Chapter 3
I waited, curled on the bed until the sun went down. Lucian continued to hover outside the door. The only way I knew was because the nurse had come in to check on me multiple times, and he’d been propped against the wall, within view.
With each passing moment, the rage bubbled in my gut, overshadowing the pain. I clung to my anger with desperation.
Cierra would die. I’d make sure of it. And whoever those two males were who’d hit Dad’s car would also fucking die.
I didn’t care how I did it, but it would happen. But first, I had to escape that bastard who had tied me to him with a mate bond.
The door creaked open, and I met the nurse’s eyes, finally acknowledging her instead of lying here like a bag of bricks while she messed with the machines in the room. Her name was scrawled across her badge.
“Melodie?”
She tensed and strode over, trepidation on her face. She left the door slightly cracked.
“Are you okay, Luna?” she murmured. I stiffened at the sound of the title.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Sorry,” she said in a hushed tone. I licked my lips and shook my head.
“Is he still out there?” I said, much more softly.
She nodded. “Can I take a shower?” I asked, raising my voice pointedly.
“Absolutely, I’ll go start it for you.” She looked at me, confused, and then strode through the second door attached to the room. I plucked my phone off the stand and found Alex’s number.
I opened our chat.
I need your help.
The little bubbles popped up quickly.
Are you okay? I heard about Cierra coming for you. Lucian has the pack searching for her.
I’m fine, but I don’t have much time. Can you promise not to contact your brother?
And risk death?
Please. I beg you. Pick me up. I need your help.
The bubbles popped up and disappeared as I held my breath. I was using his interest in me against him, but I didn’t have a choice. If I returned to my apartment, he’d find me immediately.
I reserve the right to change my mind and contact Lucian.
Getting in my car now. Where do I pick you up?
Relief slumped my shoulders, and I exhaled, relieved.
I slid off the bed and shoved my feet into the slippers resting beside the bed. As I entered the bathroom, Melodie straightened.
“All ready.”
“Thank you,” I announced exaggeratedly. She furrowed her eyebrows. I debated asking her for help; she’d seen how Lucian refused to allow me to leave, but she was terrified of him. Now I understood everyone keeping their distance from him. My mate was psychotic.
“Hey, are there any stores nearby? Or maybe a gas station?”
She hesitated and looked down at the phone dangling from my hand. Her eyebrows twitched.
“The Community Center is a few miles down the only road outside of the Alpha’s personal land.” She kept her expression bland.
She was helping me.
I could only nod jerkily.
“I’ll be doing my rounds.” She paused and turned her wrist to look at her watch.
“You know, Ms. Olif is a couple of doors down from you. In a few minutes, she’s going to set off her alarms. She has this pesky tendency of ripping her monitors off.
” She pointedly looked at me. “It’s a lot of noise, so I apologize for that. ”
With that, she strode out and shut the door with enough force that the doorframe rattled. I squeezed the device in my hand, so relieved.
On the main road between the Community Center and the Pack Clinic.
I didn’t bother waiting for his response.
Now, to find which window to escape from.
The one in the bathroom was slightly cracked, but the hinge locked before it could stretch further out.
I hurried out to the main room, phone in hand, and unhooked the latch.
I pushed it, and it was the same as the one in the bathroom. Fuck.
A sudden alarm blared from outside the room.
I scanned the small couch, the messy bed, and the counter to find what I could use to break the hinge. I couldn’t use anything metal because it would be too noisy. My throat felt too tight. I forced myself to take a breath. Panic would lead to mistakes.
There was no time to debate. Kicking it in would be the easiest way to break it; I just needed to get to an elevated surface so I had the force needed to do it.
I dropped my phone on the bed, dragged the chair over, and hoisted myself up.
The bar holding the curtains was securely drilled into the wall.
I bunched the bottom of the gown in my hand and drew my foot back to drive the bottom of my slipper into the window above the hinge.
A pinch radiated up to my knee, but I didn’t stop.
With each hit came a dull thud that couldn’t be heard over the alarm.
Come on .
It finally gave in.
There was no time to waste. I crouched down to swipe my phone off the bed and then, balancing on the ledge, I kept a tight hold on the bar and slipped out of the room and onto a compact bush lining the side of the building.
There was only one floor, which was fortunate because I would have tossed myself out of whatever floor necessary to escape.
Without bothering to look behind me, I took off at a sprint into the dense forest, using it as cover to not be seen.
Cierra knew the men who’d hurt me. Once I found her, I’d rip it out of her, no matter what.
I frantically kept running at a ground-eating pace, dust pluming all around me. Leaves and branches crunched underfoot. I ran and ran until a rumble of an engine came from in front of me. I dashed toward it. Headlights blinded me, and I stepped out to the edge of the road.
The truck slowed. Please be Alex .
I hesitantly approached the passenger side.
“You getting in?” Alex’s familiar voice echoed to me, and I exhaled with relief.
I hopped into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. My chest pumped from the exertion.
“Thank you for coming,” I said.
“Of course, sister-in-law.”
“I am not your sister-in-law,” I bit out.
His eyebrows raised.
“He already pissed you off?”
I gritted my teeth.
“Oh, it’s that bad?”
I couldn’t stop the tears from trickling from the corner of my eyes, but I kept my gaze fixed forward.
He went awkwardly silent, the roar of the engine the only sound around us.
“What’s going on, Joey?”
I debated spilling all the words hovering at the tip of my tongue. Studying him carefully, I weighed my options in telling him everything. Frankly, I needed help. I needed information on the pack, and who better to bring into the fold than the brother of the pack Alpha.
“Do you have access to police reports?”
“No, but we have a pack member in the Police Department.”
I stiffened and swung my eyes toward him.
“Who?” I said so fast.
“You need to give me more, Joey. What’s with you and Lucian? You guys were all lovey-dovey until tonight.”
I pressed my lips together. If I told him . . . What was there to lose? I had nothing to be ashamed of. For fuck’s sake, I should have never even done time.
Decision made, I took a breath.
“About four years ago.” I exhaled hard. This was going to take a while.
LUCIAN
I stormed into the clinic room. With one sweep of the area, I took it all in. The shower was on, the door wide open, the chair was pushed up to the wall, and the window hung on by one hinge on the left, while the right side was slanted, allowing a slim opening.
She had run.
“Fuck,” I snarled. How long had she been gone? I lunged to the window and breathed in. Her vanilla scent lingered only the faintest amount.
Melodie was in here more than an hour ago.
At the very least, she’d had twenty minutes of a head start.
I shucked my clothes, ripping them off my body.
I shifted, climbed the chair, and shoved through the tight split in the window.
With my head lowered, I sniffed the bushes, catching her faint scent.
It led down into the woods. I crouched, studying the broken branches and foliage indicating she’d run through here in her human form, because her shifted form would have been more limber.
I’d wasted so much time. If I had checked in on her the moment it occurred to me that she was taking too long in the shower, I wouldn’t have lost her. Foliage smacked across my fur with my burst of speed, and soon I lost my mate’s scent.
Slowing, I lowered my muzzle, sniffing, but her scent was gone. She had to have been picked up in a vehicle, or more likely, she’d shifted.
She was gone.
I howled.
The agonized sound ripping through the night.
No, she wasn’t gone. She could still be close by, maybe hidden within the woods and trying to escape toward a main road where she could hitch a ride. A growl rumbled in my throat, and I continued my hunt.