Chapter 23
Marko had finally found his Angel, and she’d just shot him and left him on the side of the road.
He pressed his hand tighter to his wound, knowing it was a serious concern because without his ability to shift, he’d also lost his ability to rapidly heal. Despite the pain though, he felt feral with the need to hunt Thea. His incisors were back, which was something at least. He’d even tried to shift, but nothing had happened, dousing his hopes that his animals were returning to him.
FUUUUUUCK!
Shoving to his feet, he staggered with the pounding need to chase his Angel down. He’d never catch her like this though. Turning, he went against all his instincts and started walking back in the direction of the store.
Thea’s truck had only gone a few miles before he’d popped up from the back seat and scared her into an almost wreck. Still so close to the store, he knew that King and the team—who would have realized he was no longer at the store—would have heard the shot, and if not the shot, they’d definitely have heard his deafening roar.
Sure enough, a few moments later, a murder of crows was beating their wings like hell in a line that followed the highway. They were headed straight for him.
When the birds reached him, a few circled overhead while two went east, following the way Thea had gone. Now, he was pissed all over again and not just because he was bleeding like a damn sieve. No, he was murderous because even now King and his men could follow Thea and he couldn’t. Worse, they had no vehicle other than the chopper that’d have to be called back to retrieve him. There’d be a delay before he could give proper chase.
My Angel. My. Angel! He couldn’t stop repeating the two words in his head. Thea was his Angel, and she carried his child, and right now she was on the run…from him.
King, in human form, stepped from the tree line. “What in the hell happened?” His eyes dipped to Marko’s shoulder.
“She shot me.”
King’s eyes rounded before he barked a loud laugh. “Thea?” He crossed his arms and smiled. “Didn’t think she had it in her.”
“She’s getting away,” Marko snarled, hand still clamped over his bleeding wound.
King eyed the sky. “We’re on her. She won’t disappear. Not this time.”
***
Thea’s hands trembled on the steering wheel. What did I do? What did I do? Her eyes kept tracking to the rearview mirror. She half expected to see Marko chasing her down, which only had her pushing her foot more firmly on the gas pedal. I can’t believe I shot him!
What felt like nine hundred hours later, she pulled up to her cabin, the truck sliding in the gravel. She threw the door open and didn’t even bother closing it behind her. She didn’t plan on taking too long.
Inside the cabin, she made quick work of packing her things. It was a mad dash, and she had to keep going back to her room to grab things she’d forgotten behind the door and under the bed. Because she didn’t have a suitcase or even a duffel bag, everything was shoved into paper sacks from the store. Which reminded her. She hurried into the bathroom and pulled the sack of garbage out of the can beside the toilette. Yeah, Marko said he was coming for her and his child, but there was no sense leaving him any evidence to prove his hunch. Because it had to be a hunch. Hell, she didn’t even know she was pregnant until that morning when she’d taken the pregnancy tests. Her mind replayed everything that had happened since she’d left the store. She cringed when she remembered rubbing her belly in the cab of the truck before she’d said out loud, “See, I’m not a total screw up. We can get through this together, little one.”
“Oh shit!” She moved faster and after a few trips out to the truck, she went back into the cabin for one last pass to ensure she hadn’t left anything. She sacked up most of her food and put it in the cab of the truck. The frozen goods were put in a separate sack and placed in the bed of the truck where they’d stay cold. She couldn’t afford to leave any of her provisions behind because right now the only plan she had was to run.
Closing the cabin door and pounding down the front steps, she eyed the area. In one glance she took in several animals. There was no way of knowing if they were Skin Walkers or actual animals. The best she could do was to put some distance between herself and them even knowing that the effort would be futile. If they were Skin Walkers and if they wanted to follow her, it’d be no hard task. Still, she had to do something besides simply sit and wait for them to come for her. And they would come. She’d just shot a Skin Walker Sentry, which meant there’d be hell to pay.