Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 22 - THE NOT-SO-GREAT ESCAPE

Instead, I ducked my head and kicked off with my hind legs, preparing for one last burst of speed. And soon I was hurtling along so fast that the undergrowth was a green blur in the corners of my eyes. Hannah swung her head around to look at me, and I saw a flash of teeth. It was a polite warning to quit chasing them.

A warning I failed to heed. Before I could get any closer, they split. Hannah went left into the undergrowth, and Hayden carried on straight. Without really thinking, I plunged after Hannah. I reckoned they were just hoping one of them might be able to get away.

In reality, they were checking I was alone, and they were baiting me. Hannah knew she could kick my ass. She didn't realise I knew it, too. Instead of tackling her and trying to rip her throat out, I just reached out and snapped at the back of her leg. My teeth ripped through her pelt, severing tendon and muscle alike.

Hot, metallic blood filled my mouth. She twisted around, yelping, but I was already skipping backwards and turning tail. She could wait, now. She'd be going nowhere fast on three legs, and I had an Alpha to catch.

The idiot had stopped. I wasn't sure if he'd heard Hannah's yelp or if he'd been planning to come back and help her deal with me, but his giant of a wolf was standing in the path like a sitting duck. He started running again quickly enough when he saw me.

And he was reasonably fast for his size. I hung back at first, playing cautious. Before I could decide if it was worth the risk to bring him down or if I should just wait for Liam to catch up, the trees vanished, and I could see a vast expanse of road ahead of me. Hayden was already halfway across it.

Look left, look right, cross a busy road in broad daylight and risk exposing my entire species. What choice did I have, really? If even one of the flockies got away, Mam would tan all of our hides and hang them out to dry.

The road was hot beneath my paws. It jolted every joint in my body, and there was a horrible clattering of claws against tarmac. Hayden wasn't faring much better. By the time he reached the far bank, I was right on his heels.

I snapped at his leg. Only ... this time, I misjudged the distance. I got a mouthful of bone instead of muscle, and Hayden whipped around to seize hold of me while I was still trying to pull free. His teeth sank into the loose fur around my shoulder.

Shit.

I was flipped onto my back, and Hayden lay on me with all his considerable weight so he could move his teeth onto my neck. I didn't dare wriggle when one twitch from him could open my carotid. Instead, I went completely limp and whined a pitiful submission. If you can't beat 'em, make 'em feel sorry for you.

He should have taken a chunk out of my throat and left me to die. It would have put a stop to the pursuit, and he could have run home to New Dawn without a care in the world. Maybe even taken Hannah with him. I waited for the inevitable pain with my heart thundering.

The grip on my neck vanished, and a heartbeat later I felt his teeth close around my elbow. This time, the initial sting was followed by an awful, relentless pressure. If Hayden had known anything about anatomy, he would have bitten a few inches lower and broken my ulna instead. It would have hurt much less.

I'd often heard it said that a wolf's bite could break a thigh bone, and I'd felt that same power when I'd hunted deer. There was nothing like the feeling of bone crunching and cracking in your jaws. There was also nothing like the feeling of your own bones crunching and cracking in someone's else.

The pain came first - a hot, searing wave which sent me spiralling into unconsciousness just to escape it. I woke again all too quickly to see that Hayden had let go of me. The look he gave me was almost apologetic. The damage was done, and there wasn't a chance in hell I'd be able to chase him.