Page 4 of Blade's Battle
“I promise, it won’t be long,” he said with a forced smile. He wastryingto put her at ease.
The way he watched her, with concern ever-present in his eyes, warmed her. She’d been safe and loved without a care in the world once. It seemed like such a long time since anyone had worried about her. Kurt had, but that life had died with him. Anna swallowed hard and shoved the memory away.
“When we reach my pack, we’ll get you warmed up and fed. Hot shower, proper clothes, and a clean bed. The works. The shifters in my pack are a little on the nosy side at times, but they’re nice, decent.”
Why was he prattling on and on when they should be quiet so close to Drake’s men?
He looked past her. “What the fuck,” he said as he stared up into the tree behind her. There was a camera mounted to the tree trunk, with a camouflage skin wrapped to all but the lens. As she turned the shutter moved. With his shifter hearing, he must have heard the shutter go off. She would have walked by and never noticed the camera.
The shifter climbed up to the lower branch and yanked the camera out of the tree. “The camera’s motion-activated. Night vision and a transmitter. Not cheap stuff.” He looked worried, really worried.
“W-who?” Anna forced the word out.
“Could be hunters trying to figure out which trails are frequented by deer the most, but we’re rather far from the towns for hunters and I can’t imagine Drake hasn’t found a way to keep hunters off his territory.”
Anna felt her stomach sink. The WSSO. They figured out who had taken her.
A streak of white moved in the distance behind her shifter who was focused on the camera. “Drake.” It was the only word she could get past her lips.
Here rescuer shifted immediately—in seconds!—dropping the camera to the ground in the process. He had shifted so incredibly fast! Kurt’s shifts had been slow and very painful. Her poor Kurt. . .
Anna shook the memory away out of necessity, as the large, brown and tan wolf shot off in the direction she’d seen the white wolf. She needed to focus on her present situation, not stay trapped in the past by what could have been, what should have been.
Branches whipped and snapped as the shifters raced through the woods. In seconds, both wolves disappeared and an eerie silence descended on the area.
Anna was alone again. As alone as the day Kurt had died. She wrapped her arms around her and stood completely still, trying not to panic, or worse, create any noise that would attract the wrong attention.
What if her shifter never returned? What if Drake came instead?
Snarls and growls erupted in the distance. Anna bit back her cry and ran. Sharp branches and stones cut into her feet, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t let Drake’s pack catch her.
Her foot caught in a large root and she went down hard on her hands and knees. She fought against the pain, forced herself to swallow the terror, and pulled herself up.
A branch snapped behind Anna, and her heart slammed into her throat. She poured every ounce of energy into her legs as she bolted through the dense trees, as fast as she could.
A wolf cut her off, causing her to trip. Her head struck the ground and her vision blurred. As she struggled to keep her eyes open, her body screamed in protest. Every inch of her, from her feet to her head, throbbed. Part of her considered letting go completely, so she could be with Kurt again. That’s all she had ever wanted, to be with him, but she had failed to save him.
A feather-light touch caressed her cheek. “Anna?”
Her eyes flung open, panic seizing her for an instant before she recognized the shifter standing over her. Worry softened that hardened face of his. His deep brown eyes held a warmth she so desperately needed right now. Large, muscular arms scooped her up.
The need to push away from him, to fight him off until he set her down never surfaced. It was the gentleness with which he picked her up that calmed her. Even as he cradled her against his solid chest, with arms three times the size of her own, she never felt trapped. Just the opposite. Safe. Protected.
Anna wrapped her arms around his neck for balance. Confusion settled in the sharp, angular lines of his face. She reached up and lightly traced the slice that ran the length of his jaw. Fresh blood mixed with dried blood from earlier.
He had fought off another shifter to keep her safe. No one had ever fought for her. Not even Kurt.
“It’s a small cut,” he said, making light of the four-inch gash along his jaw. “My wolf will heal it soon enough.”
She dabbed near the skin, brushing the dirt away from the wound. Shifter or not, the wound could still get infected. As she carefully removed the dirt, she admired the color of his skin, a robust bronze with a warm clay undertone that reminded her of a mountain cliff basked in sunlight. The shifter was certainly well-built, with muscles covering his torso, from his shoulders and arms down to his. . .
Heat warmed her cheeks as she remembered he was completely naked. A naked shifter who wasn’t Kurt was carrying her, and the shirt she wore barely reached her thighs. Even now, the shirt was riding up on her, leaving a gaping opening along her backside.
“You’re not Kurt,” she said, still trying to process everything. Her head felt muddled, and she was so tired.
“No, Angel. I’m not,” he said with a smile that warmed her. “My name is Blade. I guess I should have introduced myself earlier.”
His name suited him. He had an edge to him like a blade, except his eyes were really soft, like his touch.
