Page 16 of Out of Peril

And where the hell was Lindsey?

“We're going to need to build a shelter and gather food. Can you two help me with that?”

They both nodded.

“Okay, you two go and gather sticks and palms, but don’t wander off and stay together. You got it?”

They both nodded again, seeming a little surprised that I would ask for their help.

I couldn't think about all that had happened. I just needed to focus on survival.

Much to my surprise, they listened and got to work immediately.

I couldn't help but notice just how pale they both were. I imagined they'd lived hidden away indoors their entire lives. That worried me with the sun here. The faster I could construct a shelter, the better. But they'd need food too.

I walked down to the edge of the water and took off my boxers and tossed them to where I didn't think the water would take them away. Then I dove into the crystal-clear water. The salt stung my eyes at first, but they adjusted quickly. There was a massive school of fish swimming nearby in the corals. I moved quickly and grabbed up as many as I could, tossing them back onto the shore and praying they made it. When they broke up and swam away, I came up for air and walked back to the beach. Ten fish awaited me. They weren't huge by any means but would do as a meal, at least. I could hunt something bigger later.

I put on my boxers once more and walked back to where I'd left the kids. They had a large pile of debris already waiting for me.

“Good job.”

“Mister, look what we found. Can we eat it?”

I inspected the fruit Dante held up to me. Mango.

“His name's Walter Grimes, a well-known Collector,” Maya said.

I snorted and tossed the mango back to the boy. “Good find, kid. And it's Walker, actually. That was just a cover name.”

“Why would you need a cover name?” she questioned.

I suspected little got past this girl. I didn't know what her powers were, perhaps some sort of truth teller.

“Because I'm not a Collector,” I told her honestly.

Even before Lindsey had whisked us away, I'd already known I would rescue the lot of them. So there was no harm in telling them the truth. As far as I was concerned, they were free now.

“If you’re not a Collector, what were you doing there?”

“Rescue mission.”

“Huh?”

“Have you ever heard of Westin Force?”

“No,” they said in unison.

Well, that was frustrating. I wasn't quite sure how to explain it to them.

“It's sort of like a group of people who go around saving shifters who need help.”

“That's not real,” Dante insisted.

“I'm here, aren't I?”

“He's a Collector. He's lying,” Maya reminded him.

“I'm a shifter. You saw me shift into my wolf. Why would a shifter want to collect other shifters?”

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