Now it was a requirement. Without him, I couldn’t live, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t exist.

Mother of all the realms . . . This was so fucked up.

“Tala, please.” Kaillen took a step toward me, the ache in his tone nearly my undoing. “Don’t do this. Don’t run from me.”

“I have to.” I gathered my things, my hands trembling with the amount of exertion it took to maintain control of my movements, because my wolf was still snarling and thrashing inside me. She was desperately trying to gain the upper hand and force me to stay.

But I gritted my teeth and called upon my witch powers, using all of the witch magic inside me to fight the werewolf strength battling against it.

Her power and mine collided in a flurry of fur and sparks. Yet it was all internal, all contained within my soul. To Kaillen, I probably looked strained and stressed, but it was such a false appearance. It didn’t remotely capture the hell I was experiencing at this very second as I fought to maintain control of who I was.

I was careful to keep my distance from the hunter, because every step that took me closer to him had my wolf whining in anticipation and fighting me even more.

“Make the portal. Now.” I gritted my teeth and prayed that he would obey. “Please,” I added, my tone pleading when he continued to simply stand there.

His hand dipped with jerky movements into his pocket. The gold flaring around his eyes was so bright that I could only imagine what his inner wolf was doing to him too. With forced-looking movements, his arm swirled through the air, that flashing yellow light emitting from his crystal as his portal began to form.

The second the void appeared, my wolf lunged and strained against the cage my witch magic had tried to trap her in.

And even though she snarled and let out an achingly forlorn howl, I didn’t hesitate, didn’t even give it a second thought, as I jumped through the hunter’s portal in a single leap, and time and space swallowed me whole, while my wolf’s desperate cry filled my ears.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 8

Kaillen’s portal deposited me at the Supernatural Forces’ doorstep. Literally. I jumped through it so fast I came flying out and nearly smashed right into the front door.

Righting myself, I managed to stay on my feet as another howl came from my wolf. She was walking circles in my belly, crying and yelping.

But I ignored her and straightened just as a painful growl of hunger came from my stomach. I huffed in irritation and grabbed my bags, nearly storming inside the office until I remembered that I wasn’t wearing my cloaking spell.

Grumbling, I whispered the words to activate it. The thick spell wove around me, clouding me in its familiar weight. My shoulders sagged, more from the feel of it than from any actual physical presence, because this time, I knew I couldn’t release it anytime soon.

Welcome home, Tala.

With that depressing thought in place, I pushed through the front door.

“Tala, I’m glad you got here so fast!” Shelley zipped around the front desk to greet me. She stopped mid-stride when she took in my expression, and her smile wobbled as she added, “Commander Klebus has a squad ready who can take you to the safe house Tessa’s staying at.” She glanced over my shoulder, a frown puckering her brow. “Did you come alone?”

“Yes, I know, I know.” I tried to smooth my expression, but it was damned hard when I had a crying wolf in my belly and a never-ending hunger eating my stomach. I was seriously giving hangry a whole new meaning. “I’m aware that it’s not safe, and I know that I shouldn’t travel by myself, but if it makes you feel better, the portal literally dropped me two feet from the front door, and I came right inside.” Of course, the hunter would already know that, no doubt the blood bond clueing him into my whereabouts. It was probably the only reason he’d been okay with me traveling here alone.

Regardless, remembering that we were also bound by his blood had my teeth grinding together.

“I’ll need your phone back for storing again.” Shelley gave a sympathetic smile.

“Oh, right.” I reluctantly fished it out of my bag. “I just need to send a quick text before I turn it off.”

I hurriedly tapped in a text to Prisha, letting her know that I was moving to an SF safe house and had to hand my phone off to the Supernatural Forces once again. A frown pulled at my lips when I watch Shelley power it down and store it away.

So much for talking with Prish again anytime soon.

Guilt bit me hard. I should have called my best friend after my shower. That was where my priorities should have been, but instead, I’d nearly let the hunter bang me.

Gritting my teeth, I watched Shelley tuck my phone into her desk drawer just as my stomach let out another ferocious growl. Her eyes bugged out. “Are you hungry?”

Understatement of the year. “A bit.”

“Follow me. I’ll grab you a sandwich from the breakroom that you can eat on the way.”

“Do you think I could have a few sandwiches?”

She frowned. “Um, sure. I can grab a couple.”

She took one of the bags from my hands, but I kept hold of the others. Even though I was carrying three bags, they felt light and easy to maneuver—thanks to my newly formed werewolf strength—but that didn’t lighten my mood because my wolf was still prowling inside my belly, angry and snarling. At least, she was no longer pushing against my skin and trying to break free, so I didn’t resemble Bigfoot. Silver lining.

My wolf let out another lonely howl, and a flash of guilt flooded me. For a second, she seemed like a pet canine who was sad, angry, and feeling alone. And why wouldn’t she? Her mate wasn’t here and even though she could run as fast as the wind, she couldn’t run the thousand miles to Kaillen’s home. Well, she probably could, but I wasn’t going to let her. And even if I did, how would she know where to go? I had no idea where Kaillen lived. All I knew was that his home was in Montana.

My steps faltered when I realized that I had no way of returning to him unless he escorted me, but I quickly brushed that thought aside. I’d made the decision to leave his property so I could avoid any more mate-driven wolfy motivations.

And thankfully, it appeared to have worked.

Even though my wolf was mourning, she’d given up on her insistent urging to shift and be with the hunter.

As if sensing that I’d won, she bared her teeth at me before giving me her rump.

I scoffed. It’s my body, you know, I countered. But for some reason another twinge of guilt twisted my gut. I’d just separated her from the only thing she wanted in this world.

My wolf glanced over her shoulder at me, gave me a flash of canine, and then ignored me completely.

I rolled my eyes and smothered my guilty feeling as best I could. So be it. If Mrs. Wolfy wanted to be mad at me, she could. ’Cause at least I wasn’t looking like a sasquatch anymore and was once again firmly walking on two legs.

“You can wait here.” Shelley escorted me to a waiting room with a window that overlooked a huge underground garage that appeared to double as a hanger.

Numerous SF vehicles were parked against one wall in the garage, but a large plane or jet, or whatever the hell it was, sat in the center of the massive chamber. Technicians scurried about the aircraft as a squad of SF members stood in the corner. They huddled in a circle, their squad commander issuing orders to them from the looks of it.

“I’ll grab those sandwiches.” Shelley disappeared out the door and I let my bags fall at my feet. She returned a minute later, and handed three sandwiches to me. “Will this be enough?”