“Right! Eli, go right!” I pointed to a gravel driveway, almost invisible in the darkness.
Dust churned in the air, obstructing my vision. Eli slammed the truck into park. Saul was out of the truck first, Eli right behind him.
Saul picked up speed, tackling the mutt as he tried to vanish into the brush. He broke easily under my brother’s power. They always did.
He handed Saul a cellphone. Jacques’s voice was smooth and confident through the speaker.
Eli gripped his hair, growling incoherently.
Then Jacques said my name, and the hair rose on my neck.
With four simple words, he had my beast in a chokehold. “He took my mate.”
The monster tore at me, trying to turn me inside out.
Mine. Not his.
Mymate.
Jacques knew she was here. It was only a matter of time before he found her.
But Eli was standing over the other wolf, squeezing the life from him, and I saw him unraveling. His mate in danger. Left to drown while a storm raged over the bay.
The bond weighed heavily in my sternum. So did my brother’s fate.
I couldn’t lose Eli either. I wouldn’t make it without him.
We climbed back into the truck, urgency beating against us like the wind hitting the windshield.
I had to see this through.
And then?
I struggled to swallow.
Right now, Jacques didn’t know where Tara was. Tomorrow she’d pack her suitcase and leave Port O’Henry.
I would let her.
It was the safest choice for her. The only right one. For once in my life, I had to make it.
For her.
My spiraling thoughts were interrupted by Saul’s cool tone. He was collected and confident, the tension from earlier fading.
“We’re going to need a boat.”
Chapter 14
Black Sheep
Isaac
Watercrashedagainsttheboat, salt coating my skin. The storm was on us, thick clouds raging overhead and blocking out what little light the fading stars provided.
Eli stood at the bow of the boat, barely human as his eyes scanned the water.
My heart lodged in my throat. His mate had been out here for almost thirty minutes.