Chapter Seventeen
Ididn’t dare look behind me. It was a wonder I hadn’t tripped yet, and keeping my eyes on the tree line in front of me was the only thing keeping me upright. Goosebumps erupted over my body as the unholy sounds of a man turning into an animal carried through the rain, followed by an ear-splitting howl that spliced the night. Theslap, slap, slapof my bare feet against mud kept rhythm with the thud, thud, thudding of my heart.
Sheer terror exploded inside me, pushing me forward. It was so dark I could hardly see. When I reached the forest, the haze of rain cleared to be replaced with a slow drizzle and murky shadows that threatened to swallow me whole.
Another howl rattled my bones and sent me spiraling into a disoriented panic. I had to get away. Had to get back to Gabriel, had to—
My foot caught on a thick tree root, pitching me over into the dirt. Survival instincts didn’t mesh well with me. Never had. Frantic jitters made my graceless legs ever more useless. It took every bit of strength I had to will my exhausted muscles to move. I had to move, had to keep fighting. I refused to be these fuckers’ prey.
My hands fumbled for my shoe that had tumbled from my grip. I couldn’t see anything.
A snap of a twig behind me, sending a surge of adrenaline slamming through my veins.
With fractured breaths, I slowly turned my head to look behind me where two citrine eyes gleamed in the mask of darkness.
There were no words to describe how terrified I was. I was completely and utterly fucked.
Trigger’s beast form gave a guttural, bone-rattling growl. I scooted back through the dirt as the predator closed in. My back pressed up against the trunk of the tree that had tripped me, but my hand found my stiletto and my fingers curled around it with the pointed heel facing the wolf.
Then he pounced, and I slammed my arm toward the hulking creature, pushing the stiletto’s heel deep into his eye socket.
The feeling of my heel puncturing the firm gelatin of the wolf’s eye mixed with the spurting sound, chased with a mad howl of pain, was enough to make my stomach heave.
Oh fuck.
Wrenching the heel loose, I slammed into him again, aiming for the other eye. But Trigger had jerked his head back, and the tip of the shoe only slashed the side of his face. Still, I’d bought myself time, and I wasn’t about to waste it. I took off running through the dark, protruding branches scraping my face and dry twigs cutting my bare feet. But I didn’t care. I’d run over a bed of hot coals to escape this creep.
Up ahead, I could see a break in the trees. Hope seeped into me, filling my aching limbs with new strength. Please let this be the road and a busy one. I could hitch a ride back to Seattle and put this nightmare of a birthday behind me.
When I broke through the trees, my hope fizzled and died, seeing as I hadn’t found the end of the forest. Instead, I found myself standing in a glade, with nothing but dense forest surrounding me.
I couldn’t run anymore. My legs refused to hold me up any longer. I sagged into the sopping grass, the wet blades almost a relief against my hot skin. I clutched the shoe in my trembling hands like the pathetic lifeline it was.
It was only a few moments before Trigger emerged from the trees. But it wasn’t the wolf who faced me.
He’d shifted back into his human form. He was completely naked, with rain-soaked muscles bulging, his hairy chest heaving. One eye glared at me through the rain, murder banked in its citrine depth. His other eye socket was oozing blood and clear fluid that streaked his skin, painting him in a gruesome war paint of my own making.
There was no denying how hopelessly screwed I was. Accepting my fate on some level was the only explanation behind the twisted sneer I flashed him through the rain.
“Love the gaping eye socket. Looks great on you. Come over here, and I’ll make the other match.”
He strode forward, snarling. “Fucking bitch. You can hardly stand. Don’t you get it? You’re completelyfucked.I’m going to enjoy ripping you apart. Be sure to scream for me, Sunshine. Fear makes for my favorite flavor.”
My throat grew thick and dry, like someone had stuffed a rag down it. “But your alpha… You were going to save me for your alpha.”
No, no, no.This was supposed to buy me time.
“You let me worry about his wrath, Little Sunshine. Your concern should be withmine.”
Trigger moved so fast, he was hardly more than a blur. I blinked, and when my eyelids opened, he was crouched before me. I slammed my shoe down onto his face again, but this time he was prepared and grabbed my wrist, his grip so tight around my flesh where the rope had bit in, I couldn’t help but whimper.
I jerked my gaze away from the member hanging between his legs but not in time for me to miss the way his flesh hardened when I cried.
Sick fuck. Hatred boiled low in my belly, burning me up despite the chill of the rain.
“Have your fun now, but know it’s going to be the last thing you do. If you somehow manage to survive my angel once he finds you, maybe you should change your name to ‘fucking idiot’ for messing with Heaven.”
“You think Paradise will aid him now that he’s marked you as his mate?” Trigger licked his jeering lips. “He’s on his own, Sunshine. He’s a sinner, just like the rest of us. Must be Grade-A pussy to make an angel sway from the righteous path o’ God. Never heard of Wings marking a ward before.”
