She kissed her mom’s cheek, then her unconscious father’s, and slipped out as quietly as she could. The rogues were near, in the very next cabin, as Tasha slipped into the dense trees. She’d barely ran a hundred yards when she heard the first loud boom of the shotgun, quickly followed by another, then nothing.
Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle the scream that almost erupted from her throat. Fury and fear fighting for pole position inside her. Her Wolf urged her on and she doubted she would’ve escaped if not for her beast. It pressed her onward when all she wanted to do was curl up and die.
Tasha was stubborn, and full of rage, so she pressed on, running away from her home and those she loved. She didn’t stop for two days and it was when she woke on the third that she heard them behind her. They must’ve found her tracks and they’d been on her tail ever since.
She wasn’t sure how many were trailing her but it was more than a couple. Sometimes their voices reached her enhanced ears and she could make out at least four or five distinct tones. Tasha knew she wouldn’t have a chance against that many and cursed herself for not thinking to bring her handgun with her.
A Wolf with a gun? Yeah, Tasha was a crack-shot and sometimes competed in competitions, that was until her dad found out. He’d given her hell for entering human matches, telling her she was cheating because of her enhanced abilities.
Tasha knew that was right, but she hadn’t done it to win the prizes. She just liked the thrill of seeing how well she could do.
With everything that had been going on she’d forgot the dang thing. If she hadn’t she might’ve been tempted to stalk her pursuers and see if she could take a few out. One bullet to the brain would do it. Nothing less would kill a Wolf but she was the best in the Pack with a handgun and she was sure she could’ve pulled it off.
“Stupid, stupid,” she berated herself as she thought of it lying around doing nothing as she fought to survive.
At least she wasn’t starving. The area she was in now was prolific with wildlife and she hunted every chance she got. In her Wolf form she’d just gobble her kill down, no need for cooking. That was one way of keeping one step ahead of the rogues on her tail. No fire, no smoke, so they couldn’t quite hone in on where she was.
They were doing it the old-fashioned way, tracking, and Tasha was managing to stay ahead of them. Until now. Now they were right behind her and she had to get her ass in gear or they’d catch her.
She shivered as she jogged, the thought of their hands on her almost causing her to throw up. Tasha didn’t want to think about what a group of rogues would do to her if they caught her.
Her long auburn hair flew around her head as she picked up speed but she didn’t slow to tie it up. She didn’t even have time to pee and she desperately needed to.
“Don’t think about it,” she whispered to herself, wishing she could stop and cross her legs.
“Come on, Tash, move!”
Tasha jerked. Those last words weren’t hers. She hadn’t said those and the urgency and tone were just as if her mother was right next to her, urging her on. “Mom?” she muttered, tears suddenly filling her eyes.
Silence. No more words of encouragement and the only thing she could hear were the rogues in the distance. Tasha drew a deep breath in, forcing her legs to move faster as she ran through an area she didn’t know, scared she’d lose track of where she was going and end up running smack bang into those that chased her.
“Stop it,” she rebuked herself again. “One foot in front of the other and keep going.”
She tried to figure things out, again, wondering about the illness that had decimated her Pack, and just how did the rogues know when to attack? There was more to this than she knew but in order to get to the bottom of things there was one thing she had to do: survive.
Tasha knew there was a Pack in the area, she’d heard about it from the Beta when he’d been sent to do some business for her Alpha. She wasn’t exactly sure where they were but it was in this general direction. She hoped she’d come across them soon so she could alert them to the threat and they could also take care of the asswipes behind her.
That was the plan anyway.
If she survived long enough and didn’t get caught. “Not happening,” she told herself firmly as she continued on.
Tasha pushed all thoughts of her parents, and her Pack, from her mind, focusing on her escape and allowing herself to dream of seeing the rogues behind her getting ripped apart. Now that would be justice.
Rafe ran swiftly through the trees, the scent of prey invading every pore of his Wolf body. His massive paws eating up the distance between him and his quarry. One thought alone spinning around in his head: hunger.
Jacy was behind him, not near enough for him to care, his beast leaving his Beta to trail after him as it raced after more food. More, more, more!
Rafe knew things were getting out of hand, subconsciously, but he didn’t seem able to stop. His Wolf craved prey and he couldn’t get it back under control. He pounced high into the air, landing on the back of a coyote, making quick work of ripping its throat out.
As soon as it lay dead beneath him his beast
