I leaned back, staring at the blinking dot on the phone and tamping down the rage I felt inside. My girl was out there, hurt and alone. Or, if she wasn't alone, she was with people who weren't helping her. The thought made me grind my teeth and I mentally urged Mace to go faster.
Chapter 10
Broken
Liora
Everything hurt. Darkness had fallen and I climbed out from under the tarp, barely able to stand upright. Dizziness washed over me and I stared out at the barely lit street. Or maybe it was just my vision that was dark.
Either way, I had to get out of here. I had no doubt someone would be trying to find me, whether it was the pack or the Omega Reassignment Center. Sitting here was not a good idea, but as soon as I took a few steps, I realized I wouldn't be able to go far.
"Okay, just get out of the city," I told myself, focusing on staggering one wobbly step at a time.
It felt like hours before I reached the street and started walking to my right, simply because that's the way my body leaned as I stood for a moment contemplating my options. Itwould be faster to go through back yards and cut across the neighborhood, but there was no way I could manage that right now. Instead, I hobbled down the street, head down, avoiding the pools of light from the streetlights.
As I moved, my body loosened up a bit. I was still in so much pain that it made it hard to think, but I could at least move slightly faster. Determined not to be caught, I walked as quickly as I could toward the end of the street and turned right again. There was no way to know which way would get me out of here, but I could always hope there was a forest or something near me.
I was in luck. The street I'd turned down ended in a cul-de-sac and a narrow path between two houses led into the fields behind the suburb. Whispering thanks to whoever or whatever had guided me, I stumbled my way across the field to the blessed shelter of dark pine trees.
Only a few steps into the woods, I collapsed, my legs giving out under me. The scratchy pine needles on the forest floor poked through the thin material of my shirt as I laid down under the spreading boughs and curled up into a ball. It was still summer, but the air was cool at this time of night and I felt a chill spreading over me.
Feeling a little safer, I fell asleep despite the pain in my head and body.
It felt like mere moments later when I heard voices arguing. Male voices. They were close and getting closer and I realized they were walking through the field. Panic burst through me, giving me the adrenaline boost needed to scramble to my feet and dart further into the forest. Where could I hide?
They were still talking and crashing around as they entered the forest, making enough noise that it was pretty easy to ease my way around them and end up behind them.
Tiredness was already sapping the strength from me, so I found a tree with low branches and ducked under them, gettingclose to the trunk. Then I climbed until my arms threatened to give out and I was in danger of falling. That put me about eight feet off the ground. Somewhere, I'd heard that people don't look up when they're searching for someone. Hopefully, that was true.
"Where the hell is she? The dot keeps moving around here," a frustratingly familiar voice muttered. They were standing just below me, outside the ring of thick branches.
"It says she's right here." Another man. I shuddered and hugged the trunk, trying not to make a sound.
"Okay, so she's under a tree?" A third voice sounded. Rustling as he lifted the branches and crawled under the tree. I looked down at the flashlight beaming onto the trunk and could barely make out a wide-shouldered man in a light gray jacket. His hair was tousled and curly . . . and definitely familiar.
"Finn?" I croaked.
He rolled over, shining the light up at me. "She's here, guys! Hey, baby."
"What are you doing here?" I tried to focus, but the light in my eyes was sending stabbing pains through my brain.
"We came to find you." Mace shouldered his way through the branches, closely followed by Aiden. They both looked around and then realized Finn was aiming his light upwards.
"Why?" The word barely escaped my dry throat. They'd dumped me a year ago, why on earth would they be here now? HOW were they here now?
"We felt your pain . . . we feel your pain through the bond," Aiden said quietly.
"Come down. We'll get you help." Mace held up a hand as if to help me down.
"No."
"No? What do you mean no?" He scowled, his facial features barely visible in the dim light.
"Please, baby," Finn pleaded. "We can't fucking leave you here to suffer. What are you even doing out here?"
I didn't respond. There was too much to say and nothing they needed to know. They'd abandoned me because I was a burden, how could that possibly be any better now that I was injured.
"I'm going up." Finn started to climb.
