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“What have we got here?! Man, I think we just found ourselves a party!” Tripp claps his hands together in delight just as the raven-haired woman steps into his face, pointing at the jeep and demanding he moves it.
“I think it might be best if you left, Mr. Walker. Quickly. Before you’re forced to stay.” Holding out a set of keys I recognise, Blake doesn’t look in my direction as he drops them into my palm. Wrapping my fist around them, I’m so relieved to have my old truck back in my possession.
“What is a mating frenzy?” I ask when he turns to walk away.
With a chuckle, he looks over his shoulder and fixes me with an amused grin.
“You’re about to find out.” He reaches out a hand and I shake it. “She needs you. Hurry.”
CHAPTER 33
NATALIE
An hour ago, Mum contacted me to say that Maude would be waiting at the ice cream shop.
After texting Chase to tell him I had to go out of town for an emergency, and ignoring all the other messages from both him and Leah, I buried my phone at a rest stop and hit the road again. I kind of regret it now, nervous I’m driving in circles.
Perspiration beads on my forehead as I stop at a crossroads, my overwhelmed brain trying to recall some small detail that will tell me where to go. In the distance, I see a dive bar, set back from the road with a row of dusty but well-cared for motorbikes parked outside.
Hell, no. It looks just like my father’s bar and the last place any woman in need should go looking for help.
Closing my eyes, I tune into my bear, who, while unhappy I’m leading her away from the man she wants to satisfy our needs, definitely doesn’t want to be caught out here. Her finely tuned sense of smell picks up something through the open window that tells her to turn right. Neither of us understand it but, without anything else to go on, and with these roads all looking the same in the pitch dark, I follow her direction.
Driving slower, I know I’m not too far away. But as the ache low in my belly and the wetness between my legs intensifies, so does my need to get to safety, and I’m beginning to panic. Rounding the next bend, I see a faded-blue shiplap building with a sign indicating that Chilly’s is closed for the off-season. This is the place.
Pulling into the small lot, I look up and down the road, relieved not to see other traffic as I steer my car behind the building to wait. Ahead of me, thick, dense forest gives way to thinner trees, and I see glimpses of the sparkling grey water beyond. I could almost cry with relief.
My joy is short-lived, though, when I spy a rickety old dock, one I vaguely remember from my last time here. I stare in horror at the empty shore on either side. There’s nothing here. Not even an old row boat I can steal.
A rap on the passenger window has me leaping out of my seat. Clicking open the locks, I stay silent, twisting my fingers together and then pulling at my uncomfortable clothing as Maude quickly climbs in beside me. There are no cars, no bikes, and no houses in sight. How did she get here?
“I’ve got a boat at my house. You’ll have to borrow that instead.”
Nodding, I put the car in drive and pull out onto the road once more, following Maude’s directions to a big, old lake house, weather-beaten but with the most incredible view. She doesn’t even bother inviting me inside for tea, just ushers me down the path to the rear of the house where a kayak sits ready to go, the paddle lying in the grass beside it. Wrapping her up in a big hug, I squeeze her hard.
“It’s all I could manage at short notice.” Her voice is strangled from my tight grip, and she gently extricates herself from my hold and steps back, handing me some keys.
“I’m just happy to get out. I’ll travel any way I can.” Turning away from her, I stare out across the vast span of open water stretching between the dock and the safe haven I need.
“Where is your mate? What you really need is him, not a boat. Your mum didn’t seem to think he’s a bad guy.” Grey haired now and not as straight-backed as she once was, Maude’s tougher than she looks. She’s supported my mother through all sorts of drama and has kept this enterprise secret for decades. There’s no way she could do that if she was a push over.
“It’s just not the right time.”
She watches me carefully and nods. One of the key tenets of the island is not to question why someone needs it. If they want to tell you, great, but everyone’s reasons are their own.
“It could only happen to me, Maude.” Laughing in a slightly deranged way, I shake my head and spill the beans. Maude is a vault. She’s not going to tell anyone. “He doesn’t know he’s a shifter. I’ll tell him before the next time, somehow, but this is too much for him all in one go. I couldn’t stay in Grey Ridge, obviously.”
Maude tips her chin toward the island. “You need to get going. The longer you’re out here, the stronger your scent will be in the air.”
That’s the last thing either of us needs. I step out of my shoes and wade ankle deep in the icy water to lay my pack on the front of the boat and tether it down. Lifting my gaze to the island in the distance, which looks barely more than a hill swamped in trees and scrub from this distance, I groan in frustration.
So close, and, yet, so far.
My muscles ache and I’m sweating, the heat making every movement harder and slower.
The outline of a few wooden buildings can be seen from here, their roofs peeking through the branches, but they look like they’re barely standing. The ones on this side are in bad condition, left that way in case anyone comes for a closer look. But not all of them.
From here, it looks exactly the kind of place a group of women on an outdoor camping adventure might pitch up in a city slicker attempt to ‘rough it’ in the wilderness - and pay a small fortune for the pleasure. If we had one of these in Grey Ridge, Rex would one-hundred-percent be making our guests do a sleepover. Maude lets on that she's parting fools from their money when anyone asks who’s exploring her island, right before she tells them to mind their own business.
