I take a sharp turn down an alleyway between two buildings, my shoes slapping against concrete, the medicine bag still clutched in one hand. The alley is narrow and dark, smelling like garbage and old water, but it opens onto another street. I can lose him if I'm fast enough, if I can just keep moving.
"Running from me won't change anything!" Vincent yells, his footsteps echoing behind me. "You're mine, Amelia. You've always been mine. Whatever those Alphas have been telling you, it's lies. They don't really want you. Nobody wants you except me!"
The words are designed to hurt, to make me doubt, but right now all they do is fuel my terror. I burst out of the alley onto a residential street I don't recognize, lined with small houses and overgrown yards. I cut through someone's yard, jumping a low fence, running through another alley, taking turns randomly, just trying to get away.
I'm completely lost now, I realize with dawning horror. I don't know where I am, don't know how to get back to the police station. The neighborhood is unfamiliar, the streets all looking the same, and I'm getting more disoriented with every turn I take.
The heat building in my belly is getting worse, making everything harder. My skin feels too tight, too hot, my body demanding things I can't give it right now. I need my Alphas, need their scents and their touch and their reassurance that I'm safe. But they're not here, and I don't know how to get to them.
My phone starts ringing in my hand, the vibration making me jump. Hunter's name lights up the screen and I answer it immediately, pressing it to my ear with shaking hands.
"Hunter," I gasp out, my voice broken with tears and exertion. "I don't know where I am."
"What do you mean you don't know where you are?" Hunter's voice is tight with controlled panic. "Amelia, sweetheart, talk to me. What happened?"
The scent match between us pulses with his emotions. Even at a distance, I can feel him through whatever connection is forming between us. Anger, terror, protectiveness, all flooding through me.
"What do you see?" Hunter asks, forcing his voice to stay calm. "Tell me what's around you."
I'm standing on a corner, catching my breath, looking around frantically for Vincent. I don't see him, but that doesn't meanhe's not close. "Houses," I manage between gasps. "Small ones. A lot of trees. There's a... a blue mailbox. And a stop sign."
"Okay, that's good. Keep talking to me. Why did you leave the bench?"
"I saw Vincent," I sob, the words tumbling out. "At the pharmacy. I just wanted to get my medicine. You said to stay but it was right across the street and I thought I'd be quick and then he was there and I ran and now I don't know where I am."
"No, shhhh," Hunter's voice is gentle despite the urgency I can hear underneath. "You're perfectly fine. This is not your problem. You did exactly what you should have done. Running was smart."
"I'm so sorry," I whisper, guilt mixing with the terror. "I should have waited, I should have listened, I should have—"
"Stop. You did nothing wrong. I have your location because you shared it with Silas, remember? I might have swiped it." There's a hint of dark humor in his voice, trying to lighten the moment. "We're only about five minutes away. Dylan's with me. We're going to come get you and take you home. Can you hold on for us, baby?"
"Hurry," I plead, looking around nervously. Every shadow feels like Vincent, every sound like his footsteps. "I don't want him to get to me. Please hurry."
"We're coming as fast as we can. Find somewhere to wait, somewhere you can see the street but that has cover. Behind a car or near a building. And stay on the phone with me."
I spot a large oak tree in someone's front yard, its trunk wide enough to hide behind. I move toward it, pressing my back against the rough bark, trying to make myself as small as possible. My breathing is coming in harsh gasps, hyperventilating despite my best efforts to calm down.
"That's it," Hunter soothes, somehow knowing what I'm doing. "Deep breaths. You're doing so good, sweetheart. We're almost there."
The heat is getting worse, making my skin feel like it's burning from the inside out. My body wants things I can't give it, wants my Alphas close and safe and surrounding me. The timing couldn't be worse, my heat choosing this moment of terror to accelerate.
Then I smell it. Pine and smoke and Alpha, cutting through my panic like a lifeline. Hunter.
I peek around the tree and see Dylan's truck coming down the street, moving faster than is probably safe in a residential area. I rush out from behind the tree, stumbling in my desperation to get to them. The truck barely stops before Hunter is out of the passenger side, running toward me.
I crash into him, my arms wrapping around his neck, and he lifts me up like I weigh nothing. His scent surrounds me, grounding me, making everything feel less terrifying. I'm trembling violently against him, my whole body shaking with aftershocks of terror and the building heat.
"I've got you," he murmurs into my hair. "You're safe now. I've got you."
Dylan is there too, his hand on my back, his Beta scent mixing with Hunter's Alpha. "You okay, sis?"
"My heat's starting," I manage between sobs. "And Vincent was right there, Dylan. He was so close. I could have... he could have..."
"Let me take care of Vincent while your Alphas take care of you, alright?" Dylan's voice takes on a determined tone. "You focus on getting through your heat safely. I'll make sure he doesn't get anywhere near you."
"I thought we had more time," Hunter says, his voice rough with concern. "We need to get you home, get you into your nest—"
"And that's what I'm here for," Dylan interrupts. "You sit in the back with her. I'll drive. Then Maddox and I will handle everything else—Vincent, the police, all of it. The kids are already with us, remember? Everything's going to be fine."
