Ran until her lungs ached, demanding rest so they could drag in mouthfuls of this beautiful, fresh air. Only then did she pause, leaning back against a tree trunk, head tipped back, letting the dappled moonlight wash over her face, while she focused on refilling her lungs so she could run again.
When she was ready, she took off again. From all her walks with Thunder around the grounds, Maya had a vague idea of where she was going. A place in the fence she’d seen suggested she could climb from the trees on this side to the trees on the other side.
After that, she’d just run until she found a road, follow it to a town, and deal with what happened next when she got there.
Her desire to embrace her newfound freedom led to her making a mistake.
She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.
When arms suddenly snapped around her, tackling her to the ground, she was caught completely by surprise.
Chapter
Eleven
March 3rd
2:27 A.M.
“Sorry, babydoll, but I can't let you run away,” Thunder whispered as he tackled Maya to the ground.
Of course, he’d known the second she slipped out of her room that she was planning on making a run for it. Actually, he’d suspected it when he learned she knew that they had her name, and she’d all but locked herself in her room, refusing to come out, even to eat dinner with them.
But still he’d hoped.
Hoped she would change her mind.
Hoped she couldn’t go through with it.
Hoped that the pull he felt toward her was echoed enough in her that she couldn’t leave.
Seemed he’d been wrong. He’d followed her through the house while she had no idea he was there, shadowing her every move. With his enhanced speed, he could have caught her any time before now, but he’d kept hoping that she would stop and turn back, realizing on her own that this was a terrible plan.
So he didn't have to do this.
Didn't have to be the bad guy.
The guy who dragged her back to a house she didn't want to be in. Who locked her in a room and took away her freedom. Who forced her to do things against her will because the alternative was letting her go out into a world that wasn't safe for her and that she didn't have the skills to navigate on her own.
Cushioning her head with his hand, Thunder rolled their bodies slightly so that his took the brunt of the fall. Maya landed on top of him, still secure in the circle of his arms, her small weight reminding him he hadn't lost her yet.
Although this could be the thing that sealed his fate. Now he was nothing more than another person to imprison and hurt her. As much as he hated that, wished it could be different, he’d rather Maya be alive and safe while hating him, than out there somewhere alone and vulnerable.
Of course, she didn't agree with that.
Fear filled the gray eyes that stared down at him, and he could quite clearly see that she hadn't yet registered that it wasn't a threat that had taken her down.
Well, not a real one anyway.
Once the fear cleared from her gaze, and she recognized that it was him, he saw the anger take hold. It blazed like a fire, and while Thunder hated that it was directed at him, he loved that she hadn't lost that ability to know she deserved better.
She might have been cracked and damaged from everything that had been done to her, but she wasn't broken.
Maya was too strong to break.
The very fact that she’d tried to get herself out of a situation she didn't feel was safe for her proved that to him. The fact that she was still standing, going about the normalcies of life, trying to work through her emotions in her art, proved that to him.
“Sorry, babydoll,” he murmured again. The words were meant to convey how much he hated this whole situation, but they seemed to have the opposite effect than he’d hoped for.
