It finally gave in.
There was no time to waste. I crouched down to swipe my phone off the bed and then, balancing on the ledge, I kept a tight hold on the bar and slipped out of the room and onto a compact bush lining the side of the building.
There was only one floor, which was fortunate because I would have tossed myself out of whatever floor necessary to escape.
Without bothering to look behind me, I took off at a sprint into the dense forest, using it as cover to not be seen.
Cierra knew the men who’d hurt me. Once I found her, I’d rip it out of her, no matter what.
I frantically kept running at a ground-eating pace, dust pluming all around me. Leaves and branches crunchedunderfoot. I ran and ran until a rumble of an engine came from in front of me. I dashed toward it. Headlights blinded me, and I stepped out to the edge of the road.
The truck slowed.Please be Alex.
I hesitantly approached the passenger side.
“You getting in?” Alex’s familiar voice echoed to me, and I exhaled with relief.
I hopped into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. My chest pumped from the exertion.
“Thank you for coming,” I said.
“Of course, sister-in-law.”
“I amnotyour sister-in-law,” I bit out.
His eyebrows raised.
“He already pissed you off?”
I gritted my teeth.
“Oh, it’s that bad?”
I couldn’t stop the tears from trickling from the corner of my eyes, but I kept my gaze fixed forward.
He went awkwardly silent, the roar of the engine the only sound around us.
“What’s going on, Joey?”
I debated spilling all the words hovering at the tip of my tongue. Studying him carefully, I weighed my options in telling him everything. Frankly, I needed help. I needed information on the pack, and who better to bring into the fold than the brother of the pack Alpha.
“Do you have access to police reports?”
“No, but we have a pack member in the Police Department.”
I stiffened and swung my eyes toward him.
“Who?” I said so fast.
“You need to give me more, Joey. What’s with you and Lucian? You guys were all lovey-dovey until tonight.”
I pressed my lips together. If I told him . . . What was there to lose? I had nothing to be ashamed of. For fuck’s sake, I should have never even done time.
Decision made, I took a breath.
“About four years ago.” I exhaled hard. This was going to take a while.
LUCIAN
