Page 2 of Knot That Delicate

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “It sure looks like it from here, princess, though you are a little dirtier than I would expect. Did you get lost looking for your glass slipper?”

“Now really isn’t the time,” I snarled. Whoever this man was, he was infuriating. Even though I should have been filled with joy at finding another human, he still managed to irk me. “You're not really showing much concern for my situation, are you?”

"Well, considering you could be a poacher on my land, then yeah, I'm not really that concerned with how you ended up here, princess," he said, giving me a cocky look.

"Do I look like a poacher to you?" I asked, indicating my destroyed clothing.

He tilted his head to the side as he took me in. "No, you don't," he admitted. "Where the hell did you come from?" It was dark, so he probably couldn’t see quite how dismal a state I was in.

I took a deep breath. My head was pounding, and my body ached, but I wasn't sure if I should tell him or not.

"I e-s-caped," I stuttered.

He made a sound of confusion. "What do you mean, you escaped?" he asked.

"I ran away from someone. I... I don't know how far away.”

The alpha cursed and pulled a torch out of his pocket, shining a light on me. "Shit," he cursed when he saw just how bad I looked—the cuts on my hands, the bruising to my face, my torn clothing. Most of the damage had been invisible in the dark, so he’d only seen a woman in a frilly dress.

"Who the fuck did this to you?" he asked, lurching towards me.

I instinctively shuffled back, even though there was a tree behind me. I didn't want anyone near me. His face was evenmore concealed in darkness now that he had a torch tracked on me.

"I just need help," I said. "I want to get out of here and get back to my brother. He lives in the city. Can you help me?" I begged.

"What city? We’re far away from any civilisation," he said.

"Where is the nearest city?" I asked.

"From here?" he said. "That’s Lemming. That’s probably a five-hour drive. We're in the middle of nowhere."

"Fuck." I had no idea where Lemming was, and I needed to find my family, fast. I didn't know if I could trust this alpha in front of me. "How far away is the nearest hospital?"

"You're not gonna be able to get there," he said. "The storm's been coming in hard and fast; there are mudslides everywhere. You need medical attention."

"No shit, Sherlock," I snarled, trying to run my hand through my hair, only for it to tangle in the knotted strands. Despite my terror, I leaned into that small spark of anger—rage was a lot better than weakness.

"My cabin is nearby. One of my pack members was a medic. He can help you," he said, giving me a pleading look.

"No. I don't want to go anywhere with a strange man," I cried, batting away the hand he reached out towards me.

The alpha looked around and gave a grunt of displeasure. "What’s your name?"

I shook my head, unwilling to give him the power of my name.

"My name is Carter. I live about ten minutes from here. I've also got an ATV that we can ride back on. I don't want to scare you, but there's no way you're getting out of these woods without some help."

"I have help. My family will find me," I insisted.

Carter frowned at me. "Are you sure about that?" he asked. "There's no one around for miles. We would know about it. The most I've heard about something happening is over in Wickwood, which is four hours away," he said with a frown.

That could have been us. I had been running for so long. "I'm just so tired," I admitted. I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes for a moment.

"Hey, you don't look like you're doing too well. You can't close your eyes right now," he said.

Before I could open them, I felt his hands on me, and my eyes shot open. Crouched in front of me, he was assessing me with his torch, looking over every cut and bruise. The low lighting made it hard to fully appreciate his appearance, but I could tell his brow was furrowed with concern.

"Leave me alone," I said, lightly shoving at him.

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