Initiation (Wolf Blood Academy Book 1) by RaShelle Workman (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

lashes, and I let out a harsh breath. “Don’t hurt her,” I whispered. It was hard to speak with his shoulder jabbing into my stomach.

“Don’t give me a reason then,” he grunted.

Quicker than I thought possible, we reached the end of my cul-de-sac. He crossed onto my neighbor’s lawn, went into their back yard, and then leaped the fence like it was a foot tall instead of six.

We were in the Shade Rasa.

From a young age, the forest had scared me. Probably because my mom was always telling me to stay out of it. Enchanting trees with oddly colored leaves of various shades of fuchsia and lavender grew everywhere. Tonight, all I could see were the gloomy and sharp bushes reaching out to rip at my skin.

The forest was something of an oddity. Around the world, on every continent, a forest exactly like ours flourished. There was no scientifically explainable reason for it. Once in a while, the news did a segment reminding the world the woods were shrouded in mystery, but nothing beyond that. On every continent, each forest was called the same thing too: Shade Rasa. The name was as universal as the shape, size, and scope of the woods, almost as if they were connected somehow.

More wolves howled in the distance, sending my rapidly beating heart into overdrive. I thought the sound might slow down my captor, but he continued running deeper, passing massive trees, their needles giving off an unusually sweet scent. Even though it was dark, I knew the leaves were changing from lavender to purple and rosy to rust red, though they hadn’t fallen yet.

A cobweb brushed against my face, and I swatted at it, letting out a squeal.

My captor grumbled, readjusting me on his shoulder. “Hold still,” he seethed.

He walked for what felt like hours, but it could’ve just been minutes. The monotony gave me time to consider what my kidnappers said. Something about me being a legacy. I didn’t know what a legacy was, and I didn’t really care. I had to come up with an escape plan, but panic kept causing my brain to misfire. At some point, I think I passed out. Hanging as I was, like a ragdoll, there was nothing to see anyway. It wasn’t until he dropped me that I woke, letting out a sharp breath at the pain radiating through my tailbone. To my right raged a wide river, the noise drowning out anything else. I looked up, hoping to catch a look at my kidnapper. From the thrillers I read, I knew the murderer always revealed his face before doing the deed. And there was no doubt I was about to die. It was too dark to see much. As I squinted, I could tell the male still wore a mask as did the others.

I kept searching for an escape, but the other four men stood around me, and the river blocked my path as well. I debated running into the water and hoping to get away, but I wasn’t a great swimmer.

“What are you waiting for?” one of them asked.

“Let’s get this over with.”

“Seems kind of vicious to kill her. I wonder why the Keepers want her dead,” another said, chuckling darkly. “Not that I care. If we can’t do her, then hurry up and drown her. I want a quadruple cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake.”

Fear had held me silent this long, but no more. I wouldn’t die without doing all I could to escape. Rolling onto my knees, I tried to stand. My legs were asleep. Pins and needles shot up and down my legs, making it hard to move.

One of the men pushed me over, sending me to my butt again. Frustrated tears filled my eyes, and I dug my hands into the dirt. “Leave me alone,” I spat, throwing what I held in my hands at him.

The dirt pelted him but didn’t do any damage. “She’s feisty,” the guy said without moving.

My legs finally woke up, and I flipped onto my feet, crouching down like a cornered animal. “Don’t touch me.”

A low rumble came from the one who had been carrying me. At his growl, the others stepped back. As one, their heads bowed in submission.

“Who’s the leader of this pack? Last I checked, it wasn’t any of you,” he snapped.

I tried to run around him, but he caught me. “You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart.” He held me in place with one arm. It was like running into a brick wall.

His voice. It did sound familiar. “You don’t have to do this,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek as I pushed against him with all my might.

“Actually, I do.” Without effort, he grabbed hold of my pants at the waist and dragged me toward the river.

“Let me go, damn you!” I wanted to be confident and do something to prove I was a fighter and that I wasn’t going to take this crap. That my black belt in karate meant something, but he was so strong, and while I was trained, it had always been in a safe setting where my life wasn’t in mortal danger.

The man didn’t respond.

I tried to reach back and grab his hand. I scratched him with my nails, but nothing deterred him. “Let go of me! Why are you doing this?” I was screaming incoherently. Things that didn’t make sense.

“Stop fighting. It’ll be easier if you don’t struggle,” he said, his voice defeated.

“Screw you!” I dug in my heels as he dragged me, fighting with all my might. It didn’t seem to slow him down. My shoes came off along the way, followed by my socks, and when my feet hit the icy water, my breath caught in my throat. “Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t have a choice.” He stopped in the middle of the river and set me on my feet, his eyes boring into mine. Still, I couldn’t see the color, only the intensity. “Know this gives me no pleasure,” he