Adrian still suspected Ava but the opportunity was too good to pass up. In one hour, he could get a great place for them to have an early dinner. It would be like a date. A date in a place where no one knew who they were. He looked up budget-friendly locations. Not because he couldn’t afford more but because he knew Ava might freak out if the date seemed too official.
He needed to use baby steps with her until she could tolerate more. He found two options that looked good and were in close proximity to the pack house. Adrian decided to check out both locations in person before making his decision and reservations.
Ava chose the closest spa and Adrian waited until she was in and then some to make sure she was properly settled before leaving.
He chose the second place because it seemed cosier in comparison. It wasn’t too out there but still had an element of casualism so that it wouldn’t spook Ava. After making reservations, he went back to the car.
It wasn’t until he got back to that spa that he realized that he had been played. Ava was gone.
Ava licked an ice cream cone. Life was good. She couldn’t wait to try out another store. It would soon get dark so she had to make the most of her evening before she returned to the pack house.
She was at one of the fairs that just propped up and was just passing through, downing a slush. The stuff was just sugar and water. It was ambrosia.
Next, she wanted to go on a rollercoaster. It looked so scary and a life hazard. Ava wanted to try it out. When her back hair got raised is when she realized that she was in trouble. Someone was following her. Several someones. She could handle herself but what if they were rogues or other werewolves with their allegiance somewhere else?
Suddenly Ava cursed her hard-headedness for not allowing Adrian to follow her. With Ava’s cell phone still awol, she couldn’t even send him a message or a call. Her mate bond was unreliable at best. Because she hadn’t allowed herself to develop the bond. To see what the limits of the bond were. And now, she was trapped.
Ava needed a taxi. A cab anything. Once she booked it, she would be back in the Blue Moon pack house in less than thirty minutes. She left the fair within a large group of humans. Safety in numbers even if they were human numbers.
Then keeping to the busy streets, she got a cab.
“Petrovich Boarding School.”
That was the name of the pack settlements to humans.
She got into the cab and breathed a sigh of relief as the cab took off towards the countryside. She was safe.
Adrian was anxious. He couldn’t help but feel Ava was in trouble. She didn’t even enter the main spa so they had no useful knowledge that he could use to locate her.
Washington was freaking big and she could be anywhere.
Use the bond. Ray spoke sounding antsy.
But I don’t even know how to. Adrian explained.
Just listen. She is your mate, you will find her. Ray replied unshakably.
Adrian closed his eyes and tried to envision their bond. It was like a river. Like he stood on one bank and Ava on the opposite side of the bank.
Adrian opened his eyes and went after his mate.
****
They were halfway to the Blue Moon pack house when the car spun out of control.
The driver tried to control their spin but the car ended up slamming into a tree. The driver’s airbag engaged but he was left passed out at the front of the car. Brewana called 911 with his phone and gave them the address before leaving the car.
She examined the car. All the tires had been shot at and the tires stood or rather sagged with the lack of air. She wanted to turn and run. To shift and run right away but she stopped herself because she couldn’t scent any humans or wolves. If they weren’t on the road, then they were waiting for her in the woods.
The road was open. Anyone could shoot at her in the open without a w³nd she would be dead just like that. She needed to move into the woods. She was a fast wolf, they wouldn’t be able to keep up.
So Ava ran.
She ran to save her life. Not for leisure as she did before. She smelt them almost as soon as she entered the woods. They smelt like humans and weapons. Were these the werewolf hunters? But she wasn’t a rogue wolf. And those guys knew it. She had been trying out new human stuff not murdering a slew of humans. There were about twelve of them following her.
They started shooting when she reached a point.
Ava took cover. She couldn’t run anymore. A headshot could get her killed instantly. She had to fight them head-on. A dozen humans weren’t enough to stop her. It was the ammo that they packed that held her back.
She kept herself rigid behind the tree waiting for them to approach so she could level the playing field. Around six of them did. The others remained at the edges of her periphery.
“No sight of the target.” The crackle of the comms just a few steps away. “Visuals from a sniper?”
They had snipers? But she couldn’t sense . Maybe it was far away.
As he continued speaking, Ava counted silently in her head then she moved. The first man’s neck was already broken before they realized what was going on. Using him as a body shield, She took down another one and moved quickly. She needed to get rid of all of them before their reinforcement arrived.
When the fifth person dropped, Ava felt
the butt of a gun against her head. “Freeze freak.” She froze. “Turn around slowly.” The hunter said and Ava turned. The gun was too close to avoid.
“You killed my colleagues. You are all unnatural creatures. The only way of purity is through fire.” His fingertips went to the trigger, and Ava saw her life flash before her eyes. Someone moved and pushed the gun up so it fired into the air, and then the person broke the hunter’s neck.
The person turned to face Ava and she nearly bowled over in shock.
It was Cynthia Hale.