Page 43 of Kidnapped By the Wolf

Is it possible to love someone you only just met?

Losing Adrian shouldn’t hurt this badly. It hurts worse than when my mom walked out — worse than the day I realized my own father didn’t love me. It feels as though I reached inside and cut out a piece of my soul.

Pathetic, says a voice in my head.You’re the one who left. You’re the one who’s giving up.

It’s that realization that finally shakes me out of my spiral of misery. My head is pounding, my lungs are on fire, but I will not die in this filthy camper.

Summoning the last shreds of my strength, I reach for the chipped corner of the counter and pull myself into a crouch. My vision blurs as I move toward the door, and my legs crumple beneath me.

I collapse on the dirty rug mere feet from my salvation.

But then the door of the camper bangs open, and I’m blinded by the glow of firelight.

Adrian is standing naked in the doorway, his eyes gold and bright. His shoulder is speckled with bloody pits that look horribly like a shotgun wound, and when his eyes land on me, they seem to brand me with their heat.

Before I can even open my mouth, Adrian scoops me up off the floor. I grip his neck for dear life, reveling in the solidity of his bare chest and the safety I feel in his arms.

He carries me out of the burning trailer, and I shiver as another pair of wolf’s eyes appear in the gathering twilight. They belong to a massive black wolf, which transforms into a tall, dark-haired Brit.

“Four dead,” says Sebastian in a low, flat voice. “But more will come.”

Dead?

My heart skips a beat.

I turn to see who Sebastian’s talking about, but Adrian gently captures my chin. He meets my gaze with those intense golden eyes and shakes his head once.

He doesn’t want me to see the bodies.

I let out a shaky exhale. “Did you . . . Is my father . . .”

“He’s dead,” Adrian murmurs. “I’m sorry.”

My breath catches in my throat, but it’s not grief or remorse I’m feeling.

I feel nothing but a cold emptiness inside.

“And Dane?” My voice sounds oddly far off.

Adrian shakes his head. “He got away. But Sebastian will find him. He’s the best tracker I know.”

I nod, and in this moment, his arms feel like the only thing keeping me from floating off the face of the earth.

If my father’s really dead, what becomes of the pack? Dane was the favorite to take over as leader, but with him on the run and even more dead, there might not be much of a pack left.

As for me . . . I’mfree.

It feels wrong to even think it, but I am.

No more running.

No more hiding.

No more Clint.

“Maddox and Nick are on their way,” Adrian rumbles, not taking his eyes off me. It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to Sebastian.

His pack mate gives a curt nod, and Adrian finally turns to look at him as he transforms back into a lean black wolf.

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