Page 35 of Born Savage

Wrath lifted his head, studying me for a few seconds before standing. “What do you mean? Why is it so late?”

I moved toward the soldiers required to maintain watch. They were crumpled on the ground as if inflicted with an injury. I kicked one in the leg, the other in the gut.

Soon, the others were rising, all appearing dazed. I spun in a circle, trying to see if I could figure out which direction she’d gone.

The woman was clever, more so than I’d given her credit for.

“I found this,” Vicious said as he walked closer. A spray bottle.

I untwisted the cap, taking a deep whiff, the toxic stench hitting my nostrils.

While both unflattering and dangerous, I couldn’t hold back my level of frustration, throwing my head back and allowing a brief but deep and angry roar.

And even as I exposed my anger and my vulnerability for trusting her, one thing became very clear and based on a dream I shouldn’t have been able to endure.

The young girl I’d saved had turned into a beautiful woman.

No matter what it took or what dangers we would face, the need to find her had escalated exponentially.

For if the prophet was right, she held the keys to the future and to humanity itself.

CHAPTER 7

Star

Don’t venture out alone at night.

I should have listened to my mother’s first rule. My father had corrected her to tell me I should never be outside at night under any circumstances.

They’d both been right.

If I hadn’t insisted on going alone, even slipping out without anyone else’s knowledge, I wouldn’t have met someone who I couldn’t erase from my mind.

His breath lingered on my skin, thousands of prickling tingles sweeping in waves.

His voice whispered in my ear, sinful promises made in the cold, dead night.

His touch engaged the darkest part of me, playful yet demanding at a time when I needed restraint.

Rage.

A perfect name for a cold-hearted Savage.

As soon as the chamber door was opened, I took a deep breath and shoved aside all thoughts and powerful images of the night before. What had occurred would remain my secret, brought out only at nights on my own.

“You’re safe. Star is safe!” Trina pulled me into her arms, holding me briefly before noticing I hadn’t arrived alone.

“I’m fine,” I told her, bristling in seeing so many of the villagers crowding around. Yes, they’d been worried about me, but their eager faces were a telling statement of how exhausted everyone had become from the recent move. “It just took a little longer than expected.”

As a group, we’d traveled a couple hundred miles, barely surviving on hope and meager supplies to try to secure a safer location. While the bunker existed where the map had shown it, a portion had been picked clean.

Still, we’d found food rations hidden, other creature comforts that had allowed us to build a new village. With the help of two of our members discovering a protected underground bunker, one meant for those allowed to survive the initial blast. We’d been very lucky to find it because a harsh winter had settled in.

I gripped Wren’s shoulders, one tiny hand clinging to my cargo pants, the other remaining on Jake’s head. I’d been so surprised he never left her side, including when we’d heard animals following us.

“Who is the child?” Thomas asked, his approach too aggressive. Enough so Wren gasped and hid behind my legs. He was a true soldier, a man who’d rallied the troops while training those who would never have thought about serving in any security position before the war.

“Her name is Wren.”