Ha!I heard the smile in Dexter’s voice.She’ll probably want to be turned next. If it worked on Nate’s girlfriend.
We all glanced at Lori, who went as rigid as an ironing board.
Out of the question,Matt ground out.
Another reason I need to leave.She laid this whisper atop a gust of wind.
One that batted the scent of . . .
I raised my nose and sniffed.
Fire!
Something was burning.
Chapter 47
Acacophony of howls rose; the metal door banged open. Nate stood there, wild-eyed, wild-haired. I took off at a run that had my legs stretching so far apart my belly scraped the snow. The others’ paws pounded beside me.
I yelled my brother’s name, but he wouldn’t understand me since he was still in skin. Was the fire inside the bunker or outside? My muscles and pulse spasmed as I brushed past Nate and skittered into the concrete dugout.
Only the strips of halogen lights lit up the gray, dusty space. No flames.
“The car’s on fire!”
I flipped around at my brother’s shout.
He rushed toward a white Range Rover parked at the very end of the lot. Halfway there, he stopped and wheeled around. “Matt, guard Bea! I think it’s a set-up!”
Without hesitation, Matt swept past me and into the bunker where Bea was pressed against the bars, her knuckles white, her complexion even paler. The fear in her eyes made my breath snag. They needed to let her out.
In case . . . in case this really was a set-up.
Dexter had morphed into skin and was helping my brother, Reese, and two other shifters toss handfuls of snow onto the flaming leather interior of the SUV. Lori stood beside me like an ice sculpture.
Roars of frustration ignited the night. Reese ran past us, disappeared into the bunker, then emerged a second later hugging a fire extinguisher, which she tossed to Nate.
My brother’s hands must’ve been trembling because the white spray shot out from the nozzle in great, shaky ribbons. “Nikki, Lori, get out of here! NOW!”
Sucking in a breath, we dashed toward the woods that divided the bunker from the compound. What took seven minutes by car took us twenty by paw. Neither Lori nor I stopped to look back or talk or breathe.
Only when the silver-topped fence came into sight did we slow. Our breathing was ragged, our pelts slick with sweat. My muscles were so hard and my bones so soft that they felt like they’d swapped places inside my body.
Tonight.She panted.I’m leaving tonight.
Maybe it was just an accident.
An accident?She twisted her body to get rid of the snowflakes that were coming down harder now.That was no accident, Nikki. It was a diversion.
You think someone was trying to get to Bea?
Yes. Just as I know they’ll be coming after me next.
Dread swept a slow finger up my spine.
Didn’t you hear them outside my house last night? They want me dead.
I shivered, all the while trying to reason that if anything more had happened, howls would’ve erupted from the bunker, calling the pack and our Alpha back. Sure, my pulse had been lashing at my eardrums, but I wouldn’t have missed a howl, the same way I wouldn’t have missed an Alpha broadcast. If Liam hadn’t reached out through the pack link, then I assumed Nate and the others had contained the fire and foiled the threats.
