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Cain moved before I could blink. He yanked me away from the window and shoved me against the wall beside the kitchenette, his body blocking mine. His hand pressed flat against my shoulder, holding me there.
"Stay down."
I shoved at his chest. "Get off—"
"Shut up." His eyes weren't on me. They were locked on the arrow still quivering in the plaster across the room, silver tip gleaming under the cheap ceiling light. The note tied to the shaft fluttered. Two words in blocky handwriting. RED WOLF.
My stomach dropped.
"They don't waste silver on warning shots," Cain said, voice low. "That was a message. They know exactly where you are."
"Yeah, I got that part." My hands were shaking. I curled them into fists. "How the hell did they find me this fast?"
Cain's jaw tightened. He didn't answer. Instead he moved to the window, staying to the side, and glanced out through the broken glass. His shoulders were rigid. After a few seconds he pulled back and turned to me.
"We're leaving. Now."
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Lila—"
"You threw me out." My voice cracked. I hated that it did. "You stood there three years ago and told the whole pack I was cursed. You watched them drag me past the border and you didn't say a goddamn word."
Something flickered across his face. Guilt, maybe. Or anger. Hard to tell with him. "I know."
"That's it? You know?"
"I don't have time to explain right now." He crossed the room in three strides and grabbed my wrist. "If you stay here, they'll put a silver bullet in your chest before sunrise. Is that what you want?"
I yanked my arm back. "Don't touch me."
"Fine." He let go and stepped back, hands up. "But you need to move. Those hunters don't work alone. If one found you, there's a whole team outside sweeping the block."
I looked at the arrow again. My chest was tight. The bond was still there, humming under my ribs, pulling me toward him like a fishhook lodged in my sternum. I could feel his heartbeat. Steady. Faster than it should be. He was scared.
That made two of us.
"Why do you even care?" I said. "You need me for your war, right? That's all this is."
Cain's mouth thinned. "I need you alive. That's not the same thing."
"Sounds pretty close to me."
"Believe what you want." He moved to the door and checked the hallway through the peephole. "But if you don't come with me right now, you won't live long enough to hate me properly."
I wanted to tell him to go to hell. I wanted to grab my jacket and run in the opposite direction. But my legs wouldn't move. The bond was dragging at me, whispering that he was right. That staying here was suicide.
Damn it.
I grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair. "One year. That's it. Then I'm gone."
Cain glanced back at me. His expression didn't change. "One year."
He opened the door and stepped into the hallway. I followed, pulling the jacket on. My hands were still shaking. The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed and flickered. The carpet was stained and smelled like cigarettes and old beer. I'd lived here for eight months. It wasn't much, but it was mine. Now I was leaving it behind with a psycho Alpha and a pack of hunters on my tail.
Great.
We made it to the stairwell before I heard the footsteps below. Cain froze. He held up one hand, motioning for me to stop. I pressed against the wall and held my breath.
Two voices drifted up from the landing below. Male. Quiet. Professional.
"Third floor, unit twelve. Confirmation on the energy signature."
"Copy. Silver rounds loaded. No survivors."
My blood went cold.
Cain looked at me. His eyes had gone full wolf—gold and burning. He mouthed one word. Roof.
I nodded.
We went up instead of down, moving fast and silent. My heart was slamming against my ribs. The bond was screaming now, feeding me his adrenaline on top of my own. It felt like my chest was going to explode.
We hit the roof access door. Locked. Cain didn't slow down. He grabbed the handle and wrenched it sideways. Metal shrieked. The lock snapped. The door flew open and we stumbled out into the night.
Cold air hit my face. The city stretched out below us, all lights and noise and movement. I could hear sirens somewhere far off. Closer, I heard boots on the stairs. They were coming.
Cain grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the edge of the roof. There was a fire escape on the east side, rusted and half-collapsed. He swung over the ledge and started climbing down. I followed, gripping the cold metal. My palms were sweating. The ladder shook under our weight.
We made it halfway down before I heard the roof access door slam open above us.
"There!"
A gunshot cracked through the air. The railing next to my head exploded in a spray of rust and sparks. I yelped and nearly lost my grip.
"Move!" Cain shouted.
I moved. We half-climbed, half-fell down the last two stories and hit the alley below. My knees buckled. Cain caught me by the elbow and dragged me forward. We ran.
The alley was narrow and dark, full of dumpsters and broken pallets. My boots slapped against wet pavement. Behind us, I heard more footsteps. More voices. They were spreading out. Cutting off exits.
Cain pulled me around a corner and into a side street. His truck was parked at the end of the block, half on the curb. He fumbled for his keys.
I looked back. Three figures were moving toward us from the alley. Dark jackets. Silver glinting in their hands.
"Cain—"
"I see them." He got the door open and shoved me toward the passenger side. "Get in."
I ran around the truck and yanked the door handle. Locked. "Cain!"
He hit the unlock button. I threw myself inside. He was already in the driver's seat, jamming the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life.
One of the hunters raised a crossbow. I saw the bolt load. Saw him aim.
"Drive!"
Cain slammed the gas. The truck lurched forward. The bolt hit the back window and spiderwebbed the glass but didn't punch through. We fishtailed onto the main road and kept going, weaving through late-night traffic. I twisted in my seat and looked back. The hunters were getting smaller. No one was following.
Yet.
I faced forward and tried to breathe. My hands were clenched in my lap. The bond was still there, vibrating between us. I could feel Cain's heart rate slowing. Mine wasn't.
"Where are we going?" I said.
Cain didn't look at me. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. "Somewhere safe."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting right now."
I wanted to punch him. Instead I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes. The adrenaline was draining out of me, leaving me cold and hollow. My apartment was gone. My job was probably gone. Everything I'd built in three years—gone.
Because of him.
I opened my eyes and looked at him. His jaw was tight. There was blood on his hands from where he'd ripped the door lock apart. He hadn't even shifted. Just raw strength and desperation.
"You said you knew," I said quietly. "Back at the apartment. You said you knew."
Cain's hands flexed on the wheel. He didn't answer.
"Knew what, Cain?"
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, "That you didn't burn the elder's house."
My breath caught. "What?"
"I knew you didn't do it." His voice was flat. Empty. "I knew the whole time."
The world tilted. I stared at him. "Then why—"
"Because the person who did it was someone I couldn't touch." He finally looked at me. His eyes were human again, but there was something broken in them. "Not then."
My throat closed up. I couldn't speak. Couldn't move.
The bond pulsed. And then—something else. A flicker. A flash of memory that wasn't mine.
I was standing in the pack hall. Torchlight. Voices shouting. The elders in a half-circle. And there, in the back, watching—
Ivy.
She was smiling.