Blowing out a breath, Logan looked up at the moon, expression wistful. “Hunt me down.”
Cole swallowed, not sure he wanted to ask. “And if they catch you?”
“I betrayed my alpha’s orders and broke the law. The latter would put me in shifter prison, but betraying your alpha’s direct order...” He shook his head. “They can kill me for that.”
Jesus.
What the hell did he say to that? Of course he’d known the people helping him escape were risking everything, but a part of him had still seen Logan as the enemy. Cole hopefully had somewhere to go if they got out of this mess, but what about Logan?
“What will you do? If they suspect you helped me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can’t you just go where I’m going? I know it wouldn’t be ideal, but—”
Logan shook his head. “No new shifters allowed.”
Before Cole could comment further, Logan stood, brushing bits of forest floor from his joggers. “How’re you feeling?” He gestured to Cole’s shoulder.
Cole had been trying not to move it much, but he lifted his arm a bit to see how bad it was. It hurt, ached, but nothing he couldn’t grit his teeth through. What choice did they have? “I’ve been better.” He flexed his good arm. “I can hang on well enough with this one. We need to get going, right?”
“We do. It’s about another three to four hours from here, I reckon.” He held his hand out and helped Cole to his feet.
Cole followed him to the bike and carefully got on behind him, wincing every time his shoulder brushed against him. “Will they be out looking for us?”
“Yes.”
Logan didn’t elaborate and Cole didn’t want to ask anything else. They both knew what would happen if they got caught.
THE ROADS WERE eerily quiet as they headed west.
Not that Cole expected much traffic at that time of the morning, but it felt different. Maybe it was because he knew someone was out there looking for them, could be waiting around any bend or down any slip road. Whatever it was, it kept Cole alert and awake, which was something to be thankful for at least.
He still had no idea where they were heading, but somewhere in Cornwall judging by the road signs. They must have been going an hour, maybe two, but all Cole knew was that his body was stiff from sitting in the same position for so long.
They passed a sign for Exeter Services, and though Cole knew Logan would never stop somewhere so public, it didn’t stop him imagining some hot greasy fast food and stretching his legs. He might not be able to get the food, but maybe he could get Logan to stop for a bit. He tapped him on the thigh and pointed at the side of the road.
Logan seemed to get the message and pulled over at the next layby.
As luck would have it, this one was one of the larger ones and went behind a clump of bushes before rejoining the dual carriageway. Only a lorry was parked there already, and it had the curtains drawn in its cab.
Logan rode past it and came to a stop behind the bushes.
He got off and helped Cole do the same.
“I need a piss. Back in a sec.” With that, Logan disappeared into the bushes, leaving Cole on his own.
The area instantly felt ten times more menacing with Logan gone, and Cole cursed himself for relying on him so much. He’d done just fine without him for the last twenty-three years.
A car approached, headlights bright in the gloom of early morning. Cole’s heart hammered against his ribs, and he held his breath until it drove past and disappeared out of sight. When Logan emerged from the bushes, relief washed over him, and he was so grateful he didn’t give a shit whether he relied on him too much or not.
Logan was the only thing keeping him from being dragged back to London kicking and screaming.
“You need to go?” Logan asked, pointing a thumb at the bushes behind him.
He hadn’t up until then, but now Logan had mentioned it... “Yeah.”
“Hurry.”
