Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(20)
"What?" I managed to gasp out, my head spinning.
He looked at me with disgust, and I noticed his hands were bloody. “The bond. No matter how much I despise you, it’s still there. Mates can’t kill each other.”
"But you rejected me." I'd thought he had broken the mate bond between us, but as I looked up at him, I realized he'd only torn it. Being near him again made the connection strengthen, and the pull I felt toward him returned. Everything in me wanted to stand up and draw him close to me, and my limbs actually trembled with the effort to resist the pull. It was fucking torture, and I hated that I still wanted him this much. He’d made it abundantly clear that the feeling wasn’t mutual—and I would never be with him after what the Leos had done. "You killed my pack!"
"They're not your pack anymore," Jordan said, his voice cruel as he got that jab in.
"Why?" I asked, gesturing at the chaos around us. "Why do this? Just because I'm your mate?"
He lifted his chin. "We were already planning to take down the Cancer pack at the end of the Convergence. Our mating bond just sped up the timeline."
Rage boiled in me, knowing this had all been planned from the beginning. I tried to stand up, to defend my former pack, but Jordan was quick to knock me down again with his massive strength.
He put his knee on my chest, pinning me down. His face was downright psychotic as he leaned close and whispered in my ear, “I’ll make you suffer for even thinking you could be good enough for me. For believing I’d ever take a half-human mutt as my mate.”
His weight was heavy on my chest, and the words knocked out whatever breath remained in my lungs. Even though I hated him more than I'd hated anyone before, including all the bullies in my pack, the fucking mating bond still hummed inside me to the tune of mine mine mine.
I tried to shove him off, but he stood in one smooth motion and kicked me in the ribs hard enough that I saw stars. I was no stranger to beatings like this, but it felt like every other person had been holding back until now, pulling their punches and softening their blows.
Not my mate though. He wanted me to suffer.
I gasped in another breath as I tried to get away from him. I could hardly see, eyes blurred with tears as I crawled toward the woods. The forest was within reach, and it gave me the last burst of strength my exhausted body needed to move forward.
“You really think you can escape?” Jordan asked, as his foot fell again. I heard the crunch of my bones, so loud it seemed to echo around the clearing, and I let out a ragged scream. My knee felt like it was on fire. I didn’t know what exactly he’d done to it, but I suspected it wouldn’t hold my weight. Not for very long anyway.
The pain cleared my head of any remaining pull toward Jordan, and it gave me the push I need to kick out with my good leg, catching him completely off guard. It wasn’t strong enough to ground him, but it unbalanced him enough to give me a split second of extra time. That was all I needed.
With adrenaline fueling me, I pulled myself to my feet, pain lancing through my injured leg. It held me, barely, and I ground my teeth through the agony. I wasn't about to let this asshole win.
“Don't fucking touch me,” I said, low and sure. Jordan looked almost surprised by my words as if he expected me to cower before him. He was just like the other bullies, but I always got up again.
With some effort, I shifted into my wolf form. I wasn't really sure how to do it on my own, but I let my instincts take over, and they told me I'd be better off on four legs than two. Once the white fur covered me, I snapped at Jordan, but instead of staying to fight like every cell in my body was screaming at me to do, I turned tail and ran. Or rather, limped away. I couldn't take him on, not injured like this, especially with the mate bond making everything so difficult. Which meant I had to escape.
I rushed toward the forest, hoping it would provide me some cover and safety. I'd hiked through it earlier, and I bet I knew it better than Jordan did. Four legs made it easier for me to ignore my injured knee, and once I succumbed to my animal instincts I started loping along at a decent pace. I could feel the healing power trying to mend my leg, but I was so exhausted, I knew it wouldn’t be able to do much until after I’d rested. I was tapped out.
I reached the cover of the forest, but I wasn’t fast enough. Jordan was right behind me, hot on my tail. He wasn’t injured, and he would catch up to me easily. Something in my gut told me he wouldn’t let me get away this time. I’d caught him off guard, and he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
I glanced around, wolf’s eyes taking in sharper details than my human ones could. The moon was high, casting enough light that the whole forest was practically illuminated to my enhanced senses. I heard the rustle of the wind in the trees and the distant sound of the waterfall. I’d need to hide somewhere, but where?
I headed deeper into the forest, intent on finding the perfect place. My wolf nose smelled something like an old fire, and I chased after it and found a cave. I was about to head inside when I realized Jordan would be able to smell it too—and probably me as well. Fuck. There was nowhere to hide.
I had to keep running.
With panic racing through my veins, I headed deeper into the forest, with no thought for anything except escape. Behind me, the screams, snarls, and moans from the clearing faded away, and I wondered if any of my former pack was still alive.