Page 31 of Hunted Mate
Now it is far too fucking real.
“What’s going on here?” More wolves come to handle the situation. They look like generic bad guys. It’s not a good way to describe them, but it’s also the best way to describe them. They’ve all got short dark hair. They’re all wearing black jeans and dark jackets. They’ve all got mean expressions on their faces too, as if they’re being inconvenienced by having to imprison and kill us. Their leader is the biggest of them. His jacket is leather and his boots come up to his knees. He looks the most annoyed out of them all.
“Get rid of them. Except the one Gray’s been fucking,” the leader of this little group of very unkind wolves says.
The same guy who just cut the other man’s throat comes back to the cage. He looks at me, then he looks at the other lady. He’s confused.
“Which one of you has been used by Gray?”
“Me!” my cell companion shrieks. “I’ve been fucking Gray.”
The wolf looks at her, then looks at me.
“I’m his mate,” I say quietly. “Not her.”
“The whore’s the one who saw too much,” someone yells out. “Not the rich blonde.”
The sound the woman makes when she realizes they’re going to kill her is heartbreaking. She sounds like a lamb who knows she is about to be slaughtered. The man remaining behind starts to smell like pee. I can guess what he’s done. I don’t blame him. There’s something terrible about seeing someone else die and knowing that others intend for you to be next.
I won’t let it happen. Not to me. And not to them. Maybe Gray’s coming to rescue me, and maybe he isn’t, but nobody is coming to rescue these people. That’s how it is most of the time. Nobody comes. Nobody rescues.
“Leave her alone.”
I pull the gun.
I didn’t want to play this card this quickly. I wanted to keep it secret longer, until I was sure I needed to protect myself. But I can’t keep watching people die. One person was enough. I don’t ever want to see that again. I don’t want to smell blood again.
The wolf stops and looks at me. His eyes are dark, just like his hair is also dark underneath the beanie. He has a round, but brutal face. Rare combo. He’s angry at finding himself at my mercy.
“I may not have enough bullets to kill everyone here,” I say. “But I definitely have enough to shoot you, and turning into a werewolf won’t stop the lead in your brain.”
“We’ve got a problem!”
He shouts to the others who had already wandered off again. I guess I didn’t tell him not to call for backup. I think about shooting him for doing that, but I’m going to save my bullets.
Three more wolves show back up. That’s four total.
“I have four bullets for each of you, boys,” I say, glad for simple, brutal math. “And, if you don’t let us go, I will not only unload into you directly. I will…”
One of them goes for a gun from the repository of weaponry displayed on the warehouse walls. Could have seen that coming, I guess.
The moment has come. I am about to discover if I have what it takes to hurt someone badly, whether I’m the sort of person who pulls the trigger, or someone who freezes in place.
Bam!
I shoot him.
It’s easier than I thought, and louder, but the ringing in my ears drowns out the screams that are starting to get a little tiring. I understand being stressed out by the prospect of being murdered, but I’m saving the other lady in the cage. It would be nice if she could save her shrieks for when she’s actually in danger.
“What’s your name?” I ask over my shoulder.
“Molly,” the woman gasps.
“Shut up, Molly.” I turn my attention back to the wolves. “We’re leaving now,” I say. “And you’re not going to follow. Because if you do, I will shoot you. I will shoot you right in the face. I’ll be able to do that because I won’t be driving. Molly will be driving. Won’t you, Molly?”
“Uh…” she makes an incoherent sound.
“Shut up, Molly,” I say.
