She swallowed and nodded back before she quickly went through the open door. And then she had to stop once she was on the front steps.
The place was swarming with them. Maybe not swarming. There were fewer people than she had seen from her bedroom window the other day. Men and women, boys and girls, dressed in workout gear. They talked quietly among themselves as they walked around the house to the side she had yet to be taken to.
Then once again, like a scene out of a horror movie, they turned their heads to look at her as if they had all known she was there. The man nearest to her sniffed the air. Did she smell? She hadn’t showered after her run with Jackson, but she couldn’t be that bad.
Unlike the first time in the lobby the night of the dinner when they had looked at her like that, they all turned away and continued walking. Like they didn’t give a shit about her at all.
How had they done such a one-eighty after attacking her for daring to be among them and sleeping with their leader?
But this was what she wanted, so she didn’t question it. She walked down the front steps and slowly walked past them. They were quiet now as they walked and didn’t try to grab her.
When she rounded the house to the side where Jackson had taken her, she started to run. It had been too easy. Had Jackson finally kept his word and made sure it was safe for her? It didn’t matter. How could it, when he meant to kill her in the end? Maybe that was why they all didn’t care about her anymore. Jackson had already told them she would die.
The moment she reached the woods, she increased her speed. She had no idea where the trail ended and which part of the dangerous forest she would come out in, but she kept running. The red wolf had told her to go there when she needed her, but she had also said she would be safe with Jackson. She couldn’t trust her stupid imaginary wolf on that part, but maybe she would help her get out of this place.
She recognised the place they had stopped running earlier and stopped.
“Hello?” she called out quietly.
She didn’t want to risk being overheard.
“Hello? I need help,” she continued as she walked further down the trail.
How did one summon an imaginary wolf? There wasn’t a guidebook for that sort of stuff.
She walked for at least another ten minutes, and the woods were noticeably darker. Was she already in the dangerous forest?
She was about to call out again when she heard a snap sound. Something was hiding in the trees in front of her.
“Hello?” she called again, peering through the trees.
Blue eyes.
Blue, glowing eyes.
She sucked in a breath and stepped back as something huge slowly stepped forward. And when it came out onto the trail, her mind could not process what she saw.
It was a wolf, but it wasn’t. Almost as big as her imaginary red wolf, fur all matted, eyes glowing—fucking glowing—an impossibly blue colour. And it had its teeth bared, and head lowered as it snarled at her, ready to attack.
Chapter 53
Jackson stood by the windows in his office, looking out at the training grounds. A few trainees had started to arrive, but it was far from the number that should have been there.
‘They’ve neutered you,’ Cain snarled. ‘They disrespected you, and you let them walk away unscathed. How far are you going to bend over for them?’
“Stop it,” he growled.
‘You’re not their King. You’re their bitch,’ Cain snarled again. ‘You want to leave our child to a group of people who have no respect for you. The kid will be better off with Layla.’
Jackson picked up a paperweight and threw it across the room with so much force it wedged into the wall. It was one thing to have to suffer through all of this shit with his pack, but having that annoying, insistent voice in his head drove him crazy.
‘Let me out, Jackson. Let me hunt that wolf. Let me hunt all the people who’ve already hurt my mate. She will never be safe.’
“I have time. I’ll make sure she is,” he growled again before pulling the chair out of his desk and sitting.
‘No, Jackson. I’ll make sure she is.’
And then the beast retreated. His mind became calm, like the time Cain had started hunting Cassie. Something told him there would be no stopping him this time.