Page 157 of Roaring Flames

Nobody else besides the kids is aware of me yet. The adult shifters are all staring intently at the picnic table-slash-stage, and the other gunmen are focusing on the shifters.

I turn towards the kids, give them what I hope is a reassuring thumbs-up, and then refocus on my target. His back is still towards me, his attention fixed on the picnic table with the others, and I take my chance.

With an almost blistering speed, I place one hand over his mouth and my arm around his neck. I begin to drag us both backwards, his body kicking and flailing. Panic sets in—I’m not sure how much longer I can hold him—but then Ashton’s there, capturing his legs, and the two of us drag the man into the forest.

When we’re far enough away that no one will overhear us, Ashton hisses out, “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“Wasn’t thinking,” I pant out, my body shaking with both exertion and adrenaline—the latter of which is rapidly dissipating.

Damn, this fucker’s heavy. And he keeps biting me. The second time he does it, I release his throat and slap him across the face from my position above him.

“Stop fucking biting me.”

After removing the gun from his body, I release him, and after a moment, Ashton does as well. But before the man can even get to his feet, Ashton points the stolen gun at his forehead. I aim the second one at him as well.

I’m honestly not sure if I could shoot him. Not like this.

I’ve killed before, but that was self-defense.

Could I shoot someone when they’re on their back with no weapons, their hands in the air?

“Take your mask off,” Ashton says curtly, jerking his chin up.

The man doesn’t react.

Ashton brings the gun even closer to his face. “I said, take the fucking mask off.”

A wry chuckle erupts from the gunman’s lips as he moves to grab the fabric. I watch him like a hawk, unsure of what other weapons he has on his body.

He pulls the balaclava over his head, the material messing up his dirty blond hair.

A familiar, grinning face stares back at me.

“Kain?” I don’t know why I’m surprised, especially with what Christian told me in the car, but shock holds me immobile, cements my feet to the ground.

Ashton doesn’t look too surprised either, though his eyes flash with a murderous intensity. “Tell me why I shouldn’t put a bullet through your head right this fucking instant.”

Kain chuckles, still keeping his hands out in front of him to show us he isn’t armed. “Because you’re Ashton James. You’re not a killer.”

Ashton’s jaw tightens. “What the fuck were you doing? Who are those people? Are your brothers involved?”

I remember, belatedly, that Kain is in a pack with his older brothers.

Kain’s smile merely broadens, revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth. “You’re on the losing side, my man. I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s the truth. The world is changing, and you can either join the movement or get left behind and die with the others.” Something dark and almost manic flicks to life in the shifter’s gaze. “He knows that we’re the superior species. It won’t be long until the world knows it as well.”

“What the fuck are you going on about?” Ashton demands at the same time I ask, “Who’she?”

Kain’s gaze shifts to me, and the expression on his face has panic jangling my nerves. “Those deaths out there? They’reyourfault. All we wanted was you. If you would’ve come to us, those shifters would still be alive.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Ashton seethes.

“He doesn’t want to hurt you,” Kain continues, ignoring Ashton entirely, his shrewd gaze trained on me. “He just needs you to?—”

Ashton knocks him unconscious with the butt of the gun. Kain’s eyes roll into the back of his head.

“Don’t listen to him,” Ashton tells me fiercely. “He’s just trying to get into your head. It is not your fault that Sam and Lacey died, you hear me?”

Ashton glares at Kain’s limp form and then leans forward to spit on him.

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