I struggle, dazed and heaving for air, but that’s not going to stop me.
I fall again. And again.
I lose count, but the road is wet with my blood when I collapse, trembling, to the ground.
I yelp as my hair is suddenly grabbed and twisted. I let out a whine and get punched in the face.
“You just keep getting better and better, Keres.” He follows my gaze and chuckles. “He’s dead. No one is going to save you. Are you going to walk quietly or are we dragging you?”
I stand up on trembling legs and force my aching body towards Jarek.
They let me get within five feet of him. I’m almost there before they yank me back. This time, they don’t stop. I lay my head down…and let out a mournful whine. I don’t fight them when they drag me away.
I don’t think I’m coming back from this.
I don’t think I want to.
With the last of my strength, I lift my head and let out a ghostly scream. I shudder when I hear the sinister and furious roar of the Ravage Wolf that silences the city.
As that howl dies, I’m too lost in my grief to hear the final call, the last howl, that mysterious and achingly painful song of the Anarchy Wolf rising in challenge and promise.
I’m coming, it says.
Chapter 33
I'm not giving up
Mordecai
Present time
Taryn weighs barely anything, and as I jog away from Keres, it feels like I’ve ripped out a chunk of my soul and shredded it. I look down at this omega who is costing me everything, trying not to hate her, only to discover that she’s not doing good at all.
Taryn isn’t going to make it. Just like the woman from my dream said. I don’t even need to check. I’ve seen this before. Her breathing is a rasp of sound, and her cheeks have turned bone white, but her lips have a black tinge around them.
“What’s wrong with her?” Cadel snaps as he keeps up. His eyes are wild, shining with rage and a fierceness that I need to be wary of. “And where is Kaida?”
“She’s at the temple,” I lie. It’s amazing how easily it comes out when it shreds me inside. “Waiting for us.”
He never looked back. He was so close, but he never looked at Kaida. She was right there. I want to hate him for it, but all my hate is caught up in hating me.
“Poison, I suspect.” My grim words hit the air like fate, and I look back down at Taryn, bitterly regretting everything, and especially that I’m here with her and not with Kaida.
I pause and turn left, darting into the shadows and pressing myself up against a wall as the footsteps of the Beta’s Path jog past. There are so many of them. They will find her soon.
No, I have time.
“Come on,” I hiss, infuriated with Cadel.
“Where are we going?”
“There’s a temple up here. We need to get her inside. There might be a cure.”
Taryn looks up, her eyes dulled with pain and weakness. She knows I’m lying, but then the prophet has been haunting her dreams for a long time, too. Manipulating us like we’re all puppets. Is it any wonder we all hate her?
Why did I do it, then?
I don’t want to answer that question, even to myself. She offered a future I couldn’t ignore, and fear made me choose the one that I hope will be the path that saves her. I can barely look at Taryn. She’s not disposable. She shouldn’t be. But tonight, I exchange her life for Keres.
