Chapter 01

Jesus fucking Christ. Why did they always fucking run? Once! Just once! Couldn’t I get a fucking fugitive who wanted to be collected? Shit. What a fucking commodity that would be.

My heart pounded in my chest as I chased Sadie Mae Grimm down. Yeah. Her last name was fucking Grimm. Probably should’ve taken that into account when I took this fucking job. I sprinted after her—the woman was ridiculously fast. What the hell was she? A fucking marathon runner? There was no way in hell I could keep up this pace chasing after her. No fucking way. I was in the best shape of my life, but this was obscene.

No one should run this fast for this goddamn long.

She veered off the sidewalk, over the cobblestone road, and darted into the woods. The flash of violet hair was the last thing I saw before she disappeared into the darkness.

“Fuck me,” I huffed out. A horn blasted as a car swerved to avoid hitting me. They yelled. I flipped them off over my shoulder. It was a grand fucking time.

The second my feet hit the treeline, I dipped into my wolf senses and came to a stop. I needed them if I wanted to catch the feisty fucking thief in the woods. Murderer? Was she the thief or the murderer?

Fuck, I couldn’t remember. Probably should’ve studied her paperwork better, but fuck, this was supposed to be a breeze of a job. So much for that shit.

I breathed deeply, pulling in whatever smells I could. Woods. Moss. Dirt. Rain. Lavender. And lemon?

Lavender and lemon. I let it fill my lungs. My head cocked to the side as I latched onto it. I was a predator, and she was my prey. No matter how much she expected to use the woods to escape, she could never run from me.

I bolted, chasing after her. The sounds of the town vanished. An eerie quiet enveloped me and sent my senses into overdrive. I struggled to pinpoint her location. I could smell her—that fucking aroma. It weaved its way through me, filling every inch of my mind with a thick fog until I felt lost to it.

The blow to my stomach came out of fucking nowhere. Was that a knee? An elbow? I didn’t have a fucking clue.

I gasped, unable to catch my breath. I’d been trained for this shit though—to push through it. The last thing I needed was to get hurt.

Or end up dead.

My recovery was flimsy, but when the next hit came, I blocked it. And the one after that.

Lavender and lemon… the scent was fucking overwhelming. My head spun while my vision blurred. My wolf raged defensively, pushing against my control.

The kick to the back of my knees sent me crashing. I scrambled to right myself. The tip of a knife pressed hard into the soft skin under my jaw, sending my heart racing with fear.

A deep growl vibrated through me as my wolf roared to life. It tried to rip through me, tried to free itself, but couldn’t. Some inexplicable force pushed it back.

Not me.

Someone else was in control of my wolf.

Fuck.

Panic.

Sheer fucking panic created a vice grip on my chest.

A hunter.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I’d rushed right into a hunter’s trap.

“Ah, ah, ah, little wolf,” a voice taunted, floating in and out of my ears. Soft. Feminine. Was that an accent? I grasped at whatever I could, committing it to memory for later.

If there was a later.

My wolf rioted at the thought, doing everything in its power to free itself. The fucking pain. It was agonizing. Every nerve in my body was on fire, scorched bare by her power over me. My stomach rolled, and the air stuck in my lungs.

“You’re a strong one, aren’t you?” she said. That knife pushed harder, making me lean back. Fingers tangled in my hair and held me tight. “There are only a few bloodlines pure enough to fight me so hard… so, which one are you?”

Blade met fabric as she cut open the front of my shirt. The tip of the knife pressed into my family tattoo, tracing the lines a little too deep for comfort. If I wasn’t bleeding, it was a goddamn miracle.

But fuck me, I couldn’t move.

“A Byrne.” She clicked her tongue curiously. “That explains so much. Tell me where your pack house is, little wolf.”

“No.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“If that’s what you have to do,” I scoffed, my voice tense. I was fucking bluffing. I didn’t want her to kill me. That was the last fucking thing I wanted.

Well, second last.

The last last was for her to find the Byrne pack house. There was no way in hell I was letting her anywhere near my pack, even if it cost me my life. She’d annihilate every last one of them. My pack wouldn’t survive her.

“Last chance, little wolf,” she snarled. That knife dug into my skin as she trailed it further down my chest and stomach. “Tell me where your pack house is, or this will hurt. No threats. Just a promise.”

Fuck, this was going to hurt.

But I steeled myself for it.

“Make sure you hit the right spot because if I live, I promise I’m coming for you.” Blade cut through skin and muscle as she slowly pushed the serrated blade into me. I groaned. Fuck me. Of course, she’d stab me slowly.

My wolf reeled violently, but I couldn’t do a damn thing about the cage holding it back. If I fucking could…

Fingers dug into my jaw, and purple eyes swam in my vision. Purple eyes? Who the fuck had purple eyes?

The knife pressed in deeper. My nerves were flayed with a fire I couldn’t put out. The pain was fucking excruciating—more than it should’ve been for a single stab to the stomach.

“Oh, you’ll give me what I want, little wolf,” she whispered, her breath hot against my ear. Lavender and lemon washed nauseatingly over my face. That fucking smell. “I promise you that.”

My vision failed, and my world pitched into darkness.