Page 152 of Mate
. . . is very attached to the girl . . .
Poor Koen is probably grinding his teeth to stubs. I wonder if he’s called Amanda a testicle yet, just for siding with me about the plan. I wonder if this is shaving a couple of years off his life. I wonder if it’ll be better for him, once I’m back in the Southwest.Out of sight, out of mindwill never be our thing, but maybe not knowing whether I’m in danger will save the lining of his esophagus?
I should talk to Jorma. Make sure that someone is there to take care of him, even if I can’t.
“Eva,” a voice calls, and my eyes pop open. It’s a Human man, holding something sharp. “I’m sorry. This won’t hurt.”
I’m out before I can wonder what he’s referring to.
MY NEXT MOMENT OF AWARENESS IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.I’m groggy and confused, in the same safe house where I fell asleep. Except, it’s no longer bustling with activity.
It’s just me and two Human guards.
My upper arm, where the tracker was, hurts like an open wound. Dried blood clings to my biceps, pools in the inside of my elbow.
And that’s when I realize that I may have underestimated Irene.
CHAPTER 37
She’s a small wolf. Cream and white colored, with the same dark brown eyes as her human form, and pale yellow ears that are large for her body and more pointed than most. Her thick tail and delicate muzzle have a few light markings that make her utterly unique. So pretty, he thinks that if she were the last thing he saw, he wouldn’t mind. Not at all.
THEY TOOK MY TRACKER AND LEFT ME BEHIND, WHICH IS NOThow I thought it would go. Irene must know that the Northwest is going to notice that it’s no longer attached to my body, which could mean a handful of things. At best, she’s aware that something might be off and decided to be cautious. At worst, she knows exactly what our plan is and opted for using a less valuable bait, outfit it with my tracker, and let it be a casualty of the fight that will break out.
It, because I don’t want to believe that Irene would sacrifice one of the Favored.
The moment I’m fully awake, I yell into my gag. Writhe. Make a scene. One guard, a man with gray hair and a long beard, watches me for a few minutes. Then he sighs, comes closer, and frees my mouth. “What is it?”
Where the fuck did they go?would be my conversation starter of choice, but I settle for “I have to go to the bathroom.” It’s not even a lie.
He and the younger guard share a look. “Just . . . go.”
“Where?”
They seem confused.
“You want me to just piss myself?”
“I mean . . . yeah.”
I consider pulling aDo you know who my father is?but decide to go a little subtler. “Irene would let me keep my dignity.” Classy, if I say so myself.
“Would she?” Beard seems doubtful. He glances at the gun next to his right hand, then at the younger man, who’s clearlynotin charge. Unlike Beard, he looks properly intimidated by the idea of being on Irene’s shit list. “Maybe. But I’ve watched enough TV to predict how thetake me to the bathroom, untie me for just a secondshebang always ends.”
“Have you?”
He nods, proud of his clairvoyance.
I sigh. “Okay, listen— don’t untie me. Don’t even take me outside. How about you just lower my pants and underwear so I don’t have to sit in my own urine for the foreseeable future? Your buddy can hold me at gunpoint so I don’t try anything. Not that I could, since my armsandmy feet are tied up.”
Beard thinks it through, finds no objections, and the rest is easy enough. Not very smart of them, to assume that I’d need someone else to untie me. Then again, they have no idea I can shift.
I feel the rush of power, ofrightness, as my fingers sharpen into claws. In Were form, my wrists are slim enough that I can easily angle them to tear into the rope. Beard comes closer to help me with my bathroom emergency, and overpowering him is a matter of a couple of blows. As I suspected, his young buddy is far too intimidated by the situation to shoot the gun and kill Constantine’s prodigal kid. Once Beard is groaning on the floor, he tosses the weapon and runs away.
I savor the delicious pain in my bones as I shift into my wolf form. It’s been a long time, too long. Every single one of my cells welcomes me as I settle into them.
Whatever’s left of my Human mind feels a bit guilty about tackling the boy and leaving him out of commission, remembering what Koen said about the cult and its habit to shield Weres with Humans. A bit, but not enough to stop me.
The forest is my home. She beckons me. Urges me forward. Embraces me like I’m worthy of her, always will be. I set off after the cult, tracking their scent, following every trace of their passage. Humans, in particular, are easy to stalk. Tire marks. Shoe prints. The occasional littering.They didn’t bother concealing their trail, the forest whispers.I’ll tell you everything you need to know. I will lead you to them.
