Free Sanctuary (A Hunted Novel Book 1) by Bethany Shaw Page A

bobbed her head up and down once. She trotted to the bag and picked it up with her mouth.
    Glancing around, she dashed down a small hill. Tess took one last glimpse around, ensuring she was truly alone before she envisioned her human form. Her bones snapped and realigned. Once transformed, she quickly dressed, then headed up the hill and rejoined the others.
    Callum had carefully lifted the snake into his arms. Her breath caught as realization struck her. The snake was much too small to be an adult. A child. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
    “Is it, he—she all right?” she whispered. How did you tell what gender a snake was? She’d never come across a snake shifter until she came to Sanctuary.
    “He’s alive. But we need to get him back to Sanctuary. He’s been shot. Poison always effects the young and elderly harder than anyone else,” Callum explained in a hushed voice.
    Crap, it is a child. Apparently there is a way to tell the gender. Interesting. You clearly have some things to learn about other species.
    “Let’s go before our friends catch up to us,” Nate said, motioning everyone on.
    They moved through the woods, doing their best to avoid the dead, dry leaves littering the ground. Trekking undetected through the woods in late fall was a daunting task, one that these shifters were failing miserably at. Thankfully, the small wildlife that called the trees home had started to move about again, giving them some cover.
    As the street came into view, they quickened their pace into a steady jog. All of them clearly eager to reach the safety of the vehicles and make a hasty escape back to Sanctuary.
    But going back to Sanctuary would take her further away from Ohio. She was so close. Too close to turn back now. How could she get away from them?
    “If we leave now, we should be back in Sanctuary within an hour or so,” Jax started. “I’ll call ahead and let them know we have an injured snake.”
    “We’ll follow behind you,” Nate said, unlocking his car.
    Tess crossed her arms over her chest. Time to make a stand. She was going to Ohio one way or another. “What? Why? Ohio’s not that far from here.”
    “To make sure we get home okay. Duh,” Ray snarked.
    Tess scoffed and rolled her eyes. “We’re closer to my pride in Cincinnati than we will be at Sanctuary. I’m going there with or without you,” she insisted. Sure she wanted the child to get help, but whether she was there or not wouldn’t make a difference. Her family was out there, and she was pretty certain that the four other shifters could handle the trip. Her heart squeezed at the idea of walking away from Nate. Maybe she would find him again sometime. No. A clean break would be best. Besides, she wasn’t welcome at Sanctuary. Whatever this weird attraction was, it was dangerous, and the sooner they split up the better for them both.
    Jax took a step forward, his nostrils flaring. “There are six men out there. You said so yourself. You’re going to risk getting caught—putting Sanctuary in danger—“ 
    “We don’t have time for a debate,” Callum interrupted, turning to Nate.
    Tess watched curiously as the others turned their attention to Nate as well. He must be in charge. Why didn’t I pick up on that sooner? Makes sense his parents are council members.
    She cocked her head to the side as her ears twitched. Voices spoke behind them. She whirled around, scanning the trees. She didn’t see anything, but danger was lurking in the woods. They were either being watched from afar, or they hadn’t been discovered quite yet. Hopefully it was the latter. “They’re coming,” she cautioned.
    Nate’s eyes flicked to the trees before he took a step back toward his car. “It’s fine. You three, take the main roads home and watch your speed. You don’t want to get pulled over, but get home as quickly and safely as possible. I’ll go ahead with Tess,” Nate volunteered. “We’ll take the back roads and make some