Page 8 of Tangled Hearts

“It would make this easier if we could…”

Drop it, Blondie. Soren sounded menacing.

“I’m hoping Soren is in your head telling you how dumb that would be,” Ryder said, looking over at me as I struggled to keep up with him.

“Look, it’s a good idea and we wouldn’t have to worry about them being on our tail,” I said, before Ryder picked me up, making me wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his torso.

It felt more intimate than I had expected, but he didn’t seem phased by it. He held me up by my butt as he started jogging.

“You think I would risk your safety?” Ryder asked, not even sounding out of breath.

I rolled my eyes. Not Fair.

“It would give us time to wait for Gray,” I said, still worried and irritated that they didn’t even seem concerned.

“We have a plan,” Ryder said confidently. “We know the drill and once he doesn’t see us there, he will call.”

“What if they are waiting for him? What if he is caught?” I asked, panic threatening to escape again. “Ryder, so many things could have gone wrong back there. What if?—”

“Hey, breathe,” he cooed, and I didn’t even realize how harshly I had been breathing. “It’s going to be ok; your bond is still intact and if anything was wrong you would know it, so would Soren.”

He ran a hand up and down my back in a soothing manner. The running, my heightened emotions and my exhaustion were catching up to me.

“As soon as we get somewhere safe, I can see if we can locate him, ok?” He squeezed me tight.

“Ok," I said, not used to a softer Ryder.

Now that I thought about it, he had been nicer, more protective and not so grumpy. I knew his love for Serena hadn’t gone away, but maybe he was accepting the bond? Without thinking about it, I burrowed closer to him inhaling his scent. For a moment I could make myself believe he was mine and I was his.

He stiffened, clearing his throat, but he didn’t push me away.

They aren’t following, they have gone back. Soren’s voice entered my mind.

Should we stay? I replied.

No, they might come back with more people. We can find a place to hole up and figure out a plan.

Since leaving the mountains, all I seemed to do was run, hide and make a new plan. Anger coursed through me, hating that nothing was going as planned.

“Soren said they are going back from where they came from,” I said, my anger making me tear up.

“Ok, we can’t stay, but we are close to Duckleberry Fin,” he said, looking around us. “Once we settle in, we can worry about Gray.”

I hated how calm he sounded. I was ready to lose my shit.

“We will get Gray back if it's the last thing we do, Oria,” Ryder said, holding me a little tighter as Maxton and Soren ran with us too.

I hadn’t even been out a week and I was already exhausted. This felt like one big giant mistake.

We ran until we came across some cars. Ryder broke into one that had a long box in the back, messing with some wiring until he got it started. Soren helped me get into the back seat, helping me put on the seatbelt, but Maxton looked like he wanted to run instead.

“I can run,” he said, just standing by the door.

“Get your ass in the car, Catzilla,” Soren snapped, getting into the front with Ryder.

I couldn’t keep a straight face that Soren still called him that.

“You can’t run as fast as this truck, so get your ass in before the owners come back and realize we stole their vehicle,” Ryder said.

---