21. The Choice
The Choice
Isaac
“What’s going on?” Tara’s voice wavered. Her hand shook in mine.
“I don’t know.”
Two deputies jumped from the car.
They weren’t here to talk.
A black SUV rolled to a stop on the other side of my bike. Even over the stink of exhaust, I could smell the mutt from earlier today.
I should have seen this coming.
“Get behind me,” I told Tara just as the deputies shouted my name.
“What’s going on?” I called.
Inside me the beast thrashed for control.
One of the deputies drew his gun.
I put my hands in the air. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Get on the ground!”
The driver’s door to the SUV opened. Tara whimpered.
The mutt came straight for us. A gun stayed trained on Tara. No clean way out.
Not without letting the beast free.
He bucked for control.
The odds weren’t in my favor as the other deputy drew his gun.
“I said get on the fucking ground!”
I couldn’t hold back a growl. “I don’t know what Jacques is paying you, but it’s not worth your life.”
It happened fast. One deputy yanked my arm, gun pointed at my chest. The other kept his gun trained on Tara. He was smiling at me.
“Isaac Barbeaux, you’re under arrest for the kidnapping of Tara Delaine.”
I didn’t dare move, barely breathing as cuffs were secured around one of my wrists. I needed that gun away from Tara.
As soon as he was distracted, I could—
The mutt was there, tearing Tara away from me. She screamed.
I let the beast go.
The first deputy hit the sand hard, his gun flying from his hand. The second made a strangled noise, eyes wide as he watched the muscles in my face twist.
He didn’t see the beast. Only the change in my eyes—something his mind couldn’t place.
He dropped his gun, running to his partner and heaving him off the ground.
“Get up. Get the fuck up!”
A door slammed. Tires screeched. Tara was still screaming.
I ran, chasing the red lights at the back of the SUV. The scent of burning rubber scorched my lungs.
I couldn’t catch them. Not like this.
One deputy helped the other into the car as I charged back to the beach. They both scrambled into the passenger side when they saw me return, slamming the door behind them.
I ignored them, heaving my bike onto the road and starting the engine.
Wind whipped past me. There was nothing but those red taillights.
I caught up to them in minutes, weaving around the SUV. I couldn’t see Tara through the tinted windows. Only the driver was visible, his yellow eyes fixed on me.
I couldn’t stop them without risking her. A crash wouldn’t kill a werewolf.
Tara was only human.
I chased them over the bridge. Past the concrete graveyard where I found Tara earlier today.
We passed the sign for Port Tortuga, venturing further into the country. Down single-lane roads. Around winding turns.
I didn’t know where they were taking her. All I knew was that I wouldn’t let them get away.
We came quickly around a bend. An arm reached out the window of the SUV, gun aimed at me.
The first bullet whizzed past my head. The second was more accurate, grazing my arm and leaving a burning trail.
I zig-zagged over the road, speeding up to use the other side of the SUV as cover.
There was no shoulder on the road. The tires of the bike tore up grass and grit before I jerked back into the lane.
The muzzle flashed. Bullets flew at me one after another.
Sparks sprayed as they hit the metal of my bike. The engine hissed. The bike lurched to a stop.
I dropped it in the middle of the road.
They were taking her.
Your turn, I told the beast.
My bones broke. Muscles tore.
The beast didn’t hesitate. He followed the SUV at an impossible speed.
Breath fogged around him. Shapes blurred past.
The SUV pulled farther ahead.
I pushed harder. Harder and harder until those red lights flashed ahead of me, the SUV turning down an invisible driveway.
I wasn’t far behind, skirting the edges of the driveway and moving silently through the trees.
I knew they were coming before I heard them. Their scent was everywhere, coating the bark of every tree.
Werewolves.
So many shapes melting out of the shadows, their eyes glowing shades of amber, yellow, and blue. Too many to fight.
I hit them anyway, claws flying at the nearest attacker.
They tried to keep me from her, to subdue me as the SUV vanished out of sight. I didn’t stop—only turned to swipe my claws or snap my teeth.
A house appeared in the shadows and I knew where we were. Knew what I would see as the door to the SUV flew open.
A flash of blonde hair caught the starlight.
My cousin wasn’t smiling when he wrapped his arm around Tara, holding her snug against him, but I could see the satisfaction in his eyes.
His hand came to rest gently at her throat. It was enough of a threat to stop me in my tracks.
“You look like you’ve had a long trip,” Jacques said, his voice as accented and soft as I remembered. “Let my friends give you the welcome you deserve.”
I stilled.
One more step and he could crush her throat.
The mutts closed in.
I could only watch as Tara’s face crumpled with her sobs.
Something slammed into the back of my head.
Her face disappeared into darkness.