Chapter 106 – Shots–2
–LIA’S POV–
car,
19 min left
Zane didn’t waste a second. He lifted me into his arms and hurried out, leaving the burger joint. We headed towards his
but before we could reach it, gunshots rang in the air. Zane dodged before I could even flinch, his movements animalistic as he carried me to the car and placed me inside. My ears rang, leaving me almost completely deaf. The sound had come from too close. Or my new hearing was more sensitive.
Zane climbed into the car as well, and started it, pulling out from the parking lot.
“Wait,” I said, even though I was unable to hear myself. “Christy. Zane wait for Chris.”
Zane’s lips moved in response, but I couldn’t hear anything. My eyes still burned. I blinked a few times and rubbed my ears, ignoring the pain in my foot and the blood that was filling my shoe.
“Zane,” I said, now able to hear my voice. “Christy.”
“Aaron’s got her,” he said loudly, taking a sharp turn. The tyres. screeched against the floor, making me cringe. “Put your head down!” he shouted, grabbing my hair and pulling my head towards his lap. I let out a cry as a bullet hit the windshield, cracking the glass. Zane swerved the car once again, the tyres
1/8
15:16
Chapter 106 – Shots–2
19 min left
screaming under it, before we crashed against a wall. I almost flew forward from the impact, but Zane held me back, not letting me get hurt.
“We’ve to get out,” Zane growled, kicking off the door of his seat. He cradled me into his arms and climbed out of the car with me. “Put your face in my chest.” I obliged, unable to form any thoughts. Everything was too loud. Too much. My head was spinning.
Zane ran with me in his arms, still in his human form. Because we were in the middle of the street, in broad daylight, with countless people around us, he couldn’t turn. The restaurant that night had emptied before the Hounds had shown up. But right now, shifting would expose his kind to too many humans.
Zane didn’t stop running.
His breaths came hard, arms locked around me like steel as he navigated through traffic, barely dodging terrified civilians and collapsed vendor stalls. People screamed and ran past us, some filming on their phones—of course they were. The entire block was being shaken, and some idiots still wanted footage.
“Zane,” I cried.
“We’ll be fine. Trust me,” he reassured. But a bullet whizzed past, grazing Zane’s arm. He hissed but didn’t stop.
“Hold on to me,” he ordered.
2/8
15:16
Chapter 106 – Shots–2
19 min left
I clung to his shoulders, gasping, blinking away the blur of tears, smoke, and pain. My foot was numb now. Even if I was a different creature, or maybe even a werewolf, I couldn’t start healing. Not until that thing was out of my fool.
Another shot rang out. This time, it hit someone else. I heard a scream to our left and looked up, my heart in my mouth. The relief that flooded through me when I saw a stranger felt terrible. It was wicked. Cruel.
Better them, than me or someone I love.
We turned sharply into a narrow alley. Zane skidded to a stop behind a dumpster, crouching, one arm bracing me, the other checking his injury. The bullet had only scraped skin, but it was bleeding through his sleeve.
“Why are you bleeding?” I cried. “You should’ve healed now.”
“I don’t know, maybe they used silver or something else.” He gently put me on the floor, kneeling beside me. Calmly tearing a sleeve of his t–shirt, he tied it around his arm like bandage.
“I can run now,” I whispered. “You don’t have to pick me up. again.”
“No,” he said sharply. “Not with your foot.”
He grabbed my ankle and carefully pulled out the piece of metal,
3/8
15:17
Chapter 106 – Shots–2
making me bite my lip to keep myself from screaming.
me
My shoe was soaked in blood, the fabric torn. My stomach churned. It was getting hard to breathe.
19 min left
“Don’t worry,” Zane said, “it’ll start to heal if your fixed eyesight is any indication.”
Heavy footsteps approached. Zane froze, his body tensing against mine.
Then I saw them.
Two of them rounded the corner of the alley, both wearing black tactical gear—not military, not police. The Order. With masks that covered their faces.
“Oh, she’s wounded,” one of them laughed.
The other raised his gun. “We’ve got the Alpha’s pet. Orders are to capture alive if possible.”
Zane stood, shielding me with his body. “Try it.”
And then he moved. Not shifted—he still couldn’t—but moved like something not–quite–human. He darted forward, slamming into the nearest hunter, knocking the gun from his hand. The second man aimed at me, and I tried to crawl back, but my fool dragged uselessly.
4/8
15:17
Chapter 106 – Shots–2
The gun clicked.
But nothing fired.
He was out of bullets.
19 min left
Zane didn’t waste the opportunity. He kicked the man’s legs out from under him, then punched him in the face hard enough that I heard bone break. But the first man was already up, pulling a silver dagger from his belt.
“Zane!” I screamed.
The blade sank into Zane’s shoulder. He roared in pain, staggering back as the hunter kicked him away and turned toward me, eyes burning with rage.
“Freaks like you ruin everything,” he spat, grabbing my arm.
I thrashed, panic roaring through me. “Get off!”
He raised the knife again.
And then he dropped.
Something knocked him aside. A blur of movement and shadows, too fast for my eyes to track. The body hit the wall with a thud and fell to the ground.
A wolf approached me, growling softly.
5/8
15:17
Chapter 106 – Shots–2
Blake.
My mouth fell open in surprise.
19 min left
Zane stared at him, eyes dark. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Blake’s eyes flicked to me. He growled softly.
“Yeah, she’s hurt. No shit,” Zane snapped. “I had it under control.”
Blake looked down at the unconscious hunter, then at the other one, now groaning and trying to sit up.
Zane moved toward me, ignoring the blood soaking his shirt. “Don’t touch her.”
But Blake was already licking my foot.
I stared at him, confused. Even in his werewolf form, today he felt like the Blake from weeks ago. Like the one who had saved me from the Hounds. Not the one who had tried to mark me. Not the desperate, furious one who’d crossed a line.
Zane lifted me up, pulling me from my thoughts.
“You okay?” he asked, his eyes full of concern.
6/8
15:17
Chapter 106 – Shots–2
“I…” My vision blurred. My ears still rang. “Zane…”
“I’m right here,” Zane said, brushing hair from my face.
“I don’t feel good,” I whispered, my throat tight.
Zane cursed under his breath.
19 min left
Blake reached up to lick my foot again, but Zane quickly turned
the other side.
“She’s my mate,” he growled. “Don’t touch her.”
Something cracked above us.
We all looked up. More hunters were on the roofs now, watching.
Blake growled, gesturing with his head. A sign for us to run.
Zane hesitated.
Blake growled louder.
“Don’t die without killing a few,” Zane said, hoisting me up and making a run for it.
I glanced back at Blake, worry grasping at my heart.
“Zane?” I mumbled, my voice barely above a whisper.
7/8
15:17
Chapter 106 – Shots–2
19 min left
“I’ve got you,” he said, pressing his lips to my temple. “Just stay awake a little longer, Lia. Please.”
But I couldn’t.
The world darkened, then disappeared, everything vanishing into oblivion.
8/8
