Page 138 of Monsters in Love

My arms trembled as I pushed upward a little. “My name is Arden.”

“Arden.” My name was a growl. He nudged my arm, then pressed that wet nose against my neck. “Getting weak.”

“No shit,” I whispered and closed my eyes. “Hospital.” I tried once more.

“No hospital,” he snapped, then glanced at the Wolf underneath me and gave a jerk of his head. “We need to hurry.”

I held on as hard as I could. But my fingers slipped, my strength weakening as we raced through the trees. I closed my eyes, but there was no sleep…I was too terrified I’d never wake up again.

I focused on the thrumming in my chest, fixed on the sound until it was all I heard. When the trees gave way to a freeway once more, I barely flinched. I just held on, unable to care any longer.

My strength gave way. I slipped and fell sideways, tumbling toward the ground before something sharp grazed my back. I was grasped and lifted, then carried through the air. My shirt ripped, and I fell again.

But I didn’t crash all the way to the ground. Instead, I landed on one of the other Wolves. We ran again, that darkness edging back into my world. I closed my eyes and held on as tightly as I could. That booming in my chest was skipping now and then, sending another surge of panic through me.

When I opened my eyes once more, the world had indeed darkened. Twilight rushed in, leaving us to race toward the last traces of light against the horizon.

There were no cars here, no houses, just more trees, until slowly even they dimmed. Reality warped, blurring until I was sure this was a dream. Trees gave way to rolling grounds that stretched out until we headed toward more trees on the other side. But instead of rushing further, we slowed.

A glow bloomed to life in the distance. I sucked in hard breaths…boom…boom…silence…my heart skipped again as we stopped outside a place tucked almost out of sight.

“We’re here,” the Alpha muttered.

Wherever here was.

“What is this place?” I slipped from the back of the beast, falling hard onto my ass. I tried to catch my breath, tried to stop from falling over. But I was weak, and growing weaker by the second.

Darkness towered over me, with red inferno eyes and long, tapered fangs. The beast looked down at me before he lifted his head. “Home for the time being.”

“Home?” I flinched, then my gaze found the derelict building. No central heating, no plumbing…no goddamn hospital. “No fucking way.” I shook my head and tried to push to a stand. “Take me to a hospital, a doctor…something!”

“No hospital. No doctor,” he insisted, nudging me forward. “Inside.”

“Inside?” I shook my head, driving myself sideways.

“In…side.”

I shook my head. “Get the fuck away from me…get the fu—”

Darkness engulfed me in an instant as the Alpha lowered his head and growled in my ear. “Sleep.”

No…

No!

I tried to hold on, tried to fight that consuming wave of emptiness, but it was like a tsunami, one that swelled against my weakened mind and, in my feeble state, took me down.

Iwoke to the faint clink of chains. The sound was grating, pulling me to the surface. I inhaled deeply, drawing in the cold and the dank and the scent of…dog.

Dog?

I opened my eyes to find I was surrounded by darkness. Warmth shifted at my back, and something hard was wedged against my side. I winced, fighting the panicked racing of my heart. A snore came, loud, like a growl at the back of my head.What the fuck?

“You’re awake,” a growl came behind me.

I lifted my head, to see glowing red eyes. A shudder tore through me at the sight. Agony moved deep, carving along my veins like the tip of a knife. “What the fuck…” I shoved backwards, kicking the warmth at my back.

“Watch it,” the warmth snarled.

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