“We saved two.” I grip her shoulder, not letting go until she faces me. “That’s two lives that won’t end for the entertainment of others.”
We have to take the wins where we can get them, because Goddess knows, we don’t get many.
She nods once then gets on her bike.
Jet jumps out of the van and trades places with Mal.
Five minutes later we’re on the road headed back. It’ll take longer sticking to the speed limits, but we can’t afford to get stopped with our cargo. Explaining that to the police isn’t something I’m in a hurry to experience.
My muscles ache.
Injuries heal, but the ache lingers for a few hours after. I’ll take it a hundred times over if it means we can keep doing this.
LYNX
We’re about five miles from home when I catch sight of something shiny through the trees. Normally I’d ride straight on by, but something tugs in my belly, a gut feeling telling me I need to go investigate.
This late at night, or early morning, there’s nothing on the roads, so I slow down, signalling for the others to do the same. Circling back to the spot I saw it, I come to a stop and turn my engine off.
Jet pulls alongside me. “Problem?”
“I saw something in the woods. Need to check it out.”
He nods and gets off his bike, no further explanation needed. It’s not even an alpha thing. It’s just awolfthing. We knowbetter than to ignore our instincts, no matter how strange the situation.
Beth and Mal stay with the van, as Jet and I head into the forest following the path.
The smell hits me about twenty feet from the road.
Blood.
Jet curls his lip, grabbing my arm to pull me to a stop. We scan the forest, listening for any sounds that don’t belong. The night is far from quiet, but all I detect is nature doing its thing.
We start walking again, slower, more cautious, gaze sweeping the surrounding trees for any movement, any threat. The scent of blood grows stronger the deeper we get, and suddenly it’s not the only scent I pick up.
“FBs were here,” Jet states, distaste clear in his tone. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve fucked with someone in the woods. But this is way too close to our territory, even for them.
Another scent hits me, horrifyingly familiar, and it takes a moment for me to connect the fucking dots before I’m off and running with Jet racing to catch up.
I burst through the trees into the small clearing and skid to a halt.
“Ahh fuck.” Jet spits out a couple more curses, surveying the scene.
Blood spatters the trees and surrounding flora in too many places to count. And there, lying unconscious at the foot of a thick oak tree, is Morgan Webb.
Beaten and half naked.
It takes everything I have not to rush over to him, to give in to the wild need raging inside me.
He’shurt. He needs me.
I curl my hands into fists and embrace the pain of denying such a basic instinct, because Morgan Webb is not mine.
He can’t ever be.
But there’s no stopping the vicious growl building in my chest and I don’t bother trying. It echoes around us, loud and menacing.
“Shit,” Jet hisses, forcing me to focus on Morgan again.
