Page 64 of Untamed

“If she hasn’t already,” Jonah snaps. “We have to hope she won’t want to tarnish the Greystone name.”

My father’s face falls. “I hate bringing Shane into this. He’s so happy at Daybreak, and he already helped us once. If you have sexual relations with another person’s mate, you’re as much in the wrong as they are. This could—” He breaks off, his body tensing. “There’s a car coming up the road. You two go.”

I shake my head. “No. What will that serve? We need to stick together. We’ll tell them what happened.”

“Kinsey, you have the most at stake right now. Go,” my dad growls. He looks at Jonah who nods.

“No.”

Jonah takes my wrist. “Kinsey, they’re trying to keep you alive.”

“Run!” my mother urges.

The four of us sniff the air. Wolves are coming. Several by the different smells.

Jonah yanks me forward, pushing me in front of him. “Shift. Don’t look back.”

My heart careens in my chest. My wolf senses the danger and shifts before I even fall to my knees. Her paws sink into the grass. How many times did I fantasize about being a wolf, sunbathing in my backyard? Running with my parents.

My heart cracks in two as she takes off through the forest. Jonah nudges her backside, and she keeps running, doing as he wanted and not looking back. It feels as if I’m going to come apart.

Focus, Jonah’s wolf says.Run.

Shoulder-to-shoulder, they sprint through the woods. He leads, zigzagging a path through the brush and trees. His beautiful brown fur matted to his body with his speed.

When we’re miles away, a howl rips through the air, and my wolf stumbles until Jonah rights her again, pushing her further.

For the first time, my wolf shuts me out as I spiral. She takes the reins, and before I know it, I’m curled up in a ball inside her while she rescues us.

27

When I come to, Jonah’s wolf is standing above my own, and I’m being thrust into human form. He shifts at the same time, gains his footing, and cradles me in his arms. “We have to go back,” I keep telling him as he runs his fingers through my hair. I tighten my grip around him as the memory of that howl hits me with full force. It was one of my parents. I know it. They could be injured, or worse.

“We’re not going back without a plan. Let’s just think.”

He rubs his thumbs under my eyes until I peer up at him. His distraught face curdles my stomach. He lowers his gaze, traveling down the very naked length of me, and I finally peer around to find we’re in a huge family room in a somewhat swanky house. I cower next to him as unfamiliarity hits me with full force. My fingers sink into his biceps. He’s brought me to the alpha. Or someone else higher up in the pack. Just before I can really lose my mind, he soothes my worries. “It’s okay. You’re safe. My family owns a bunch of safe houses around Lunar in case we need them for the alpha. We’re in one. They’re top secret. No one but my father and his higher-ups know their location.”

I relax into him, my frazzled brain sighing in relief. It feels as if two coarse pieces of sandpaper are being ground against each other in my head. I retreated so far into my wolf that it’s hard to wake up.

“There’s food and water. Showers. A nice place to lay our heads. All the security we could want. I also have easy access to my father so he can keep us updated.” He’s talking more to himself than me, as if he’s reassuring his own doubts that this was the best place to hide. He squeezes me again. “I knew I didn’t want to leave you for a reason. I felt it. I should’ve listened to my wolf.”

His behavior yesterday makes so much more sense now. His wolf was going nuts as if he could sense the danger that lie ahead. I don’t even know if that’s possible, but it makes me not want to second-guess him again.

“I wasn’t going to let them get to you,” he murmurs, staring straight into my eyes.

Of course he wouldn’t. My brief moment of doubt about us was just the past coming back to bite me. I cup his cheek. “Ms. Ebon saved me. She woke me up and told me to run.”

He nods. “She cares for you, Kinsey. You’re not just a job to her.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. Lydia must’ve been pissed when she got there and I wasn’t in my room. “Do you think they hurt her?”

He shakes his head. “As smart as she is, I’m sure she told them you ran off.”

That’s partially true anyway, so that makes the most sense. “How did you know where to find me anyway?”

He tucks me under his chin and continues to rock me. His fingers comb through my tangled hair as I press into his bare chest. “You were broadcasting on high, Little Mate. I felt your fear, your panic. Then, the alpha called my father to deliver the news.”

I suck in a breath. Dread shoots straight through me. If the alpha knows…. “Then it’s done,” I grind out. “What does it matter? If the alpha knows I’m not—”

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