“How…how much further, Jake?” I panted in his ear.
“Gotta keep going until we lose them and they can’t track our scent,” his mental voice said in my mind. “A little further, Ani—can you hold on?”
“I can hold on,” I assured him grimly. “As long as you don’t feel like I’m, uh, tearing your fur out?” I was a little worried about that, since I was gripping handfuls of his thick, lush coat so tightly.
“You’re not hurting me—just hang on tight,” Jake told me. And then he leaped again, going from tree to tree in the forest as though he was trying to keep one step ahead of the enemy pack. It occurred to me that he was leaping rather than running because he was hoping to throw them off the scent by leaving gaps in our trail.
It must have worked because though I could hear them at our heels for a while, the sounds eventually got fainter and fainter until the only thing in my ears was the whistling of the wind and the huge Wolf’s panting.
At last, we came to a small clearing in the woods where someone had parked a plain black SUV. I recognized it as one of the vehicles our security team used—nothing fancy or flashy like my Tesla or Jake’s sports car or my mom’s Mercedes, but efficient and dependable. It was a good choice for a getaway vehicle but I still had one question—how in the Hell had he gotten away?
The huge Wolf came to a stop and shimmered and I found myself straddling Jake’s hips instead of riding his Wolf.
“Oh!” I looked down at him, surprised even though I had seen him Shift several times now.
“Sorry…” Jake was panting, trying to catch his breath. “Just takes…a lot of energy to Shift…when the moon isn’t quite full,” he finished at last as he set me gently aside and scrambled to his feet.
“I heard the other Weres saying they couldn’t do it at all,” I said, watching as he went around and groped under the tire well of the back right tire and pulled out a set of keys. “But you can?”
He shrugged as he popped the SUV’s trunk and pulled out a change of clothes.
“One of the perks of being a Royal and having the blood of the First Wolf in your veins, I guess,” he said, pulling on a new pair of jeans and a clean white T-shirt.
“But how did you get away?” I asked. Going to him, I reached up and took his face in my hands, studying his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re really here,” I whispered. “I thought you were dead. Are you sure it’s really you?”
“Of course I’m sure, baby.” He chuckled softly and put one big warm hand over my smaller, colder one as he looked down at me. “And if you’re wondering how I escaped and got out here, you can thank your mom. They were keeping me locked in the basement until the execution. But she stole a guard’s keys and let me out before they could come for me.”
“Oh my God!” I put a hand to my mouth. “And I was so angry at her the last time I saw her, because she admitted she was the one who told your dad to do the Adoption ceremony—she refused to marry him until he did it!”
“I know it,” Jake said grimly. “But I don’t blame your mom. She didn’t know what she was asking for or what it might do to us—my father did know and he did it anyway. He was in such a hurry to get his Omega he didn’t care if I found mine.” He smiled gently as he looked into my eyes. “Which I have.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t understand. I thought you said—”
“I said a lot of things,” Jake told me. “Come on—let’s get in the car and make some more miles before we stop. I’d like to be out of the state by morning if we can. Plus—you’re freezing.” He nodded at the way I was still shivering in the thin white dress.
I nodded and got into the passenger side seat of the SUV. Jake got in the driver’s side door and turned on the heat. I was grateful for the warmth, which almost immediately made me drowsy.
“Jake,” I murmured as he drove over the rutted dirt road until we came to a paved one. “Where are we going?”
He gave me a sidelong glance.
“I thought it was obvious—we’re running away together. Just like you wanted.”
“Do you really mean it?” I whispered, almost afraid to let hope in.
“Of course I do—I’m here, aren’t I?” He sighed. “Of course, I was hoping we’d have the element of surprise on our side and nobody would know I was the one who took you—that’s why I wore that damn mask my father gave me when he was trying to get me to go out to the local pack and forget about you—but this can work too.”