“No, but it looks like we don’t need to.” Frost calls as he points to the distance. Looking towards where he is pointing, I see a woman running towards us from across a glade.
“It’s Dawn,” I shout turning my Harley towards where she is coming from, I would know that hair anywhere. The raise of the sun as it goes down reflecting off her curly hair looking like a flame. The fear that was tightening my stomach making me feel sick is now loosening. I will make sure that I make her mine, and that she is never in danger again.
The fact that someone came into our property with two prospects on guard is evidence that we are not guarding our property well enough. We need to buffer up our security, anything could have happened, and we would have been caught unprepared. Whoever it was knew to be downwind, so we didn’t catch his scent, it was only our senses that caught that someone was watching us.
Stopping the Harley, I get off hurrying through the glade to reach Dawn. I see in the distance on the opposite side of the glade a van coming to a stop. The driver does not get out of the van but doesn’t drive away either. “Frost,” I call
“I see him!” Frost replies as he turns his Harley around and takes off. I know that he is going to try and catch up to the fucker, but he must have seen because I see the van speeding away from where it was stopped.
“Gunner,” the sound of my name in the air as Dawn calls me is like a balm of intense medicine in a wound that has been bleeding. Everything disappears from around me as I reach her, her body crashing into me as she throws herself against me, a very welcome weight in my arms as I tighten them around her pulling her close into me. I don’t ever want to open them, knowing that she is safe calms me like nothing ever before has.
“What took you so long?” her muttered sentence against my chest has a smile lifting my lips.
DAWN 8
What am I doing hiding in this cottage like a coward, I know that Gunner told me to stay here with the door locked, but let’s be honest if there is anyone out there, they will catch me quicker in her then if I am with Gunner. Huffing I shake my head in annoyance, now I am going to have to try and find him and the sun will be going down soon.
Unlocking the door, I look out, my eyes trying to catch any movement but after a few minutes I sign and walk out closing the door behind me. I know that Gunner is going to be upset that I didn’t follow his instruction but after thinking about it, it doesn’t make sense to sit in the house by myself waiting for someone to come and catch me.
Making my way through the woodlands I try to follow Gunner’s scent. I know that I’m nowhere as good as the men are when it comes to tracking, but I can still follow a scent if it’s as fresh as Gunner’s. I can’t sense anyone near, I don’t know how long I am walking when I come across a man leaning over something on the ground, his back to me. I stop trying to see what he is leaning over when suddenly he takes a step to his left, I realize that the man is leaning over an unconscious Gunner. “Oh” I gasp in fright, is Gunner dead?
The man’s eyes snap around to me, my heart starts to race when he shoots up from his crouch and heads my way. Turning I start running in the direction that I came from. Maybe I can find something on the way that I can grab to defend myself. Frantically looking around I don’t identify anything that is solid enough to do him any harm without me physically having to stop and breaking off a thick branch. I am but a couple of feet away when strong arms grab me from behind pulling me around.
Before I can look up at the man holding me, I am being picked up and thrown over his shoulder. “Put me down you bully.” I scream but to no avail as the man simply tightens his arm around my waist with such strength that I struggle to breath.
I kick my legs and try to wiggle my body, but he isn’t a weakling. My eyes clash with Gunner on the ground when we walk past, my heart feels like it’s being ripped apart. “Did you kill him?” I ask punching his back with all my strength, but if he felt it, he showed no evidence of it.
“Tell me!” I scream but he ignores me, instead hurrying past trees and bushes completely confusing my sense of direction. “You stupid…stupid man.” I scream but to no avail. The man continues on his quest not slowing and not answering me. A few minutes later he comes to a standstill, I quieten trying to raise my head to see around me, but all I see is a parked van right before us. The back door to the van slides open increasing the dread that is starting to attack me.
“Let go of me.” I scream, thinking that I finally got through to him when he loosens his arm but then I am being thrown into the back of the van. The air is knocked out of me, leaving me desperately fighting for air. I hear the back door sliding closed and then a minute later the van is moving. When I finally start to breath normally again without threat of passing out, I look around, and even though its dark in the back of the van I see that there is nothing that I could possibly grab to try and escape or defend myself when he opens the door again.
Sitting up from where he discarded me, I groan when I feel the pain radiating through my body of the bruises that I will surely have from being thrown into the van. I crawl forward until my hands touch the panel to the front of the van. I can’t see the man driving as the panel is solid, but I’m sure he will hear me. Pulling back my hand I bring it forward again with all the strength I have, banging where I suspect his head to be. “Let me go asshole.” I scream, hoping that I had something that would break though this panel and into his measly head. I keep on screaming and banging my hands until suddenly the van swerves and I am thrown against the side groaning again in pain.
I hear a gruff chuckle from the front which tells me that the asshole is enjoying my pain. “Who are you?” I call and am surprised when the man answers, and even though the sound of his voice is muffled by the sound of the engine and the panel between us I can hear his words clearly, which tells me that he heard me just as well.
“The grim reaper” his words have me rolling my eyes at his absurdity.
“Now I know for a fact that you don’t have all your marbles in place.” I call looking around trying to find a way out of this van. Everything is in darkness as there is no slither of light professing to there being no windows in the van. I crawl to where I think the door is and look for the handle, it takes a few minutes, and I am nearly at the end of my patience when I finally find it.
I’m about to pull at it when the van swerves which has me losing my balance and falling back hitting my elbow hard on the ground. I cry in pain feeling the jar right up my arm, I’m sure the asshole did it on purpose when I hear a chuckle coming from the front. He is one sadistic asshole, and I swear if I get a chance, I am going to hit him hard where it most hurts.
Sitting up trying not to make any noise is more difficult than I thought as my arm is hurting like the devil. Holding it close to me I once again make my way towards the handle that I found earlier. It takes me a few minutes but finally I grab hold of it again and pull with all my might thinking that it was closed but to my surprise its open and because of the speed of the van I am thrown out.
I cry out as I hit the verge, the landing knocking the air out of my body once again. I feel my head start to spin with the pain that is radiating through my body, but I fight the pain, fight the dizziness knowing that he will soon stop the van and come back for me. Taking in deep painful breaths I sit up, “aargh,” I groan in pain.
Squinting I look around, confused as to where I am, all I see is the road and trees on both sides. If I can move into the trees, it will be more difficult for him to find me. Making my way into the woodlands as fast as I can I tremble at the cooler air on my skin. I hear the screech of tyres and know that soon the asshole will be after me.
I need to go into the woods as much as I can, or I will be back in the back of that van. Every step I take is a jolting exercise of pain, the only comfort I have is that I managed to escape the asshole or at least temporarily.
I don’t know for how long I walk, but soon I come to a clearing, groaning I look around upset as it is a wide-open glade instead of the road. If I step into the glade, he will definitely see me and catch me in the condition I am in. Closing my eyes for a minute I try to catch my breath, my body aching in places I never knew could ache.
I can hear my heart thundering in my ears, the roar becoming louder. I tense, my eyes snapping open as I realize that it’s the sound of motorcycles. Straining up onto my tippy toes I try to see down to where I hear the sound, a road winding up from there. It is a few minutes but then I see two bikes ride past an opening between the trees.
My heart starts to race, if it is possible to get to the bikers before he catches me then I will be safe. I wait to look towards another wider opening further up on the road, my breath shallow as I wrap my arms around my waist anxiously. A few minutes later I see the bikers again, my stomach tightens as I recognise the rider. “It can’t be,” I whisper a tear sliding down my cheek as I recognise Gunner. We are far away from where they are coming up but there is no mistaking him. I don’t think twice, this might be my chance of getting away. Charging out of the trees I start racing through the glade, every sense on alert as the fear of being caught from behind at any moment and not getting the chance of reaching Gunner.
When I saw him on the ground my heart stopped, I had the deepest dread that he was dead. Now knowing that he survived gives me added strength. Gunner is my intended mate, the one that is meant for me. I know that when mates bond there is nothing that can break that connection, life becomes more meaningful with a mate, or so mom says.
I see the motorcycles turn and then they are out of sight. My fear increases, what if they don’t see me? What if after all my efforts that crazy animal manages to catch me again. The tears are racing down my cheeks in fear until I once again see the Harley heading up a beaten track in the glade.