Page 17 of Second Chance By Fate

“It’s okay. I want to hear what she has to say, too,” Steele says, slamming the door shut. “And I want to make sure she’s really out of Dusty Woods for good.”

I slump back in the seat, shaking my head. “I have nothing to say that I haven’t already said. You guys seem to have your mind made up about me.”

“I heard you,” Steele growls as the car starts to move again.

My eyes trail toward Jax, and I catch the wistful look in his honey-colored gaze.

“You heard what?” I counter sharply.

“I heard you communicating with whomever in your room last night!”

Enzo’s dark eyebrows arch upward. “Who were you talking to?”

“Myself,” I answer quickly. “I was meditating.”

“You’re lying! And then the attack happened, and the house?—”

“Calm down, Steele,” Enzo cuts him off as the SUV slips out of Dusty Woods’ city limits again and down the lonely highway leading to Sedona.

“I won’t calm down!” Steele snaps. “You brought her here.”

“And now we’re taking her back,” Enzo says calmly. “Unless you can give us a good reason not to.”

They stare at me expectantly, and I wish I could tell them everything about the events that have led us all to this place. But I literally cannot, as much as I want to. My lips are sealed.

Suddenly, Steele is in my face, his hot breath exciting me despite his anger. As I did with Jax, I suddenly have the desire to shut up his accusations with a rain of kisses, to bring him back into my fold with the tenderness he once showed me. He’s so close, his skin so touchable…

“One way or another, we’ll figure out what’s going on here. And if you have any hand in it?—”

From the front seat, the driver releases a grunt, and the vehicle swerves abruptly, crashing Steele into me. I fall against Enzo, and his arms instinctively grab to protect me. Steele covers my head to save me from the splintering glass when the SUV hits the guardrail and flips once, twice, spinning in midair.

I gasp, my eyes popping, time slowing as the final moments of my life play out around me. All I can think about are the times I’ve spent with the Alphas.

Is this really it?

And then there’s nothing but blackness around me as metal crunches and the car lands at the bottom of the dune, rendering me unconscious. I never had a chance to come clean and tell them how much I care for them all.

Chapter 6

Enzo

Low growls ricochet around me. It takes me several seconds to realize it’s my brother making the sounds. He’s on top of the car, and pools of blood spill from his injuries.

I open my mouth to call out his name, but I’ve also shifted into my wolf body in the wake of the trauma, and a howl of pain emanates from my lips when I try to speak.

“Don’t!” a weak voice rasps. “Don’t move. Neither of you.”

Blinking through the haze of agony, I see Violet crawling through the wreckage, attempting to help. I moan again when I see her beautiful face, bloodied and scratched from the accident. I’m overcome with protectiveness.

“Alphas?” the driver yells out for us from somewhere outside the mangled SUV.

My mind whirls.How did he manage to get out?

Between Violet’s battered body and the driver’s voice, I find my motivation to move.

We have to get out of here, Steele. This car could blow at any minute,I speak to my brother through our telepathic connection.

“Alphas!” the driver hollers again. “Are you in there?”

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