Page 87 of Blood Moon
“It only made Aadan the Second more upset. Our packs have been head-to-head since then, wars coming and going over the years. Even though our origins share the same blood, it doesn’t matter to the Fullbloods. They want us to surrender, they want to prove their strength, carry on what Aadan the Second set out to do. For whatever reason, with the new evolution, they were never able to claim an Alpha title of their own—that still belonged to Aadan the First and his bloodline—and being an Alpha comes with a power they don’t have … a power they still want.”
“What about Seven? Is he a werewolf, too? Or a vampire? Or a mix of the two? And how …”
The car came to a stop. Outside, in a single line on the street, was a group of people. They shared commonalities—tall, muscular—but they were different shades, genders. I scanned the faces, looking for Seven, but he wasn’t there.
A closer look, and they stood with their arms out, scowls on their faces, ready to fight.
Julian snarled. “It’s the Fullbloods. They are here for you.” I pulled at Julian’s shirt, my heart racing. “If we cross state lines, they can’t hunt you like this. It’ll be breaking a treaty.” Julian reversed, and I hadn’t realized how close we were to the Kansas state line.
He pressed down on the gas.
“Julian! You could kill them!”
“Trust me, it won’t. They’ll walk it off in the morning.” But then bright lights illuminated the side of Julian’s face. It was a trap. Another car sped toward us and crashed into the jeep, causing the car to flip off the road.
CHAPTER43
Thou art bound by the turbulence of becoming.
Article I, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
All I remembered was screaming and then Julian removing his seat belt to wrap his arms around me as the airbags launched. It was indiscernible how many times the car flipped, but I should have been dead.
When the car stilled, Julian kicked a hole through the bottom so we could escape. My ears rang, and my head spun as he helped me out. All of it happened so quickly, and the car toppling over took us further away from the wolves than expected.
“We have to run!” Julian yelled, pulling me through the tall grass. There was so much noise, I couldn’t focus on a single thing. I just knew we were running toward lights and buildings, and then we crossed some invisible threshold that marked the state line.
Julian stopped, and I stopped with him, panting and trying to stay grounded. Eyes glowed in the dark behind us. The same eyes I’d seen outside of my room weeks ago.
It had been them this entire time.
A hand waved in my face, my ears still ringing as Julian tried to get my attention. Sound returned slowly, and then all at once. He was urgent, looking me over. “Are you okay?” Julian asked, but he was far from it. His left arm hung loosely to the side of his body and scratches covered his face and legs; blood dripped onto his shoes.
“I think your arm is broken.”
He tried to stabilize it, holding it to his body while he ripped the edge of his shirt to create a sling. “It’ll heal. We have to move. There are ways for them to get around the treaty. This will only stall them.”
“What? Isn’t the whole point of a treaty to not break it?”
“Politics,” he said, and he moved forward.
“Julian, wait. Where are we going to go? We don’t have a car or phones.”
“West, into the woods. We can’t be seen by bystanders looking like this.”
We hurried into the trees on an unmarked trail. I was unsure where we were headed, but it became clear that Julian was following a scent.
Every few yards he winced in pain, jaw locking, eyes squeezing tight. “I can’t change in this state,” he grimaced. “We’ll be on this trail for hours, and I’m too weak to carry you. I’m sorry.” He seemed so defeated. I wanted to tell him it would all be okay, but it would only be a lie that neither of us needed. My dress caught and tore on the underbrush, and the soles of my feet grew raw as they blundered over sticks and prickly tree pods.
To make matters worse, rain began to fall, passing quickly through the leaves. I had to bend my knees to keep from slipping, and everything was ruined. My hair. This dress. My life. All an eonian spiral of piling shit.
“Here,” Julian noticed, removing his shoes, hair falling wet in his face. “Take these.”
“No, I can’t.” He’d already done so much, broken himself. If not for me, we wouldn’t be here.
He continued to hold them out, thrusting them toward me. “Take them.”
I looked him over again, inflating with dread. “Your feet, they’ll—”
