“Penny!” Brax and I yell in unison, as we run past the men towards her voice.
I can hear the other men, close on our heels, and feel thankful to have them as back up. We have no idea what we’re running into.
We don’t hear her scream again, and I worry we’re not going in the right direction. That is until I hear her voice screech out, “What the freak is that?! Get it away from me!” Hopefully, the yelling meant she wasn’t seriously injured, yet.
We slightly alter our direction towards her voice and within moments, we break into a small clearing. The site has my eyebrows shooting up to my hairline as we all freeze in our tracks, not quite sure what to do with the situation in front of us.
Penny looks absolutely terrified, from where she’s cowering behind a tall man I don’t recognize. She clutches onto his shirt as she peeks around him to look at the creature in front of them. I’m not sure why she looks so scared though, an octnid never attacks humans. Sure, it was on the bigger side, but it would never harm someone.
“Sugar, it’s not going to hurt you, octnid’s are harmless.”Sugar?Does Penny know this man? She’s using him as a shield,so it doesn’t look like she’s afraid of him.
“Harmless?!” she squeals. The octnid takes a step towards her and she screams, turning to run in the opposite direction from everyone.
“Penny!” Brax and I shout as we take off after her. I see the new guy glance in our direction in surprise.
We tear through the trees, she’s a little faster than I expected, but luckily she skids to halt as I slow down behind her. She steps backwards quickly, and I see another octnid in front of her.
“No, no, no!” she says, taking another step back.
I place my hands on her shoulders and spin her towards me. “Penny!”
“Ryker!” Her eyes go impossibly wide before I see relief fill her face. “Please, get me out of here!” she sobs out as she jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist.
I immediately pull her into my arms, stroking the back of her head, as she cries into my neck. “Shh, shh, shh, it’s okay, Pen. We’re here now.”
“Baby,” Brax whispers, as he strokes her head. “Please don’t cry, what’s wrong? How can I fix it?”
She lifts her head to make eye contact with him. “Brax, g-get me out of here. I-I’m afraid of spiders.”
He uses his thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks as he asks, “What’s a spider?”
“T-that thing, that beast behind me. Please, you don’t understand, I’m terrified of them, and I’ve never seen one bigger than a couple inches before. These are the size of a goat! I c-can’t be here, please!” With everything she’s been through, I’ve never seen her as scared as she is right now. She’s faced heights, an avalanche, being buried alive and falling down a mountain without barely batting an eyelash, but something about these harmless octnids has her terrified.
Before I can make a move,Brax takes her from me and starts jogging back to the village with her clinging to his chest as she buries her face in his neck.
I notice then that we aren’t alone. The new guy, Silver, and a handful of his men were standing by watching with wide eyes as Brax turns into a giant teddy bear, carrying his mate away from what scared her. I can’t stop the small smile that plays on my lips. I was glad to have him with me in Penny’s life.
“Is she okay?” Silver asks, looking concerned as his eyes stare where Brax disappeared between the trees.
“Yeah, I think she’s just scared. Once we get her away from the forest, I think she’ll calm down.”
“Bring her back to the tavern, I have a room above it you can use.”
“Really?” I was surprised he’d give up his room for us.
“Yeah, I think she might feel safer somewhere alone with you for a while, you know, behind a closed door?” he tells us as we all start walking back to the village.
“Thanks, I really appreciate it. And thanks to you and your friends for helping us find her.”
“No problem. If she was my mate, I’d want her to feel as safe and comfortable as possible.” I glance at his face and see a look of longing there. Was it because he yearned for a mate or because the small glimpse he’d had of Penny made him wanther?
“You must be Ryker?” The unfamiliar voice has me turning my head. The man that we found Penny with is walking beside me as he leads his horse and keeps in step with me.
“Sorry, what?” I ask.
“You’re her mate, Ryker, right?”She told him about me?My chest warms to know she’s told this man about us.
“Yeah, and you are?”
