Sixteen
CALEB
Jesse had been gone too long.
I looked at the clock on the SUV’s dashboard.
8:47 a.m.
Fuck, what time had he left? His shift couldn’t have taken more than a minute. Even under shitty circumstances, the transformation had stolen my breath. Forget dry-heaving in the snow. He’d moved like poetry, his limbs melting between one form and the next. Then he’d sailed across the garage and out the fucking door.
Where the hell was he?
My heart beat triple time as I perched on the edge of my seat and strained for sounds. The faint whiff of garbage leaked into the SUV. Morning sunlight fell over a tall rack of metal shelves that held all kinds of tools and outdoor equipment. A huge pair of pruning shears with blades as long as my arm hung from a hook on one side.
The door Jesse had disappeared through stood open, a slice of patio and the forest beyond it visible. Was he in those trees? The rogue could have lured him deep into the woods. If it attacked him, I was in no position to help—because he’d ordered me to stay in the car no matter what.
But he was mymate. The knowledge burned in the center of my chest. And his absence was an ache. It throbbed in the same spot, as if someone had thrust their hand between my ribs and squeezed my heart.
I stared at the trees through the door, blood pounding in my ears. The rogue had laid me out on that jogging trail. It meant to kill me. If it overpowered Jesse…
No, that would never happen. Rogues were feral. Jesse had his wits about him. And he was more competent than anyone I’d ever met. On the other hand, he’d admitted he was distracted by me joining him for the hunt. By insisting on coming, I made him less safe.
Fuck.Fuck.
Why couldn’t I have just listened to him? I should have stayed in Albany like he asked and let him take care of the rogue without worrying about me. The least I could do now was stay out of his way.
Resolved, I sat back in my seat.
Except what if he needed my help? My chest tightened, and my heart thumped faster. I’d just found Jesse. I couldn’t lose him.
A wolf’s pained yelp echoed from the direction of the patio.
I was out of the SUV in a fraction of a second, my blood singing with the need to reach my mate. Halfway to the door, I stopped and yanked the pruning shears from their hook. They were heavier than they looked, but I barely registered the weight. The sound of the SUV’s idling engine accompanied my labored breaths as I raced to the door and burst onto the patio.
Jesse and the rogue were locked in a snarling, frenzied battle. Fangs flashed. Blood spattered the snow and the patio underneath. More snow flew through the air as the two enormous werewolves grappled. They bit and barked andsnapped at each other, occasionally rising onto their hind legs as they fought. The fur on Jesse’s left flank was black with blood.
He was wounded. Every time he moved, more blood speckled the ground.
The rogue lunged at him. Jesse spun and ducked, narrowly escaping the rogue’s long, yellow teeth. As Jesse whirled, his rear paw slipped on bloody snow. He recovered quickly, but not before the rogue slashed its claws across his face. Jesse’s head snapped to the side. Blood sprayed from his snout.
Rage burst like a bonfire inside me. Between one breath and the next, I was moving, the pruning shears held high as I flew across the patio. Sunlight glinted off the blades, and a hoarse bellow tore from my throat.
The rogue spun. Bright green eyes filled my vision. In a blur of motion, the rogue launched itself at me, its fangs bared.
I swung the shears. The blades caught the rogue across the face, but it didn’t go down. The motherfucker just winced and kept coming, its paws landing on my shoulders and driving me backward. I fell hard, and pain shot up my elbow as the rogue landed on top of me. Claws pierced my shoulders. I screamed, writhing under the rogue’s weight.
And then it was gone.
A high-pitched, canine squeal pierced the air as the rogue disappeared. I rolled onto my side in time to see Jesse pin the beast to the ground, dart his head forward, and rip out the rogue’s throat. Its body jerked once and then went still.
But Jesse wasn’t finished.
He plunged his head down again, biting and tearing. Bone crunched. Blood gurgled. Jesse fell into a rhythm, savaging the rogue’s open neck and then turning his head and spitting pulp and bone onto the patio.
Vomit burned my throat. It was worse than any horror movie. More gruesome than any nature show. My dad lovedthose things, and my childhood Saturdays had been filled with dudes with English accents narrating lions stalking and then devouring their prey.
This was nothing like that. Chunks of flesh wobbled on the snow. Splintered bone littered the space around the rogue, which was dead. It had to be dead. But Jesse continued to rip and tear, his jaws snapping. It went on forever. And then, finally, the rogue’s head rolled away from its body.
