Page 80 of Stay for Me

Icroucheddowntomy haunches, the shrubs giving me more than enough cover as I stared directly at a bear—the same bear that was supposed to be transferred off Hallow Ranch months ago. That didn’t go as planned, seeing as how that entire crew was dead, their ashes on this very mountain. I stared at the beast, watching as it sniffed the ground and then plopped down in front of a berry bush.

Knowing the animal would be occupied for a while, I slowly backed away and moved east.

Once I was out of the bear’s sight, I resumed tracking again. I’d spent the majority of my military career learning how to track, and after years of being on this ranch, I could track almost anything—including Diana. I stopped on the trail, my eyes landing on her footprints, and followed them for another twenty minutes until they veered off the trail, the tracks becoming messier, scattered throughout the dirt.

She had been in a panic, trying to run from something.

My mind immediately went back to the bear, the screams I’d heard echoing through the air ringing in my ears.

“Fuck,” I muttered, looking up the sky. She’d ran—from afucking grizzly.

I whipped my hat off and ran my hand over my hair, visions of her—scared out of her fucking mind--running from that damn beast taunting me. My chest began to heave, the red in my vision fading, replaced by black dots. My heart was pounding, and my hands began to tingle. In the distance, echoes of gunshots floated through the air, Grayson’s voice at my side, barking out orders.

I was being sucked back in.

“Fuck!” I bit off through my teeth.

Lock it in.

Lock it in.

Lock it in.

Lock it in.

“Diana,” I whispered, dropping my head. “Your only focus right now, Mags, is Diana. Find Diana.”

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

I inhaled a deep breath, held it for ten seconds, and let it go as I lifted my head and put my hat back on.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

I began moving again, stepping off the trail and scanning the forest floor for evidence of struggle. There was a bundle of pine needles shoved to my right, and down further, more shoved were to the left. As I ground my teeth together, I kept my focus on tracking her and, minutes later, I came to one the biggest pine trees on the mountain. It was one of my favorites, a landmark. I looked back, noting the destroyed wildflowers and crushed grass. My eyes narrowed, making out paw prints.

This must be where she’d spotted him.

The only positive I could take away from seeing the bear was that the beast wasn’t covered in blood—Diana’s blood. Which meant, by some miracle, she’d gotten away. I continued down the hill slowly, and at the halfway point, I froze, every inch of my body feeling like it was stabbed with hot pokers as I stared at the blue fabric hanging off a fallen tree.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

Find Diana.

---