I choked out a sound, barely able to breathe. Her nails dug deeper into my skin, her fingers putting more pressure on my throat, and I struggled to grip the sharp-edged rock I had hidden in my shoe the last time we had been taken outside to pee. I had bruised the sole of my foot, but I had gotten away with it, and that rock was my only hope.
In an instant it was gone, falling away from the tips of my useless fingers. An odd sound rang in my ears, and the hands on my neck loosened. Martha collapsed on top of me, and I pushed her away in disgust.
“Thought it looked like you needed a hand,” Rachel said, panting heavily, the bloody rock still clutched in her fingers.
“I told you to run,” I scolded as she let the rock fall. “Come on, before she wakes up.”
We ran to the door, but a werewolf stood in our way.
“Micah,” Rachel said softly, pleadingly.
He stared back at her for too many heartbeats. “Let’s go,” he said. “This way. Come on.”
I ran after them, unable to believe our luck. He led us behind the shed and made us crouch as he checked for guards, but everyone was too busy getting ready to even think about us. We were Martha’s responsibility. She should have been able to handle a few human girls.
We ran and were soon covered by trees. Not long after, we heard a howl, and Micah looked over his shoulder in concern. “They’ve noticed,” he said, and he hesitated.
“Run, you idiot!” I cried out, but I tripped and tumbled down a hill, thorny plants and bushes scratching at my skin as I fell.
The others came scrambling down after me, but when I tried to put weight on my stupid ankle, I collapsed to the ground.
I shook my head, trying not to cry with fear and frustration. “Go,” I urged. “I can’t move. Go and run for help. Try to find someone. Quickly! Get out of here and don’t come back!”
“We can’t leave her,” Meg protested.
But Micah grabbed her arm and pushed her on. “She’s right. We can get help.” He nodded at me, and they ran.
I was left to crawl along the forest floor, afraid to stop for too long. I heard wolves running in the distance, and I froze, waiting for them to find me. They ran past, probably on the trail of the others. I hoped Micah could get them away. I hoped…
Two figures burst through the trees, and my heart leapt into my chest until I recognised their faces.
“Ryan!” I cried. “The girls, they’re with another wolf. He’s helping them, so don’t kill him.” I pointed in the way they had gone. “Quickly, you can catch up to them. But hurry because the others are after them.”
He ripped his clothes apart and shifted into wolf form. He let loose an angry howl and raced away.
Nathan knelt before me, his face a mixture of a million emotions. He ran his hands frantically down my arms as if trying to fix me somehow.
“You’re late again,” I teased in hopes of calming his obvious distress.
He held my hands. “It’s the very last time, I swear.”
There was another howl in the distance, and his grip tightened.
“We need to get you out of here,” he said. “There’s a car waiting for you.”
“I seriously do not have a problem with that, but I kinda need a hand. I twisted my ankle or something.”
He nodded, and I put my arms around his shoulders to help myself up, but he pressed his face against my neck, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.
“Hey,” I said. “It’s okay. I’m fine, Nathan.”
“I love you, Perdita. Don’t… don’t do this to me again, please.”
A weird rush of warmth ran through my body, but I pushed him away. “Really, Nathan? Now? Now’s the time to say that?”
He saw my grin and spluttered out a laugh. “Sorry, I’m just… sorry. We have to hurry, I know.”
“Help me up, please.”
He lifted me to my feet easily, supporting me when I couldn’t stand by myself. I pulled myself closer to him, fully aware of how badly I stank, but not really caring anymore. I held on to him, gazing into his brown eyes, seeing his worry and concern.
“Nathan, I love you, too. But they’re after us, so let’s get out of here.”
He grinned and stood there staring at me with a massive smile on his face until I elbowed him.
“Sorry,” he said, still grinning. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Put your arm around my shoulders. Try not to put too much weight on your foot.”
“How did you find us?” I asked as we half-hopped back the way he had come.
“Amelia. Magic. Ryan tracked you to Vin’s camp, but I caught your scent going in the other direction so we followed it. We thought we were going to have to break you out. Never really thought you’d have already escaped.”
“Got bored.”
He laughed again, lifting me in his arms. It was all very damsel in distress, and I put up a little fuss.
“Get over it,” he said. “This will go quicker if you aren’t limping. We just need you to get to the jeep, and then your dad will drive you to safety.”
“Wait, what? Dad’s here?”
“A lot’s changed,” he said.
I clung to him, praying he wouldn’t fall, but we made better time with him doing the running, despite how heavy his breathing had become.
“Someone’s behind us,” he said after a minute. “Try to look less vulnerable.”
I made a face.
“Also, I’m going to get naked now. Try not to get too excited.”
I grinned despite the breathtaking fear. It was just him and a limping me. How could we do this?
He shifted and howled, readying himself for battle, and I inched away. I heard the wolf before I saw her, but I knew it was Martha. She would never let me go, and I recognised the same evil gaze in her eyes. She was the one pulling Vin’s strings. She was worse than he was.
Martha rushed at me, jaws moving soundlessly, and Nathan took his chance to attack. She never reached me, and I couldn’t help giving her a smug smile as he dragged her back with vicious tugs. I managed to get a solid kick at her head with my good foot as payback for all of the times she had hit me, for all of the times she had egged Vin on and made everything worse.
They fought hard, but he gained ground on her easily. His control was stronger than his anger, and a bitter rage was all Martha had. Beaten, she limped away, and he let her. I was proud of him for staying calm, no matter what she deserved.
But a naked figure strolled through the woods, laughing. “There you are, Martha. Did you really think I would let you away with it all?” He kicked her foot, then glanced at Nathan with surprise. “Are you actually trying to show her mercy, boy?” he asked, and he stomped on her back as he sauntered by. The bones cracked noisily, and she lay whimpering.
Lay dying.
“So this is your boy,” Vin said to me. “He would have given you a healthy strapping wolf to mother if he had lived long enough. Keep your eyes open, my dear. I want you to see the end. All of us will see the end today.”
Nathan growled ferociously, keeping himself between Vin and me. He ran at Vin, but the older wolf had phased and leapt out of the way before Nathan reached him.
Vin glanced at me, his tongue hanging out as if he were laughing. I backed away farther, unable to watch the madness in his eyes. Nathan would have to kill him. This wolf wanted to die. Deep down, he was eager to meet death. Until that happened, he would keep killing, leaving a trail of destruction in his path.
They fought, rolling around, snapping and attacking with deadly seriousness. It was intense, the scariest battle yet, but Nathan kept his cool long enough to draw first blood.
My heart thudded in my chest so loudly that I never heard the second wolf approach.
Jakob Evans knocked his own grandson out of the way in his attempt to get to Vin. Nathan snarled, but he backed away.
Nathan came over to sit with me as Jakob and Vin tried to destroy each other. They fought for Lia, fought for everyone who had
died, and when Vin ran off on three legs, Jakob followed without so much as a glance at us.
I ran my hands along Nathan’s fur, checking frantically, but he was okay. At least on the surface. The same couldn’t be said for Martha. We stayed there, not knowing what to do, until Jeremy came along two minutes later and put her out of her misery. At least, I thought he was being merciful.
Nathan turned his back and shifted again. He was shaking, covered in dried blood, and I could hear in his voice that he was upset.
“Opa’s gone after Vin,” was all he said to Jeremy, who then sped off after his grandfather. To help him or stop him, I had no idea.
Nathan helped me limp away because I refused to let him carry me after fighting.
“I’ll leave you with your dad,” he said. “Get home, listen to whatever your dad says to tell the police, and I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”
“You’re going back?”
He shrugged. “I have to, Perdita. This isn’t over.”
“That was…”
“I know.” He kissed my cheek and rested his forehead against mine, yet another shudder running through him. “I know, but it’s all happening in the other direction. I’ll be back.”
“Swear.”
He smiled. “I swear to you, I will come back.”
“She told me that he killed the ones who hurt your parents,” I said softly. “She made it sound like he murdered anyone who hurt Lia in some way.”
He nodded. “But the others let it happen. Enabled Vin. They have blood on their hands, too.”
“Don’t hurt them. Most of them are human, and they’re all terrified. It’s not their fault.” I hesitated. “Except there’s a skinhead called Dar who I wouldn’t mind having terrified into submission.”
He tensed and grunted noncommittally, but when I looked at his eyes, they were the same beautiful brown I knew and loved.
“My point is that the strongest wolves are all gone now. You won’t have to fight to the death. There are too many humans, too many people forced to be there. I know it’s hard to see them as anything other than the enemy, but if you stay calm, you’ll see what I mean.”
He laughed softly. “Stay calm? This is what I’m always going to be, Perdita. The anger is part of the package. There are some parts of me that I can’t change, no matter how much I want to.”
“I know,” I whispered, holding on to him tighter. “I can handle it. I get it, but I also know you’re a better wolf than Vin.”
His pain showed in his eyes. He kissed me, and we kept going in silence.
We found Dad quickly, and when he saw me hobbling, he hurried over to us, despite limping himself. “What happened?”
“I’m fine. I fell over like a child is all,” I said. “Dad… I mean…”
“Don’t worry about anything right now,” he said. “Nathan, the other kids are in the jeep. Ryan and your sister went back in.”
Nathan nodded. “Get them all out of here. We’ll find our own way home.”
“Good luck,” Dad said, shaking Nathan’s hand. “And thank you.”
Nathan grabbed my hand and squeezed, making sure I was looking at him. “I love you,” he said in a firm voice, more for Dad’s benefit than mine, and then he was gone.
“I didn’t hear that,” Dad said.
“Dad, about everything…”
“I love you, Perdy, and you’re safe. That’s all that matters.” He hugged me. “They’ve told me everything. I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all of this on your own.”
Tears came to my eyes. He didn’t hate me. He knew, and he didn’t hate me. The relief made me stumble, but Dad caught me.
“Let’s get you home,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.
I climbed into the jeep with Dad’s help, but I winced constantly at the pain in my ankle. Inside, Meg squealed when she caught sight of me, but Micah was pale.
“Dad scared him,” Rachel said, and she gave me a real smile for the first time.
“I can imagine,” I said. “Don’t worry, Micah. If he didn’t bite you, you’re probably okay.”
Meg giggled and reached forward to squeeze my shoulder, as excited to be free as I was. But it wasn’t over yet. We still needed our werewolves to get home.
Dad drove us back to our house. He strapped up my ankle before leaving messages for somebody to call off some search party. He evaded our questions until we had all cleaned up and eaten. We were to tell the police we knew nothing, that we had been dumped on the road, found a phone, and rang my dad to come get us. He hadn’t been able to wait for police help.
He left the others in the living room while he waited in the hallway for the police to arrive. I followed, leaning against the wall to limp after him.
“This is going to be bad, right?” I said.
“Probably, but we have you back. That’s all that matters.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” I whispered.
He glanced at me and shook his head. “I can’t believe you’ve been going through all of this.” He moved to hug me, holding me tight.
“You don’t blame me?”
“You? No, not you. I could happily blame it all on your boyfriend’s family, but I suppose I can’t even do that now that they’ve brought you back to me.”
Tears brimmed in my eyes. “I can’t believe you know everything now. That you believed it all. That you don’t hate me. I was so afraid this would be too much to deal with.”
“You’re my daughter. It doesn’t matter what happens. Nothing can change the fact I love you. I’m responsible for you, and I wish I had been there for you. I wish I had known the truth all along. Maybe everything would have been different.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him, Dad. I swear I didn’t mean to. I was just trying to stop him from killing another one of Nathan’s grandparents. Lia was already dead, and Jakob was dying. He wanted to kill me and Amelia. He was…”
“I know,” he said. “They told me. You must have been terrified.” The blackness in his eyes shone through, that lingering trace of werewolf that sent his emotions into overload.
“I wanted to tell, but they wouldn’t let me. They said nobody would believe me. There wasn’t even a body. I didn’t know what to do, and I’ve been so… I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I can’t get it out of my head.”
“That’s normal, but I’m going to help you get through it. We can get through anything as a family, right?”
I nodded, the sense of relief dizzying. Since Dad knew, somehow I felt sure I would be okay. “Think Nathan will be safe out there?”
He sighed. “I think he’s very determined to get back to you, whether I like it or not. He’ll be fine.”
We stood there for a while, and at least one part of my life felt healed.
“Prepare yourselves,” he warned the others as the police finally arrived at the house, but I could never prepare myself for the sheer number of questions they had.
“And they just left you there?” one garda asked with disbelief. “Mr. Rivers, you didn’t call us? You let them wash away possible evidence?”
Dad got some lectures about that, but by the end, everyone seemed relieved that it was all over. When Gran returned, I saw wariness in her eyes, and I wondered what had been going on while I was gone.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking me over. “I’m so… this has been a nightmare.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just glad to be home.”
For a second, she stared at me, but then she hugged me as hard as Dad had.
But I kept thinking of Nathan, back with the other wolves, and wondered if it was all just beginning.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nathan
I raced back through the trees, part of me automatically relaxing since I knew Perdita was safe, part of me still anxious because my family was likely fighting without me.
Finding Perdita had been easy once we headed in the right direction. Ryan had been close enough to tr
ack where they were hiding out, thanks to my sister. Before we arrived, I had caught Perdita’s scent and followed it in a panic. The other scents were Ryan’s daughters and a werewolf who helped them. I knew that now, but at the time, I had assumed Perdita was being moved to a new hiding place. I couldn’t believe she had escaped, and seeing her injured had made wolf roar in my head, but she seemed fine, and her dad had her heading back to safety.
Unsure of what was happening, I sped up when I heard a familiar howl. Rushing through the undergrowth, I caught sounds on the wind. My stomach turned as I realised the fight wasn’t over. The werewolves were defending their territory, but at least we had what we wanted.
I came upon the camp, ready for war, and I saw… mostly ordinary people. I understood then what Perdita had meant. Werewolves circled Byron and Jeremy, but there weren’t as many as I feared. Ryan and Amelia were there, too. I joined them, darting after the circling wolves in a bid to even the score.
I smelled Perdita on a dark brown werewolf, and he was the one I attacked first. He was larger than Jeremy, and I didn’t care that he would probably destroy me—he had touched Perdita. Maybe he had been the wolf who clutched her throat. Maybe he was the Dar she had mentioned. He had to pay the price.
He was so startled by my attack that I drew the first blood, my teeth tearing his shoulder open, revealing raw flesh. He recovered quickly, jumping for my throat after finding space between us to retreat a little. A wolf like him did better when able to use his strength, but I was fast enough to get out of his way, snapping at his flank as he struggled to turn in time. I was on him before he could find me again, on his back, my teeth sinking into his skin with a ripping sound that was extremely satisfying.