new wardrobe or makeover that Bibi could ever give me.
I ran. My vision hadn’t totally adjusted yet, and I was taking some major chances on this road. It turned without warning. It had been an old wolf path, and we knew the fastest, most efficient way to do things, even if it didn’t make human sense. I’d run this road many times in my life, but never with my pissed-off pack hot on my heels.
They were gaining on me. I might have been faster than them at one time, but I was out of shape. It had been months since my last run, and I’d had the advantage of being a part of the pack on the attack. The wolf we’d been fighting against? Pedro. There was a big difference when you knew your opponent wouldn’t hurt you—physically, anyway—and when their mouths were watering to collect their prize.
Ray was running beside me now, crowding me in, trying to push me off the road. I needed to be careful what I wished for—because I was about to be the wolf who wound up in the wash. The other wolves were closing in. I had to slow down, which gave Ray a chance to get in front of me.
“Are you gonna make this easy, or are you gonna make it hurt?”he asked.
They wouldn’t hurt me too badly. Because they’d have to answer to Pedro, who would hurt them if they didn’t make him happy.
“You should be asking yourself the same fucking question.”Yeah, I talked a big game for a she-wolf who was about to get dragged off into the forest.
An unexpected howl pierced the standoff. It was the distraction I needed to get away, even though my freedom wouldn’t last long. Another wolf was out here, and the voice sounded familiar.
“Cindy!”
Holy shit, it was Bibi.