Chapter 6 #2
“I know Lash,” the alpha explained matter-of-factly. “If he said he’d kill your friend, then that’s what he’s going to do.”
Oh shit. I tried to swallow down my fear, but my throat was too tied up in knots.
It was one thing to imagine what might have happened to your best friend, but to hear someone state it as an immutable fact was something else.
But it sounded like Sophia wasn’t about to give up on me so easily. “So there’s a chance he hasn’t done it yet? Felicity might still be alive.”
Her alpha shrugged. “If she is, it won’t be for long,” he said. “The second Lash tires of her screams and thrashing, he’ll put a stop to them.”
“Then we can’t waste any more time,” she pleaded. “We need to get back out there and keep looking for her.”
But the alpha didn’t seem to like that plan. For a few minutes, they argued back and forth about the wisdom of searching for me versus returning Sophia back over the Wall, never knowing that all the while I was so close. It was maddening.
Deep down, I knew that I could’ve made some sound. After all, Lash didn’t have every inch of me pinned down. I could have rustled some leaves or cracked a twig with my foot—anything to draw their attention my way. But I didn’t dare.
Not because I was afraid for my life, but because I didn’t want to stop Sophia’s alpha from dragging her back across the Wall. More than I wanted to live, I wanted to know my friend was safely back home in the civilized world.
“Tell me, kirre,” Sophia’s alpha demanded. “If by some miracle you find your friend alive with Lash, what’s your plan?”
“I…I have a gun,” she insisted awkwardly.
But she didn’t have it for long.
At the reminder, Sophia’s alpha strode over and grabbed the weapon out of her hand. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it deep into the woods…where it landed almost silently on a mound of soft dirt just a few feet away from my feet.
Lash didn’t seem to notice its arrival. Every ounce of his attention was fixed on the scene at the bottom of the hill.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t think of anything else. It didn’t matter how; I needed to get my hands on that gun.
A few seconds later, though, Sophia cried out in shock. I snapped my gaze her way just in time to see her alpha grasping her by the wrist and hauling her out of the clearing and through the woods.
Thank God, I wanted to sigh.
That alpha might have been a massive prick, but he’d been right about one thing. The best place for Sophia was back over the Wall. Even if it meant that, from here on out, I was on my own.
Lash stayed still and silent for a full minute after Sophia’s voice had traveled out of range. Only after that did he finally pull away, allowing me to breathe freely again.
“What is that device that your friend used to capture my voice?” he demanded, stepping in front of me.
The what? Oh!
“My phone,” I answered. “And it didn’t just record your voice. There’s video, too.”
His eyes narrowed in confusion, and I realized a lot of those words didn’t mean anything to him.
“It captured your image,” I tried again.
Lash’s dark eyes flashed to the side, zeroing in on the spot where the other alpha had dropped my phone. “That could be a useful tool,” he mused.
“I certainly can’t live without it.” I half-joked.
After another second of thought, he pinched my chin and tilted my head up, forcing me to look him in the eye.
“I’m going to retrieve it,” he said. “Try to escape while I do, and I’ll?—“
“Snap my neck,” I finished for him. “Yeah, I know. Where am I going to go? You tied me to a damn tree.”
Lash still didn’t look fully convinced. He continued to stare into my eyes for another couple of seconds before finally pulling back his hand and striding away.
Oh, thank God!
Here was my chance.
The second Lash turned his back, I stretched out my leg, reaching for the revolver with my foot. My toes just barely brushed the top of the barrel. I had to kick at it several times before I could finally press my heel down over the grip and drag the gun over to the base of the tree.
Lash was halfway to the clearing before I was able to squat down on my haunches to reach for it with my hands. The thing was heavier than it looked, and my fingers were numb from the bindings. It took me a couple of tries before I managed to get a good grip on it.
But once the gun was in my hands, a new problem presented itself.
What the hell was I going to do with it now?
I couldn’t fire it yet. Tied to a tree, I wouldn’t hit a thing.
And Lash would spot it in a second if I just held it in my hands.
Without my shirt, there weren’t many places I could hide the weapon on my body.
Tucking it into the waistband of my pants was right out.
Even if the alpha somehow didn’t spot it right away, it would only fall down my pant leg once we started walking.
No, there was only one real option.
With an awkward lunge, I curled my leg around the trunk of the tree and dropped the revolver down the side of my cowboy boot.
I straightened back up…just in time for Lash to start up the hill.
“We need to get moving,” he said. “There’s a long walk ahead of us.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “Just untie me, and we’ll be on our?—“
Before I could finish the sentence, the alpha slammed his shoulder into the tree truck, cracking it clean in half a few inches above my hands. I watched in shock as the leafy top of the tree tumbled to the ground and rolled down to the valley floor.
“That works too,” I said.
Lash lifted my bound arms over the newly formed stump, then grasped the leather strap hanging from my wrists, using them like a leash to pull me behind him.
I winced, cold, unforgiving metal pressed into my calf and ankle as I took my first step.
Feeling my hesitation, Lash glanced back at me without a shred of sympathy in his eyes. He only tightened his hold on my reins.
Shit.
I had a feeling the bastard was right. No matter how much or little ground we covered, this was going to be a very long walk.