Trigger

6

After slipping through the window and running into the forest, she had no plan whatsoever. That hadn’t been so bad at first. She’d located the North star, or so she thought. There were quite a few bright ones, and she wasn’t an expert on the configuration of constellations on the other side of the globe.

For the first hour or so, she tried to remember if she should be following it or moving away from it, but this soon became meaningless as the sky above was broken by the thick branches of the trees.

She paused, listening again. Faint scuttles in the nearby trees comforted her. There was a soft hooting sound that might’ve been an owl. Nothing was disturbing the wild creatures, not even her muffled footsteps or hard breathing. There was no sight or sound of humanity anywhere nearby, and the farther she walked, the more remote the wilderness felt.

She felt a flicker of worry deep in her guts for the first time. She’d been proud and excited for the first few miles. Now that she was getting tired and cold, she had doubts. She had no map, no compass, and her star-tracking skills were, obviously, of little use. She looked up again, hurrying forward so she could glimpse the sky without too many branches obscuring her vision.

As soon as she stood still for longer than a few minutes, cold began to seep through her clothes. Since she had been running, she hadn’t worried too much about the cold. As her pace had slowed, it had become annoying. Now it was laced with threat. It could kill her, and it was almost as if the frost itself whispered death on the back of the icy breeze.

She shivered, jamming her hands in her jacket pockets. She had no food or water. She wasn’t completely useless in that regard, though. She could melt snow for water. She knew how to hunt too … theoretically.

She looked up at the sky, then forward through the forest. She looked behind her and saw her own white footprints. No map. No compass. No f*****g clue where I’ve been or where I’m going. No matches. I basically understand how to rub two sticks together, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever done it.

Even if she had a lighter, there would be very little chance of starting a fire with snow-dampened wood. Worry crept through her belly as she looked back the way she’d come. The meals, clean water, and blankets of her captivity were starting to look pretty good right now.

She turned, looking out into the wilderness again. It loomed, feeling foreboding, almost threatening. Fear as icy as the branches above clutched at her heart.

But when she looked back at the way she’d come, fierce, fiery determination flooded through her.

I’m not going back! I’d rather die!

She turned her back on her footprints and continued forward. Even though she was afraid, her instincts told her she was going the right way. This was meant to be. It seemed crazy, but she knew she was safer out here with the wolves than she was back in that warm, comfortable prison.

TRIGG

Still holding the phone, Trigg’s fist clenched just a little too hard. He heard his own teeth grind together as he fought not to yell at Kory.

This was supposed to be a simple mission, you incompetent f*****g asshole!

It took all the strength he had to rein in his temper. Kory was trying to reassure him that this had all been an accident. Even though he didn’t want to believe it, he knew it was true. Kory was an i***t, and his goons were even worse.

“All right, all right,” Trigg said. He shook his head, taking a deep breath. He was sick of Kory’s excuses, and if he had to hear much more, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself together.

“I am sorry about zis,” Kory said agreeably. “I made a promise, after all.” As if a mafia boss would keep a promise if he didn’t want to.

Trigg’s hands clenched again, tight fists hurting his knuckles. He would wreck the damn phone if he squeezed it much harder. He needed to keep Kory nice and complacent so he wouldn’t see him coming when he came back for his head. Even though rage rose in his throat as if his heart was on fire, he swallowed it. It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.

Get the female first. Finish the mission. Then kill Kory.

“She couldn’t have gotten far,” he said, his own voice surprising him. He sounded calm and even friendly. “I’ll grab a few things and head out. Where are your men?”

“I told zem to clear out,” Kory said. “Since you vant the girl, I told zem not to search for her. Do you vant me to call them back in to help you?”

“No, no. I’m better on my own.”

He could hear Kory smile. A wolf’s hearing was good enough to hear lips slowly rising above teeth. Trigg took a deep breath and held it to keep himself calm.

“That’s vhat, I figured.” The Pakhan chuckled. “You vere always a better boyevik than avtoritet.”

Trigg cringed when hearing those words, warrior, and authority. He didn’t want to be reminded of direct orders given to him to kill and steal, then his own authoritarian rule over the bratok ... the mafia’s shifter soldiers. He wasn’t proud of his past. In fact, he was ashamed of it, but there was nothing he could do about it. He’d served his time in hell to pay for his crimes.

“Besides,” Kory continued, “how hard can it be to catch one little girl?”

One little girl who escaped you, Trigg’s inner voice roared. He had to bite his tongue.

“Thank you, Pakhan,” he said. “I must go.”

“Of course,” Kory said agreeably. “Good hunting. You know you’ve got a job with me any time you vant it. I think you could be a good obshchak leader now. Vhat do you think?”

“I would be honored to serve as your security commander,” Trigg said smoothly, even though the thought sickened him. “When this is all over, I’ll drop in on you.”

“I look forward to it.”

Trigg grinned. “You do that.”