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But why? All he did was confuse her even more. She was a turtle, content in its shell—and he was the eagle, trying to peck her out of it, all the while claiming that she really wasn’t what she’d spent her whole life believing she was.
Regardless of her unease, her body continued toward him—but when he reached for her arm, something inside Loren snapped.
No!She lunged, taking off in the opposite direction, and his grasping hand caught only air. Any triumph she felt didn’t last long. She could sense him on her heels, but he wasn’t clumsy like the men from the clearing.
Her entire being shuddered with his presence. His scent cloyed in her throat, and she knew that, no matter how fast she ran, she’d never be able to escape him. Though, there was a tiny piece of her that really didn’twantto…
Panting, she made it to the west field and took off randomly for the trees.A little more,she urged as her limbs started to burn.Just a little more.
She didn’t even see him coming.
Wham!
She went down sprawling, trapped beneath a heavy force that pinned her to the ground.
No, she thought, fighting back the dark memory that threatened to overwhelm her—darkness, groping hands, harsh pants. She would never get away!
“No, no, no, no—”
“You’re alive!”
The chirpy tone threw her off so badly that she blinked, forgetting all about the icy fear that crept up to swallow her whole. Instead, she twisted over the wet earth,coming face to face with two piercing eyes.
Instead of gray…
They were green.
26
“You’re alive!” The figure lunged, throwing their arms around her as if they were long-lost friends and not virtual strangers. Still, a name came to mind.
“M-Micha?”
He didn’t seem to hear her. “You’re alive. I thought… Thank God you’re okay!”
When he finally withdrew, Loren noticed that—besides his lack of a shirt—a nasty bruise snaked along his jaw. His clothes, what little he wore anyway, were ripped and stained with mud. She wouldn’t have been shocked if he claimed to have run the whole way here.
“No one would tell me what happened,” he rambled. “Kyle’s M.I.A. All they kept saying was ‘an attack, an attack,’and I thought—”
He broke off mid-sentence as a shadow fell from above. He didn’t even have the time to cry out before he was thrown backward.
Crunch!Loren winced in sympathy as Micha landed hard on the ground, a good ten feet away.
The next second, Officer McGoven stood over her, yanking her to her feet. “Are you okay?”
Without waiting for a reply, he was across the field, standing toe to toe with Micha. The moment the boy found his balance, McGoven shoved him to his knees. “You’re one of Lukka’s,” he growled amid an audible sniff. “You were with Kyle—”
“Wait!” Breathless, Loren stumbled forward. Her ankle throbbed like hell, but it held up as she staggered toward him. “He wasn’t doing anything—”
“Stay back!” McGoven’s upper lip pulled back from his teeth as he inclined his head her way. He looked…feral. Coldly, he raked his gaze over her muddy knees, where his shirt had bunched up around her legs. Then, he turned back to Micha—only there was a lethal sharpness to his movements that made her heart lurch. He aimed to do more than shove him.
“Wait!” Clumsily, Loren moved forward. She hesitated, fingers outstretched, before bracing a hand against the skin of his bared shoulder. He felt hot, like the surface of an oven. His heart was racing, pounding beneath her palm.Anger battered off him in waves, along with something else. Something that a part of her marveled at…
Fear?
“He didn’t hurt me,” she said in a low voice. “I swear.”
He shrugged her off but reluctantly lowered his fist. “You have five minutes,” he growled to Micha. “So, you better start talking. What the hell are you doing here?”
