Nocturnal by Jami Lynn Saunders Read Free Book Online Page A

wiping out any ferals they encountered. Rathbone caught sight of Salvatore only once. He was worried about the boy, afraid he’d be drawn back into his pack. He turned to Rebecka, who was sitting beside him.
    â€œWe can’t let the hyenas into the mountains,” he said.
    â€œI know,” she replied. “We’re going to have to shake them.”
    Rathbone sighed. “I think we might have to kill them.”
    Piper rode in silence, holding Pippa’s hand. She had finally come around, slipping in and out of consciousness, but when she was awake, she smiled at Piper. Abby had made no improvement, and her rabid side was still dominant. She screamed and swore, and her wrists and ankles bled from constantly rubbing against her restraints.
    Abby had begun screaming again, unnerving everyone. Jack stared at her and slowly stood up. He morphed, and his skin faded to a deathly pale. Wings grew from his body and his teeth grew, and his eyes went to perfect black.
    The doctor walked toward Abby, who hissed at his approach. He reached down and grabbed her throat. Instantly, Piper and Aiden were on him, but Jack flung them to the back of the truck with a slap of his wings.
    â€œYou’re killing her!” Piper screamed, and she began to morph.
    Aiden felt a mental connection with Jack and grabbed Piper before she could pounce. “No, he’s helping her,” he said.
    Jack gazed into Abby’s eyes and probed her mind. He told her how much they loved her and missed her, begged her to find her way back to them. He told her that Piper was really her mother, that it wasn’t a lie. Her eyes fluttered as she hovered between sanity and insanity, trying to tell truths from lies. The pressure of Jack’s mind upon her was almost too much to bear.
    She cried out, and her mouth began to foam. She dropped to her knees and screamed Pippa’s name. Her screams turned to sobs, until the monster that bound her in its grip finally let go.
    â€œPippa,” she cried, tears streaming down her face. A petite hand reached out to wipe them away.
    â€œI’m here,” Pippa whispered as she crawled to her sister. The two girls embraced. A moment later Piper was there, an arm around each of her daughters.
    Salvatore sensed Abby’s return to sanity. Her spirit beckoned to him, and the call was intoxicating. He broke from the pack and worked inland from the woods, racing for the flatbed. He felt a hand on his wrist. It was the alpha leader, matching him stride for stride.
    â€œYou’re back with us now,” the leader shouted. “Stay away from our prey until tonight!”
    Salvatore ignored him, but the leader sank his claws into Salvatore’s wrists. Salvatore cried out in pain and twisted away.
    â€œFool,” the alpha leader shouted as the younger hyena picked up speed. “Love doesn’t exist for you. Not with that hybrid.”
    Salvatore sprinted away from the alpha leader. The old hyena gave up the chase and waited for his pack to come to him. He watched Salvatore disappear through the woods and resolved to kill him. He cackled into the afternoon wind, and his pack joined him. Then they returned to the run.
    Even with the convoy traveling at full speed, Salvatore easily reached it. He found the flatbed transporting Abby and dived into the back. The three guards brought their guns to bear but Jack and Aiden told them to stand down.
    Salvatore looked at Abby, who was clinging to her sister and mother. He went to her, and they embraced. “I love you, Abby.”
    â€œI love you, too,” Abby said.
    Rebecka saw Salvatore leap onto the flatbed. She yelled to Rathbone, who had been deep in thought, and he dropped back and fell in line just behind the truck. Rathbone held the Jeep steady, and Rebecka leapt from it onto the back of the flatbed. She made a quick assessment and saw that Pippa and Abby were unharmed. They were engaged in conversation with their mother.