Page 10 of Red

I head to where I know her tracks will be. I need to make sure they’re gone, so no one but her very own wolf can find her. I walk down the pathway that’s going to lead me to my perfect woman, my Red.

Further into the forest, I notice that the tracks I’ve been following abruptly stop. It’s getting harder to see in the forest clearly since the sun is starting to set. I can still see a little bit and I know that I’m missing something. I look at the trees and notice the tree to my left is missing bark like someone scraped it off. I listen to see if I can hear anything. Then I hear it, the rustling of fabric coming from above. That's when it clicks. She's in the tree. Not wanting to frighten her too much, I decide I’ll wait here till she comes down.

As the sun completely sets, I decide I’ll camp out here. A few hours have passed, when I hear voices in the distance. Shit, that must be the guards looking for her.

“Fuck, I need to think quick and get us out of here,” I mutter.

As the thought hits, I hear noise coming from above me as a small body lands on me. Right before she tries to scream, I spin her to where her back is tucked up against my chest. My other hand comes up over her mouth. I feel her pulse pick up and her breathing gets erratic.

Leaning down, I whisper in her ear, “Don’t scream, Red.”

She lets out a loud sob. I need her to know that I am not here to hurt her. “I promise I won’t hurt you. I’m going to help.”

Red takes a deep breath and nods her head. I step back from her and then she nervously starts brushing off the dirt from her leggings. A sly smile runs across my face as I think about making her dirty.

Her black leggings hug her tight little ass. I can’t wait to take a bite out of it. I clench my hands,trying to keep them from grabbing her. She has a white shirt on with a red cloak tied around her neck. The cloak wrapped around her starts to give me ideas. Perusing her up and down, I frown when I get to her feet and notice she has no shoes on and her feet are bloody and covered in dirt.

When I get back up to her face, we lock eyes. Her beautiful green emeralds are so full of uncertainty. She lets out a gasp that might as well be a scream in the quiet forest. I sweep her up and throw her over my shoulder, carrying her as we run towards my bike.

Chapter 8

Blanche

A few hours have passed since I decided to take up solace in the tree. I hear voices in the distance and my body stiffens. That must be the guards. I thought I would be safe this far into the woods. My grandmother must have that asshole Nicholas and his men looking for me.

Shit. I need to move before they find me. I look around to see if anyone is right around the tree before I get down. I hear the voices getting closer, so I need to act fast.

I’m too high up in the tree to jump so I try to shimmy down and in my haste, I fall. As the ground is coming closer to me, I think, Fuck, this is gonna hurt.

Just as I think I’m about to hit the ground, huge arms wrap around me. Fuck! They found me.

As I’m about to scream, I’m whipped around and a hand goes over my mouth. Then a deep voice whispers, “Don’t scream, Red. I promise I won’t hurt you. I’m going to help.”

Without even thinking, I find myself nodding. It must be that sexy, deep voice that has me obeying his commands. As he steps away, I turn to see a very tall and muscular man staring at me. His eyes are so intently on me that I can’t help to get lost in those sky blue orbs. I’ve never seen eyes so intense before. I can’t seem to look away, they have me in a trance.

I nervously start to wipe off the dirt from my leggings. I grimace when I see the state of my feet. They’re gross and are going to hurt like a bitch. I’ll worry about that later.

The next thing I know he’s throwing me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing to him. Not knowing what to do or think and wanting to get out of here, I allow him to carry me without a fight.

Being in this position, my head starts to get dizzy as the blood rushes to it. He moves really fast. We make it to the edge of the forest in record time. He knows exactly where he’s going. I would’ve been lost for who knows how long. Well, whatever gets me away from my grandmother, even if that means riding on the shoulder of a sexy stranger.

Once we get closer to the road, he slows down and over in the corner behind a few trees on the edge, I see a motorcycle. He puts me down, and I try to keep myself upright as the blood rushes back down to the rest of my body. He grabbed his bike, pulling it upright and straddling it. He beckons me forward with a flick of his wrist. I rush over, climbing clumsily on, not quite knowing where to put my hands or how close I should be to this man who feels more predator than the monster that kept me locked in the mansion.

Yet I somehow feel safe.

He grabs my hands and tugs them closer to him, pulling my body up against him. Once he seems satisfied, we take off with a quick jerk, causing me to gasp and cling to him even tighter. I swear I hear him chuckle under his breath.

I can see why people love to ride a bike. The feel of the wind in my hair whipping around my face helps to release the tight hold that has been on my muscles. It’s like my body is having a physical reaction to getting away from the mansion. I even start to smile. This feels like the weight that has been pressing on my shoulders since I was a child is starting to lift.

When we come to an abrupt stop, I look up and see that we are still in the middle of the forest in front of a small cabin. I take in everything all around me, cataloging everything I can see in the early morning light as we get off the bike. Suddenly, I am very aware that I’m with a man I don’t know in the middle of nowhere.

“Get in. You need rest,” he rumbles out.

I just stand frozen, not being able to decide what to do next. Should I take my chances and run, or listen to him and have a place to hide from my grandmother?

As all of these thoughts are going on through my head, I'm quickly picked up off my feet. I gasp in shock, fear, and delight, then mutter, “He would’ve caught me anyway.”

In the cabin, he goes straight for the bathroom. Placing my feet back on the ground, he looks at me with those intense eyes. He looks down at my feet and shakes his head with a frown on his face. I’m not sure why he would care about my feet.

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