Page 26 of From the Ashes

I force my shoulders to relax. If the intruder doesn’t know I know they’re here, maybe I can get the jump on them, even if that just means running for the panic room. It’s hidden behind one of the bookcases in my father’s office, but I’d need enough lead time to get it open and closed before they can catch me.

I let out a steadying breath and catch movement out of the corner of my eye on the other side of the island. Perfect.

Before I can overthink my options, I take off out of the kitchen as fast as I can push my body. The only sound in the house is my bare feet slapping against the floorboards and my heart pounding in my ears like it’s working overtime. Which, at this point, it most certainly is.

At the end of the hallway, I turn left, making a break from my dad’s office and the room I was hoping to avoid for just a little longer, but no such luck.

I’m going to be forced to face my demons while running for my life.

Over the thundering of my own heart, I hear heavy footsteps behind me and chance a look over my shoulder and regret it immediately.

The hooded man is on my heels, meaning even if I manage to get into the office, there’s no way in hell I have enough time to get into the panic room and close the door.

Fuck.

Come on, think, Camilla. This is what you were trained for, I remind myself as I breeze right past the office door toward the back of the house. I’ve seen more than enough horror movies to know running upstairs is basically a death sentence, which leaves me with downstairs and outside. If I can make it to the fence line, I might be able to get the attention of one of the guards.

Deciding that’s my best bet, I bolt toward the back door, finding it unlocked, which isn’t totally outside of the ordinary. But I insisted on Chloe and me checking every door and window before we headed to bed.

Without pausing, I sprint into the backyard, the lush grass freezing beneath my feet as I push my body harder than I have in months. The stitches in my shoulder pull with each pump of my arms, but I’ll take a pulled stitch over dying any day.

I throw a glance over my shoulder to get a gauge if I’ve made any ground, but instead my stomach plummets at the sight of the predator launching at me.

His hard body takes mine down before I can take my next breath, and we hit the damp grass with a heavy thud. Pain radiates through my body, but I don’t allow myself a second to pause before I throw my head backward into their nose, reveling in their grunt of pain, and I quickly use their distraction to my advantage.

I scramble back to my feet just in time to hear a familiar chuckle that makes my heart leap in my chest.

“I always knew you’d make the perfect prey, Little Lamb,” Kovu rumbles.

I glance over my shoulder at the man who simultaneously put me back together and destroyed me, but his wild blue eyes tell me this is far from over.

So I do the only thing I can.

I run.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

KOVU

I’ve been hard since she first bolted.

There’s something about chasing her that has my cock aching to be inside my little lamb, and when she takes off toward the line of trees at the back of her property, I can’t help but squeeze myself through my sweatpants.

A smile tugs at the corners of my lips as I watch her scramble away, but I don’t move. Not yet. The chase is half the fun, and when I get my hands on her, I’m going to sink so deep inside her that she’s never going to be rid of me.

Because this is a lesson she’s chosen to learn the hard way.

There’s nowhere she can run, nowhere she can hide, that I won’t find her and drag her back to me. I gave her the chance to escape my obsession, and she didn’t take it.

It’s not until she hits the tree line that I take my first steps toward her. This would be a lot more fun if the trees were denser, but it’ll have to do.

I pause at the edge of the trees and listen for her. There’s a rustling to my left, but it’s more than likely a squirrel looking for a midnight snack, so I head to the right, keeping my gaze on the trees ahead of me.

A branch snaps, and I pause, waiting to see what she’ll do next, and when there’s no other sound, I realize she’s stopped.

Perfect.

I move further into the trees, the dim moonlight streaming through the higher branches. It was cloudy earlier, but it cleared up as I drove across the city to my little lamb. You see, for the last two months, I’ve been able to sleep for the first time in my life. Being close to Camilla has given me something I haven’t had in as long as I can remember, and when my head hit the pillow, I realized I wouldn’t be able to sleep without her.

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