Maybe I’ve got a guardian angel on my side.
The idea makes me chuckle under my breath. Surely, if I had someone watching over me, none of this shit would have happened at all.
I finally make it to the top of the hill, and there is nothing but a sea of thick, dark forest around me, broken by jagged, rocky outcrops. I’ve blundered into some extremely challenging terrain, and I’m not the sort of girl who finds extreme hiking a thrill.
After months of moving through dodgy towns and gross hotels, the wilderness might be a slight step up, though.
Sighing, I turn around slowly, trying to decide which way to go. Behind me is Caliente, the main roads, and civilization. Even though I think it’s going to be easier to hide from Paul amongst humans, I know he’s tracking me, and I can’t go back that way without being caught.
I haven’t got a hope of hiding from him out here. What the fuck am I going to do?
Directly to the south, I can see far-off lights, but they are distant, and separated from me by rugged terrain I know I can’t cover. The East is nothing but desert plains. North, I can see the twinkling lights of little towns.
Pretty sure these aren’t on the map. I wonder who lives there?
Suddenly, my skin runs with tingling, hot waves of needles. Sweat breaks out on my brow, and my guts twist into knots.
Someone’s coming!
My instincts have never failed me, and over the past month, I have relied on them more than ever. I don’t know how I know—but someone is coming, and I don’t have long before they catch up to me.
It’s Paul—it has to be!
Panic tightens my chest as I turn to jog down the slope as fast as I can. I’m not good at this at all, and if I fall and break my leg, it’s all over. My skin floods with chills as I imagine what he’d do to me if I were utterly helpless and at his mercy.
Please, God, no. Anything but that!
Before I run into the lower part of the forest, I pause to listen, and can’t hear any sign of anyone behind me. I know that doesn’t mean much, because a wolf could be tailing me in complete silence, and I’d never know it until he was on top of me.
Still, that strange sense of instinct seems to be shrouding me, wrapped around me like a thick, invisible cloak. I feel like it has something to do with how I’ve kept away from Paul for so long, so I don’t question it.
Mind over matter. If I believe I can get away from him, I will!
Despite everything, a soft chuckle echoes in my throat as I turn into the trees and keep running. I’ve never believed in any of that stuff, and I’m not about to start now.
The ground flattens out a bit, but I’m still dodging bushes, trees, and rocks that slow me down. I start to get that sense of danger again, as if someone is close by, and I just can’t see them. The feeling gives me a fresh burst of energy, and I pick up my pace, not even knowing where I’m going.
Suddenly, I hear a light scrabble of claws behind me, and it’s way too close. I don’t even have time to realize how fucked I am when something hits me between the shoulder blades, and I tumble forward, rolling over and landing on my ass.
I look up, seeing a massive wolf in my path. I’m so terrified that at first the details don’t register. I’m just sure that Paul has found me.
But he doesn’t spring towards me. The wolf slowly comes out of his crouch, lips lowering over his fangs as the snarl dies in his throat. I scramble back a bit, grazing my hands on the hard, bare earth and small, sharp rocks. I mutter something—a hopeless plea I know he won’t heed.
The wolf takes a step forward out of the shadows, and the pale starlight falls across his face. Electric blue eyes fix on me, as intense as lasers, and all the air is slowly squeezed out of my lungs.
It can’t be!
He takes another step forward, his ears pricked up and bushy tail practically pointed at the sky. I don’t recognize anything except those incredibly bright eyes, but it’s enough.
Only one creature on this earth has eyes like that!
“Brad,” the whisper rises in my throat, caressing my lips but barely making a sound.
Still, I know he heard it with his wolf hearing. In a flow of shadow and color, he shifts, and suddenly, the man himself is standing before me.
I jolt a little, as if I’ve had an electric shock. Part of me wants to hurl myself into his arms, wrap myself around him, and feel the warm, comforting press of his body against mine.
I never felt as safe as I did in his arms.
