Page 38 of Targeted By Fate

Still, there was a chance for something to go wrong, for someone to follow me. I tried not to worry about that, though. It wasn’t like I could stay inside forever.

The car was there when I reached my door, and I jogged to it and climbed in.

Grocery shopping was next, and as odd as it was for me to say, I was looking forward to it.

The elderly fox shifter driver made small talk, asking me if he had the right location. “Yeah, That’s the one. They have a sale on tuna.” And even if they didn’t, I was going to buy as much as I could get in the cart, which guaranteed that my cravings would be over by the time I got home. That seemed to be the way of things with this pregnancy.

He chuckled. “Yeah, it’s their can sale. I saw the flyer. My mate made a list… a long one. Did you know they have over a dozen different kinds of beans in those cans? Why does anybody need that many different kinds?”

“I don’t know—to mix things up?” Did he think I had the answer? Pork and beans was my idea of fancy legume cuisine.

“Well, according to my mate—” and the driver went off on the way his mate made chili and soup and even burgers out of the beans. They air-fried some to make their version of chips, baked brownies with them… you name it. Their mate was into it.

Even though the older man acted like he was complaining, I could hear the pride in his voice. “So maybe you’ll run into him there.”

After my short ride with him, I was really hoping I would.

“Well, if I see anybody filling up their cart with beans, I’ll be sure to say hi.”

I got out of the car, grabbed my cart, and headed inside. I didn’t really need much and did a quick perimeter of the store before heading to the canned goods. But just as I was about to turn toward the tuna, I saw someone I recognized out of the corner of my eye. And when I turned to get a better look, fear filled me.

I couldn’t remember where I’d seen him before, but it wasn’t good.

I reached to the back of my pants, remembering too late I hadn’t brought the gun I’d been trained on—the one I tried to take with me everywhere. But the library had a no-gun policy.

Crap.

Maybe I should’ve brought bodyguards.

The man looked at me, recognition crossing his face, before he pretended to reach for a box of macaroni on the end cap like he hadn’t just seen me. Then, as I turned down the aisle, he raced the other way.

And because I’m a bona fide bad decision maker, what did I do?

I didn’t call my mate. No, that would’ve made sense. I didn’t call his brothers either, because again—that would’ve been smart. I didn’t even ignore the whole thing and just put tuna in my cart. No. I followed the other shifter, who had abandoned his cart.

Why was he scared of me? Why was he leaving?

I kept my distance, pretending to be looking at different things until he walked out the door. I counted to fifteen and followed him, thinking maybe I could get a driver’s license plate number or something.

But I didn’t, because he didn’t get into a car. He walked down the street.

I followed him, trying to stay unnoticed. I thought I’d succeeded… until I turned the corner and found myself in an alleyway. Seconds later, the clacking of boots on the pavement told me people were coming up behind me.

It was like that first night, where I’d been trapped. Only this time, I wasn’t hidden behind a dumpster. I wasn’t there accidentally. I’d been lured.

I was the prey, and they were coming to get me.

I stopped, turned on my feet, made sure my legs were in position to keep my balance. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Only when I finally met their eyes, there was a group of them—and each one had a gun pointed at me.

My fists weren’t going to do shit here.

“Kitty, kitty,” one of them said. “We’re gonna go on a trip. You can do this the easy way, or you can do this the kneecap-less way. Which do you choose?”

As if there was a choice to be had.

Sorry, Boaz. I really am. I should’ve let you keep all the spy gear on my phone. Heck, I should’ve let you put an AirTag on me.

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