Faith by Viola Rivard Read Free Book Online Page A

carrying Taylor spoke first. “What the hell do we do now?”
    Olivia pressed two fingers to her temple. “We have to split up. They won’t be able to track us both, not in the rain.” She nodded at Tulip. “You and Gren take the human. The rest of us will go with Alder’s bastard.”
    Gren apparently didn’t like that idea. “Why the fuck do we have to take her?”
    “Why the fuck to you think?” Olivia asked, getting up in his face. “She’s bleeding all over the place. They’re going to be able to track her no matter what we do.”
    “She’s bleeding because of you,” Tulip pointed out.
    Olivia rounded on her. “I wouldn’t have cut her if I’d known you fucked up. Now go! Take the river. It’s your best chance.”
    Taylor could only watch, helpless as they made off with Snow. Gren and Tulip faltered for a moment, before taking off in another direction.
    Branches whipped and scratched at Taylor’s body as Gren ran through the forest at a breakneck speed. She moaned a few times, but was too weak to put up any real protest. Once, she implored Gren to let her go, but her request went ignored.
    The rain picked up, and before long, they were running amidst a downpour. As they made their way down a muddy hillside, Gren lost his footing but managed to regain it at the last second.
    “Please,” Taylor said. “Let me go and I promise they won’t chase you.”
    Gren’s reply was sharp. “Why don’t you shut your mouth before I fuck up the other side of your face?”
    Taylor winced, both at his tone and at the knowledge that her face was probably as bad as it felt. Would she have a scar? Was she going to be disfigured?
    A familiar shriek from above was music to Taylor’s ears. Even with all of the pain she was in, she managed to feel a moment of pure euphoria as Fenix swooped down from the sky. His powerful talons were embedded in Gren’s face before the werewolf knew what was coming.
    In his panic, Gren flung Taylor from his shoulder. She hit the ground for the second time that day, this time landing on a rotted tree stump. Pain lanced her back as a piece of splintered wood pierced her flesh. She cried out, but could barely hear herself over the sound of raindrops pounding against fallen leaves.
    After a brief spell of confusion, she managed to stand. Gren had shifted to a large, gray wolf, while Fenix had taken his human form. Fenix called out to her, saying something she couldn’t discern, but was soon distracted by Gren, who lunged at him from behind.
    While Taylor looked around for something to aid Fenix with, Tulip arrived at her side. She latched a hand onto Taylor’s arm and began to drag her from the clearing. Taylor tried to resist, but even when not suffering from blood loss and disorientation, she was no match for the shifter’s strength. She tried calling out for Fenix to help her, but when she looked back, she saw that Gren had Fenix pinned beneath him, his huge jaws snapping at the hawk shifter’s neck.
    It was the last Taylor saw of Fenix before she was dragged farther into the forest, at the mercy of Tulip.
    Taylor said nothing as Tulip dragged her down to the river. Instead, she offered no resistance whatsoever, allowing Tulip to become complacent. When they reached the bank of the river, Taylor gave her hand a hard jerk. As she’d predicted, Tulip didn’t react quickly enough.
    Knowing there was no way she could outrun Tulip, Taylor opted to outlast her instead. She dashed to the nearest tree, wrapping her entire body around it as tightly as she could.
    Tulip stormed over to her. She managed to wrench both of Taylor’s hands free, but had no way of holding her hands while also loosening her legs. Growling in frustration, she gave Taylor’s leg a hard kick.
    “Let go!”
    “Screw you,” Taylor shot back. “I’m not going anywhere with you, you bitch.”
    Tulip’s lip curled as she kicked Taylor again. “I’m not going back to Whiteriver empty-handed. They’ll kill