6
NESS
I’d done it. I’d taken the first step in making that damned prophecy come true. It’d placed an obligation on my head that I’d wanted to ignore for as long as I could shift. I told myself that Alvin was forcing my hand, but that didn’t make this any easier. I didn’t want this kind of duty. I didn’t want to be the one to make this happen.
I wished I could be like Janessa. I wanted to be just another female shifter in the pack, not the future traitor. Though my actions could lead to a better, safer pack, that didn’t make this any easier. I wanted to scream my frustration, but I swallowed the sound and let it fester in my stomach.
As I trudged down the sidewalk back toward my parked car, I heard the familiar rumble of a pickup truck engine. I stiffened and glanced back. How did they always know how to find me? Did Alvin have a GPS tracker on my phone? Had one of his minions put a tracker on my car while he’d been yelling at me?
I wrinkled my nose and fought the urge to flip them off. This time, they had Connor behind the wheel. As the truck came closer, Harvey leapt out of the truck bed and jogged alongside it.
Ryder stood on his porch. Even from here, I could see his scowl. He tensed, like he might jump in to help me, but I gave a soft shake of my head. He needed to stay out of this, or else I would have a harder time. He had to stay a secret until the time was right.
“What are you doing outside of Lakesedge?” Harvey asked. He caught up to me and slung and arm around my shoulder. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you! It’s time to run with your pack.”
My blood turned to ice. Voice hushed, I said, “No, it’s not. The full moon is still a few days away.”
“I think you’re mistaken.” Harvey grinned, showing sharp teeth.
My stomach churned. I wanted to look back to Ryder and beg for help. I couldn’t. He wasn’t my savior. He couldn’t whisk me out of this mess without repercussions that would ripple through the pack.
Besides, I had to figure out how I could help him, too. It felt wrong to ask him to kill a person when I didn’t even know what I could do for him. Hell, I knew it was wrong to ask that of him at all.
When I veered towards my car, Harvey yanked me off course. He pulled me back to the truck. I tried to dig in my heels, but he wouldn’t relent.
“Your pack is waiting for you. We better get a move on,” he said with a snarl. He grabbed ahold of my upper arm and dragged me.
On one side, Connor watched with his sad-puppy eyes. On the other side, I could feel Ryder’s anger mounting. The clouds above rumbled.
Harvey hesitated. His attention rose, eyes rolling towards the sky. When he lowered his gaze and narrowed his eyes at me, I cringed apologetically and shrugged.
“Whoops?” I offered.
The feral curl of his lips scared me almost as much as the gleam in his eyes. “You’re going to be the guest of honor tonight,” he said. “Everyone is waiting for you.”
He shoved me toward the truck. I staggered, my mind tumbling. I threw my hands out to brace myself against the truck before my face smashed into the rusting exterior. My coffee splattered across the ground.
Guest of honor? I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from clattering as fear took ahold of me. I had to use all of my self-control to keep from looking back to Ryder for help. Harvey must have told his father about Ryder. They didn’t want me fraternizing with outsiders.
When the hunt sounded tonight, I would be the prey. My hound gnashed her teeth and snarled. She was ready to take on everyone, but I wasn’t so sure we could. My hands shook when I pulled them away from the truck. If they got me onto the truck bed, I was done for.
The hound thrashed and told me to run. We weren’t in Lakesedge, though. I couldn’t shift on the street. There were too many potential human witnesses here. Those same witnesses I had been counting on keeping me safe were now a hindrance.
Harvey gripped the back of my neck and pushed me down. I hunched, against my will, while he dug his nails into the back of my neck. I whimpered pathetically.
Harvey leaned in close to whisper in my ear. “Everyone in the pack is going to get a taste of your blood tonight. Maybe then you’ll think twice about relying on others to fight your battles for you.”
My relief that I wasn’t going to die tonight was short lived. Harvey released my neck before lifting me and throwing me onto the truck bed. Ryder shouted, but that didn’t stop Harvey from sitting on my back to keep me face down.
My heart pounded, pumping ice through my veins. I wanted to cry, but there wasn’t a chance in hell that I would do it in front of Harvey. Someone reached out and grasped my hand to give it a gentle squeeze.
I peeked to my right to see Kelsey with her lips drawn into a grim line. She tore her gaze away from me and wrapped her arms around herself. A tear slipped out of the corner of my eye.
At the end of the day, we were all pack. They cared, but they were powerless. I wasn’t going to let Alvin and Harvey keep abusing their power. I would survive tonight.
Even if I didn’t, Ryder would know. He would avenge me, and then the pack would be safe again. I wanted to believe that Ryder would do the right thing even if I wasn’t there to keep up my end of our bargain.
Fuck, I barely knew this guy. I didn’t know anything about him, let alone how far he was willing to go for me. He’d balked at my request—which was fair considering what I’d asked of him. I had no promises that he would stay and do the right thing.