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"Sorry, I seem to be without my phone," I said. "Maybe I could borrow yours?" It was worth a try, right?
Before he could answer, the bush in front of us burst into flames.
8
All hells broke loose.The baying of wolves turned to screams of pain and fear. The air was thick with it. That and smoke.
Through the bond I felt Ben's surprise, a flash of terror, then relief. He darted through a hole in the fence that hadn't been there a moment ago. It was hot. So hot he was worried it would catch his fur on fire. Then he was through and bounding out the other side.
The black wolves followed him through, right on his tail. But then they froze.
He was surrounded. By people and white wolves. Familiar faces. Hutton. Cooper.
Jake.
I wanted to sob, but I clung to my composure.
"Fuck," Dagen swore. His face was red with fury. He rounded on me. "What did you do,bitch?"Of course, he had no way to know what was going on beyond the fire that was quickly spreading through the trees. Unless he had a bond with one of the hunters. If so, I hoped he had an agonising, slow death. Just like the one Dagen deserved.
"What?" I asked innocently. "I've been standing here the whole time." I backed up a step, and hated myself for doing it, but his expression was pure murder. More than that, he looked like he was ready to tear me apart with his bare hands. And take his time doing it.
He saw my reaction and smiled.
Smiled.
He was a fucking bully who got off on scaring people who were less able to fight back.
"Get the bitch around to the back of the house. We need to evacuate." At least he had that much sense.
A tree about fifty metres away exploded. A heavy branch was thrown so far it smashed into the bathhouse. Everything inside that was flammable immediately caught fire.
That was the distraction I needed. I cursed the fucking collar that prevented me from shifting, and bolted as fast as I could across the grass and away from the house. I headed towards the driveway and hoped like hells it was wide enough to act as a firebreak.
Behind me, Dagen shouted. I glanced over my shoulder as a couple of goons started after me, but the rest followed Dagen towards the back of the house.
Coward.
He probably thought the fire would take care of me so he didn't have to. Or he was just thinking about saving his own ass, and that his men would deal with me.
The further I ran, the thicker the smoke became. It got into my lungs, made it harder and harder to breathe.
A sensible person would probably turn and run the other way. I could let Dagen's men grab me and get the hells away from the growing flames. I weighed up my options and decided that I would prefer to face the fire than the things Alistair Dagen would do to me. Maybe that made me a coward. Maybe it didn't.
These last couple of weeks had proved there were worse things than dying.
The smoke made my eyes water. I coughed and blinked away tears. The only consolation was that my pursuers were suffering as much as I was.
Through the bond, Ben sent thoughts of reassurance. He was close.
The men behind me were closer. Their shoes pounded on the gravel. They must be so sure they could catch me, they didn't even bother to shift. They might be right.
I threw out my hands to protect my face as a tree exploded a couple of metres away. Heat washed over me like a furnace. It was moments like this when I remembered I wasn't made of actual ice. I would melt the same as anyone else.
I sensed Ben's worry. He wanted to come to me. He was telling Jake and Cooper where I was. They were getting frantic.
I sent back thoughts that I was fine. They needed to stay where they were. That was an order. I added my relief that Ben was safe. If I didn't get out of this, at least he had. Hutton too.
Another tree exploded. I narrowly avoided being hit by a red-hot branch. I swerved at the last moment but slowed enough for one of Dagen's men to grab my arm.
