Page 12 of Rituals & Runes

“Tell me, something, Aila.” Caitlin raised an eyebrow while she clasped her hands. “Do half-human rejects like you go into heat for real or are you faking it?”

I cocked my fists on my hips. “You must have fish for brains. How could I fake these pheromones?”

The lingering heat still pulsed between my thighs. I’d never gotten myself off, and I had my own personal appointment to get to. This time I would lock the door before getting to it. It would be better than listening to this dummy.

She crossed her arms. “Then how did you survive the first time?”

“Pretty simple. I’ve lived far away from shifters for a long time. Along with a B.O.B, I locked myself into my basement and made myself come until the damn thing passed. Any more questions, Ms. Nosey?”

Her jaw dropped. “How dare you? I’m reporting you to my brother. He’s the Beta and best friends with Kaden.”

“Go ahead. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom,” I said, not removing my gaze from hers, though I sensed she had to be an Alpha.

Caitlin stood. “You can’t go anywhere without me.”

“Grand. Well, you better hurry up, then.”

Together we left the room. Bently took off down the hall, disappearing around a corner. Outside, a male enforcer stood on guard. With one of the sourest faces I’d ever seen like a thousand people had done the guy wrong, he glared at me, then looked at Caitlin. They exchanged words. Very brief words like it hurt the guy to talk. He reiterated coming back as soon as possible and told her not to be afraid to use her alpha power on me if needed.

Geez, I wanted to tell him but instead, I flashed him a, cool it, look. His face remained impenetrable.

Friendly.

They could take advantage of the fact that I was a submissive and not as fast as them given my hybrid state. We headed down the hall past several doors in the opposite direction of the main hall where we had been. Many shifters walked up and down the hall heading to various rooms.

“I’ll just be a moment,” I said then smiled at her.

She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. “There are no windows in there in case you were thinking about trying to escape.”

I shrugged. “Thanks for letting me know though that wasn’t in my plans.”

Inside, left the main door unlocked, slipped inside a stall, then stripped down as fast as possible. I placed my clothes on the back of the toilet. The only problem that remained was my glasses. I wished I could have brought a small bag to carry around my neck to put them on later. Guess I could carry them in my mouth.

I placed them on my sweatshirt.

Caitlin knocked. “You almost done?”

“Yeah, one minute more. I think the food was a bit heavy on my stomach. It aches.”

In a split second, I shifted and gingerly picked up my glasses in my canines. Lucky, though I was more like a coyote in size, I never had a problem shifting. And good thing that my wolf vision was sharp as a tack.

I sat next to the entrance waiting for Caitlin to get impatient.

A moment later she cracked the door open wide enough for me to squeeze through.

“Hey, where are you?”

Her eyes dipped to the ground as I shot between her legs out into the hallway. A shriek followed, “Ryker, Ryker!”

I didn’t wait to find out who that could be but I imagined it to be the enforcer. Shifters around me yelled and cursed. I dodged their attempts to catch me leaping around and slipping between their legs.

Somewhere down the hall, I sniffed the air and followed the scent of wintery pines and soft earth. The sounds of boots pounded down the hall after me. People called for Kaden, Ryker, and Ethan.

“Secure the entrance!” A voice shouted.

My heart hammered in my chest. I spied two doors that spanned from the floor to the ceiling made of honey-colored wood. They stood closed. I skidded to a halt while Ryker and Caitlin raced toward me then scanned the hallways that led to other rooms. I couldn’t smell any other way to get out close by enough that I could escape before they caught me.

Ryker closed in on me. “I got you, you little stinker.”

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