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To her surprise, it was complete darkness. She must have dozed off after all, without even realizing it. Turning her head, she looked into the shadows for Sam, wondering if he was having a difficult time finding his way back in the dark. It crossed her mind temporarily to remain silent. Let him get lost in the blackened woods. But conscience won out and she opened her mouth to call out to him when she heard something that silenced her swiftly.
An animal snarled, not more than ten yards away. Alarm soared in her brain, sending all kinds of signals throughout her body. Not the least of all, the one heading straight to her stomach. Sucking in a swift gasp, she tried to remain calm, still, but she was to discover a far worse fear. Somewhere to her left, she heard a second snarl.
Wolves.
Oh God, oh God, oh God!
Ivy scrambled backwards in the dark on her behind, trying desperately to put some distance between her and the savage creatures. Fear sealed her throat closed, preventing her from screaming out to Sam. Then a third snarl came from somewhere directly behind her.
This time Ivy did scream. Spinning around, she faced the blackness unable to see her attackers. “Go away!”
“Ivy?” She heard Sam running in the woods toward her, obviously alerted by her scream.
She could have cried. Never had she been so happy to hear Sam’s voice.
“Wolves!”
The moment the word wrenched from her throat, the snarls turned to vicious growls. Then the sound of underbrush being trampled as several animals made their way through it. Toward Sam. Ivy screamed again.
A shot rang out in the night. Then another.
The sound of a wolf’s deep guttural snarl filled the forest. An image of Sam being mauled by the animal filled her mind.
“Sam!”
There was a horrible, deathlike sound of an animal lunging into the night and killing its prey. Tears welled in Ivy’s eyes.
“Sam!” she shouted again. Why wouldn’t he answer?
A third shot lit up the forest and for the briefest moment Ivy saw him. His tall frame silhouetted in the darkness. Huge and powerful.
Scrambling to her feet, she ran in his direction. Crying hard now, she stumbled over uprooted trees and called out his name again.
“Over here.”
Arms reached out and grabbed her just as she would have fallen yet again. With a cry, she collapsed against his chest. “I thought they killed ye.”
There was a moment’s hesitation before his arms came tentatively around her. They felt like bliss. Never before had she ever felt so safe in a man’s arms. It only made the tears fall harder.
“Hey,” he said awkwardly, giving her shoulders a pat. “It’s all right. They’re dead.”
“I thought it was ye.” She pulled herself away from his body, trying unsuccessfully to stop the flow of tears. “If ye hadn’t come—“
”Oh Jeez,” he muttered noticing her tears, then without warning, reached for her and pulled her back into his arms. “Stop crying, Ivy. Please. Just stop crying.”
“I-I’m sorry.” She choked back a sob, fighting to stem the flow. Automatically, she reached up to rub away the tears. In her terror, she had completely forgotten the ropes secured around her upper body. But as her arms came up, she inadvertently pulled on the noose around her neck. The rope fastened around her throat in a matter of seconds. She was stunned at how fast it worked.
The air in her lungs rushed out of her throat, sounding like a low train whistle in the distance, as it passed by her constricted throat. Ivy gasped hard, trying to suck in air. It was useless. Fear soared to life.
With her wrists still bound together, she was unable to reach her throat and loosen the noose. Terrified and gasping for breath, she thrashed violently about trying to free herself. And only resulted in tightening the noose.
“Hold still!” Sam barked as he tried to hold her flailing body.
But Ivy only lurched against him wildly, trying to escape the choking grip on her throat, her breath wheezing sickly past her lips.
“Dammit, hold still!”
The next thing she knew, she was trapped within an iron-like embrace. Something cold and sharp pressed against her throat, then the next moment the noose around her throat was gone. Ivy tried to suck in a huge gulp of air, but her throat still refused to open.
