Page 17 of Loving Graystoke's Heir

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There was little to do but drive back to camp. Thabisa had denied a reason to return, but Zenzile and Donal weren’t going to let it go. Even as they came within a few miles, their friend was making the case for a quick turnaround.

“We’ll leave our guest at the camp, change my bandage, and we can go back out and find the others.”

Their guest, as Thabisa referred to him, gave her a scathing look. It was pretty much all he could do since he’d been securely tied up in the back of the jeep, his hands and feet bound with the same rope and a kerchief tied around his head as a gag.

“I’ll be fine after a new bandage,” she reiterated. “If we go back quickly, we’ll be able to get the rest of them.”

Grunting into his gag, the hunter’s words were muffled, but his eyes blazed with anger.

Donal looked at the bandage around Thabisa’s arm and shook his head. “You’re going to need much more than just changing a bandage. You’ll have one of the medical volunteers take a look, and if they say you need more care, then that’s what you’ll do.”

He caught her irritated glance and smiled.

“You should know by now that I don’t scare with just a look.”

Thabisa’s eyes dipped to his waist and he laughed. “Okay, that’s not fair.”

Zenzile reached back and gave her friend a fist bump. “You never should have told us that you were ticklish, Sifiso. You can’t tell a woman-”

“A group of women,” Amahle interjected.

“That’s right,” Zenzile met her eyes in the rear-view mirror, “a group of women, and expect us to ignore the perfect way to get you to do our bidding.”

Donal shook his head. “You know I’d help you no matter what. Tickling me is just torture and inhumane.”

Thabisa scoffed. “With as much time as you’ve been in the wild, Sifiso, you’re likely more animal than human anyway.”

He couldn’t help the sudden loss of color, or heat, in his face. Without intending to, his friend had touched upon the very secret he was hiding from them.

If they only knew…

Donal wanted to physically clamp a hand down over his gorilla’s mouth, but the beast within him would only dodge away from his hand quite easily.

When they were close enough to use their radios, Amahle spoke quickly to let them know that they had one captured hunter and an injured member in their party.

Donal saw Thabisa’s mouth twist into a lopsided frown. No, she did not appreciate the fuss they were making, but she understood that they cared. That’s the important part.

That they all had someone, or rather an entire group of people who cared for each other and would protect them in the dark times and heal them when the need arose for that.

And when they reached the outskirts of the main camp Donal saw that the fuss went beyond the normal welcoming party.

While the police would take a while to come, there were additional vehicles in the area reserved for parking and beside that there was an energy surrounding the camp that felt like a flowing river over his skin. Warm and filled with energy, trailing like fingers up his arms.

He knew she was there before he saw her.

He felt the rush of heat that had nothing to do with burning sunlight.

Tamsin.

Yes, even the wild side of him knew her in an instant, and she’d never been near him since he’d discovered the extent and the depth of his curse.

Even the beast inside knew enough not to argue with his thoughts. They’d been through the argument enough that they could recite it word for word for each other.

But that didn’t stop Donal from wanting to turn tail and head back out the way he came. He wanted to put a world of distance between the two of them, because he knew that once he saw her, he was never going to be able to let her get away.

Tamsin.

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