Page 67 of My Fugitive Wolf
Not waiting for another one of the omegas to take a potshot at her, she jumped off the outhouse ready to fire at the last two of Josiah's pack.
"Cripple her! Aim for her legs!" Josiah hollered, distracting the two.
It gave her a beat to pick them off. That's when she saw Josiah's strategy. He used the last of his omegas to distract her so he could slip on a pair of gloves, slide behind Kellen, and yank the chain attached to the silver collar around his neck. By the time Samara had him in her sights again, he'd hauled Kellen off the ground with a gun to his head.
To the end of her days, she would never forget the look Kellen gave her. Against the pain of silver, he looked at her with pride and mouthed I love you.
"Throw down the gun, little girl, or your boyfriend gets a silver bullet to the head."
She held the gun steady as if she wasn't shaking with both anger and fear on the inside. "No."
He yanked Kellen's chain higher, choking him, but he still mouthed new words: Do it. She knew what he wanted her to do, but she'd be damned if she'd shoot through him just to get to Josiah. Not with silver bullets.
"I mean it," Josiah shouted.
"So do I."
"I will kill him!"
"You'll try; now drop the gun and the keys."
Josiah smiled showing his nasty teeth. "Oh, what keys would those be?"
"I said drop the gun and the keys."
"You seem to think you're in control here."
Didn't they just have this conversation? "I am in control. I have the one thing you can't live without, because if I die, you'll have lost the one thing that gives your life meaning. The only thing that gets you out of bed in the morning. The only purpose you've set yourself up for, and you can't live without a purpose in life. No one can."
"That's a lotta words for a stupid girl."
"I'm a lot smarter than you think. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have escaped the first time. Now drop the gun and the keys."
"You say I have no purpose without you." Josiah shook Kellen's body like a rag doll as if to prove how strong he was. "But what do you have with this one? You're a rogue wolf with nothing because I took it all away from you. Except this." He shook Kellen again. "He's all you've got. Are you sure you can live without him?"
The next word she uttered almost choked her, but she had to say it. "Yes."
That wasn't what Josiah thought she would say, and it rattled him. Clearly he was running out of taunts.
Kellen's words from yesterday came back to her. "I will weep for him,” she said. “I will mourn him, I will hate myself for not having the ability to rescue him, but if you go through with killing him, then you will not know a single second of peace for the rest of your life, however short it may be, and trust me when I say it will be very, very short."
Was Kellen laughing at her speech? It was hard to tell because the blue had risen from his neck to his face, turning his lips bluer than hers had ever been, continuing on to his cheeks while his breathing became more labored. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grace slumped forward in her own chains, her hair freed from the ponytail and spilling over her head and legs. She could only imagine what condition Leo and Stephen were in by now.
Josiah must have figured out she was as honest as she was serious. Moving faster than she could even see, the bastard twisted around, shot Leo as he lay on the ground, then shoved Kellen at her before running away. Kellen stumbled forward.
She loved Kellen, but if she let Josiah go, they would never have peace. Twisting away to break Kellen’s fall, Samara then let him go and shifted. Her clothing tore and fell away. Fur sprouted all over her body. Her vision changed as her joints twisted awkwardly in their sockets.
None of that changed her focus. The moment her paws touched the ground, she charged at Josiah, teeth bared ready to taste blood as if she'd done this all her life. Churning her muscles, she launched herself at him before he could shift. She aimed for his belt loop, the one with the keys dangling from it. Grabbing hold of the man's hip, she sank her teeth in and ripped the skin off his body along with the fabric of his pants with the keys attached.
Josiah shifted so he could run faster, leaving a trail of blood behind. Samara started to chase, determined to kill the wolf shifter who had destroyed so many lives, but then another part of her brought her to a screeching halt, her paws skidding across the dirt of the camp.
Kill him!
Save Kellen!
No, kill Josiah first!
Kellen won't survive!
