Page 165 of Roaring Flames

I wait for him to do something—maybe attack the gunman beside him or come to me—but he doesn’t move. He merely remains there, staring at me, his elongated teeth cutting into his bottom lip.

Then Christian jumps to his feet with surprising agility given his size and races towards the woods.

Away from the battle.

Away from me.

My heart shatters into a million pieces.

“Christian!” I scream, my voice lost in the sounds of snarling wolves.

But one person hears me.

The leader of the gunmen turns in my direction and salutes me. He returns his attention to the battle, sweeps his gaze overhis fallen comrades, and then takes off in a run in the opposite direction of Christian.

No. No.No.I won’t let him get away.

I’m about to take off after him when someone new steps out of the woods. Someone new…but familiar.

Her dark hair stands in all directions, the inky strands wrapped around numerous twigs and leaves. And her feet… god, her feet… Even the tops of them are dirty and covered in blood. Did she walk this entire way shoeless?

Lissa stops at the very edge of the grass, where the yard of the second largest house touches the street, and tilts her head to the side. Her glazed eyes almost appear white in the setting sun.

She opens her mouth, her jaw stretching in a way that shouldn’t be normal, and begins to scream.

Fifty-Nine

IZZY

Iswear my eardrums explode as Lissa’s scream reaches a decibel I never knew existed before.

Before me, all of the shifters fall to their knees. The wolves whimper and curl in on themselves, and the humans rock back and forth.

Something wet trickles down the sides of my face. I bring a hand to my cheek and discover it’s blood.

Lissa’s scream…made me bleed.

What the fuck is she?

As abruptly as it began, it stops, Lissa’s lips clamping together. She sways unsteadily and then collapses onto her side, her head ricocheting off a rock.

Hale and Gerry are there almost instantly, not seeming to care about the blood cascading from their ears in a steady stream.

I seem to be the only person who wasn’t knocked off my feet by her scream. I wonder if it’s because I don’t exhibit any supernatural traits.

I take a moment to study all of the shifters, searching for those I recognize. I still don’t see Emery, Reid, or Desiree, but I have to hope that means they’re okay.

And…there. The breath leaves me when I spot Silas’s broad form and Mr. Remington’s sandy-colored hair. My…fathers.

I take an automatic step in their direction, wanting…I don’t know. Comfort? Reassurances? Protection?

But movement in the trees captures my attention.

I immediately bend to grab the gun I discarded only to discover it’s no longer there. Oh…shit. I turn to race back to Ashton and the children when something slams into my stomach and throws me over a shoulder.

Then we’re running—we’re running so fucking fast that the world blurs around me and I fear I’m going to throw up. I try to think of what to do, how to get out of this, but I’m dropped to the ground unceremoniously before I can come up with a solution.

The speed combined with the force in which I was dropped causes me to roll. I swear my body hits every rock, tree, and cactus along the way. Are there even cacti out here? It certainly feels as if there are. Everything hurts.

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