Page 17 of Guarded By A Savage Shifter

I’m expecting the pilot to hand us those headphone things so we can talk, but he doesn’t even turn around. As soon as Ryker closes the door, the helicopter lifts into the air and we fly away.

“Oh shit,” I whisper to myself as I look out the window at the busy highway below. “This isn’t like my interview with the CEO in his cushy office. This is a whole other world.

And there’s no going back now.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ryker

Idon’t like any of this. A tenseness is gripping my muscles as we fly deeper and deeper into the rainforest. It’s an endless canopy of bright green trees as far as the eye can see.

We’re further from civilization than I thought we’d be. I should have tied Gracie to the bed when I had the chance.

“How much further?” I shout to the pilot as I lay a firm hand on his shoulder.

He turns and says something in Spanish.

“Do you speak Spanish?” I ask Gracie over the roaring of the helicopter.

“A little, but I didn’t understand that,” she shouts back.

The pilot points to a clearing up ahead and says another long string of words I don’t understand.

“I guess we’re going there,” Gracie says.

I shift in my seat as my bear paces around inside. “I guess so.”

My grizzly doesn’t know what’s happening, but he can sense my tension and it’s making him uneasy. The closer we get, the more alert he becomes.

We land in the clearing in waist-high grass.

“Where is everybody?” I ask as we look around and see nothing but jungle.

“Salir,” the pilot shouts over and over. “Salir!”

“I guess this is the stop,” Gracie says as she looks around. “Over there!”

She points to a wicker basket propped up on a rock and then hops out of the helicopter and runs over with her black hair flying around her head.

I grab the pilot’s shoulder and squeeze it until he winces. “Stay here,” I warn. “Sin licencia.”

My pulse is racing as I run out after my girl, but as soon as I’m clear of the rotor blades, the fucking prick takes off into the air and leaves us.

The roaring dims as the helicopter travels further away. I’m glaring at him while thinking of all the painful stuff I want to put him through for ditching us in the middle of the damn jungle. He better pray I never see him again.

Gracie holds up a note and a compass. “It says to walk two kilometers north until we get to a river.”

I growl as I look around at the thick jungle. I don’t like any of this, but relationships are all about compromise. And besides, I don’t have much of a choice now.

“I didn’t bring my hiking gear,” Gracie says as she looks down at her outfit. She looks stunning in a white pantsuit and flat shoes. Her hair is loose and all perfectly wavy—at least it was before the wind from the helicopter got to her.

“I’ll carry you,” I say, stepping up to her with my arms out.

She laughs as she steps back and puts her hand up. “That’s not necessary,” she says, chuckling. “But you get brownie points for the offer.”

I scan the trees around us, lift my nose, and inhale deeply. I can’t smell anything out of the ordinary.

“What was that?” Gracie asks, looking at me funny. “Did you just smell the air for danger? What are you Chuck Norris or something?”

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