Chapter 32 - Rosa

When I run out onto the street, I stop to vomit in a trash can before turning and continuing running through the roads.

There is not a single soul out right now. I slow to a stop, my heart hammering as I turn slowly, taking in the quiet, empty street even though it's the middle of the day. Where is everyone?

And where is Kaila?

Suddenly, I hear a growl and a shout, and something comes barreling onto the edge of town. I watch, horrified, as a huge mass of shifters comes into view.

The Rosecreek pack is on its heels, defending to the teeth, but my father's pack is pushing them back. I'm frozen, paralyzed for a moment, but I know I have to move. If my father sees me like this, standing here, he will get me, and I still have no idea where Kaila is.

An arm comes around my shoulder, pulling me back into an alleyway as two shifters roll past, in their wolf forms, snapping at one another's throats. One gets its teeth in, and I watch in horror as a Rosecreek shifter falls limp to the ground, twitching as blood pools away from the body.

I try to throw an elbow behind me, but the person easily dodges.

"Rosa," they say, and I twist, realizing it's Ado. He releases me, and I fall back against the wall. He shakes his head at me, and I understand the meaning. I shouldn't be out here.

"I can't find Kaila," I breathe, "I don't know where she is.'

Ado stares at me for a moment, then nods once, turning on his heel and sprinting down the alleyway. Does he know where she is? Is he going to find her?

I put a hand to my chest, spinning around to see the action in the street again—the shifters tangled in one another, teeth and claws and blades swinging. A thought occurs to me. If we knew where the serum was, the Rosecreek pack could use it to defend themselves against my father.

I shake the thought from my head. If we resort to chemical warfare, we're no better than my father. And setting a bad example for the rest of the shifter world. If the rest of the packs caught wind of the serum Varun had been developing, it would usher in a new era of fighting, one that could threaten the entire existence of shifters if it got out of hand.

Three more shifters move past, their blades drawn, and I shrink back against the dumpster. My heart stills in my chest when I look up, like it knows better than to beat.

My father stands in the middle of the street, surveying the carnage. I catch a glimpse of Bigby further down the road, fighting back-to-back with Aris, practically swarmed with shifters. They're cutting them down as fast as they can, but it's not fast enough. My father knows that his manpower is one of his strengths, and he's not afraid to use it.

When I see Ado reappear at the end of the street, I stand up, meeting his eyes, and he gives me an intense stare, nodding once, tightly.

Kaila is okay wherever she is. A moment later, I see Byron run up behind Ado, catching a shifter in the throat who lunged at Ado, trying to take him down.

I hear my father let out a small laugh, like he's watching a TV show, and I clench my hands into fists. Before I know what I'm doing, my feet are moving, and I'm walking out into the middle of the street.

The shifters around me are too occupied to notice me, but my father turns right away, a wicked grin spreading over his face as he looks me up and down. Like he's assessing a prize-winning horse, and not seeing his daughter for the first time in years.

Anger pulses through me—that he thinks he has the right to chase me across the country, terrorize innocent people, and kill shifters in the name of reclaiming me.

"Ro—" he starts, but I cut him off, not letting him take the power from me. Not again.

"No," I say, holding up a hand and watching as his face turns from his mask of cool indifference to something darker. "You're done doing this. I will not watch my family suffer at your hands any longer."

"Oh, is that so? And are these people your family now, Rosa? These backwater river shifters who smell like the shit they roll in? You've abandoned the west coast in favor of these hillbillies?"

" Abandoned ?" I ask, fury rising in my chest, and, though I hate it, tears form in my eyes. "I was forced from my home because you made it inhabitable. You've only ever cared about yourself."

"Guilty," he says haughtily, laughing at the joke as though we're poking fun at each other over breakfast. That's always been one of the most frustrating things about my father—his insistence of always acting casual, especially when nothing about him, or my entire family is normal.

When my father speaks again, I put my hand in my pocket, my fingers touching the glass of the serum vial. It's in my pocket, where I put it earlier. In my hand. Capable of causing so much damage.

"Rosa," my father says, and when he takes a step toward me, I take a step back, shaking my head.

"Don't come near me."

"Rosa," he starts again, shaking his head. "All I've ever wanted for you was the world. And you know I can give it to you? Even with the…unfortunate pregnancy, there is still an alpha in San Jose who would have you."

My heart hammers. So, my worst fear has come true. My father knows about Kaila.

"You could have it all, a beautiful place to live, a life of luxury, power ," he says, tipping his head down like I'm still a little girl like he's explaining to me for the first time what my adult life will look like.

I can picture it now—given the chance, he will drag me back to California and force me to blood bond with whatever alpha has bid the highest price to possess me. A shudder runs through my body when I think of what my father will do to Kaila. There is not a single doubt in my mind that he'll kill her, given the first chance.

Forget that she's his family. Forget that she's just a little girl. Forget that she's the one thing in this life that brings joy to me every day. My father would kill her without a second glance, just to position me how he wants me in this world.

I palm the serum in my pocket, feeling like my heart is beating in my throat. Down the street, I can see Bigby fighting through shifters, hear him calling my name, but it feels like it's coming through a dream.

"No, Dad," I say, voice thick with anger and grief. " You're the one who wants it all. You're the one who wants the power. I just want a peaceful, content life with people who love me. And you're not it."

"Rosa," he growls, "don't push me."

I wrap my hand around the vial, pulling it out of my pocket.

"No, Dad," I growl, not caring about the implications of using the serum, not caring that it's one of our last samples, not caring about anything except for the fact that my father needs to die. " You don't push me."

He launches forward, trying to get his arms around me. I step to the side, smashing the vial into his shoulder as hard as I can, feeling the glass break and crunch under my hand, watching the blood trickle from his skin as the glass cuts in, embedding the glass deep in his flesh.

My father turns, laughing at me, reaching up to touch the blood on his shoulder.

"You have a lot to learn if you think that's going to stop me," he mutters, his gaze turning to death and ash.

My breath is coming hot and fast, and I have to force myself to stand my ground, knowing that if I turn and run, he'll have me in a second. My father rolls his eyes, reaching around and pulling out a blade.

"Enough of this," he says, stepping toward me, "if you won't listen, I'll just tie up loose ends."

My heart jumps to my throat. Across the way, I hear Bigby roar, and he stands, throwing several shifters flying away from him. Right now, our bond is growing stronger and stronger, and I can feel it rolling off of him—the rage, the absolute feral energy, the desperation to get to me.

I don't understand why the serum isn't working—it should be in his bloodstream, burning him, weakening him, blocking his ability to shift.

"For once, I really am sorry, Rosa," he says, raising the blade, his eyes narrowed on me, locked in like a missile. I scream as the blade come toward me, but before it can find me, something—someone—flies out from behind a building, catching my father in the side and taking him down. The knife clatters loudly across the ground, coming to a stop just before falling into a storm drain.

The two tussle for a moment, then the mystery man pops up onto his feet, scowling intensely at my father.

Our father.

"Hector?" I cry just as Bigby barrels through, throwing several shifters to the side to meet us. His eyes dart between me, Hector, and my father.

"Well," my father says, "isn't this a perfect little family reunion?"