Boyd stuffed his clothes into his backpack. For once, he wasn’t sorry that he owned so little. It came in handy now that he was running—now that Clay and Rowan had offered a way out.

“We’re really doing this?” Kendrick asked from behind him.

Boyd turned toward him and gestured at him to pack faster. “We are, and if you don’t want us to leave you behind, you’re going to have to move.”

“Being a hunter is all I know.”

Boyd sighed. He doubted Clay would leave without them, but he wasn’t sure about Clay’s mate, Rowan. The two of them had come back after Rowan had kicked Cornelius’s ass yesterday, just like they’d said. They’d offered to take the people who disliked how Cornelius did things with them. Boyd was one of those people, as were Kendrick and a few others.

Boyd had no idea what would come next for them, but he knew he couldn’t stay one second longer. He’d hated following Cornelius’s orders for a while, especially since Cornelius had become more bloodthirsty, and he finally had a way out. He wasn’t going to give it up or mess things up.

Not too much, anyway. He had a knack for messing things up, though, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Clay and his mate ended up giving him the boot.

He turned to look at Kendrick. “Don’t you think it’s the same for me? I’ve been a hunter for so long that I doubt I’d be able to do anything else. I don’t want to continue following Cornelius’s orders, though. What he’s been doing isn’t right, and I refuse to go along with it. If that means I can’t be a hunter anymore, then so be it. I won’t hurt innocent people just because of what they are, especially children.”

Kendrick still looked a little lost. Boyd wasn’t sure what to say to make him see that this didn’t have to be a bad thing. He hadn’t spent a lot of time with Rowan, but he knew Clay fairly well, and Clay was a hunter through and through. He was a good hunter, too. He wouldn’t give up the hunt just because he was leaving Cornelius and his group of hunters. Clay had never been part of their hunter family, but he’d shown everyone that it was possible to do this on his own.

Besides, Boyd wouldn’t be on his own.

Boyd strode toward his friend and grabbed his shoulders. He gave Kendrick a little shake, and that seemed to do the trick.

“You don’t have to stop being a hunter,” Boyd said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but Clay and Rowan asked anyone who wanted to go with them to do so. That sounds like they’re planning to create their own hunter group. That means you’ll still be a hunter.”

And so would Boyd. He wished he could be at least a little happy about that.

Kendrick finally nodded. “You’re right. Besides, if I don’t like the way they do things, I can still leave, right?”

“Yeah. Just like we’re leaving now.”

Boyd wanted to go as quickly as possible, but he couldn’t deny that he was a bit anxious. Just like Kendrick, being a hunter was all Boyd knew. The life he had before was like a distant memory or maybe a dream. He remembered the reason he’d become a hunter, but even that felt distant. It was almost as if his sister had never existed, and he shook his head as he turned back to his packing.

His sister had existed, and she’d died. She was why he’d become a hunter, and he told himself that leaving Cornelius didn’t mean he had to stop his mission to get revenge for her.

Even though she wouldn’t want him to do this. Even though she wouldn’t like it.

Even though she would want him to be happy.

He finished stuffing his last t-shirt into his backpack and closed it. Thankfully, Kendrick had finally started packing, and he was almost ready. It only took him a few more seconds, and then he followed Boyd out the door.

Boyd would be glad to see the back of the warehouse. He had no idea where he and the others would end up, but it couldn’t be worse in this place. Rowan and Clay had mentioned Whitedell yesterday, but everything was still up in the air.

The warehouse was dark, massive, and damp. It was filled with the hunters who followed Cornelius, and while there weren’t that many of them, living with them made the place feel crowded.

There were no traces of Cornelius, but Clay and Rowan were waiting in the middle of the main room where Rowan had kicked Cornelius’s ass yesterday. Some of the hunters had gathered on the other side of the room and were keeping an eye on them, as if they expected them to go nuts and start killing people. It was stupid. Boyd had managed not to kill any of those assholes the entire time he’d been here. Why would he start now that he finally had a way out?

Boyd kept an eye on the hunters who were staying with Cornelius as he moved closer to Clay and Rowan. Rachel was already there, her backpack hanging from her shoulder. Her expression was grim, but she nodded at Boyd when he reached the group. Kendrick was behind him, and he looked around.

Boyd didn’t have to ask to know who he was looking for.

“He’ll be right here,” he tried to reassure Kendrick, patting his shoulder.

“Maybe one of us should have gone with him.”

“He’s packing. He’s not going to stay behind, especially if we’re not.”

“I take it we’re expecting at least one more person to join us?” Rowan asked.