Page 67 of Conquered Betrayal
“I know,” she said, peering into the shadows of the forest. “We need to keep going.”
Frustrated, I chuffed even louder, the leaves on the hard-packed earth twirling out of my way. Finally, she turned to me. The glassy quality of her eyes from moments ago was replaced with grim determination. She nodded once and took a step toward me.
Prepared for her to climb on my back, I lowered to my belly, but a spear of pain shot into my stomach. I roared, my entire body shaking. This felt worse than all the other shocks I’d experienced combined.
My legs collapsed beneath me and I rolled to my side, trying to curl inward. I couldn’t escape the agony. Blinding light lanced through my brain, the most excruciating thing I’d ever experienced in my life.
I thought the torture had stopped when a fresh wave cascaded through my body. I roared. My teeth, claws, and fur all sizzled with electricity within a never-ending loop of anguish. I couldn’t get away from it.
From a distance, I heard Jolyn scream “Stop!”
My chest clenched at the torment in her voice. She shouldn’t have to see any of this. Not what I’d done to those men, not what I’d do to her brother once this pain stopped. When I’d known her before, she could hardly hurt a fly.
Through the anguish, I rolled, trying to get my bearings, to see anything—to protect my mate. Fire rippling through my body, I dug my claws into the dirt, then pulled. I needed to get to Jolyn.
Feet shuffled ahead of me, an altercation, and I lifted my head enough to see Jolyn locked in a struggle with the last of Mahn’s men. I roared to protect my mate, but was useless at the receiving end of this debilitating pain.
The pair separated, the man now with her shotgun in his hands. He swung it like a baseball bat.Whack!It hit her across the face. She collapsed. I roared again, the sound scratchy and wrong.
Jolyn didn’t move for the longest time. Moisture streamed from my eyes.It can’t end like this.
23
JOLYN
Head bent,I walked through the security gate at Pearson International Airport. My heart pounded painfully with each step. The necklace Landon had given me a few months ago lay against my sternum, the weight of it burning me in my shame.
I didn’t think I’d ever be whole again. I’d done what my brother wanted, and it only cost me my soul. Landon hadn’t deserved any of it. He’d only been sweet, sexy, and supportive with me.
The USB drive burned a hole in my pocket. I didn’t know what I’d downloaded from that secret lab, but it would have to do. I wasn’t returning to Vancouver ever again. I couldn’t keep lying to Landon, someone who I cared about—who said he loved me. He deserved a life partner better than me, one who would give him everything.
A sob stuck in my throat, I strode through the last door. And there stood my brother, one of his security team at his side. It had been over a year since I’d set foot in Toronto, and I couldn’t say I missed it, especially not having my brother constantly looking over my shoulder, micromanaging my life in his threatening way.
Stopping three steps away from him, I pulled out the USB drive and extended my arm. “Here,” I said, hating myself and what it represented.
Instead of taking the blasted thing from me, Emerson captured my wrist in a pinching hold, pulling me closer. I did my best not to react, but tears pricked my eyes.
This horror would start all over again. I’d pretended I could have a normal life this past year. Immersing myself in Emerson’s world once more made me want to vomit.I’ll never be free.
“You did good, Jo.” He took the USB with his free hand. “Now it’s time for the next chapter.”
“What?”
He slapped a brochure for the Canadian Armed Forces in my palm. “You’re going to be following in Walker Hayles’s footsteps.”
* * *
Facedown in the dirt, my cheek and eye throbbed where Cliff had struck me, my skull buzzing like he’d cracked it open. I gulped breaths, then spit blood. This was it. I was down for the count.
Landon’s anguished roar cascaded over my bruised body.No.I couldn’t quit. Not now. Not when I still had breath in me. I’d vowed to defend him to the death. I wouldn’t break that promise.
Cliff’s shadow lay heavy across my back. I adjusted my weight, grabbing a handful of dirt to throw in his face, and my stomach pressed into something hard.
My eyes flew open. A few feet away lay the man Landon killed, gaze frozen in his death stare. His throat gaped open, a second mouth, oozing blood on the ground. But it was his assault rifle beneath me that made my heart pound in my ears.
A shotgun cocked, the sound bouncing against the trees. In one movement, I grabbed the gun, my finger on the trigger, and flipped over.Clack clack clack clack.Blood sprayed from Cliff’s neck and face. I didn’t release the trigger until he dropped to the ground.
I gulped breaths, my hands shaking around the gun. Landon’s moans snapped me out of my daze. Dropping the weapon, I crawled toward him, desperate to help. The collar was still shocking him. His body shook. Moans erupted through his mouth.
