“You heard me. Get in your wolf form.”
“Violet, we just established that the wolf thing freaks you right out.”
“Yeah, well, so does my maybe-boyfriend being executed by homicidal werewolves,” I snap. “We’re going to track him, and I’m going to sit on your back if I have to. But we’ll need someone to drive.”
“Drive?” he echoes faintly.
“Obviously.”
“Who’s gonna?—”
“Less talk, more shifting.” I demand.
“I can see why he loves you.”
He loves me?
I’m going to get my man… uh…wolf… or whatever.
Chapter 23
Jason
Silver burns like ice where it digs into my wrists.
The chains bite deeper with every breath I take, each pulse sending a fresh sting of molten pain through my nerves. They’ve forced me into human form, kept me there, and tied me to the center of their judgment circle, knees sunk into damp earth. I had no dignity left, no strength to shift.
Not yet.
Talon and Thorne sit on either side of me like twin sentinels of muscle and fury. Two monsters carved from the same breed of brutality. Their scents are sharp enough to sting my nostrils—iron, dominance, rage layered thick enough to choke on.
Their pack circles in a loose ring around us, teeth bared, breath steaming in the cold light of morning.
They want blood. They want a show. They want me broken.
A hiss of pain escapes me as the silver pulses again, crawling up my arms like frostbite on fire.
Talon leans forward, boots sinking into the soil. “You look smaller than I remember.” His voice is a low purr, designed to provoke.
I raise my head, jaw clenched. “You look older.”
A murmur ripples through the circle, some amusement, mostly anger.
Thorne smiles. A cold, precise, predator’s smile. “Still got a mouth on you, Jason. We’ll fix that soon enough.”
The chains yank taut as he grabs my hair, forcing my head back so I’m staring up at both of them. My scalp screams. My wrists burn as silver bites down harder.
I grit my teeth but refuse to give them the sound they want.
“You ran for weeks,” Thorne says softly. “Slipped through every trap. Survived every hunt. Made a fool of us more times than we can count.”
Talon crouches beside me, eyes glowing feral gold. “But look at you now.” His gloved fingers trail along the chain, sending a fresh wave of agony through my skin. “Caught. Collared. Pathetic.”
My breath rags out of me, but I hold his gaze. “I wasn’t running from you.”
That gets their attention. I drag in a shaky breath. “I was running toward something.”
Talon’s grin sharpens. “Ah. The girl.”
