Page 7 of Monstrous Serpent

I grin under my mask, bouncing on my toes. “He didn't sign up for this, and he definitely came looking for a fight.”

Hunter grunts. “He found one.”

Whatever tonight was supposed to be just got replaced by something else. The pining, the threesome I didn't want, the girl who's pretty like a painting—gone.

The Titan is on our turf . . . and this I know what to do with.

Jenkins checks his phone, then tucks it into his back pocket. He maneuvers through the pack, edging closer to our captain.

The first airhorn blares, and those wearing green armbands run into the woods.

I shake out my hands, muscles flexing, blood surging through my body. Under my mask, my lips are pulled into a wide grin. But it’s not friendly.

Hunter is still beside me. Poised. Locked in.

The second horn blares, and our group takes off. Jenkins is ahead of us, cutting through the pack with the same quick, aggressive stride he uses on the ice.

That’s right, you cocky little shit.

Run.

Because I’m coming to get you.

Chapter 3

Cody

A cropped tank top.

That's what she’s wearing.

Not a sundress like she puts on when we go to dinner. Not even a pair of jeans and sneakers. A fucking cropped tank top with white micro shorts and her hair pulled back into a high ponytail.

My feet slam against the dirt trail covered in pine needles, branches whipping across my arms as I cut through the trees, trying to keep that douchebag she was smiling at in my sight. Who the fuck is he anyway?

Did she meet him here?

I sprint, shouldering past some guy in a wolf mask. Asshole better get out of my way because he’s not the one I want to choke the shit out of. It’s that douchebag in the white mask. Pictured it the second I heard her laugh in the parking lot as she ran her fingers down his arm.

That same goddamn laugh I used to get at Jones Beach when I'd tell a joke and she'd grab my arm like I was the funniest person alive.

Tonight, she aimed it at him.

My lungs burn. But not from running. It’s deeper, behind my ribs, and it won't move, won't break apart, won't let me breathe all the way in.

About seventy feet ahead of me, the guy in the white mask veers to the left. Jumping over a log, I follow. Less light filters through the canopy above us. It’s not dark yet, just dimming. Still, I increase my pace, making sure not to lose him because following him means I find Cindy.

Someone screams to my right.

Shit.

Maybe they tripped over a root. What kind of asshole event planner thought this was safe? So much can go wrong.

Another scream. This one, more high-pitched, breathless even, followed by a giggle. I slow, approaching someone on the ground. Except it’s not someone, it’s—

Holy shit.

People are fucking out here?