Chapter 11
ELEVEN
NATALIE
He’s here. Nikolai is finally here. All of the wolves except Sergei rush out of the house to the explosion judging by the heavy footsteps shaking the ceiling.
It isn’t until another blast rattles the foundation that Viktor stomps up the stairs as well.
There was rage in his eyes. Not the same malicious gray, but something far worse.
He didn’t say anything, he only listened.
I think that’s what worries me most of all.
“You only have minutes,” Sergei says, his voice small and hoarse.
Minutes? I stare at him, my brow knitting in confusion. I take a step, leaving little room between me and a clear path up and out of this fucking house.
He stumbles and grabs the metal door for stability. “Left.”
My mouth opens and closes. Left? What does he mean left?
Sergei winces as he holds the door open fully, pain etched in every line of his face. “Once out of front door, run to the left. Fence is weak on that end. Enough room for rabbits to squeeze underneath and eat garden out back. Viktor was supposed to tell groundskeeper.”
He doesn’t move. Doesn’t lock the cage. No, Sergei only stares, his wide eyes pleading.
“How do you know this?” I ask, inching forward.
Sergei lowers his head. “Viktor ordered me to tell the groundskeeper so fence was fixed before the hunt.” One side of his face tilts up in a smirk. “It slipped my mind.”
“Thank you, Sergei,” I say, bringing my palm to his shoulder.
He nods. “Tell Nikolai some haven’t forgotten who real alpha is.”
I return his nod with one of my own. It’s now or never. If I’m going to escape before these monsters have a chance to kill me during the blood moon, it’s right now. I turn to face the crowd, noticing how all of them share the same rattled expressions.
“I’m not sticking around for this.” I pause and point to the woman lying in a puddle at the center of the cell. “To happen to me. We need to leave. Now.”
Noticeable hesitation works from one side of the room to the other, some even starting to stand and stop when no one else does.
“If you don’t leave now, you’re all going to die!” I plead.
A man stands up in the middle and pushes his way forward. The same one who accused me of working with the Vostiks before. “Go with you?” he says and spits. “She is dead because of you.”
Some shift their gazes from him to me, and back to him as he raises an accusatory finger in my direction. I swallow the bile churning in my stomach, biting back every single curse I wish to hurl at him. No one moves. No one else says anything. They all simply watch as my pleas go unanswered.
“She’s going to get us all killed!” the man yells this time, his voice loud and undeterred.
“That’s—that’s a lie,” I trail off. I didn’t bring these people here.
I had nothing to do with this. But Nik did.
A heavy guilt pangs in my ribs and settles somewhere near my esophagus.
Every pair of eyes lands on me now, most holding a noticeable amount of contempt.
Each glare intensifies while the silence lingers.
Brows furrow. Some shake their heads. But no one moves.
“He killed her …” A small voice breaks the silence, cracking at each word. We all look around the cage and eventually land on someone a few rows back.
Veronica is sitting with the bulk of them, arms wrapped around her knees, and blond hair draping over her face. She won’t even look at me. Can’t, it seems. But judging from the harsh lines twisting her features and tears filling each blue eye, she’s having a hard time seeing anything clearly.
“He killed her. He killed her,” she says, and almost chants, each time bringing her knees closer to her chest.
Fuck. I can’t believe I’m going to do this.
I march forward, letting the crowd part.
“Veronica,” I say, kneeling and brushing the loose strands from her forehead. “We need to go.”
She finally peers at me, her eyes wide and frantic. “He’s going to kill us,” Veronica whispers, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “He’s going to kill us all …”
“If you don’t come with me right now,” I say, surveying the hateful glances in my direction. “I promise you he will.”
She looks at the open door, then me, and back to our one shot at escape.
A simple nod from Veronica is all I need before I hook our arms and bring her to her feet.
Together, we move forward, ignoring the stares or muttered curses from those behind us.
Turning back at the threshold, I wait for someone, anyone to follow. No one does.
“To the left,” I say to Sergei with an affirming nod, and drag Veronica toward the staircase without looking back.
We make the climb and pass through the study unnoticed, save for the portraits keeping a keen eye on us the entire way.
All except his. Nikolai’s portrait is no longer intact but the victim of large claw marks slashing the entire length of his face, leaving ribbons of his likeness in some expensive frame.
“Where—where do we go now?” Veronica stammers.
I hold a finger to my lips and whisper, “Can you walk?”
She opens her mouth and closes it just as quick. Veronica nods instead, realization dawning on her face. I tilt my head toward the front double doors, and Veronica, although hesitant, follows.
Fire is the first thing I see when we emerge outside.
Tall flames claiming the sky and highlighting the perimeter forest a beautiful shade of orange.
Gunfire silences everything, and even the thoughts in my own head become nothing more than static.
Veronica tugs on my sleeve from behind, trying to steer me left like we both planned, but something in the distance gives me pause.
It’s Viktor. Part of him anyway. He’s shed his human form, and the wolf thirty feet from me stands to its full, horrifying stature.
Dark tufts of black fur dance as he stomps forward, trembling the ground with each vicious step.
Two sharp ears sit perked at the top of the beast’s head, both trained on the noise in front of it.
I can’t move. Not when I see what has this monstrosity’s attention.
Three shots ring out from the distance, each muzzle burst flashing bright yellow.
Dimitri. He doesn’t know. I try and scream his name as Viktor stalks forward, even going on all fours and gaining momentum.
Dirt kicks up and mists the air as he dashes more violently.
Dimitri still has no clue. I watch helplessly as he readies his rifle and lines up the sights, oblivious to the otherworldly thing prowling toward him at a breakneck speed.
“Natalie,” Veronica says, demanding my attention and nudging me forward. “We need to go!”
I can’t. Not when it feels like my shoes are filled with concrete, watching the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen bolt toward Dimitri in a murderous gait.
The distance between them closes rapidly, Viktor becoming a freight train on a collision course.
Dimitri fires a few more rounds, still unaware of the monster flanking him from his right.
Thirty feet.
My stomach knots.
Twenty.
Vomit heaves up my throat, drowning any of the words forming on my tongue.
Ten.
I want to close my eyes but I can’t bring myself to. Not now.
Viktor lunges forward for the kill, claws outstretched and ready to rip through him, but the big beast is knocked off target.
It’s fast. Too quick for my eyes to process.
Viktor’s large body hurls to the side, setting another wave of tremors to plague the compound.
The giant wolf tumbles in the dirt until he rolls to a stop. Then, he snarls with pure malice.
A silhouette stands between them, its hind legs rising so the creature can reach its full height.
Thick brown fur lifts at the back of its neck.
Both eyes are as black as the forest bordering the property except for a familiar gold ring at the edge of each pupil.
Blood stains its calf, but the wolf doesn’t seem bothered by it.
No, it takes one menacing step forward and howls at Viktor.
“Nik …”