The wolves will definitely smell the raw strips of deer meat I brought, so I have to move fast. I rub them all over the bones and wrap them around, fastening them with a bit of twine. I take the lock of Kennedy’s beautiful black hair and spread some of it on the ground. I shove the rest in between the dear meat and the bones.
That should do it. I hope I haven’t missed anything.
I tuck her bloody jumpsuit under my arm and head forward with my pulse racing. The rain picks up.
This is crazy.
I’ve been living in the mountains for a decade, mostly eating off the land, and this is insane even for me.
I hear a rustle in the woods beside me and I turn around with a gasp. Bright green eyes shine back at me.
A shiver racks through me when I see the size of the wolf. His head is low, teeth out, growling as he smells the meat I’m holding. Or, maybe he’s just smelling me…
“Fuck,” I curse when I hear another one on my left side. I jerk my head around and shine my flashlight. This fucker is even bigger. They start circling me as I walk toward the den.
It’s a large cave and there’s at least a dozen in the pack. Three walk out to greet me.
The female in front is the leader. I’ve seen her before, trying to steal a hare from a snare I set up. I chased her away, but she was alone. She doesn’t look so scared now that she’s surrounded by her vicious entourage.
“I’m not looking for trouble,” I say in a low deep voice. “I have some fresh meat for you, but it’s not on my bones.”
I flash the light behind me and see two more wolves circling. Shit.
This was a bad idea.
They look wet, mean, and hungry. The wildfires have probably sent all the game running for miles. They look like they haven’t eaten in days.
“Bon appétit,” I say as I throw the bones wrapped in meat into the cave over the leaders’ head. I grab the rest of the steaks I brought and toss them into the forest in different directions.
The wolves bolt after them and I bolt back to my bike.
I leap onto it, throw the bag over my shoulder, hit the kickstand, and go.
Cold rain pelts me as I fly down the mountain with my adrenaline soaring. I didn’t realize how tight my chest was until it releases and I feel light and free.
I’ll make sure the park ranger knows where to look for her. I’ll tell him I heard a woman screaming and ran over to investigate. I’ll say I saw the wolves dragging something bright orange away, but I didn’t get a good look at what it was.
He’ll go with the cops and check it out. When they find Kennedy’s ripped-up bloody jumpsuit, the chewed-up bones, the pieces of her hair scattered around the den, they’ll think that she was their lunch.
The case will be closed.
And this beautiful, sexy, alluring woman will be all mine.
She won’t be free.
Not by a long shot.
She’ll be mine and I’ll never let her go.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kennedy
* * *
“That’s it,” I whisper as I feed the baby birds some worms I dug up from Declan’s garden. They suck them down and for once, they’re quiet.
I smile as I leave them perched on the wooden beam close to the door, which is out of the rain, and I head back inside.
This cabin is so cute. It’s so warm and cozy. It would be perfect for a small family and I can just picture having an amazing life here, surrounded by the intense love of a mountain man and with little kids wrestling on the big comfy couch in front of a roaring fire.
I sigh as the enticing image drifts away. That will be some lucky girl who gets to experience that wonderful life with an amazing man like Declan, but it won’t be me. I’ll be lucky if I get to the weekend before I’m dragged back to that prison in a straitjacket and thrown into the hole.
There’s no love in my future. No husband giving me kisses. No little kids giving me hugs. Just prisoners giving me dirty looks and guards giving me shoves.
My heart aches as I walk around, wondering about this mountain man and what he’s like.
I might be going back to prison tomorrow, but I’m safe tonight and I’m going to enjoy it. I’ll have to take all the enjoyment I can and live in the moment.
Declan is out there doing something—he wouldn’t tell me what—but it’s not going to make a difference. The state of California has declared me a criminal and nothing he can do will change that.
I run my hand along the stone fireplace as I admire the pictures. They’re old photos of his family—a little Declan posing proudly with his parents at a carnival, him and his sister with big smiles on their adorable faces in front of a waterslide. He’s so cute. There’s a hollowness in my chest when I think of the kids he will have and how they’ll be so cute just like the little boy in the photo. I know that I’ll never see it. I’ll be locked away, staring at the boring walls, while he’s out here being a phenomenal father next to some lucky girl.