Page 10 of Run Free

She smiled at me, lighting up her already angelic face. “Hi,” she said.

My wolf gave a low growl.Mine.

Shock resonated through me. I blinked my eyes a few times and turned my head to look past her. She wasn’t an angel. I wasn’t in heaven. I hadn’t died. I couldn’t handle the revelation, so I closed my eyes and let the darkness pull me under again.

The next time I came to, I was more prepared. I didn’t open my eyes right away; instead, I listened to the noises around me. I heard snoring, a few people talking in the distance, and the sound of coffee. I sniffed the air, smelling the coffee. My stomach growled. I smelled disinfectant, a medicinal scent, and I smelled her. My mate. It was still too much to process. This couldn’t be happening. I had to get out of here fast.

I opened my eyes. I knew immediately I was in some kind of hospital. That couldn’t be good. My kind hid from humans. We avoided hospitals at all cost. How the hell had I ended up here?

The woman in white, my angel, was sleeping in a chair next to my bed. Even in rest I could see the dark circles under her eyes. I instantly worried she wasn’t well.

I tested my movements, bracing for pain to course through my body. It was a state I’d lived in for weeks, maybe longer as days and nights blurred into one. I moved my left leg that I knew was broken. Nothing. I wiggled it. How long was I out? I immediately worried. I had been rebreaking each bone daily to ensure they didn’t heal improperly. I hadn’t been able to set most of them in the cramped quarters of the cage.

I took a deep breath, testing my ribs. No pain. They had healed too. I stretched and twisted. I couldn’t feel any damage. I looked around once again and listened. Only the woman was nearby. I dared to shift into my human form. Still I expected pain and found none. I rose to stand, and while weak, at the same time I felt stronger, like a new man.

I tried not to panic. How long had I been out?

While I knew my mate was a shifter, the place reeked of human stench. It confused me, and left my wolf feeling unsettled. I had to get out of here. I searched the room and found all my things on a table next to the girl. I dressed, missing only my shirt. I realized quickly my angel was hugging it close to her as she slept. It warmed my heart in ways I didn’t understand.

I didn’t want to wake her, so I left it as I turned to make my exit. At the door I stopped and turned back, torn over the decision to leave her. My life had no room for a mate. She would be so much better off without me. Still, I worried about the humans and what they would do if they learned of what she was. Steeling myself, I committed her beautiful face to memory, knowing it would haunt me in the days to come, and then I forced myself to leave.

I quickly found my way outside and it turned out it wasn’t a hospital that I was in, but some sort of mobile unit. But then reality hit me, I was still in the zoo. My wolf growled in my head.Mate,he kept saying as my protective instincts surged.

I couldn’t leave her in that hellhole. I didn’t want a mate. I didn’t need anyone, and certainly no one should ever rely on me, but I still couldn’t walk away knowing the nightmare of the place we were in. I shuddered to think of what the owners would do to her when they came back.

I let out a low growl and turned back to get her.

She weighed nothing in my arms, even in my weakened state. She was also smaller than I had first thought, like a little pixie. And she was breathtakingly beautiful. Worse, I wanted her like I’d never wanted any other woman in my entire life. It was almost a primal need to lay her down on the table I’d awoken on and take her right there.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the images of her lying naked beneath me. Taking her with me was a bad idea but leaving her behind wasn’t an option I could live with, especially when she stretched and snuggled into my arms. I watched her take a deep breath and smile in her sleep. That small movement was doing all sorts of things to me inside.

I pushed down the emotions she was invoking and pressed forward. It was still nightfall, but the sky was lighting so we had very little time to make our escape. Once we were safely away, I’d leave her. If she woke up before then, I’d find a way to deal with it.

The air outside smelled different. My eyes told me it was still the same zoo I’d been captured and taken to, but the scent of death no longer clung to the air. There were a few humans lingering around outside, but they proved easy to avoid. My angel never woke as we left, and I ran with her in my arms as fast as I could to put as much distance between us and that place of torture before daybreak.

I found us a small hunting cabin a few miles away. It didn’t look like it had been in use for quite some time. That helped me relax some. The door gave easily as I pushed against it. I looked around and saw it was one big room with a single bed in the corner, a small kitchenette, a fireplace, and a small table with two chairs. That was it and all there was room for. Truth be told, it looked like the perfect place for me to hole up for a while and heal. The only thing it had going against it was the close proximity to my living nightmare.

I carefully laid her down on the dusty bed. She must have really been exhausted to have slept so soundly during our escape. I ransacked the place, finding it void of all food. I’d have to take to my wolf if I was going to find something for us to eat.

I once again struggled to leave the woman, but I desperately needed food. I walked outside, channeling my wolf enough to scan the area for any threats. Finding none, I stripped and shifted.

It felt amazing to run. I was free, something I never thought I’d be again. I reveled in that knowledge and thanked the God above for sending the angel to rescue me. I quickly tracked down four jackrabbits. I ate one immediately, then shifted back to human form and cleaned and dressed the remaining three to carry back to the cabin.

Once there, I started a fire and cooked them. Some shifters preferred fresh raw meat. Others were more civilized and ate like humans. As long as it nourished my body, I couldn’t have cared less, but something told me that the girl would want her breakfast cooked.

Providing for my mate felt good. Too damn good.

Clara

Chapter 8

I awoke to the sounds and smells of sizzling meat. It was a delicious aroma combined with a warm cinnamon spice.Mate,my wolf reminded me. That was the smell of my mate.

I stretched and opened my eyes. I sat up quickly, uncertain about where I was. Looking around, what I saw seemed like a small cabin, but I didn’t remember seeing any place like it around the zoo. Gage was cooking by the fireplace.

“Where are we? I asked.

He turned and looked at me. He smiled. “Don’t worry, angel, you’re safe now.”

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