Clarence’s voice set me on fire like a spark to a tank of gasoline.

“Bryce, wait!” Red shouted as I leapt forward, my legs kicking off the ground with everything I had inside me. I was like a missile, my nose aimed straight for the scent of my fated mate and the sound of his voice.

“Bryce, help me! Help!”

My body was on fire for him as he called out again. Adrenaline was cascading through my body. My limbs were almost numb under the cascade of emotion as I blurred across the street and charged into the mess of cottages.

I darted past baby blue paint, faded yellows and pinks, streaking through all distractions toward my mate. I’d lost him before – I wasn’t about to lose him again.

“Bryce—!” I heard him call again, but his voice was cut short by something – or someone. I roared and leapt around the corner of another building. I was almost there.

Closer…closer…

Throwing myself over a low porch, I landed on the ground in front of the cabin where Clarence was. I knew it. I could smell his scent, that sweet intoxicating smell that hit me like a drug designed just for me.

And before the door, standing there like a towering monster, was Jeremiah.

Without hesitation, I hurled myself at him, fangs aimed straight for his throat. He was in human form, and one good snap from my jaws would end his miserable existence forever.

But even unshifted, Jeremiah was quick. He was an alpha, there was no mistaking that. He leapt aside, dodging my attack. I slammed into the door, which burst open, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him.

Clarence.

“Bryce!” He screamed. My heart almost snapped to pieces. I wanted to rush over to him, but I couldn’t. Baring my teeth, I snapped at Jeremiah, who was a second away from shifting. My jaws clamped down on his thigh and I tasted blood.

“Ahh, fuck!” He screamed, collapsing onto his back.

I heard a commotion behind me – the sound of voices, and I knew I had only seconds before the rest of his pack was on me. Flashbacks of the old motel ran through my mind as I tore flesh from Jeremiah’s leg.

The voices grew closer, and someone spotted me.

“Over here!” He shouted. But no sooner did his voice ring out through the air than he was silenced. It was Red or Kitchi. They’d reached the motel and engaged Jeremiah’s pack. If we were going to get Clarence out of here, it had to be now.

I turned to the door and looked in at my fated mate and saw the mixture of fear and love in his eyes. It was more than either of us could handle, but we had to act quickly. I gave him the look and he instantly understood.

He shifted, tearing free of the rags he was wearing, and darted up beside me. His coat brushed against mine and his scent swelled over me like a warm wave. All I wanted to do was embrace him, but there was no time.

The sounds of panic were rising over the motel, and I knew Red and Kitchi were moments from being overwhelmed. Jeremiah writhed in pain on the steps beside me, and as I looked down at him, I thought just how easy it would be to tear his neck out and end all this.

But as I turned to him, a group of five betas and another alpha rounded the corner of the cottage.

Without hesitation, I turned and sprang off the steps and started to sprint for the road. I glanced over my shoulder to see Clarence behind me, his brown fur rippling through the night as he raced after me.

More screams rang out through the night as we came out onto the road, our claws clipping against the black pavement. Beside me, Red and Kitchi emerged from the shadows and came up alongside us as we ran. We hurtled through the darkness like four bullets fired from a gun.

I looked behind as Jeremiah’s pack poured out from the motel, slipping out from the mess of cottages like a horde of senseless zombies. I could smell them, hear their panting breath and their claws as they reached the road.

They can track us home! I thought as I willed myself faster and faster as we ran.

We had to do something. I cut hard down a side road and leapt over the ditch and onto a field that cut alongside the river. And that’s when I realized our way out.

We had moments before the pack spotted us again. We had enough distance between them that we could make a move, but it had to be now. My pack would follow – they had to.

I darted across the field. I was a kinetic blur of speed as I cut through the night toward the water. Without hesitation, I leapt into the river. The chill hit me like a punch to the gut, and I felt myself being swept downstream.

I heard three splashes behind me and looked to see Red, Kitchi and Clarence beside me.

The water would mask our scent and if we could keep out of sight, Jeremiah’s pack might just not be able to track us.

I heard their feet pattering through the field toward us and their snarling breath as they sniffed for our scents as we drifted downstream.

As we floated beneath the bridge, I shifted back to human form and grabbed hold of the concrete ledge at the side of the water. Clarence shifted and took my hand. Red and Kitchi took human form as well and we all took to the shadows, only our eyes above the surface of the water.

I cocked my head to the side, listening for the sounds of Jeremiah’s pack. Someone above us shifted, and I heard an angry voice.

“Where the fuck did they go!?” He was barely audible from the bank upstream.

“Maybe they doubled back?” Someone else chimed in.

“Or went up river?!”

“Son of a bitch!” the first voice growled. “Check the steam. Check under the bridge!”

“Here they come,” I whispered. “On my count, go under, and don’t come up until you run out of air!”

I heard the footsteps above us and tightened my grip on Clarence’s hand. With all the passion of the last three years brimming up inside me, my heart ready to burst and my body electric with adrenaline, I took his lips to mine and kissed him.

The world almost exploded, and I wanted nothing more than to hold him and take him and make him mine again, but there was no time. Jeremiah’s pack was seconds away.

Pulling back, I looked him in the eyes.

“Here we go,” I said, taking a deep breath. He did the same, and together, we sank below the water.