Page 40 of To Hunt A Wolf
In the next second, she climbs into the car alone and starts the engine.
She engages the door locks.
Then she drives off.
My heart pounds as I try to think. Franco’s going to lock me in a room if he gets his hands on me. Been there, done that. Not doing it again.
I whirl and catch sight of the two security guards emerging from the restaurant. They search the sidewalk and street beyond until their eyes land on me standing in the middle of this parallel parking space.
They start for me, ignoring the crosswalk and the traffic, which somehow just knows enough to stop for them.
Shit.
Time to move.
I whirl and take off for the nearest alleyway at a full sprint.
My shoulder burns a little as the poison stirs in my blood now pumping faster than before. I don’t stop or slow. And I don’t worry about finding an exit. Instead, I follow the call of my mate.
Levi’s already headed out, but I’ve still got a lock on him.
With any luck, he’ll lead me away from these assholes and maybe even give me a chance to make good on my promise to haul his ass in. If I can get to Thiago before my mother, with Levi in custody, maybe I can still save Kari before shit hits the fan.
I run until my lungs burn and my chest threatens to cave in around the pain. Twice, I consider shifting, but there are too many people, and I’m sure a wolf in the city will be more noticeable than a strange girl. Even in a metropolis full of werewolves, there are rules about propriety.
Levi stays far enough ahead that I’m terrified I’ll lose him at any moment. The only good thing about his superior speed is that I’m fairly certain he has no idea I’m following.
He finally stops when we reach the outskirts of town, at a retirement community complex of all places, and I hang back, catching my breath while I note the apartment he enters. At least I’ve lost Franco’s men. For now.
The traffic is almost non-existent here, and while the neighborhood seems nice enough with the tiny manicured patches of grass and pretty white gate blocking access to non-residents, I can’t help but feel a sense of eyes on the place.
I wait an hour, trying to assess what’s going on behind closed doors. But Levi doesn’t emerge, and no one else goes in or out of the place either. It’s stupid to walk blindly into something like this, and if Levi were any other mark, I wouldn’t do it. But staying out here is more of a risk considering the entire Indigo Hills Mafia is probably looking for me now.
I can either stay out here and wait for Franco and his guys to haul me in. Or I can use the element of surprise to apprehend Levi and trade him for Kari.
I head for the apartment, skipping the front gate and, instead, veering around the back.
Climbing the low wall, I dart between hedges until I’m right outside the apartment I watched Levi enter. It has a large front window covered in blinds. I bend low to bypass it and find a small fenced-in backyard around the side.
Scaling the fence, I drop to my feet on the other side and hurry to the back door.
Unlocked.
These guys are seriously sure of themselves.
I slide it open as silently as possible.
My shoulder burns. My heart pounds. My breaths are short and shallow, but I make sure to keep them silent as I walk through the back door and into a small kitchen.
A table and set of chairs sits between me and the rest of the house. My eyes land on a figure sitting at the table, and I stop cold. When I see who it is sitting before me, my jaw drops.
For a second, I forget all about Levi. Or Thiago. Or even Kari.
“Jadick?” I whisper.
My brain catches on the fact that I’m standing in the same room with our missing alpha-heir.
“Hello.” His greeting is smooth and way too calm given I’ve just broken into his house.
