Page 9 of Claimed by the Pack

I was trying to think of some way to refuse what Chelsea was telling me, but it was hopeless. I'd never fight her, and even if I did, she had four alpha mates who would have me in pieces just minutes afterwards. I took the key to the door out of my jeans and walked over and unlocked it.

I expected Cheyenne to charge me again and when she didn't, I stuck my head in the room. The door to the little bathroom was open. I walked over to it with Chelsea on my heels and stopped dead in my tracks when I got there.

“I'll be a son of a bitch.” The toilet was one that was manufactured for a motor home or trailer house. It was light and when the cabin was constructed, it had simply been sat on top of the hole that emptied down into the sewer underneath. The toilet was sitting in the bathtub and Cheyenne, was gone.

* * *

Cheyenne

I couldn't letmyself think about what I'd just waded through or I'd be too sick to run. I had nearly lost my lunch when I lowered myself down into that hole. The worst part was that I had to duck my head under and push up through the pump that was set up alongside the house.

I couldn't think about that though, I had to get far enough away that they couldn't find me, and go from there. I didn't know which way to go. The trees and foliage around me all looked the same. I looked up at the sun which was getting low in the sky, like the afternoon was going to turn to evening soon. It was bright and looked like it was about to descend down behind the mountains. I pictured the little town on the island.

The mountains were to the west, and the beach to the east. I had to go away from the sun which would take me right past the front of the house. I didn't have any other choice though. If I got up deeper in the mountains before the sun went down, I'd be lost for sure, out in the night with God knows what kind of creepy, crawly things, or wild beasts.

Dripping with funk of the sort I'd never imagined I would be bathed in, I began to jog along the side of the cabin, stopping at the edge of it and sticking my head around to make sure the coast was clear. I was shocked when I saw the Jeep, and even more surprised that it was running. I was about 12 or 14 feet away from it and I could see the front driver and passenger seats.

There was no one in there...they'd left me an escape vehicle.

Maybe.

What if it was a trap?

I was torn. I knew I should just keep running, but I had no idea where I was or how far I was from town. There were too many variables in the little island jungle at night. When I first moved there I was warned about a population of wolves that lived near the mountains, and different species of poisonous spiders and snakes...things that could be on me, things that could kill me before I even knew they were there. I decided to chance that someone had just stopped by, and maybe didn't know Ridge was harboring a captive.

It was my best shot.

I wasn't a runner. Never have been.

But I ran toward that Jeep faster than I'd ever run in my life. I was practically still in motion as I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, swinging myself up into the vehicle practically in one motion.

It's amazing what you are capable of when the adrenaline kicks in.

I threw the Jeep into drive without even closing the side door and floored the accelerator. The radio was on and between the loud music and the roar of the engine, not to mention the roar of the blood in my head, I didn't hear a thing. I flew down the dirt path until I came to a windy, paved road. I was moving the Jeep around those curves as fast as it would go when I reached up and adjusted the rear-view mirror...and saw a pair of green eyes, filled with fear, staring at me from the back seat. I screamed, he let out a bizarre little sound and then as I slammed on the breaks at the first clearing I came to, a baby started to cry.

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