Broken Mate

3

“Atticus is a good man. I have never sensed any negative intent in him. I’m certain he isn’t behind this, but be careful, and don’t trust anyone else. One of the attackers said they’re here to find you. We can't let them catch you.”

"I... I don't want to leave you." Not only did he expect me to leave him behind, but he wanted me to go to a city I knew very little about.

"Baby girl, I love you, but you have to." He kissed my cheek. "They're gathering a small group to search for you. Go. Before it's too late."

"The alpha is missing," someone shouted from not too far away. "He may be searching for the girl."

I looked at my father one last time, trying to remember his smell, his face, his touch. "Daddy."

"I'm sorry, but I have to protect you." His eyes glowed a brighter silver as he called his last bit of strength. Alpha will laced his words. "Leave. Now. And don't come back."

My wolf howled in protest as I turned and my feet moved on their own accord, following our alpha's command. I glanced over my shoulder to look at him once more. "I love you, Daddy." I placed the knife back in the holster on my ankle and took off as I heard him drop.

"He's here," another guy yelled.

My wolf surged forward, helping me run as sobs racked me. I didn't want to leave, but I could not disobey my alpha.

The voices grew louder as multiple footsteps rushed toward my dad.

"I smell her!" someone exclaimed. "She's in the woods!"

Breathing deep again to calm myself down, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I had to get out of here before they caught me. My pack's sacrifice couldn't be in vain.

Chapter Two

"H

er scent is strong," one of the men yelled. "She can't be far."

Dammit, I didn't have even a quarter-mile lead on them. I had to get my head on straight or they'd capture me.

The urgency of my situation called for focus. At least, I had a reprieve from the overwhelming grief that wanted to suffocate me.

Wiping the moisture from my eyes and the snot from my nose, I increased my pace. They might have numbers on me, but I knew the land.

I veered left, staying deep enough in the woods that I couldn't be seen if they drove the roads. I ran a sporadic route, hoping they wouldn’t guess that I was heading to the closest town, about four or five miles away. Luckily, the road led southwest toward Shadow City and allowed me to stay close to civilization. That would force the people chasing me to keep their animal sides at bay.

After all, humans weren't supposed to know about supernaturals. If someone let it slip, the punishment was death.

Footsteps pounded behind me, pushing me to move faster. I ran often for training, so I should be able to lose their asses. As long as I kept ahead, I should be okay.

I'd figure out what to do once I got closer to the city.

My legs grew heavy, and it took twice as much energy to keep going, but I pushed through the fatigue. From what I could guess, I'd run about fifteen miles, which meant Shadow City wasn't far ahead. If I maintained my current speed, I would reach the city in the next thirty minutes.

I was making decent time, but the assholes after me hadn't fallen behind as I'd hoped. I had to lose them.

Scanning the area, I searched for something that would slow them down. Staying close to the road wasn't a viable option any longer.

I cut to the right, farther away from the road, hoping the switch in direction would disorient them for a short while, and examined my surroundings. I wasn't familiar with this part of the woods. Even though our pack lived somewhat close to Shadow City, we’d always kept a wide berth from it, purposely avoiding anyone who lived near there.

I tried to remember everything I knew about Shadow City. It was a refuge that had been created over a thousand years ago. Anyone who needed help or asylum could go there. All shifter races lived there together, plus angels, vampires, witches… almost every supernatural race in existence.

When the city was founded, the silver wolves had been its protectors until corruption took hold. Unable to fight the corrupt leaders and unwilling to die for them, the silver wolves had chosen to leave.

At the time, Shadow City's alpha wolf had promised to clean the place up and had asked for us to not go too far away. Then, shortly after the silver wolves left, the city went into lockdown, not letting anyone in or out until the past few years.

Dad had gone there about two years ago, to meet with the current alpha wolf, Atticus, but he’d left me behind, telling me he needed to vet the situation and that I was to stay with the pack in case things went awry. I’d been sixteen then, old enough to step into the alpha role if necessary.

Despite the alpha's promise that things had gotten better, Dad had been wary of some of the other leaders in the city, specifically the angel, Azbogah, and some of the witches. Atticus had said to give him time, that we'd see more change. However, Dad never heard from him again.

For him to tell me to go there meant the Shadow City pack was my only hope for safety. That didn't sit well with me, but that was a problem for another day.

Right now, I had to get these assholes off my trail.

The rushing of the river helped me form an idea. I probably should've done it a while ago, but I'd foolishly thought I could outrun them.

Mistakes were forgivable as long as you could do something about them. And fortunately, I was alive and still moving, which meant everything in my current situation. No one else in my pack could say that.

"She's changing course," someone huffed. "She’s heading for the river."

At least, they were showing signs of fatigue too. It would've sucked if they didn't sound as winded as I felt.

"Don't let her get there," another one yelled. "I’m calling for backup. We can't lose her."

The good thing about changing directions—it made their weight shift on their feet. I hadn't been able to get a good read on how many were chasing me, but with them pivoting, it sounded like about ten were riding my ass.

That was more than I'd expected. I'd hoped for a handful. With that many, my odds of getting away were a whole lot slimmer.

A problem for after I reached the water.

Watching the ground closely, I looked for patches of mud, roots, and tree branches that could make me stumble or fall. Unfortunately, this slowed me down, but that was marginally safer than taking a tumble. Another reason I'd stayed close to the road—more stable ground.

The downward slope helped me run faster. Tree branches cut my arms, causing some bleeding, but nothing that fazed me. I barely felt the burn and the sting, but what was all too easy to feel was that I was their f*****g prey. Something that angered both my wolf and me.

Their footsteps grew louder, alerting me that they were catching up. They were larger than me, so gravity worked in their favor.

I hadn't thought the plan through, but the river grew closer.

As long as I reached it before they caught up, I should be good. My plan was to go underwater and swim for as long as possible so they’d lose sight of me and my scent.

"I see her!" one of them shouted, way too close for comfort.

Ignoring the overwhelming urge to look over my shoulder, I pressed forward.

Murky water appeared between some trees as the Tennessee River came into view. The water didn't appear to move fast, but that was misleading. In spring, there was so much rain that the current was strong. Luckily, the section down here didn’t have heavy traffic. The boats stayed mostly north of us, so it wasn’t risky to swim around here.

My attackers’ breathing was so loud that I could tell they were almost on top of me. If things didn't change drastically, they'd catch me before I reached the river.

I hadn't run over fifteen miles to be captured now.

Concentrating on my goal, I threw caution to the wind and hauled ass, no longer caring about my footing. I pumped my arms at my sides, trying to make my feet move even faster.

As I reached the embankment, the mulch turned into muddy stone, and I leaped.

"No," a guy screamed as something snagged my right ankle.

Twisting my body to the right, I used my left foot to kick the punk in the face. His head snapped back, and his grip on me loosened.

I fell on my back, barely short of the water, my head dangling off the edge of the embankment. I raised my head to see nine men stalking up only a few yards away from me.

If I didn’t do something, they’d catch me before I hit the water.