Page 4 of Bond & Protect

What the hell? But as Sydney and I arrive at the scene, we’re shocked by a sight that I don’t think we are expecting. It certainly isn’t Amos. I shift back to address this.

“Mila?” I ask, stepping closer to her body. She’s in the middle of a dusty road, looking completely bewildered, with scratches all over her face and knuckles. The source of the wolf blood is stale and dried in a puddle around her. “What happened?”

I help her sit up so I can hear her side of the story, but I don’t know what I’m about to get. Is this someone that I can trust or should I be suspicious of this monster?

“I… I don’t know,” she finally admits. “I don’t know what happened. After you walked me home, I… I have no memory. It’s like a big blank up until now. Right now.”

I glance over to wolf Sydney whose hackles are raised. He doesn’t trust Mila at all, which means I should probably be more careful. Just because she’s got a pretty face doesn’t make her a good person. I gulp and try to get my head on straight, for everyone, for Amos.

“Okay, well, I think we need to get you cleaned up and looked at.” Even though I don’t trust her, I don’t want Mila to know that yet. She may have vital information that we need, and the only way to get that out of her is to be kind. “Sydney, can you take Mila to our safe house? Get Liam there to check her over… then maybe we can interrogate.”

Mila gives me a blank-eyed stare, but I’m not going to fall for it. I’m sure she knows exactly what’s going on here, and she’s about to tell me everything––whether she likes it or not.

2

MILA

What the hell is going on in my life? Seriously? This is just crazy, right?

One minute, a handsome stranger is offering to walk me to my house on my way home––and I let him because, well, he’s hot, uniformed, and the only protection I have from the stalker that has been trailing me for the past few nights. The next, I am half naked in the forest with no memory and blood all over me, and the exact same man standing over me.

Well, him, and an equally sexy man, who I’m assuming is named Sydney. Although, I don’t get the impression Sydney likes me very much. He keeps staring at me like I’m the enemy. He had that glare in his eyes in wolf form, and it remains as he shifts into his human self.

Whoa. Elias is obviously a hottie with broad shoulders and a chiseled jaw to die for, but Sydney’s apparent refusal to wear a shirt as he comes to grab me to take me to this so called safe house is a sight for sore eyes as well. Those tattooed abs are making my mouth water…

Probably not the right way to be feeling as he takes me by the arm, away from anywhere that feels safe, and right into the forbidden forest, the same place that Elias warned me about last night, but it isn’t like I can help it. My hormones are way out of my control, especially around the wolves.

I don’t know what it is about them, but they drive me wild. Almost feral. It’s like they turn me into an animal too. At first, I thought it was just Elias, but now I’m not so certain.

“Where are we going?” I complain to Sydney as he takes me through the trees towards a darker, much more terrifying part. “I don’t think you can just take me away from my life.”

“Your life,” he scoffs as if the whole idea of me having a life is utterly ridiculous. “Right, well like Elias said, I have to take you to get medical treatment, so…”

“I think I’m probably okay,” I lie because I don’t really know what the hell happened to me. I feel like I’ve been through the wringer, truly. It’s scary not knowing what happened to me during that time. It’s like a blackout, but I haven’t drunk booze at all.

What if that was my stalker? What the hell does he want with me if he just left me in the middle of the road? None of this makes any sense. I would rather be at home on my own to wrap my head around this than here with this good-looking stranger who’s acting like an asshole.

“I won’t feel all right with any of this until Liam has looked you over and gives the all clear.”

Cool, great, so I really have no choice in the matter, do I? Fucking marvelous, what a day.

I’m annoyed, actually. Bordering on crazy with how much this is driving me wild. Not that I’m really complaining. I want to feel scared, but I can’t. I’m numb… like all my emotions have been sucked right out of my body. My head is buzzing with a memory that won’t surface…

“Here we are.” Sydney finally pulls me up to a small cottage-type building. Or maybe it’s a cabin. “Come on. We need you to go inside. Liam will be in there, waiting.”

Nervously I step inside to find another very tall man standing there. He’s not quite as broad as Sydney and Elias, but he’s got a strength to him. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark stubble brushing across his chin… he’s painfully handsome as well. What is with these wolves?

“This is Mila,” Sydney declares behind me. “I don’t know what’s happened, apparently, she doesn’t remember.” He frowns as he says this, clearly not believing my amnesia. “But she’s hurt, and Elias wants her checked out. So, that’s why I’ve brought her to you.”

Liam’s eyes run up and down me. He isn’t giving me the same hungry look Elias did, but I can feel him exploring me deeply all the same, just in a slightly different way.

“Why is she covered in wolf’s blood?” Liam asks Sydney, panicked now. “What happened?”

Sydney enjoys shooting a suspicious look my way. “She doesn’t remember. Apparently.”

“I don’t,” I insist. “I wouldn’t make that up. This is messing me up more than any of you. I hate standing here with no God damn clue what happened to me for hours. Do you realize how scary that is? You’re staring at me like I’ve done something wrong, but…”

There it is again. That memory lodged in the back of my brain that just won’t come to fruition. I furrow my eyebrows, trying desperately to shake that memory free, but it isn’t coming. It’s frustrating knowing that it’s there but won’t come out.

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