Page 19 of Rabid
There must be another bonfire tonight, because smoke is thick and acrid, but it doesn’t overpower the rage pouring off of me, or the anger I scent coming from my pack members. For a second, my stomach leaps, because I think that this might be it—they might turn against Burke. They might—
“Traitor!” someone yells.
“Coward!”
“Bitch!” is snarled too close to my ear, and then I’m pelted in the back with something hard and sharp—a rock maybe—and realization dawns. They’re not angry on my behalf. This anger is directedatme. As if I deserve this.
I seethe as the pack all around me shows they’re more sheep than wolves. With each vitriolic word spit at me or projectile that connects with my body, they prove just how stupid and weak they all truly are. I snarl and bellow out my rage, wishing I could tear each and every one of them apart, but all I can do is foam and drool and make myself look like the monster they all think I am. I thought Burke was the blight tainting this pack, but it’s clear his poison has destroyed any good that was ever here. These fuckers deserve him.
The dam seems to break within the pack, because more insults and threats hurl my way.
“Rabid!”
“Put her down!”
“Her wolf can’t be trusted!”
“Yank out her teeth!”
As if my wolf’s fangs heard that one, my gums begin to throb, fangs wanting to punch through and sink into whoever called out that threat. I froth and growl so loud it shakes through my entire body, fighting off the drug gumming up my system, my blood feeling thick, muscles encased in stiffening plaster.
Incomprehensible shouting pounds in the air, the voices of too many packmates turning on me while I’m naked, drugged, and bound. The reek of anger is sharp in my nostrils, but my wolf’s hate is even sharper as her nails seem to drag against my skin.
“She’s ready, Alpha,” Conrad says, coming to a stop.
Steps march over to me, and then Burke is there, with his disgusting arrogant scent surrounding me as much as the smoke.
“Good. Let’s go.”
My mind spins, wondering what the hell they’re going to do to me, and my anxiety spikes. If only I could justmove. I wouldn’t feel so vulnerable, so trapped. But I can’t. I can do nothing as I’m taken to a van and tossed mercilessly into the back. The bench seats have been removed, so I get tossed onto the hard, bare metal floor. Instinctually, I try to brace my body as it goes down, but I can’t even manage that, and I know my entire side will be black and blue from the impact. I’m sure the bruises will fit in nicely with all my others.
As soon as the back doors slam shut, my chest restricts, sweat gathering on my skin.
Where the fuck are they taking me?
My wolf hates this, her entire spirit shaking inside of my skin as I lie here in an uncomfortable heap, unable to even lift a finger.
Two people get into the front seats, car doors slamming, and I immediately smell Conrad and Burke. The van takes off with a sudden speed, making my useless body go rolling, which only makes the males laugh. Tires go over bumpy terrain, and I’m jerked around by Conrad driving like a shithead on purpose, just to jostle me. I scream and try to bite against the leather ties, but all I can manage is the barest clamp of my teeth, not even hard enough to depress the leather.
Maybe they’ll drive long enough that some of this drug will wear off. It’s a long shot, but it’s the only string of hope that I have, so I hold onto it as hard as I can.
I have no choice but to wait until whatever is in my blood releases my limbs. So that’s what I concentrate on. Because whatever Burke has planned for me, wherever they’re taking me, it will be nowhere good. Patience and preserving my strength, that’s what I need to focus on, not the rabid panic spiking through my veins.
I tell my wolf and myself this over and over and over again until I fall into a fitful sleep, with shackles digging into my skin and fangs throbbing beneath my gums.
Patience.
Chapter Seven
My head is slammed against something hard, waking me with a shock.
I hiss and clench my teeth against the pain as I look around, fighting off the white spots now speckling my vision. I can tell the van has stopped, but there aren’t any windows back here for me to get an idea of where we are. My body aches from being bound and battered by the drive, and I scoot away from the metal wall my head just rammed into as I take stock. All of my limbs are still slow and heavy, but at least I can feel them now.
Burke and Conrad are talking, but I can’t hear what they’re saying over the ringing in my ears. Two car doors open and then shut, and a spike of panic tries to push away the pain and disorientation muddling my mind. With great effort, I manage to pull my feet underneath me as footsteps move from the front of the van to the back, and I brace myself in a crouch, begging my body to cooperate.
The second the doors screech open, flooding in afternoon daylight, I clumsily leap from the back of the van at whoever just cleared the path to freedom. My stomach roils angrily thanks to the drugs they shot me up with, but it doesn’t keep me from clotheslining Conrad with the chain connecting my wrists. He shouts with surprise as we both go down, but I’m barely able to bruise his skin, let alone pop his head off like I want to, because Burke grabs me by the waist and tosses me away.
Dry, dirt-packed earth breaks my fall, dust rising up from the force of my landing and clogging my airway. I rip the muzzled gag off my face, coughing and hacking to clear my throat. I toss it away with a snarl and push myself to my feet, body swaying with the effort to stand, ankle chains pulled taut.
