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“You’d be a pretty little war trophy,” the older man murmured into my ear. “Wouldn’t you?”

My eyes widened, the smirk dropping from my mouth. Who—how—what …

“No wonder Davix likes you so much,” he said, drawing his mouth up the column of my neck. His hands wandered down my body until he squeezed one of my tits in his rough hand. “Look at this bod⁠—”

Before he could say another word, I slammed my elbow back into his gut.

Take that, you stupid little⁠—

A chuckle left his mouth, and he wrapped his hand around the front of my throat, turned me around, and lifted me right into the air. I kicked my legs back and forth, heart pounding inside my chest.

“You think you can hurt me, little girl?” he asked, spitting on my face. “Pathetic bitch.”

I clawed at his hand. “P-please … please, let me⁠—”

He snatched my shirt and ripped it off my body, the cloth tearing at the seams. When he reached for my pants, I attempted to kick him away, over and over, desperate to do any damage. If he touched me … I wouldn’t … I couldn’t …

“You stupid whore⁠—”

Suddenly, a wolf ripped his entire arm off his body. I fell to the ground as blood squirted everywhere. My eyes widened, and I shuffled back on the forest floor, detaching the arm from my throat, my hands trembling.

It was that wolf … the one with the red eyes … the one who had been watching me.

Not wanting to see how this turned out, I scrambled to my feet and took off through the woods, back toward my house. God, Cade was going to absolutely freaking kill me if he found out that I’d left the house!

Pumping my legs as quickly as they’d go, I ran through the forest. I whizzed past trees while tiny feet tried to keep up. I glanced behind to see the girls at my feet, running as fast as they could too.

And honestly, this was all so fucking pathetic.

My fastest speed was the speed of baby foxes. Baby foxes!

And me? I was already out of breath.

A wolf howled, and then quick feet were hitting the ground again behind me. I peered back farther through the woods to see that wolf running in my direction. So, I slowed to a stop, hands on my knees and gasping for breath.

“Oh God,” I said between gasps. “Thank you.”

When the wolf reached me, he shifted into the handsomest man that I had ever laid my eyes on. Chiseled jaw, a dark head of hair, a thin layer of sweat covering his sculpted body, those blazing eyes, and a huge, hanging co⁠—

He didn’t speak a word, but instead lifted me into the air.

“My house is that way,” I said, pointing to the right.

But he didn’t turn in that direction. No, he kept walking. Through the woods. In the opposite direction of my house. Toward a much darker subsection of the forest, one covered in a thick fog that I could barely see five feet into.

“Please,” I whispered, heart pounding. “Please, take me home. I need to go home.”

Nothing. Not even a grunt.

“My brother’s going to be looking for me. Cade Lucero too. Do you know him? He⁠—”

“The Reaper,” the man said, his voice deep.

“Yes,” I said, shaking my head. “Yes, The Reaper. He’ll track you down and⁠—”

“Nobody tracks me down. Nobody will even know I was here.” He stepped into the thick fog, and suddenly, my vision started to blur. “As far as they’re concerned, you’ll have vanished out of thin air.”

“No,” I whispered, trying to keep my eyes open. “No, please …”