Maisie

I shivered terribly as the seconds trickled by.

The effect of the drugs worsened by the second and it was a fight between the fear of what Mercer would do to Lyon and the rush of excessive heat spreading in my stomach. I had trouble focusing and I was so damned thirsty.

My lips were buzzing when Mercer finally returned a few minutes later. His knuckles were bloodied.

"Where is he?" I demanded, my body spasming.

He paid me no heed, snatching my discarded pants off the ground, handing it to me without even meeting my gaze.

I took it from him, heart racing, and I fumbled around for a bit, trying to put it on. "T-the zipper’s ruined."

His head sliced left and Mercer snarled, like he was currently incapable of communicating with words. Like the only way he was able to let out his frustration was through that pained sound. Black flashed in his eyes and his canines elongated, resembling fangs.

His hands shot out, grabbing my arms, and I stiffened, bracing for the hurt. He spun, slamming me up against the wall.

Mercer exhaled roughly, holding me just so.

"I should fuck you right here, against the wall," he hissed. "Maybe if I impaled you with my cock, everyone would finally understand that this," He cupped me between my legs. "Is mine."

I shoved against his chest. "You don’t get to touch me whenever you feel like it it! You don’t get to claim me, either, just because you can’t take what you’re dishing out. For all your bullshit prestige and talks of treating your women with respect, all you’ve ever done is treat me like dirt."

My voice cracked with emotion. "You are no different from Cole, and I am done! I am done with you, I am done with the four of you and whatever sick game it is you’re playing. I’ll kiss whoever I want, fuck whoever I want, and if I feel like it, I’ll be damned slut. Why? Because it’s my decision. My body. My rules. You do not own me."

His thumb found the corner of my lips and stroked it. "Are you finished?"

I began striking at his chest with fury, but the world suddenly tilted and I was over his shoulder.

"Put me down! I am not going anywhere with you!" I shrieked, slamming my fists into his back—which I hate to admit smells so nice, my insides squeeze.

Trying to heave myself off him proved futile when he threw a heavy arm over my ass, holding me in place.

I pulled at his hair and he chuckled.

I slammed my knees into his stomach, but I might as well have been hitting stone.

Furious tears spilled from my cheeks to wet his chest. "Does Tessa know you’re in the business of abducting unwilling women? Does she know you’re stalking me now? Panting after me like a dog? Does she know what a sadistic, hypocritical bastard you are?"

"Keep talking shit, Adams, and I’ll give you something better to do with that mouth," he said, crossing over the club’s threshold.

I tried not to notice their stares. I also tried not to notice that there was no sign of Lyon anywhere. Or his bike.

Some part of me understood that in the face of Mercer’s rage, a half-breed couldn’t compete. But a small part of me wished he would have... stayed. And fought for me.

The second we stepped out of the club, cold air hit my skin. And I noticed, vaguely, while battling the warmth spreading to my fingertips that Mercer had been walking for a long time.

And his shoes were dusty.

"Let me guess..." My words slurred unintelligibly and I had to blink four times to focus my gaze. "You... were so eager to catch me in the act like a suspecting wife, that you forgot to bring your car?"

Mercer snorted. "We run faster than vehicles, but yes. I was eager. Not sure your little boyfriend noticed just where he was bringing you. There are people in these parts who make it their life’s goal to hunt down Lycans. And sometimes, kill them."

Everything blurred again and shook it off. "You think they’ll take advance payment to kill four men for me?"

His laughter was a little dark as he stepped off the street and into the canopy of trees so dark, it blocked out all the moonlight. "Adams, you don’t have any money—"

Mercer suddenly jerked.

And then, we were falling.

His arms wrapped around me, crushing me into him as we rolled down and down, smashing into tree trunks and rocks, his body taking the brunt of the crash.

Rapid footsteps echoed in the dark and Mercer grunted a, "Fuck," before swinging blindly and catching the edge of a rock before we could both plummet into the sea of sharply pointed rocks below the short cliff.

My pulse pounded and my nerves shot to life as I heard a raging roar split the night air, followed by the snarled order, "Bring them alive. Leave the girl unharmed."

We were being... hunted.

"Fucking Gianna," Mercer grunted, his face turning ashen with pain by the second.

I swallowed my gasp when I peered at the front of his shirt with horror, the metallic smell of metal teasing my nostrils.

He’d been shot. It looked like a bullet wound.

I didn’t understand. I didn’t hear anything—

The rock beside Mercer’s hand exploded as another ash bullet pierced the air.

Ash. There was a bullet made of ash in Mercer’s chest.

There wasn’t a lot known about the Lycans, but it was a myth that while ash was generally uncomfortable for both our kinds, there was a particular kind of ash that was lethal to the Lycans. It wasn’t commonly found anywhere. One would need to go find a volcano and gather the ash around it to hurt a Lycan.

As I watched the blood spread, rather than heal, I knew someone had.

"What can I—"

"Can you move?" Mercer cut in.

I nodded.

He hissed sharply, holding both of us upright with his good hand. "In five, you are going to use me as a lever, and run in the left direction. Only toward the left. And you will not stop until Soren finds you." His eyes were scary. "Do you understand me?"

"What about you—"

"Cut the bullshit, Adams. We both know you don’t care about me enough to play the role of the dramatic heroine who chooses to die with her love, rather than leave him." He glanced up, jaw clenched hard. "Now."

"Mercer—"

"Move!" He barked at me and I scrambled up his body, fingers curling over the edge of the cliff and my feet rested on his shoulder blades like the step up a ladder.

And I began running. My legs felt rubbery, and I fought the urge to puke as a violent wave of nausea slammed into me.

"There!" someone yelled and my heart pounded as I burst into a sprint, branches whipping against my face.

I heard footsteps behind me. And I also heard the roar of something truly malevolent, followed by a gut-wrenching howl.

I spared a glance back. Mercer was no longer hanging off the ledge. I caught the edge of a dark thing, too swift to follow, running into the opposite direction, tearing apart everything in its wake, trees and bodies alike.

I didn’t stop running as more cries echoed in the night.

The skin on the back of my neck prickled and I got the distinct feeling that I was being watched, but when I looked back, there was no one else there.

I ran even harder. I stopped trying to convince myself that I was being paranoid when I heard light footsteps behind me. There was an aura, heavy and murky with malice and adrenaline pushed my legs harder than they wished to go, my lungs expanding as I prepared to scream.

Something heavy landed in front of me, and I belted out the scream anyway.

It was the biggest Lycan I’d ever seen. It’s body was slick with white and red fur in a mismatch that looked both beautiful and terrifying.

I looked up, and up, and up.

Pitch black eyes stared down at me and for a moment, that was all I could see.

Until it began to shrink.

Fur turned into hard, pale skin. Saliva frothing muzzle became firm lips. Pitch black eyes became a startling, intense blue, that reminded me of what mine was like when I looked in the mirror.

White and red fur became moon white hair with streaks of red that looked silky and almost natural.

Steam poured from his skin as he stood in front of me, more than twice my size, massive, taller and broader than Jericho.

It was an extremely odd thing to notice, but he was butt naked. And the thing between his legs was right in front of my face, nearly the length of my arm, in the same manner that his thigh was as large as my torso.

Something about him struck me as familiar, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.

When he spoke, the sound was like knives grating against metal. "We meet again, Princess."