At least, that was what she prayed.
She ran through the forest, panting, her heart racing, remembering the last flight she had taken through here.
Where was Cabal? Patrick had warned her that Jonas was near when he posed the question about the pills. He had to have smelled something in that valley that assured him the director was there.
Where was Jonas at least?
She could hear the pursuit behind her, and knew that despite his halting steps in the valley, Douglas was determined. Determined enough that he was actually gaining on her.
“Cabal!” She screamed out his name now. He had to be close. He wouldn’t leave her here like this. He’d been here when Dog and his men had chased her. He had saved her then, he would save her now.
A sharp retort sounded behind her. Cassa screamed when a bullet shaved the tree next to her as she flew past it. Ducking, tears finally falling from her eyes, she cried out for Cabal again.
Snow was falling faster now, covering the ground beneath the trees and making it treacherous. She slipped, fell and rolled before scrambling to her feet once more. When she glanced behind her, wild terror seared into her brain at the sight of Douglas pausing and aiming the handgun he carried toward her.
She raced behind trees, barely escaping another bullet as she glimpsed the dark forms moving with Douglas. He wasn’t alone. Was that Brim or Mutt? Either of the two she felt she had a chance with.
Panting, sliding down the slick, mountainous slope, Cassa prayed for a miracle now. She couldn’t let herself be killed. God forbid she was actually unlucky enough to be caught.
Slipping again, she found herself facedown on the ground, fighting to find traction, to find her feet again. She was kicking off to sprint again when cruel hands gripped her arm.
Wild-eyed, she stared back at the Breed that gripped the heavy arm of her jacket. His eyes were black, his hair blond. Determination marked his features and filled her with terror.
The Coyotes weren’t good. None of them. Those at Haven were betraying the very vows they had made to protect the society as a whole. Proof was in this man, their leader, the mate she had watched take his vows just weeks before. Del-Rey Delgado.
“No!” She screamed out the rejection, fighting him, tearing free as the coat slipped from her shoulders and she raced down the mountain.
Another bullet clipped a branch overhead. Behind her, she could hear Douglas cursing, ordering. The mountain was alive with terror, running feet and shouted orders.
She wasn’t going to make it. Oh God. She wasn’t going to escape this. There was no way to get far enough ahead of them. No way to save herself.
“Enough!” A hard bicep wrapped around her waist as agony streaked through her from behind.
This was pain. This was the most horrendous pain she had ever known. Every place that the hard male body touched burned in agony as she kicked, shrieking in fear and fury as she was tossed to the ground.
Rolling to her knees, she fought to find her feet. Sliding against the snow and mud, she rose shakily, only to face Douglas.
A second later a hard strike against her face sent her back to the ground again as she heard a furious growl echo around her.
“Touch her again, Watts, and I’ll kill you myself,” Delgado warned him. “We didn’t sanction harming another Breed’s mate.”
“My wife!” Douglas screamed. The next second Cassa barely deflected a kick aimed to her ribs as she rolled out of reach. “She’s my wife. She’s not that dirty fucking Breed’s anything.”
“Don’t touch her again.” Brim moved between them.
Another shot was fired. Cassa glimpsed Brim flinching as she made it to her feet again and started running.
Down the mountain. She just had to make it down the mountain. Then to the road. Maybe they’d all kill each other behind her.
“You fucking bitch.”
Douglas tackled her from behind. They crashed to the forest floor as Cassa fought. She kicked, screamed. Her nails tore at his face, and for one incredible second she thought she’d actually be free.
“Fucking Breed whore.” A hard fist to the side of her head froze her.
Stars erupted behind her closed eyes, and for a second Cassa swore she was going to lose consciousness. Then rage kicked in. Pure, unfettered rage. It boiled through her stomach, raced through her brain and sent adrenaline surging through her system.
Years of brief, almost amusing episodes of “training” with Breeds rose to the forefront of her mind. They had made a game out of teaching her this little trick and that little trick to get herself out of trouble. Several of her “instructors” had claimed with rueful smiles that someone had to teach her, considering the fact that Cabal was gone so often.
Cabal had arranged that training. She sensed it. She knew it. Bracing herself against the ground with one foot, she kicked out with the other. She didn’t try any sissy moves. She didn’t go for the cool little ninja maneuvers. She kicked out hard and swift, her boot slamming into Douglas’s crotch and stealing his breath as she prayed she’d crushed his nuts.
She was only dimly aware of the enraged roars that filled the night. Along with feet crashing through the forest, the sound of a heli-jet and someone screaming out orders.
Coyote howls, there might have even been a Wolf in there. Human screams. She heard several of those. The night became centered, the cold disappeared. Cassa came to her feet in a smooth jump, facing Douglas as he slowly straightened.
His face was white, his eyes were filled with inhuman rage.
“You’re a whore!” he screamed. “A dirty stinking animal-fucker.”
“And I’m loving every minute of it.” Her croon was harsh, filled with her own fury.
He had once made her go to her knees and beg for mercy. This man who had taken vows with her, who had sworn to love the young woman she had once been. He had made her beg and then he had slapped her so hard she had blacked out.
There had been no mercy.
“I’m going to kill you.” His arm lifted.
Too much happened at once. Too many impressions, too many sounds. An animal scream of pure demonic rage echoed through the night. Cassa went flying, thrown to the ground by a shadow with amber eyes, as a gun fired.
Rage was a scent. It was a feeling, like rain washing through the night. It was the smell of blood and a scream like nothing she had ever known.
Rolling to her knees, she pushed her hair from her face and stared in shock at the sight that met her eyes.
There were lights now, streaming down from the heli-jet that hovered overhead. Dressed in shadowed colors, his face streaked with black, his eyes glowing amber in the night, Cabal stood over Douglas’s writhing form.
Screams poured from Douglas’s throat, raw, brutal, agonizing screams. His upper body writhed on the ground, his hands clawed into snow stained heavy with blood.
“You fucker!” he screamed, pain burning in every word as tears spilled from his eyes now. “Do it, you son of a bitch. Motherfucker. Do it. Kill me.”
Cabal roared in his face as Douglas covered it with his hands and sobbed in pain and fear.
“Don’t take me back.” His screams were rough now, demented. “No. You can’t take me back. Please.”
Cassa stared at Cabal in shock. The marks on his face weren’t face paint. They were tiger marks bisecting his savage features. His hands were tipped with claws, bloodied now, and his eyes glowed gold in the night as he turned, his gaze raking in a slow circle before falling on Patrick.
“Azrael.” His voice was a harsh growl. An animalistic sound that had Cassa flinching.
Patrick inclined his head as he stepped back. “Another day, Bengal.”
The night swallowed him as Cabal roared his fury and started after him.