PRologue
Auryn
I have to keep moving.
The jagged rocks beneath my feet hurt like hell, and my skin is already slick with blood and debris, but I can’t stop. My life depends on it.
The darkness of the forest is a comforting balm, calling me home like a beacon.
This…
This is where I belong, out in the wild. In the open.
Out of that cage.
“Stop her!” a man yells, but his call is white noise. The sound of their combat boots hit harder than the angry screams they emit.
Wind curls around me as my body slices through the air, every ounce of agility and instinct rushing through me as I run. My legs burn from the movement, my hair clinging to my sweat-slick face. I don’t dare look behind me. I can’t.
I know if I see them it’s all over, and I’m as good as dead.
The clearing ahead opens up, the moonlight bathing the forest in its silvery glow. If I wasn’t running for my life, I’d think it was beautiful. I’d stop and marvel in the moonbeams like some heroine in a fairytale.
But this is my life, and it is the farthest thing from a fairytale.
It’s a nightmare, and my only chance at freedom, at actually living,is beyond this border.
“She’s getting away!” another man calls out, his voice getting louder just as I skid to a stop.
Fuck, they’re gaining on me!
I realize there is nowhere to go as I glare over the edge of the cliff.
The bitter voice inside my head growls at me, urging me to jump. Jump off this fucking cliff into the dark, churning waters below. The other voice that presides in my head, the one I hate more than anything—my omega—can smell them. Their thick, alpha scents both piss me off and make my omega afraid. She doesn’t like it when the alphas are displeased with us.
Fuck her. She’s what got us in this mess in the first place.
I have a choice to make, I realize as I see the men approach. There isn’t much time.
Throwing myself off a fucking cliff could kill me.
But I’d rather be dead than be rescinded to a cage to be knotted and starved for the rest of my life.
The first man to reach me stops just inches away. His soldiers stay behind him. One stands with his hands on his weapon, and the other hangs back, holding the rear as their leader fixes his dark gaze on me. This one…he’s…different.
He smells different, and I realize I haven’t seen him before. He’s not one of Sneed’s.
So they’re sending the green ones out after me, now. They must want me back pretty bad.
“Five-seven-six…” He calls my number, and I scoff at him. His bourbon-like scent hits me, making my omega whine. My thighs tighten, my pussy pulsing because it has a mind of its own.
His right hand slides over the hilt of his gun while he holds up his free hand to signal me to stop. He takes two careful steps forward, and I have to bite my tongue becausefuck,does he smell good. Better than those assholes in the cage, that’s for sure.
My gaze roves over him, taking in his appearance, or what I can make out of him anyway beneath all his military gear and the face mask he’s wearing that covers his mouth. His bright blue eyes stand out in the darkness, like the moon against the black sky.
“Just take it easy; I’m not going to hurt you.”
That’s a lie. Alphas always hurt us.
