Pride's Run Read Online Free PDF

I’d managed to choke down only moments
ago rises up for a second viewing and leaves a sour taste in my
mouth.
    “Pride?”
    I lift my head at the sound of Mica’s voice.
“Yes?” I ask.
    She looks at me long and hard. I can tell she
wants to say something but when Mario clears his throat, like he’s
giving her some unspoken warning, she seems to change her mind and
asks, “Would you like another slice?”
    I follow her gaze to my palm and spot what
used to be a slice of bread. Now it is nothing more than a ball of
dough. Squished by my own hand.
    I nod, then grab a napkin and fill it with
fruit and bacon. Mica hands me two more slices of bread and as I
add them to the pile I turn to Mario. “I’d like to go to my room
now.”
    “My orders are to take you to Miss Kara.”
    I force a smile and show my compliance by
saying, “I just need a minute to drop off my breakfast so I can eat
it later.” For good measure, I wipe the back of my palm over my
forehead. “I think the heat is messing with my appetite.”
    He hesitates. He knows it’s a lie because I’m always hungry. He also knows what I’m doing and even though
sharing food is against the master’s orders, he gives a curt nod
and leads me downstairs. I’m suddenly grateful that it’s Mario
handling me today and not Lawrence. Lawrence would never have let
me distribute one tiny crumb to my bunkmates.
    Mario waits at the top of the landing and
doesn’t watch. I guess if he doesn’t see what I’m doing he can’t be
held accountable for it. For a brief moment I feel sorry for him.
After all, isn’t he trapped here every bit as much as I am? At
least he doesn’t take pleasure in doling out abuse like Lawrence
and a few of the other handlers do.
    Moving quickly, I rush down the stairs. Both
Jace and Clover rise from their cots when they see me.
    “Pride,” Clover rushes out, her eyes wide
with apprehension. “What happened out there between you and
Stone?”
    I pass the napkin through the cage and as she
gratefully accepts it, I briefly think about Stone’s strange
behavior. I don’t want the elders to worry about me any more than
they already do so I say, “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
    Jace grasps the metal bars and squeezes until
I see bone. Not that it would take much for the whites of his
knuckles to show through his thinning skin, considering how
underfed he is. There is a hitch in his voice when he says, “You
need to stay away from him. He’s up to something.”
    I look at Jace and could sob at the sadness I
see on his face, the utter sense of helplessness in his milky white
eyes when they meet mine.
    A pang of sorrow cuts me deep at how broken
the elders are, how defeated they feel. Unlike the other wolves,
who mainly care about their own survival, Jace and Clover have
shown me both empathy and compassion. I chalk it up to the forty or
so years they’d spent living in the real world before their
capture. My mother told me the two wolves took her under their care
when she was first thrown in with them—perhaps because their own
child had been killed in the crossfire during their capture—and for
that I’ll always be grateful and indebted to them.
    “I don’t like the way he looks at you,
Pride.” The saggy skin under Jace’s jowl tightens as he clenches
down. “And he’s growing strong. Too strong.”
    “I can handle him.”
    “I fear—” Jace begins, then stops
himself.
    “Fear what?”
    “It’s just…” his glance wanders to the empty
cage and he doesn’t need to finish his sentence for me to know what
he’s getting at.
    Apprehension curls through me and my heart
thuds against my chest. “I’ll find a way to get us out of here
before I allow that to happen.”
    Clover gives a worried shake of her head.
“Pride—”
    When Clover’s words fall off, Jace reaches
through the cage and touches her shoulder. He gives a gentle,
reassuring squeeze and the gesture is so warm and loving my throat
tightens.
    I tamp