I ignored them all. “Gonna use the bathroom,” I said over the music. The kitchen was partly open to the living room, but a large wall blocked Raquel’s view of most of the room.
And, more importantly, it blocked her view of the front door.
I quietly grabbed my keys and slowly—so slowly—turned the doorknob, avoiding any sounds, even though the music provided a good enough cover. I cracked the door open just enough for me to slip through. Then, on the other side, I gently shut it again. I waited a few seconds to see ifRaquel had caught on, but the door stayed closed. I was sure I didn’t have long before she realized.
I ran to my car. I used the key to unlock it, just to avoid the beeping. I fell into my front seat. Fuck, my heart pounded so hard in my chest I was scared it would explode before I even got to the clearing. I turned the car on and braced myself.
Again, it seemed like Raquel couldn’t hear me over the music.
“Oh fuck, oh fuck. Okay.”
It felt like I was breaking out of Guantanamo. I reversed out of the driveway, thankful that I had just gotten the squeaky brakes replaced last week. I then pulled down the tree-lined road and exited the community, looking into my rearview mirror and expecting to see Raquel racing down the street after me.
But she never came.
I sped up once I got onto the main roads. In my phone, I plugged in Coral Ridge Park and floored it in the directions it told me. I looked up at the dark blue sky. Still no moon.
This was dumb. I didn’t even have a weapon or a way to fight. But I also couldn’t live with myself if something happened to Gabe and I wasn’t there. Realizing he was my fated mate had changed the wiring inside my brain.
So I threw absolutely every single shred of caution to the wind.
The GPS sent me to a random dirt parking lot. The preserve was massive, but I had seen the maps they were using to plan the attack. I saw the trail they’d take to get to the clearing. It was directly in front of me. There were no other cars around, no other people. The park and its trails were supposed to be closed after sunset.
This is so fucking crazy.
I swallowed down my fear and got out of my car. The white, round crown of the full moon inched over the treetops. I ran down the trail, hoping against all hope I hadn’t gotten the directions mistaken.
An angry howl tore through the night.
I ran harder, like this was some kind of hockey drill. Dirt and rocks kicked up behind me. The howls morphed. They sounded more like yelps of pain. The commotion became louder and louder.
I ran harder. The trail curved ahead of me, the trees opening.
I stopped just short of entering the clearing. Shock took over.
The battle raged, and fuck, was it bloody. Grass had been stained red all through the clearing. I counted seven weres, all locked in lethal engagements. They all looked different, allowing me to spot Gabe immediately.
No… oh no.
He was in danger. He had been pinned to the ground. Another were was above him. He was about to have his throat ripped out. I had to stop this somehow. Maybe if I shouted and created a distraction, it’d be long enough for Gabe to retaliate and save himself.
I’ve got this.
I took a step forward. I sucked in a breath, ready to shout.
Something flew through the air from the other side of the clearing. A thick trail of smoke followed behind it. The item landed on the ground and spewed out more and more smoke, covering the area, making it so that I couldn’t even see. I coughed and tried to fan it away. I recognized that smell, though.
It was the same concoction I’d given Gabe to knock him out.
I stumbled back into the cover of the trees. Was this some kind of secret plan the Burlington pack had come up with? But why would they drug themselves in the process?
The smoke cleared and revealed an ominous sight. All of the massive and blood-soaked weres had been incapacitated. They lay down on the ground in an oddly peaceful manner. Like someone had called out “nap time,” and everyone had been forced to comply. I wanted to run through the field and go check on Gabe, but something was holding me back.
Movement from the other end of the clearing caught my eye. Someone dressed in all black exited from the wall of trees. Two silver blades gleamed in his hands. He walked with his head down, looking at one of the knocked-out shifters. There was something about him that felt almost familiar… I held my breath. The man moved slowly, deliberately. He didn’t look concerned at all that he’d just walked into a clearing full of weres.
He crouched and ran a knife over the shifter’s all-white chest, some of the fur already marked red with blood.
He lifted the knife in the air. The angle made his face clear as day, highlighted by the glow of the bright full moon shining down from its cloudless stage.
