Page 112 of Starting a New Life

“He’s not here.”

“Good.” Heath nodded again. “That means Connie is probably right—the Alpha wants to keep him hidden.”

“Okay, so we go check the Alpha’s residence.”

We didn’t talk about what would happen if Callum wasn’t there because we didn’t know. Connie hadn’t been able to tell us much, seeing as he’d never really interacted with Callum. According to him, Callum was mostly kept in his room whenever Otto didn’t drag him around by the collar.

My stomach soured at the thought of that thing, the feeling of heavy iron around my throat a weight that pinned me down for a moment. A short memory. Not real.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then sat up, a groan escaping as pain shot through my body. Lying in the bed of a truck for almost six hours straight was fucking uncomfortable.

“Stay together!” Heath said as he stood up.

I nodded, extending the shield around us that kept us from view. Angelo was the last one to get to his feet. He stretched his muscles, letting out a hiss as something in his back audibly popped.

“You owe us for this,” he whispered, rubbing his lower back.

“Want me to make it better?”

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

“If it still hurts after we’re done, you can do your magic. For now, you need all the energy you have.”

I nodded.

“Let’s go.”

We stayed huddled together as we climbed out of the truck, so I could keep the shield around us going while the barrier stayed where it was. Barriers weren’t something I could take with me. They were static, tethered to the ground—or, in this case, the truck.

“Which direction?” I asked.

Heath nodded to the right. “According to Connie, we need to follow the road we came from until we get to the main road and then head to the left. The road will lead us right into town, and then we apparently can’t miss it.”

Angelo snorted. “Yeah, I bet you can’t. Anyway, let’s go. We don’t know how quickly this thing will be over, and I really don’t want to be stuck here without our ride.”

We walked along the side of the driveway. No one said a word. Heath and Angelo kept checking the woods, occasionally nodding at something.

A howl stopped us dead in our tracks. More wolves chimed in, a haunting tune that made my heart rate spike. Goosebumps spread along my arms, nerves that weren’t my own fluttering in my chest.

“Fuck,” Heath breathed. “They’re getting ready for the fight.”

“Already?” I asked, nausea settling in my stomach.

He nodded grimly. “We need to hurry. Hurrying means we need to shift and run.”

“Oh.” I nodded. I’d get a workout today. I was out of shape, but I had more magic than I’d had in months. “Okay. Go ahead, I’ll turn around.”

Angelo snorted. “Heath isn’t worried about you seeing us naked. He doesn’t want to come out and say it, but we’re faster than you, so… uhm… we’ll need to figure out how to keep you with us.”

“I can keep up,” I said.

Heath snorted. “Yeah, sure. You have super speed, or what?”

Rolling my eyes, I jumped up, using a bit of magic to catapult me a couple of feet into the air. “No, but I have magic. You might think I’m some kind of weak kid, but I was on the run for months. When I first escaped, I had thirty wolves chasing me. Trust me, I can keep up.”

Heath huffed out a breath but didn’t say anything. Instead, he swiftly started stripping, throwing his clothes at me.

What a fucking asshole!