Chapter 143
“Da mn it, Leah!” James’ features contort with pain. He lets out some sound that is almost a whimper before his body starts convulsing uncontrollably.
If he’d been driving, we’d be off the road and wrapped around a tree.
I get out of the car and go to the driver’s side.
I open the back door and climb in. Then I sling my hands beneath James’ arms. He’s shivering like a baby.
I’m overcome with guilt. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. I know he was only being a hardass to protect me. Deep down, I’ve come to think this wolf is actually fond of me. “I’m sorry.”
Then I tug with everything I have and try to pull him into the
backseat.
James is massive. Not quite as tall as Aaron, but just as thick
and he weighs three times as much as me.
I grunt and groan and heave harder, but it’s like trying to move a mountain. When I finally drag him into the back, I climb over him into the front, push the seat forward so I can reach the pedals, and tear out of the parking lot. I jab the
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map feature on my phone as I go.
“D-don’t,” James says. “They’ll…kill you.”
He’s starting to shift. His body bows unnaturally, a result of the wolfsbane I injected into his bloodstream, but he doesn’t fully
crossover.
“James…I’m already dying.” I stop because he roars. An instant later his eyes are blue again and his face looks normal, albeit sweating profusely. “Nod if you can understand me.”
His skin is morphing with fur along his arms and then it recedes, like his body is stuck between both forms. I know he’s
tough and he said this wouldn’t ki ll a wolf, but I’m worried. He je rks his head though.
“If something happens to me, you call Adam. He’ll know what to do.” I turn left and accelerate as the road opens up. “Okay?”
He nods.
I follow the prompts as my phone calls them out and the
directions take me to a rundown section of town near the
docks. There are cargo containers and huge warehouses.
Barbed wire fences cordon off the area. The streets are dark
and the smell of stale water is strong. I don’t have to guess at which building or at how I’ll get in.
The gate is open.
The lights are on.
“Lee-ah…don’t.”
It’s James. He’s trying to push himself up but he lacks the
strength. His hands shake and his whole body is wracked with
tremors. Despite the pain he’s experiencing, he’s still trying to help me, to protect me.
It’s a random thought but I say it, “You’ll make a good dad someday.”
