Chapter 56: Hunted

I smell the tang of the dead deer's blood too late, my senses as dulled as my skills. How did I miss the fresh kill? It's a perfect lure for Sage in his state. This can't be happening. Why did I leave him alone? I lurch forward, already running for him, but it's too late. The big men have seen him, are reaching into the back of the truck, pulling out rifles.

I may have to teach them a lesson after all.

"You! Boy!" The one Dorothy called Jake points his shotgun at Sage, but my love ignores him. I can feel Sage's wolf straining against his physical form, wanting to manifest, to rip apart the carcass and feed on it. But Sage is stronger. I siphon him power to keep him stable, but I'm still ten feet from him and he's looking down the barrel of a gun.

A burst of magic-driven speed puts me at Sage's side in time to knock the shotgun away. Whether this man is willing to kill or not, I can't take that chance. Jake's scowl makes him look like a devil disguised in human form. Hate and bitterness and a slew of other human emotions tied to darkness cross the man's face, his friends just as bad.

I know their kind, have encountered them before. Even trained a militia group when it pleased Andre to support their anti-government paranoia. I've had to bring down men like him, hard. And I'm willing to do so again. I do my best to let him see it in my eyes. He doesn't scare me.

Hopefully, that will scare him.

But I can't stay here in a stand-off with three men with guns. There's a deputy inside the diner who can cause me no end of problems if I catch his attention any further. Which means retreat.

"Back off." I glare at Jake, tugging at Sage. "He was just looking."

"He better just be," Jake rumbles, gun coming around again.

Sage fights me, the wolf fights me, but another shot of magic makes him move. I'm now desperate to escape this, spotting the deputy approaching from the diner door.

He glances over Sage and me, coming to a halt as I continue to fight against the need in Sage's wolf to feed on the carcass. "Put those damned guns down," he says, though he's still looking at me.

"Kid here was messing with our kill." Jake does as he's told, regardless his argument. Considering Sage hadn't touched the deer-well, not yet-his complaint is invalid.

The officer nods to me. "He okay?" He seems nervous, hand on the butt of his gun, other reaching up for the two-way on his shoulder. Please, don't call for backup.

"He's fine." I squash Sage's low growl with more power. There's no way the Enforcers will miss my magic use this time. Werewolves in the US or not, I'm sure there are none in Arizona. And letting out the amount of power I am is as obvious as waving a flag in the air, telling them to come and get me. We have to go. "Thanks, we're leaving."

The three men watch as I drag Sage away, the cop following slowly. I shove my love into the passenger's seat, smothering him with power, turning to find the officer is looking at the plates on the back of the van.

Damn. Damn it all to the deepest hell imaginable. I slip past him, ignoring his eyes as his gaze rises to follow me. I wave a little before slamming the driver's door and gunning the engine.

Sage is devouring the food, the scent no longer making me hungry, but sick to my stomach. I ignore him, let him gorge his wolf, while I glance back at the diner in my rear view mirror. The cop is talking into his two-way, probably running my plates. Stupid, suspicious, small-town deputy.

Time to dump the van.

I pull over after a mile at the top of a runaway lane built for big rigs, burying it into the woods and scrub as far as I can. Sage is just finishing the last of the meat, fries and buns and condiments scattered everywhere. He looks up at me with regret, coming back to himself, shaking and groaning softly.

"Charlie, I'm sorry."

I leap out of the van and run around the side, jerking the door open and pulling him out with me. He's still in bare feet, dressed in scrubs. No wonder the sight of him set off alarm bells with the deputy. Dumb, Charlotte. Just dumb. This is going to be difficult. And we have no time. The sound of a siren fires off in the distance. The cop is coming and we have to go.

The rumble of a big engine I've heard before is closer and I only recognize it as we plunge into the trees. Sage doesn't complain about his feet, though, and I understand why when I look down. They've changed, transformed into paws, for the best in this situation, but just adding to our troubles. They can't see him like this.

"Run!" I pull him along, feeling him shift beside me, changing further before returning to human. I drop my shields to support him. It doesn't matter now. Keeping him stable while we run from our pursuers is the only thing I can think about. I'll deal with the Enforcers if they show.

When they show.

The hunters are coming. I catch the scent of the three men on the wind blowing over my shoulder. The siren has fallen quiet, so the cop must be out there, too. But I'm not as worried about him as I am the three giant hunters. Maybe they wouldn't shoot Sage or me in the parking lot of a diner. But these are their woods, their mountains, and if they spot us, if they spot Sage half-turned, I know it will be shoot first and hide the bodies before the deputy can report it.

I glance at my love, the fur bursting from the skin of his arms, the stretching of his muzzle. Like I said, I know their type. If they see Sage change from human to werewolf? He'll have a bullet in his heart before I can do anything to stop it.

We can't run forever. I make a decision, dragging Sage down beside me behind a rock and smother us with power. He fights me, trying to run, and I'm forced to knock him out with magic. As his eyes roll back in his head, I feel the approach of the hunters and know we're out of options.



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