Page 114 of This Pack of Ours

“Come on,” hissed Vander, and I gave a little whine as Valerie took another step, causing Juniper to back up again, looking hunted.

The elevator doors dinged open.

“Juniper!” I shouted desperately, pushing out of the elevator. The Carlisle pack all turned to face me, and Juniper ran.

Thank fuck.

Ez was charging alongside me, the pack at our heels. Valerie snarled and turned to where Juniper had run. She took one step before auras split the air.

Ez turned, pushing me back, his yellow-green eyes wide. I took the cue. No way that I would be helpful getting in the mix here. I moved to the side, going around, because if they were distracted maybe I could slip out and find Juni.

Valerie’s pack had all formed in front of her; Jhin had stopped his.

“We’re here for Juniper,” he said, his voice like blades of ice.

“Deal with them,” Valerie spat.

“Can we use the—?” one of them asked.

“Yes,” she hissed, and took off after Juniper.

Ah. Dang. But surely that was a stupid call, because it left her pack outnumbered. Vander had surged out, trying to go for Valerie, but was met head-on by one of the others. Their movements were blurred, so fast I could barely keep track.

“Ez, after her,” ordered Jhin, before he crashed into another hostile alpha. Then Adrian would take the third, and Ez would follow Valerie outside.

“The little one?” called out one of Valerie’s pack, sounding amused. A low laugh came in response.

One of them broke away from the fight, catching Ez as he ran and sent him sprawling to the floor.

They began wrestling, and Adrian was there, too, trying to pin him down, but the other alpha was moving strangely, holding a stick in his hand and ripping the top off with his teeth. I heard Ez grunt as the alpha jammed it into his thigh.

Adrian had the other alpha off him in a moment, but the alpha wasn’t even fighting back, letting Adrian pin him with a triumphant cackle.

“Ez! Go!” yelled Adrian, but there was something wrong. Ez started to stand, but then toppled, gripping his head in his hands.

Shit. He was in pain—I ran, skidding to my knees on the ground next to him.

“Ez?” I asked, grabbing his shoulder.

“Oh shit, Rick, his omega’s there,” came a gleeful voice from behind me, followed by more laughter and Vander’s snarl. Ez was shaking, his aura out but it felt… wrong.

“Run,” Ez choked, his head snapping up to meet mine. His face was flushed, a vein pulsing on his forehead and his eyes fixed on mine, terrified.

“What?” I froze.

“RUN!” he screamed, and in a flash he’d shoved me so hard I skidded fifteen feet back right to the wall, landing hard on my elbow.

His scream had morphed into a low, steady growl, and he’d now gotten to his feet. His gaze met mine again, and I scrambled back in fear.

I’d once seen an alpha in the middle of a rut. A house had collapsed down the street from mine when I was ten, and me and my friends had come to watch the firefighters pull people out of the wreckage. We’d frozen, as a thumping that we’d thought was the wind, intensified, and then a lone alpha had burst from the collapsed remains.

He hadn’t hesitated as he’d leaped at the nearest firefighter, but I’d seen the look of madness and fury in his eyes.

Ez had the same look as he pounced toward me, his elfin face almost unrecognizable as it twisted into a feral snarl. My heart pounded in my chest as I scrambled further back, but I wasn’t going to make it. Ez was so fast, just seconds from?—

He was knocked off course as Adrian crashed into him, sending them both careening to the side. Ez didn’t stop, didn’t hesitate as he turned on Adrian.

The abandoned alpha was still laughing as he took off toward the exit, following Juniper and Valerie.

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