The natural borders, trees and greenery that the Breeds left for privacy and seclusion worked to her advantage now.
With her gaze trained on the ground, she sidestepped the monitors built into the stone pathway that led to the narrow graveled road, and ducked beneath the motion sensor cameras.
Moving low and fast, she skirted the trees, crossed the road at a fast run then entered the forest as sirens began to sound behind her.
She must have missed a sensor or a camera, she thought. How unusual. She had always been able to detect the traps laid for her thoroughout the years.
As Styx had said before, she was growing weak, soft.
She didn't bother to look behind her, didn't bother to attempt to see if she was being followed. Her only chance lay in keeping as much distance between her and Styx and the Enforcers as possible.
The farther she ran from him, the harder it became to hold back the tears, or to keep her breathing even enough to allow her to run.
Her vision became dazed and watery, her breathing short, choppy, as she fought back a regret that threatened to overwhelm her.
She didn't want to run from him.
She didn't want to leave, and she didn't want to stay to have her heart ripped from her chest.
She didn't want to ever lose anyone else she loved.
She stumbled, almost going to her knees at the thought.
She couldn't love him. She wouldn't allow herself to love him.
She cared for him. That's what it was. She cared for him and she wasn't used to caring for anyone. Other than Gena, she'd had no friends; they made her vulnerable. They frightened her.
Bracing herself against the trunk of a tree, she wiped her face and looked up as lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the trees, and the rain began to fall in a hard, steady downpour.
How perfectly fitting, she thought as she drew in a hard, ragged breath and stared around the darkened night.
She could still hear the sirens blaring behind her and knew the Breeds already had teams scouring the forest. They were growing closer by the second and she was just standing there.
"Damn you," she whispered desperately as she fought the sobs that wanted to tear at her chest. "Damn you, Styx."
He was breaking her, she could feel it. She had never had a problem escaping the Council or the Breeds sent after her. She knew their tricks; her brother had taught her how to evade the training they were given. She knew them as only one who had been raised around them could know them. And yet here she stood, as though she couldn't force her legs to move, couldn't force the will to run.
Thunder shook the ground as lightning lit up the sky.
Flinching, Storme pushed herself from the tree as she forced herself to keep going, to keep running.
It was damned hard to run and to cry at the same time though. And why the hell she was crying she couldn't figure out. It wasn't as though she had allowed herself to get close to anyone here, besides Styx. She'd stayed secluded, refraining from joining the evening community meals or responding to any of the invitations issued by the mated couples along the "block."
But she had wanted to visit. She'd wanted to see Chance's child, talk to Faith Arlington about the recent negotiations in Russia concerning a discovery of gold on land ceded to a small Wolf Breed pack years before.
She'd wanted to see Jonas Wyatt and Rachel Broen's child, the one they feared Brandenmore had somehow infected with a potential Breed virus.
What was she doing?
Fists clenched, she added speed to her legs, forcing herself to push faster, farther. She had to get out of Haven if she was going to escape. There was no way she could manage to protect her heart this way, or the information her father had given her.
As another crash of lightning lit the sky, followed by a Wolf's howl that echoed through the trees as though it had been dragged from hell and was rushing up her ass.
She couldn't help turning to look, eyes wide, her lips parting in a surprised scream at the vision behind her.
Lightning flashed, turning a mane of red gold hair to the color of flames as blue eyes gleamed like unearthly lights in the darkness.
Narrowed and glittering with fury, they pierced the darkness as Styx stalked her, moving fast enough to assure her that she wasn't going to lose him, while staying far enough back to give her a sense of hope. If she were insane enough to believe there was any chance of hope where escaping him was concerned.
It was her own fault, just as it had been the first time.
With him behind her now, it seemed her legs filled with energy, with speed. She sprinted through the night, the wind whipping through her hair, excitement churning through her bloodstream as she raced forward.
There was an exhilaration pushing her now, a challenge that added not just the energy to run, but a strength, a surge of adrenaline that had her heart racing and a sense of wildness invading her.
Glancing quickly behind her, she assured herself he was still there, pacing, stalking her through the night as thunder crashed overhead and lightning split the heavens with a display of brilliant yellow streaks of lights.
Behind her, she heard him growl, a warning, deepthroated sound that sent waves of clenching need rushing through her pussy. She felt her juices gathering between her thighs even as she ran through the rain, glancing behind her, making certain he was still there, that he was still following her.
He let her run until her legs grew weak, trembling. As she stumbled against a hidden limb in the dark, lightning flared and she caught herself on a thick fallen tree, gasping for breath.
Instantly, he was there. Behind her, the warmth of his body, the heavy strength of his arms bracketed her, pressing her against the tree as she forced back a moan of pure lust that rose in her throat.
"You will not run from me." Animalistic, so rough and thick with lust, he growled the words at her ear before nipping the tender tip with an exquisite bite.
"I will not let you hold me." Yet she was leaning into him, her rear cushioning the straining length of his cock as he growled against her neck.
"You are mine!"
She shuddered at the declaration, feeling him behind her, his hips rocking against her rear as he pressed her farther over the fallen log.
The wind howled around them, rain beating down on them and soaking her to the skin, yet there was no chill. There was only the heat of his body behind her, his arms around her, the feel of his hands moving to the snap of her jeans, jerking them apart, releasing the zipper and tearing the denim down her thighs.
She wore no panties. She'd long ago forgone the underclothing, leaving her naked beneath the denim.
Against her neck he growled again, his canines raking against her sensitive flesh and sending flares of heated sensation racing through her body.
Was this why she couldn't run from him? Why she couldn't leave him?
With her hands braced on the log, she panted in front of him, feeling his fingers moving between her thighs, finding the swollen bud of her clit as the other hand pushed beneath her borrowed T-shirt to cup the mound of an unbound breast.
Her nipple hardened further, reaching out for his fingers as they found it and burning at the contact.
Storme arched, crying out at each touch as her body began to hum with pleasure. There was nothing as incredible as Styx's touch. As having his lips at her throat, his canines raking over the sensitive cords of her neck and his fingers pressing into the needy depths of her pussy.
"Yes," she hissed in desperation, pressing into the penetration of two strong, wide fingers as they worked their way inside the slick, greedy depths of her sex.
"I won't let you run." He nipped at her neck as she cried out at the deep, penetrating thrust of his fingers inside her. "I'll be damned if I'll lose you to your own damned stubbornness."