Chapter 1 Blood on the Highway

The moment I saw the gun on the dashboard, I knew one of us wasn't leaving that car alive. 

Storm came heavy on the windshield as I pulled the car onto the deserted side of the highway. The clock on the dashboard glowed 11:47 p.m. 

"Charlotte, why the hell did you stop here?" he asked, voice tight, eyes flickering toward the gun resting on the dashboard like he thought I hadn't noticed.

I kept my hands steady on the wheel, heart pounding with a familiar rush of adrenaline and exhaustion. "I should be asking you the same thing. You look like you're about to piss yourself."

He forced a laugh. "It's late and quiet Charlotte. We're in the middle of nowhere. Kinda makes a man nervous when his fiancée pulls over like this."

"I need answers." My voice came out colder than I intended. "And I can't wait until we get home."

The air inside the car thickened. He shifted in his seat, fingers inching closer to the weapon.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, eyes darting away. "We can discuss it on our vacation tomorrow. Just... drive."

"That's assuming I'm still alive tomorrow." I turned to face him fully. "Or did you think I wouldn't find out you paid those two bastards at the party to slit my throat?"

His face drained of color now. For a second, real fear flashed in his eyes accompanied by hatred that made him ugly. 

"You killed them?" he whispered.

"I did." I didn't bother hiding the satisfaction in my tone. "Don't ask how."

He lunged for the gun. But I was faster.

With a flick of my mind, I yanked the weapon into the air using telekinesis. It hovered for a heartbeat before slamming into my palm. I pointed it at his chest.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way," I said quietly. "But thank you. After this, I'll never be stupid enough to trust a man's love again."

"You fucking witch!" he snarled, lunging anyway.

I pulled the trigger.

The shot echoed like thunder in the confined space. His body jerked once, then slumped against the door. Blood bloomed across his shirt, dark and wet under the dashboard lights. 

I stared at him, chest tighting after a tear fell off my left eye. Regret twisted in my gut like a pain difficult to bear. He wasn't the first, but killing him still left a sour taste. I never asked to be this—stolen as a child, molded into a weapon by the coven. I never chose this life. But choice was a luxury I lost the day they took me from my parents.

Now my chance at promotion was ruined. Another six months wasted. Lucy, the coven leader, would not be pleased. 

"I never asked to be a witch," I muttered to the corpse, voice barely above a whisper. "I was taken. Made into this. I can't even go home until the assignment is done. And you... you just cost me everything."

Headlights approached in the distance. Patrol? I didn't wait to find out.

I shoved his body out into the rain, wiped the gun clean, and tossed it after him. Then I slammed the door, killed the interior lights, and peeled back onto the highway with my own lights still off.

The road blurred. I flicked my lights on only when I was sure no one was behind me.

That's when it happened.

A massive shape lunged across the road too fast, I slammed the brakes, but too late. The car jolted violently as I hit it. My head snapped forward against the seatbelt.

My heart hammering, I killed the engine and stumbled out into the pouring rain. The figure lay sprawled and unmoving on the wet road.

Please don't be dead. Please don't be another body I have to hide tonight.

I crouched beside him, rain soaking through my clothes. He was tall, broad shouldered, dressed in dark clothes torn from whatever chase he'd been in. Blood streaked his side. For a split second, I swore I saw fur ripple across his skin before it smoothed back into human flesh.

"I wouldn't touch me if I were you," he growled, voice low and rough with pain. His golden eyes snapped open and locked onto mine.

I froze. Something deep like a thread in my chest pulled me closer, as if warm and insistent upon seeing that gaze and hearing that voice. I shook it off, knowing it was something far more dangerous than hunger and exhaustion. 

"But I have to help," I said, already reaching for him. "You're bleeding badly."

"Save yourself." He groaned as he tried to get up. "I'm being hunted by powerful syndicate. My friends are dead. You'll die too if you stay."

He was right. In the distance, headlights sliced through the rain, I saw multiple vehicles, moving fast, armed shadows slightly visible from here.

"I have nothing left to lose," I muttered, more to myself than him. I hooked his arm over my shoulders. He was heavy, strong muscle, and smelled wild like pine tree that made my magic stir uneasily. "Get in."

He didn't argue. We half-ran, almost stumbled to the car. I got him into the passenger seat just as the convoy behind us started their U-turn, tires screeching.

"What kind of car is this?" he rasped, voice fading as blood loss hit him. "They'll catch us."

"Not if I can help it." I floored the gas, engine roaring. The wing mirror showed them gaining.

I started muttering an old incantation under my breath for misdirection. Thick smoke billowed across the highway behind us, unnatural and choking. I glanced up, tapping into the senses of a hawk circling overhead. The pursuers slowed, confused. 

We lost them. 

I didn't stop driving until we reached the city hospital. The stranger let me help him inside. But the moment the doctors finished patching him up, I felt another witch's presence probing nearby.

I got him out as quickly as I could. 

"Where are you taking me?" he asked from the passenger seat, voice stronger now but lace with suspicion.

"Somewhere safe. By the way... what's your name?"

He studied me for a long moment, as if deciding whether I was worth trusting.

"Arthur," he finally said. "Arthur Everett. And you just saved the Alpha of the New Moon Pack."

The words sent strange shivers through my skin... that same inexplicable pull I sensed when I first saw him. I ignored it.

But as the rain continued to fall and the dark road stretched toward whatever comes next, I couldn't shake the feeling that this man wasn't just another target. 

He might be the one who finally ruined me.