Roman's POV
Without wasting a second, both men wiped the nonexistent sweat from their brows and led us five to outside the door of that exit hallway.
"How did she escape? Wasn't she drugged?" the round-bellied one demanded, his facade of composure now gone.
"She was," the other man replied grimly, "but somehow she fought off the effects. She injected Jenny with the same drug and managed to flee."
Meanwhile Lucian entered the door where we could see a woman lying on the floor and there was a syringe as well. He picked it up, brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply.
Lucian, the drug enthusiast. He didn't just consume them—he created them. His knowledge of chemicals was disturbingly vast, enough to identify a compound with a single sniff.
He smirked, wicked amusement lighting up his eyes. "Seems like our little fox is stronger than we thought. Can't wait to try some of my new brews on her."
Jason took the syringe next, sniffed it, and whistled low. "Damn. This stuff is potent."
Here we go again, I sighed inwardly, casting a glance at Kael.
But Kael wasn't with us anymore. He had already made his way outside toward the wired fencing.
"If she's this heavily drugged, she won't be able to shift. She can't have gone far." I heard Kael say.
Blood was splattered along the fence. She had gone through to claw her way out—through thick nails and steel wires—enough to know one thing: she was desperate.
Desperate enough to bleed herself raw just to escape us.
Rafe, who had been quiet all this while, reached out and touched a blood-coated nail with his finger and brought it slowly to his nose.
A moment later, his light brown eyes, that were faintly red, now snapped into full crimson.
We all felt the shift in his energy immediately—like a silent scream ripping through his soul.
He wanted that blood. He craved it.
Damn it!
"Kael," I called for him, but Kael had placed his hand over Rafe's shoulder, firm and grounding.
"Calm down. First, let's find her."
Rafe rarely disobeyed him in his sane state and wiped that blood-coated finger off on Kael's black shirt—the sign that he would control himself, at least for now.
Crossing that flimsy fence took us less than a moment. On the other side, smears of blood painted the forest floor like a breadcrumb trail leading us straight to her. It wouldn't be long now.
"It reminds me of those old hunting events," Lucian remarked, a gleam of dark excitement in his eyes. "When Alphas used to hunt down she-wolves and claim them as theirs."
"That's precisely why she-wolves are rare now," I replied sharply, then turned a warning glance toward both Lucian and Jason. "Neither of you is allowed to harm her. Don't forget why we bought her."
At my words, both their eyes flickered to Kael, who was studying the bloodstains ahead, Rafe silently at his side. Kael was the reason we'd agreed to buy this shewolf.
"She's close," Rafe murmured. His Vampire senses were faster than us when it came to the stench of blood.
"Alright! We'll just catch her, won't hurt her," Jason assured me, speaking on behalf of himself and Lucian.
We continued deeper into the woods. The trees closed in around us, heavy with silence, save for the rustling of our boots over dead leaves. Then, once again, Rafe spoke.
"Blood. I smell it stronger this way."
"There she is!" Lucian called out with a grin, amusement ringing in his voice.
Ahead, we saw her—a lone figure stumbling through the woods in a knee-length, dirt-smeared gown. Her long, matted hair veiled the sides of her face, but the exhaustion in her every step was painfully clear. She dragged herself forward, gasping, every motion ragged and labored. Yet she didn't stop.
She was running on nothing but willpower. A soul clinging to the last thread of freedom.
We surged forward, closing the gap just in time to see her trip over a fallen branch. She collapsed hard, face-first into the forest floor.
That must have hurt.
"Did you really think you could run after we paid so much to buy you?" Jason taunted, his voice laced with cruel delight as he stepped closer.
Lucian moved ahead of us and knelt beside her. His smirk curled wider, wicked with satisfaction. "Let's see which lucky bitch we just bought."
He gripped her shoulder roughly and turned her over onto her back. Her face was nearly unrecognizable—smeared with dirt, hair tangled across her cheeks.
With one swift motion, Lucian brushed her hair aside.
And then we all froze.
Her eyes fluttered open… and met ours.
Silence fell like a blade.
Every muscle in my body went rigid.
Damn it.
It was her.
It can't be… but there she was—lying at our feet.
The girl from six years ago.
The ghost we had buried in memory… now staring straight into our souls.