No pain. No breath. No sight.

Gunnar covered the ground on powerful legs. His muscles hardened to steel as we flew west. I sensed the Pack through him. They were beyond reason, fueled only by murderous rage and their Alpha’s command. Mindless. Soulless. In some part of me, I felt sympathy for them. Once, they’d been just like Gunnar or the men who served with him, hadn’t they? Were those men still in there, or had Able Valent’s hold broken what was human about them?

So much sorrow. So much rage. It blinded them. I could feel it. As Gunnar’s blood mixed with mine, the Alpha’s greatest crime unfurled before me. It left me breathless, weightless.

We reached the outskirts of Gordon City. The town blinked to life in front of us. To the east, the highway loomed. Gunnar headed that way. Panic flared through me. We were safer in the shadows. We’d survived staying away from large groups of people where the Pack could blend in and hide. Now, we were charging straight for it.

There was an industrial complex at the very edge of town. The smokestacks of a large oil refinery loomed. Its sprawling parking lot held hundreds of cars. Gunnar broke off and ran for it. The third shift was just letting out as the first shift rolled in. I knew Gunnar’s mind even if he couldn’t transmit it to me.

I slid off Gunnar’s back. He stayed in his wolf. He was fierce and deadly, blood matting his fur. His silver wolf eyes gleamed brightly in the dim light.

“What the fuck?” One of the factory workers had the ill luck to walk straight into our path. His overalls were covered in grease and held a lunch pail against his chest almost like a shield. I turned to him.

“Your keys,” I said. “I just need your keys.”

“You outta your mind, lady?”

Gunnar dropped his head. His murderous growl vibrated through me. The worker dropped his empty pail to the ground and put his hands up. “Get away from him,” he said to me. “Walk slow.”

“Your keys,” I said again. “Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

He tossed them to me. I supposed now I could add grand theft auto to my list of crimes. I can’t imagine what I looked like to him. My entire right side was covered in blood. It hurt, but I knew shock and adrenaline drove me. I took his keys and hit the lock button. The lights of a silver F-250 flared three cars down. Gunnar went for it.

He shifted on a dime and slid into the driver’s seat. I looked back at the truck’s owner. He was older, probably close to retirement. With his jaw on the ground, he shook his head and put his hands up, backing away. I shrugged and forced a smile.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “You’ll get it back.” I don’t know why I said it, but it made me feel better. Gunnar laid on the horn and I ran for the passenger seat.

Climbing in, I barely got the door shut before Gunnar slammed the truck into reverse and peeled out of the parking space. He blew through the stop sign and headed for the highway.

“They’re still coming!” I gasped. I reached for my nine and realized with horror I didn’t have it anymore. In all the excitement, I’d dropped it to the ground next to Sutter, the wolf I killed. When his name burned through Gunnar, I knew it too.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “If the Pack gets within firing range, we’ll be dead already. There’s too many of them.”

He was right. We hit the on-ramp at nearly a hundred miles an hour. I chanced a look behind us. Dozens of pairs of glowing red eyes wavered in the distance. There were woods on either side of the road. They were coming from everywhere. Gunnar pressed the gas even harder. The truck lurched in protest, but responded. He took it to top speed, nearly one hundred and ten.

“Just don’t fall apart on me now,” Gunnar whispered. I wasn’t sure if he meant me or the truck. Probably both.

“We should go south,” I said, my voice cracking. “Hit the border, once and for all.”

“No,” Gunnar said. His words came out in a hiss of pain. The truck had an extended cab. I leaned over the seat. I found a few old t-shirts, rags, spare work clothes. The poor guy who owned it looked like he slept it in regularly. Quickly stripping the rags, I pressed one to the wound in Gunnar’s side. It had stopped bleeding, but the edges were raw and open.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Use those for you. Can you wrap your arm tight? There’ll be help where we going. If I can get us there before they catch up.”

I lurched to the side as Gunnar weaved around slower vehicles. It earned us a chorus of angry honks in our wake. Gunnar kept on going. With each mile marker, my heart started to ease. I could still see the glowing eyes in the distance, but they were fading.

“When we get close enough, we’re going to have to ditch the truck,” he said. “Baby, can you hang on a little while longer? I know you’re in pain.”

My voice caught in my throat. I held back the tears I’d wanted to cry since the moment I felt Able Valent’s hold on Gunnar return. I thought I’d lost him. I felt his pain when he realized who the black wolf was. Sutter, his betrayer. Maestro, his torturer. And yet, he’d held strong. He’d fought it all back for me. We’d done it together. My strength was Gunnar’s strength.

“I can go as far as you can go,” I said, putting a gentle hand on his arm. He flicked his eyes to me, then focused on the road. His jaw jumped as he clenched it. I felt his own heart thump with emotion. So close. I’d been so close to losing him.

We sat in silence as the road stretched ahead of us. Each howl in the distance cut through me. But, they faded. Each time I looked back, I saw fewer eyes. Five miles from Cave City, they faded to nothing.

Suddenly, Gunnar pulled to the shoulder. His headlights shone on an exit sign. Shadow Springs. My heart soared.

“Come on,” he said. “We have to go the rest of the way on foot. I’ll carry you if you’re not strong enough.”

“They’re not here,” I said. “I don’t feel the Pack.”

Gunnar pulled me to him, kissing my forehead. “We just might make it.”

“Don’t say that,” I told him. “You’ll jinx us.”

Smiling, Gunnar opened the driver’s side door. When I reached to open mine, pain exploded through me. Gunnar’s eyes widened with alarm and he pulled me out of the cab. I tried to stand, but my legs gave out.

He reached into the back of the truck. He found one clean jumpsuit and put it on. Then, he tucked his arm beneath my legs and lifted me. “Come on,” he said. “It’s not far. You’ll make it.”

I tried to smile, but it hurt too much. The ground became a blur beneath me as Gunnar started to run. We took to the woods again where I knew he belonged. With each step, new strength poured through him.

Home. Friends. His hope bled through me.

Then, my heart dropped as a menacing howl rent the air. One of the largest wolves I’d ever seen blocked our path to the woods. His mighty jaws snapped and his back went up, ready to pounce for the kill. His red fur bristled and he pawed the ground in a clear challenge.

“Gunnar!” I yelled. Gunnar put himself between the wolf and me. Gold eyes narrowed and gleamed as he came toward us. Behind him, the woods drew dense. Could we make a run for it? I pulled on Gunnar’s sleeve. Strong as he was, I knew he wasn’t physically ready for another fight so soon. And this wolf looked ready to tear him to shreds.

Gunnar pulled away from me. I felt his heart thundering through me. He went to the wolf. The wolf bared his fangs and snarled.

“Gunnar, no,” I said. My hand went reflexively for the gun I no longer carried. I knew he’d rather die than submit to the Pack. Please, God, don’t let that be his plan now.

Gunnar dropped low, meeting the red wolf’s eyes. Then, he reached forward and grabbed his head. His shoulders shook as deep laughter erupted from him. The wolf snapped his jaw but only in the air. He pushed Gunnar sideways, nearly knocking him off the ground. Then, he let out a whine and shook his great head while Gunnar regained his balance and threw his arms around the wolf in an embrace.

“Jett,” he said, laughing. “Meet Liam. Liam, this is Jett.”

Liam’s wolf chuffed a greeting as Gunnar let him go. Liam came to me, tail high. The top of his head came up to my shoulders. He stared at me with intelligent, golden eyes. He raised his head once then brought it down in a sort of wolf nod.

“Come on,” Gunnar said. “We need to get underground. Liam, we need Molly. Fast.”

Liam’s wolf let out a short yip and he swung his head to the side. I didn’t speak wolf by any means, but this seemed like an invitation. Smiling, Gunnar took my hand. All the tension of that last few hours seemed to drain from him. With each step he took deeper into the woods, he seemed stronger, taller. Relief bled through me as I squeezed Gunnar’s hand.

Liam’s wolf followed, but kept his distance. I knew instinctively he was watching out for us. If we hadn’t thrown off the Pack, he’d have to sound an alarm. Out here alone, he put himself at great risk. I didn’t know him. I hadn’t even met the man inside of him. Already, I liked him immensely.

Gunnar stopped when we reached a clump of dead branches. He pushed them aside to reveal a hole in the ground. “Come on,” he said. “Duck when you pass through. And stick close to me. There’s a steep drop off on your left side as we go down. After that, it’s not so dangerous.”

Nodding, I followed his lead. My head grew light as the effects of my injury started to catch up with me. Gunnar sensed it right away and wrapped his arm around me. I pushed back. I’d come this far. I wanted the Mammoth Forest wolves to see me walk in on my own power. It mattered to me somehow.

Gunnar’s brow furrowed with concern. But he didn’t try to pick me up. The cavern entrance was just as he said. Still, it was a damn sight easier to traverse than the tunnels. Hell, it was a palace compared to what I was used to. When we reached the end of the first descending pathway, we walked into a larger, round cavern, reminding me of a rotunda.

LED lights flared bright and my spine prickled. We weren’t alone. A man and woman waited to greet us arm in arm. He was just as huge as Gunnar was with broad shoulders and well-muscled biceps and forearms. His t-shirt stretched taut over a massive chest. He kept a protective hand on the woman’s back. She was blonde with kind eyes that shone as she looked up at her man. She was also heavily pregnant.

Another woman came rushing through another passageway to the left of us. She was short, with brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She wore green hospital scrubs and wiped her hands on a towel as she rushed past the other couple.

“Gunnar!” she gushed. “My God, let me look at you!”

Gunnar went into her waiting arms. As she hugged him, she looked over his shoulder at me, her wide brown eyes twinkling with tears.

“Molly,” he said. “This is Jett. She’s hurt. One of Able’s wolves took a bite out of her arm. It’s bad.”

I tried to play it off, but my legs turned to rubber as I stood there. Molly rushed forward and slid her arm around my waist. “Whoa,” she said. “I’ve got you. Come on. Let’s see how bad is.”

Gunnar was at my side. This time, I didn’t have the strength to protest when he swept me off my feet. He followed Molly out of the main cavern, down a passageway, and into a smaller cave. I marveled at this one. Well-lit with strings of LED lights on the floor and ceilings, it had four hospital beds and shelving with medical supplies. Except for the cave walls, it could be a real doctor’s office.

Molly made quick work of examining me. She cleaned the wound and hooked me up to an IV “You’re strong,” she said, smiling. “And probably pretty brave. And this looks worse than it is. It’ll scar something awful, but it’s superficial. You hear me, Gunnar? I’ll clean it, stitch it, and I think maybe a course of antibiotics wouldn’t go to waste. You did good. You got her here in time. Understand?”

I hadn’t noticed, but Gunnar’s eyes had stayed silver since we came into the cave. Now, they dimmed, turning to their normal blue. It appeared this Molly knew him well indeed.

I reached out and took Gunnar’s hand. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m going to be okay. And so are you. Now go catch up with your friends. I have a feeling everyone’s got a lot of questions.”

“She’s right,” Molly said. She put a light hand on Gunnar’s arm and shot me a wink. “And I suppose you have plenty of questions yourself. I’ll answer the first one and the only one that matters, Jett. You’re home now. And you’re among friends.”

Relief flooded through me. It was that and the loss of blood. I sank back against the pillows and closed my eyes, feeling safe for the first time in years.