76 Chapter 76

Valerie’s POV 1

My hands shook as I gripped the steering wheel, the cheap plastic hot and slippery with sweat despite the air conditioning blasting at

The highway stretched endlessly ahead, a ribbon of cracked asphalt leading toward the wild territories where civilized wolves

feared to tread.

full power.

*What the hell am I doing?*

The question had been circling through my mind for the past three hours, ever since I’d thrown my designer bags into Gabriel’s beat-up

sedan and peeled out of our driveway like a woman possessed. My face still throbbed from where Sera’s claws had raked across my

cheek, leaving angry red welts that would probably scar. The bitch had actually managed to shift and fight back-something I’d never

seen her do before.

Something was different about her now. Stronger. More dangerous.

I caught my reflection in the rearview mirror and winced. The once-perfect features that had caught Gabriel’s eye were now marred by

three parallel scratches running from my left temple to my jaw. Foundation could only do so much to cover the damage.

That omega freak ruined everything.

A horn blared behind me, jolting me from my self-pity. I’d been driving twenty miles under the speed limit, lost in my spiraling thoughts.

I pressed harder on the accelerator, watching the speedometer climb as the landscape outside grew wilder and more desolate.

The truth was inescapable: I was fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.

Sera would tell Damien everything-about me kidnapping her brat, about trying to sell her to that disgusting old man. And Damien, as

the Alpha King, wouldn’t just let it slide. He had resources I couldn’t even imagine, connections that stretched across every pack

There was nowhere I could hide where his reach wouldn’t eventually find

Unless…

the neat suburban developments replaced by dense forests and abandoned gas stations. This was rogue territory-the lawless lands where pack exiles and criminals made their homes. Where even the Alpha

also where people

muttered, my voice high and strained in the silence of the car. “This is insane, I can’t actually

back home and wait for Damien’s enforcers to drag me away in chains? Hope that somehow Sera would show

Ha. Fat chance.

I reached the edge of truly wild territory. The last functional street light flickered weakly behind me as I drove deeper into the forest, following a dirt road that was barely more than a trail. My expensive heels

10:42

<

76 Chapter 76

for where I was headed, but I hadn’t exactly had time to

like it might contain yellow eyes and bared fangs. My heart hammered against my ribs

I

between the trees. Not just one pair-dozens. They moved parallel to my car, keeping

brake pedal without conscious thought, bringing the sedan to a shuddering stop in the middle of the

engine ticked quietly as it cooled, the only sound in the oppressive

snapped somewhere to my left. Then another, closer this time. The yellow eyes were

road where the headlights could catch

studied pack law and territory management. They

birth packs for crimes too severe to forgive-murder, rape, treason. Without the civilizing influence

little more than animals, living by violence and taking what they wanted

only wolves in the region who might be interested in what I

jelly as I stepped out of the car, the forest floor soft and treacherous under

you’re watching me,” I called out, my voice cracking embarrassingly. “I’m not

the darkness, followed by another, then

up their prey. My wolf cowered deep inside me, every instinct telling her to submit,

hopes of quick

information!” I shouted into the darkness. “Information about the Alpha King that your leaders would want

silence that followed was somehow worse than the threats had been.

stepped into the

six of them, all male, all larger than any wolves I’d ever seen. Their eyes were

to reveal fangs stained with old blood. Their clothes were torn and filthy,

muscle than anything else.

of scars, took a step closer. When he smiled, I

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255