Jayme POV:
The adrenaline crash left me shaking.
I sat in a taxi, deleting every social media account. Erasing Jayme Barnes.
"Blue Note Jazz Bar," I told the driver.
Neutral ground. Run by humans, frequented by the supernatural underground.
Chloe, a witch posing as a bartender, vaulted over the bar when she saw me.
"Honey," she breathed. "You look like you've been through a war."
"I need to disappear," I said. "He's coming. His wolf... I saw it. He won't let go."
Chloe dragged me to the back. "The bond snapped violently. An Alpha's wolf takes that as a challenge to hunt."
A low growl vibrated through the floorboards.
"He's here," I whispered.
The scent of Hunt —musk and aggression—seeped under the door.
"Go," Chloe pushed me toward the alley. "I'll cloak your scent."
I ran into the rain.
A shadow detached itself from the darkness at the end of the alley.
Autry. Eyes glowing gold, canines extended. Feral.
"Mine," he growled. Not a word, a vibration.
He lunged.
He moved faster than human sight. He was going to drag me back to his den.
I backed against the brick wall. "No!"
As he reached for me, my chest exploded with light. A rejection of his very existence.
BOOM.
A shockwave of pure white energy blasted outward.
Autry was thrown backward like a ragdoll. He slammed into a dumpster, stunned, the gold fading from his eyes.
I stared at my glowing hands.
I didn't wait.
I ran. Chloe's magic must have held, or the blast confused him. I made it to the airport.
One ticket. Marseille.
As the plane lifted off, I looked down at the shrinking city lights.
Jayme Barnes died in that alley.
Whoever landed in France would be someone else.
