44. Cal

One blast of shotgun and my world went black. I didn’t need to be conscious to know that every second after leaving Hope in my room had seen my situation swing from bad to worse.

I knew Ervin was on the precipice. That conversation through the racking, maybe I pushed him into this whole thing. Made him think he had to prove his rebel qualities.

Clearing the corridor, it was hard to work out what the hell was happening. The shouts and cries over the wailing siren left my wolf on edge. I slinked carefully around the walls. Hope had laughed, repeatedly, at the whole Alpha ego thing, but it turns out, if I'm worrying about Hope, I become a bit of a scaredy-cat.

Mainly because I knew she'd open the door eventually. She can only listen to someone else’s instructions for so long. Hope only sits still when she’s drawing.

That's why when I heard a growl and gunfire, I knew I had to act. Because if someone had turned savage down here, then they could harm her.

Now, in my excellently crafted