Page 39 of Cold Foot Revenge
She’d never been hit like that before.
Warmth trickled down her split lip. Grave was wearing rings tonight.
Stunned, she pressed her hand to her cheek, sure he’d broken the bones there.
Still, not a single one of the Grit-Bron Crew said anything against Grave.
Run.
Panting, she eased her face back toward Grave and glared up at him. He was smiling, and his eyes were empty, and remorseless.
Run.
Her damn lip trembled, and she hated it, but she straightened her spine and lifted her chin higher into the air.
Run. Please run.
Her skin was tingling with the animal urging her to Change, but something Dylan had said was replaying over and over in her mind like a war drum.
Grenader.
Grenader.
Grenader.
Slowly, she reached up and pulled the neck of her sweatshirt to the side, and watched the realization wipe the smile right off Grave’s face as he beheld the claiming mark.
“I’m claimed. I’m taken.” She lifted her voice higher. “Since this Crew loves it’s fucking made-up rules, I’ll remind you what the actual, real-life rule for all shifters is. If I’m Claimed,” she said cooly, forcing her furious gaze back to Grave. She leaned forward, “Then no one else can fucking touch me.”
Grave roared in rage in her face, and she gave in.
Run, the coyote had said, and run she did. She closed her eyes and fell to the ground as her body morphed into the coyote. It hurt, and her skin was on fire, but nothing had hurt like that slap from a man she didn’t respect. Nothing hurt like having a demon pry her freedom from her hands. Nothing hurt like losing her car to a man who was strangling her in so many ways.
Behind her, she could hear the snapping of bones, and Grave roared out, “Bring her to me!” as he Changed.
Roxy didn’t look back. She could hear the order in his voice, and the others wouldn’t have a choice. They would have to bring her back to the Alpha.
She struggled the first few steps to rid herself of the neck of her sweatshirt, but the second she was relieved of the constricting fabric, she took off at a dead-sprint.
They would have her scent, and some of them were extremely fast.
Run.
Heart pounding, she ran across the busy street and dodged two cars that skidded to the side, trying to avoid her. The screeching of tires was deafening in one ear, but the other was still ringing from Grave screaming in it.
Behind her, she could hear commotion as the Crew went charging across the street after her. The humans were going to eat this up. She would be blamed, of course.
If she made it a few more blocks west, there was a big park, and she could hopefully escape through the trees. If she made it to the other side of the park, her house was only a mile and a half away. Wait! Dylan’s hotel was even closer. Oh, she wanted to get to Dylan. He had a handgun. He could save her!
But…a handgun wasn’t going to stop what was coming for her. A handgun wouldn’t even slow it down.
She couldn’t bring the Crew to him.
She couldn’t do that to him.
Grave had given the males bears, and the females smaller animals. It was Kristy’s panther, who swatted her back legs out from under her. Roxy went skidding into the corner of a building with a yelp. She couldn’t get stuck in that alley with any of the Crew. Escaping to the park wasn’t going to work!
As Kristy overshot and skidded through the dry leaves that had accumulated in the alley, Roxy changed directions and ran back for the busy street. She needed human attention on her.
