Page 21 of Out of Peril

“Were you coming to rescue her?” Maya asked hopefully.

“That's enough. Why don't we eat,” I said, cutting her off and stopping this ridiculous line of questions.

I'd seen the truth on his face. He hadn't been looking for me at all. Dante had been wrong.

There was an awkward silence while we sat and ate. The fish was delicious, as was the fresh mango. I couldn’t remember ever having such a wonderful meal.

By the time we finished and cleaned up, so not to attract too many animals into our little camp, the kids were yawning.

“Why don't you two head to bed?” Walker suggested. “It's been a big day, and I know I'm tired.”

“Okay. Lindsey, are you ready?” Dante asked.

“Yes,” I said as the three of us cuddled up under the shelter. There was still room for Walker, but he chose to sleep out by the fire under the stars.

The kids drifted off to sleep quickly while I laid there staring either up at the ceiling or out at the luscious tropical landscape. Walker had been sure to face the shelter away from the beach to protect us from the winds coming off of the water, which meant I couldn't see him as he headed toward the shore.

A few minutes later, as I restlessly laid there, I heard him howl in the distance and realized he must have shifted and gone for a run. My heart ached at the thought. Once upon a time I could have been out there running with him. Now, I no longer had my wolf form. The only thing that remained was the head of my wolf. Everything else was different and hideous now.

I didn't settle until I heard him return, but a part of me was disappointed when he didn't join us.

All my feelings were getting mixed up and muddled. I'd never experienced such a thing before. I wanted to be near him, but I was scared. I wanted to learn all the things about him—who he was, what he did, where he came from—but I was also scared.

When I had escaped the Raglan facility that had turned me into the monster I now was, I'd made a vow to myself that I would never be scared again. Instead, others would fear me. And even though I'd been captured once more and held with a series of Collectors over the last few years, I was traded as much as I was because they were terrified of me. Once the novelty of owning a beast wore off, I was the first to head to auction.

Now that I was finally free, I didn't know what to do or where to go. Was my childhood home still there? Was anyone living there? Would they remember me if they were? It felt like a lifetime ago since I'd been home, but I didn't know where else to go.

I drifted off to sleep, allowing the memories to fill my dreams, something I avoided like the plague.

Walker

Chapter 7

I awoke to a scream.

“What the hell? Where am I?” I shouted.

It took a moment to get my bearings straight. I was on the beach. We were on a stranded island. Lindsey.

I jumped up and ran to the shelter I'd built for her and the kids, relieved to find she was okay and soothing Dante, who appeared to have had a bad dream or something.

“Okay, calm down and tell me what you saw,” she said calmly to him.

He looked up at me with fear in his eyes. “You,” he said pointing up to me. “They're after you. They're coming with guns, and they're going to shoot us for taking you, and then they're going to take you away.”

“That's not going to happen, buddy. I promise you.”

“I've seen it, Walker. My visions always come true.”

“We need to leave, now,” Lindsey said.

“We should leave him behind,” Dante said. “It's the only way.”

She looked pained as her head bobbed back and forth between me and the kids.

“I can't,” she whispered just before she walked away from the shelter and shifted, shredding my shirt in the process.

I grabbed up the rest of my clothes and quickly dressed back in my suit. It was clear she was flying us out of here, and I knew the air up there was cool.

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