Page 2 of The Fox and the Dragon

They were off trail and had gone a good half mile when they noticed sign that someone had been through that area. The ground and grass cover were disturbed in places. “Do you think it was him?” Ashton asked Will who was the more experienced tracker. He nodded and then added.

"It was probably a couple of days ago, by the looks of it. This isn't current. I would guess this is from Friday, and he wasn't alone."

“Who was with him?”

“No idea.” Will walked over to an old stump and sat down. “Let’s go home. He might go back to the apartment expecting that you would have moved out. Give him time, and he'll answer your calls and talk to you. He's just hurt, so give him time." Will was making sense, and Ashton had to concede that it was unlikely that Harley would still be out in the woods.

“Is Ally staying with her parents?”

"I gave her the tickets and the cash we had for our honeymoon, and she's off to New York with her friend Jordan."

“How upset was she?”

"Her family was angry, but I think she saw it coming," Ashton remembered the moment when he told her that he wouldn't marry her, and it was weird. "She was shocked at first, as expected, and then she looked relieved. I think we were both doing it for the wrong reasons."

“You made the right decision. She was not a nice person.”

“Yeah, I figured that out finally, but I wish I’d come to my senses before I hurt Harley.”

“Hurting Harley made you come to your senses.” Will reminded. “She was pulling you away from a lot in your life and Harley was the last straw.” Will was stating the facts. “If Harley hadn’t been the last straw then she would have started on your family pulling you away one by one until you had no one.”

“You make her sound really bad.”

"She was evil, Ashton, and self-centered. Nothing you did would have ever been enough, and no one in your life would have been appropriate. She needed you alone and miserable."

“She wasn’t my mate.”

“I know.”

“I thought it would be okay, and we’d work. I was so deluded.”

"You don't have to explain it to me I'm just glad you didn't go through with it."

"I'm going to wait for my mate," Ashton announced abruptly.

"Me too." Will patted him on the shoulder. "We're young, we have a lot of time."

CHAPTER TWO

“Patrols have reported strangers on the public access trail, and they were setting traps.” Saphir stopped and turned to face the soldier beside him.

“Traps?” He stated.

“Yes, large ones not sure what they hope to catch.” The soldier pulled up a video feed of the pair setting the devices and hiding them under leaves and branches. “We don’t have identification yet but we’re working on it. Roan is on his way to removed them.”

"Why in the hell would someone be setting traps on that path? All they will catch is unsuspecting hikers." Saphir was at a loss for an explanation.

“Perhaps that’s who they’re after.”

"Keep me posted." Saphir was ready to get the outside world out of their lives, but little annoyances like this kept pulling them back in.

"The path is right up here why don't we stop and rest for a few minutes." Will suggested, and Ashton agreed.

“There’s an outcrop of rocks just up the path a few yards we can rest there.” He said and Will nodded. They hadn’t taken more than a handful of steps before Will let out a painful yell and dropped to his knees and then onto his side clutching his left leg. Ashton was a few steps behind and rushed up to him.

“What is it?” He asked urgently and then saw the iron trap on his brother’s ankle. “My God, who would put something like that on the path?” He knelt down next to Will and carefully checked it over. “Don’t move Will I’ll go for help and be back. I don’t have service here, but it should clear up down the path a bit.”

“I think my ankle is broken.” Ashton could see that it was.

---