Chapter 107

Nathan POV

We ran through the woods at full speed, desperate to find our son.

Still in my wolf form, I ran with my nose to the air, testing it often to make sure we stayed on course.

But our son’s trail was easy to follow.

Of course it was.

Fear made scents stronger.

And my poor child was absolutely terrified.

Braided closely with his familiar odor was another person’s scent, also unfortunately familiar.

Sabrina.

Her scent was ripe with anger, and something else.

Something sour and almost rotten.

It was a kind of madness.

And it was bloodlust.

She was as surely being driven to desperation as we were, and it was making her even more dangerous.

My heart pounded with fear as well as the effort to maintain the pace we were keeping as we ran.

I couldn’t help worrying about what Sabrina would do if she felt completely cornered.

What she might do to Andy if she felt like she had nothing left to lose.

I had no doubt in my mind that she would hurt him.

Maybe just for the fun of it.

Maybe because she knew how much pain and suffering it would cause me.

Either way, I knew Sabrina could be absolutely deadly.

And it terrified me.

But then the sound of an angry scream cut through the otherwise quiet night.

Claire and I pulled up short, both of us breathing hard, staring at each other as the sound echoed around us.

I shifted back, feeling a smile play at the corners of my mouth.

“Looks like Andy isn’t exactly making things easy for her,” I said, a feeling of pride shining through my fear and worry. For a moment.

Claire answered with a small smile of her own.

“Good for him. He deserves it, after what she’s putting him through. But Nathan…”

Worry clouded her eyes again, any trace of a smile gone.

“What if she hurts him? What if she - ”

What if she kills him?

The same fear prowling inside of me like a caged animal was clearly on her mind as well.

I cut her off quickly, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly.

“Don’t, Claire. It’s going to be alright. We’re close, I can tell.”

She drew in a quick breath, blinking away the tears that had filled her eyes. Then she nodded.

“Ok. You’re right. We’re going to make it.

“Let’s go get our son.”

And we took off again, running through the trees at a breakneck speed.

We’d gone a few miles when a wind began to rise, and a hard rain started to fall.

I swore under my breath, knowing both the wind and the rain could disrupt a scent trail quickly, making it difficult to follow anyone.

But we were so close!

If I could just follow his trail a little further, I knew we’d find him.

We’d find our boy.

I pushed us further, faster, harder.

We had to get there in time.

We simply had to.

But then another sound reached us, another scream ripping through the air.

And my heart.

It was a younger, higher voice.

It was a scream of fear.

And it was a scream of pain.

Claire and I exchanged a look of complete terror as we continued to run, now heading straight for the sound.

That was Andy. There was no denying it.

Sabrina was hurting our son.

And yes, though I’d kept Claire from saying it, I couldn’t turn away from the deepest fear inside of me, the one twisting my stomach into a painful knot.

Would she kill him, if we didn’t get there in time?

My heart already knew that answer. I had been smelling her rising rage and bloodlust for miles now.

She would kill him, if she got the chance.

We had to stop her.

But…

What if we were already too late??

Sabrina POV

The wind picked up to a howl, and the rain began to pour down.

And I was nearly blind with rage.

The stupid child continued to escape me!

Every time I drew close to him, nearly catching him, slashing out with my knife, he’d dodge to the side with an uncanny speed and accuracy.

I’d heard people talk about his father’s speed and agility, as well as his elevated senses.

Some people said Nathan was the fastest, keenest hunter in the Silverfang pack.

Maybe even in the entire realm.

Honestly I’d thought it was an exaggeration. People were always bragging about how big or fast or strong their Alpha was. Every pack thought their leader was the best.

Now, running through the woods, getting more and more frustrated that a small child was managing to evade me, I began to question if it was really true.

Because obviously Andy must have inherited his father’s abilities.

There was just no other way to explain how he kept avoiding me.

Just when I thought I had him, he’d dodge away from my hand. Even when I was directly behind him.

It was like he had eyes in the back of his head.

And yet…

He was still just a child, and much smaller than me.

After a while I noticed him slowing down, bit by bit.

It was clearly taking more and more of his energy just to stay ahead of me.

Until at last even his unusually heightened abilities failed him.

And I leapt.

Howling with victory, I tackled Andy to the ground, both of us tumbling through mud and crushed ferns and tall grasses.

I pinned him to the ground with my knee on his stomach, knowing by the sound of his gasping and the weak way he tried to pummel me with his fists that there would be no more fighting me.

There would be no more running away from me.

This ended now.

Looking down at him, I grinned.

“You’re going to die here, little pup.”

I watched the terrified realization on his face.

He knew, oh yes.

He knew he was about to die.

“Sabrina, please…”

I shook my head.

“Too late for begging, pup. This is the end.

“You’ll never see your father or your precious mommy ever again.”

I raised the knife high. It caught a sliver of moonlight shining down through the trees, through the rain, and glinted brightly.

“Goodbye, Andy,” I said.

And then I plunged the knife down, cutting through the air, stabbing it into his tiny chest, all the way up to the hilt.

His scream of shock and pain tore through the air, delighting me.

For a moment I knelt there in the mud, watching him struggle for air.

It was a shame, I realized.

I’d wanted to make it last longer.

I had really wanted to take my time with this.

But escaping was what was more important now.

I needed to survive.

At any cost.

Standing up, I brushed some of the clinging grasses away from my arms, noticing the blood on my hands for the first time.

Looking down, I gave myself another moment to enjoy watching the frightened child bleeding to death at my feet, his gasps for air already growing more ragged and rough.

Then I blew him a little kiss, and took off into the night.