“I’m not leaving you!” I grabbed his arm and looked up at him. He wanted to protect me above all else, but we had already been ambushed. “They want me anyway!”

“No, they don’t want you!” Jack shook his head. “They want Peter! You’re just the thing that’s most important to him! They’re trying to flush him out.”

“How astute.” The voice on the phone interrupted us, standing in front of us.

Shirtless, his upper body was pure muscle. His dark hair was pushed back from his face, revealing brown eyes, but they were so cold and empty, like an evil doll. Just by looking at him, I knew he was Gunnar, the leader of the lycan.

He took a step towards us, his bare feet crunching in the grass, and Jack moved in front of me. Milo tried to step up next to him, but Jack held up his arm in front of him, blocking him. Gunnar laughed at his feeble attempts to protect us. He was alone, so his comrades must be hidden amongst the trees around us.

“Where’s Jane?” I asked, barely keeping my voice even.

“Around here somewhere.” Gunnar glanced darkly around us, smirking. “It’s so easy to misplace things in the city. That’s why I’ve always preferred the intimacy of the country.”

“We don’t know where Peter’s at,” Jack told him. “He doesn’t know we’re here.”

“I’m aware. I know he would never let a pathetic attempt like you out to greet us.” His expression changed, growing dark and angry, and rather terrifying. “There’s no sport in going after you, and Peter would never bore his guests.”

“Don’t go after us, then,” I said. “Just give us Jane, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“You know what I think would be fun?” The devilish grin returned to his face. “Is if we made you find her, and bring her to us.”

“Don’t you already have her?” I asked, growing confused.

“Yes, I do, because I know that a good guest always brings something to share with his host,” Gunnar said, his dark eyes sparkled. My stomach twisted, knowing that whatever made him happy would horrify me. “You’re looking quite famished, Alice, and I know that your friend is a very tasty treat.”

Dodge came out from behind a pine tree a few feet from us. His blond hair was messy, and he looked much less amused than when I met him in the woods. He had Jane in his arms, and he held his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

Her heart pounded franticly, and I would’ve noticed it sooner if I hadn’t been so distracted by Gunnar. Her eyes were wild, and she fought at Dodge as hard as she could, but it didn’t do anything. He restrained her with ease.

“I’m not going after her!” I glared at Gunnar. “You can’t make me!”

“That is true, but I can make it more tempting.” Gunnar nodded at Dodge, who responded by dropping Jane to the ground.

“Alice, I’m so sorry!” Jane cried. She was barefoot in that short green dress she’d stolen from my closet and fell onto the frozen grass. “I didn’t want to call you, but they made me!”

Her clothes were torn and her knees and cheeks were scraped and dirty. She kneeled on the ground with her hands pressed down in the icy slush. As cold as it that must’ve been for her, she was too weak and too afraid to get up.

“Its okay, Jane. Don’t worry about it,” I tried to reassure her. I wanted to go over to her, but I knew Gunnar wouldn’t allow it. Jack and Milo didn’t know what to do anymore than I did, so we all just stood there, waiting until Gunnar told us what he wanted.

“Dodge, make the food more appetizing,” Gunnar commanded. Dodge reached into his pocket, and before I knew what was going on, he’d bent over and sliced open her arm from elbow to wrist.

- 33-

“Jane!” I started to run towards her to save her, but Jack wrapped his arm around me and stopped me.

“Alice, no,” Jack hissed in my ear when I fought him. His grip was like an iron bar, and I was disappointed with how little I could do against it. I was even weaker than I thought.

I would’ve kept fighting against him anyway, but I smelled her blood. She held her arm up, trying to stop it, but it was flowing hot and sweet. My hunger intensified, a painful burning that shot through me.

I closed my eyes and swallowed it back. I did not want to bite her, and I wouldn’t. Within a few seconds, I calmed down enough where Jack could let go of me, but he didn’t.

“Put pressure on the wound,” I said to Jane, and it surprised me how calm I sounded. “Tear your dress and put a tourniquet about the elbow, or you’re gonna bleed out.”

Jane did as she was told, her hands trembling and tears streaming down her cheeks. She struggled tying it around her arm, and Dodge moved to stop her.

“No, let her do it,” Gunnar said, and Dodge straightened back up. He stood right over, watching as Jane sobbed and almost fell over onto the grass. “It’s not fun if she bleeds to death first.”

“I’m not going to bite her,” I said, looking back at him. “None of us are.”

“I feel a challenge growing,” Gunnar grinned at me, showing his teeth.

I heard footsteps approaching, and I turned towards the trail. None of the lycan would be dumb enough to make a sound walking. This was a human, taking a stroll through the park at midnight. Admittedly, it was a stupid human, but he was definitely innocent of any involvement in this. Just a chubby guy in his twenties with dark glasses.