Page 136 of Monsters in Love

Then the beast took off with a lunge, the hardthud…thud…thudssending a fresh wave of agony through me with every brutal stride. I cried out and buried my hands in his fur, desperate to hold on.

Panic filled me as they ran. I gripped his coat and glanced over my shoulder, seeing the city slipping further and further away in the distance.

Where the fuck are they taking me?

I swallowed hard and turned back just as the beasts climbed the embankment to the freeway and raced toward the oncoming cars. Tires screeched as we ran across the double lanes and crossed through the traffic in a monstrous blur of black.

Terrified faces filled my view as the beast under me leaped, following the Alpha over a dark blue sedan as it hurtled toward us, and kept running.

I unleashed a scream as his muscles flexed underneath me. Pure power drove us skyward as the creature soared, hitting the other side of the lane with a bone-jarringthud.

Harsh breaths moved the ribs under my legs as I straddled the Wolf’s back and clung tight. The beast looked behind at the cars as they tore past, then kept moving, tearing toward the bank of trees that stretched as far as I could see.

Lia…

She was all I thought about. My phone was somewhere in my destroyed house amongst the rubble of shattered glass and wood from where the beasts had crashed through my window.

I sucked in deep breaths, ducking my head as we plunged through the line of trees and into the darkness.Thud…thud…thud…the boom of paws mirrored the erratic sound of my pulse. I released a cry as a branch whipped my cheek as we ran. The beast under me slowed his stride and glanced back at me. Through the blur of my tears, I saw his gaze find my cheek before he turned back forward.

He veered, cutting through the trees into the path of the other. The Alpha let out a snarl. Anger flashed in his eyes as he bared white fangs. But then he glanced my way and something passed between them. Then the Alpha moved aside, letting the beast under me take the lead.

I didn’t understand, until I glanced back at the track where we’d been running a second ago and the thick mass of trees up ahead.

He didn’t want to run through them.

My breath caught.He knew the branches would hurt me.The thought barely rose in my mind before we were off again, racing through the darkness, heading I didn’t know where. My whole body ached, my bones creaked. I clenched my jaw to keep from biting my tongue. Still, the metallic taste of my own blood was in my mouth. Sharp and sweet, making me lick my lips and groan.

Water…

I needed water. I gripped tighter as the world swayed and the darkness that had held me under threatened my vision again. Gray, that’s what I saw, with darkening edges. The Alpha blurred as he ran beside me, until finally we slowed…and stopped.

It took me a moment for my body to adjust. My thighs ached from holding on, then the booming in my head eased enough to hear a rushing sound that grew louder as the Wolf moved again, more slowly this time, cautiously sniffing the air as we stepped through the trees and into a clearing.

It was a river…narrow but deep, the edge easing down to blue water. I let out a moan at the sight, not even waiting for the beast to stop before I leaned forward and swung my leg over, gripping his fur to hold on.

I looked back as my feet hit the ground.Sorry,the word bloomed in my head before I stumbled toward the water. My body burned, that fever stealing the moisture from my mouth until my breaths were nothing more than searing rasps.

I couldn’t speak, just staggered to the water. As my bare feet hit the pointy pebbles along the edge, I fell face first into the cold flow.

My breath seized as the water rushed in, driving into my mouth and down my throat. I tried to pull back, tried to straighten, but my body wouldn’t work. It just trembled and flailed.

Until I was snatched upwards, carried from the water, and dropped gently onto the grass. I heaved and retched. Frigid water came back up to splash on the ground in front of me.

“Fool.” The growl came. “Could have killed yourself.”

I just hung my head, my hands pushed against the grass as I wheezed and shuddered, then finally fell on my side against the ground. “Hospital.”

The Alpha lowered his head.

“Take. Me…to a damn hospital.”

Darkness surrounded me. His fur. His eyes. His white fangs glinted as he spoke. “We do and you’ll die.”

“Dying. Now.”

My tears were warm, welling in the corners of my eyes. Then they spilled, meeting the rivulets of water that dripped from my hair. He came closer, that…beast. “We'll take care of you.”

“No.” I shook my head and pushed to sit up. “No,you stay the hell away from me.”

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