Barric

The second Aria crouches down by a small stream to rinse the blood off her hands, I step away and pull my phone out of my pocket. My wolf is already pacing under my skin, restless and furious.

They ran, he growls in the back of my mind.

Doesn’t matter; Ronan would have caught them.

I hit Theo’s number. He answers on the second ring.

“Tell me the rangers didn’t lose them,” I say evenly, turning away from Aria.

Given that we are still in the dark about how she overcame the Call, it’s best if we don’t take any chances by speaking too freely.

“They didn’t,” Theo replies. Then, after a beat, “It’s handled.”

Translation: they won’t be bothering anyone again.

Good.

Because if those bastards had gotten their teeth into her—

My wolf snarls. They touched what is ours.

I ignore that. Barely.

“She okay?” Theo asks.

I glance toward the stream just as she stands and turns, holding out her hands. Her hair is tangled with leaves. Dirt streaks her cheek. Her hands are scraped and raw, and there’s a thin scratch along her jaw I somehow missed earlier.

And her eyes—

Still wide.

Still scared.

Seeing that look again makes something in my chest twist violently.

“She’s alive,” I say. “But she’s scraped up pretty bad.”

Theo exhales slowly. “Bring her to the lot. Liam’s already on his way.”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “We’re coming.”

I hang up and step toward her.

“You ready?” I ask.

She nods, though she looks like she might tip over if a breeze hits her. “Yeah.”

Up close, the damage is worse than I thought. Her jeans are ripped at the knee. Blood has dried along her forearms. Her palms are raw, and from the rumpled look on her shirt, I bet there are a few more scrapes on her torso.

My jaw tightens.

What the hell was the Assembly thinking, trying to corner her, capture him?.

My wolf rumbles darkly. Weak pack leadership.

“We don’t have far to go,” I say, softer than I mean to. “The parking lot to the diner is just up ahead.”

She falls into step beside me.

For a few minutes, we walk in silence through the trees.

Every snap of a twig makes her flinch.

Every time she moves closer to me without realizing it, my wolf grows quieter.

Good, he says. She stays near.

By the time the lights of the lot come into view, I’ve already decided one thing.

She isn’t going anywhere tonight.

Not alone.

We step out of the tree line—and the moment Aria sees the ambulance parked there, she gasps.

“Ransom!”

Before I can even process it, she takes off running.

My instincts scream.

My wolf snaps awake. Male.

I follow her gaze.

A man leans against the back of an ambulance while one of our pack medics works on his shoulder. Blood soaks through the torn fabric of his jacket.

Aria skids to a stop in front of him.

“Are you okay?” she blurts, horror filling her voice.

The way she says his name hits me like a punch.

Too familiar.

Too worried.

My wolf bares his teeth. I don’t like him.

Neither do I.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify