Page 21 of Nick
“I’ve heard,” he said, “that Martin spoke out against Vincent.He was foolish enough to let his discontent be known.”
Nick’s eyes narrowed, and heat radiated from his body.Sarah wanted to reach for his hand, to intertwine her fingers with his, but fear rooted her in place—fear for Nick, for Martin, for herself.For Una.
And most of all, for Javier.
Sarah’s heart ached at the thought of what punishment Vincent might enact—what horrific spectacle they were about to witness.But she couldn’t think of any way to stop it.
Vincent’s lips curled up into a cruel smile.“Martin, you have been found guilty of treason against your alpha.Against your pack.For your transgressions, your punishment is to become the prey in a pack hunt.”
The pack erupted into murmurs, disbelief and twisted excitement swirling through the crowd.
“Should you survive the hunt, you will be free to leave the pack, begin your life anew.”
Exile alone should have been sufficient punishment for even the worst crime.But of course that wouldn’t be enough for Vincent.
“Should you be captured in the hunt, your family will be spared punishment,” the alpha continued.
And Martin will be dead, Sarah thought.
“Shift now, Martin,” Vincent said, his tone turning Sarah’s blood to ice.“You’ll have the advantage of a head start.”
There was a collective intake of breath as everyone watched the shifter standing in front of Vincent’s makeshift throne in this unfolding nightmare.Martin, his face ghastly pale, nodded once—a miserable, defeated gesture.
“For my family,” he said.
And then he shifted.
His muscle and bones contorted, his sinews stretched, and fur sprouted where his smooth skin had been.
The wolf standing where Martin had been radiated desperation, its eyes darting frantically from side to side in search of any sliver of mercy within the crowd.Martin the wolf loped awkwardly away.
“Fuck,” Sarah breathed out.She wanted to look away, to shield herself from the savagery of her world, from what her pack had become, but she couldn’t.
Any one of them could be next to fall to Vincent’s power-hungry rule.
“This is wrong,” she whispered to Nick.“We can’t let this—”
“Shh,” he cautioned, his thumb brushing across her knuckles as he wrapped her fingers in his.
Sarah knew he was right, but it only made her feel worse.
“Run, Martin,” she whispered under her breath.
But even as she said it, Sarah knew the odds were stacked against him.
Still, she whispered it again, like a prayer sent to a god she didn’t believe would listen.“Run and never look back.”
Chapter 9
NICK WATCHED, HIS EYESwide with horror, as Martin bolted.His body was a blur of reddish brown against the sandy terrain, kicking up clouds of dust as he disappeared.He knew what awaited Martin out there—miles of desolation and the grim certainty of being hunted.
Damn you, Vincent.
For a moment, Nick’s thoughts flashed back to the night he’d fled the Sunburst Pack, Sarah’s betrayal searing hot in his memory.
He had been prey once, too, his legs carrying him across the same sunbaked earth in a frenzied bid for survival.
Was he a coward for running?Or had he simply sought freedom from the tyranny of an alpha like Vincent?
