Page 3 of Blade's Battle
Without a word, she tied the pants around her waist. He couldn’t imagine what she was thinking as he led her into the woods, away from the partying in the distance, but she slipped her hand into his.
His wolf nearly howled at the unexpected and unbelievably soft touch, and the courage that had taken. It was like a wall crumbled inside of Blade. The knowledge that someone depended on him and him alone was humbling. He hadn’t felt this needed since before he’d found his birth pack dead.
“Come on,” he whispered, trying to shove the memories into the past where they belonged.
She didn’t utter a word as she ran behind him, her hand still in his. Her fear remained high, and it was clouding his ability to focus on the surrounding woods. And yet he knew beyond all reason that he would do anything to get her to safety.
* * *
ANNA
Anna couldn’t stop shaking. Thinking about the shifter who had tried to rape her had her shrinking into herself. She felt like she had been shoved into a deep, dark, dank pit that she’d dug the day she had blood-bonded Kurt. No, that wasn’t fair. Blood-bonding Kurt had been magical.
The blood-bond, the shifter ritual of the male and female slicing their palms, holding them together, and letting their blood mix, had seemed so foreign at first. Then, she hadfeltKurt in a way that had transcended any other mental or physical tie she had with him. His worries, hopes, fears, joy—love—had all reached out to her, enabling her to see him in a way she never had before. The blood-bonding itself, that ultimate connection with Kurt’s soul, had never been an issue. It was what followed that had set her on this path to hell.
“You okay?” the naked shifter in front of her asked.
She didn’t even know his name. Only that he had saved her from being raped and was now leading her away from those demons, taking her. . . somewhere.
She nodded to let him know she had heard him. Finding her voice was hard right now. Tess had sent him, so he had said. What if he had lied? What if this was another one of Drake’s tricks? No, the body on the floor was real, at least the blood she’d slipped in was. It had been too damn dark in there to see if her attacker was really dead.
The clouds had thinned out, allowing enough light to see the shifter with the dark brown eyes and the tattoo of a wolf on the inside of his left forearm. He gave her hand a squeeze as he wound his way through the trees. Such a small gesture, but it helped tremendously. Maybe it was the warmth of his flesh against hers or the simple reminder that she wasn’t alone. Anna stared at her hand in his. She didn’t even recall taking his hand or him taking hers.
Her foot caught on a root and she would have gone straight down, except the shifter caught her by her waist. He was standing right in front of her, one hand lightly resting on her hip, waiting. For what?
She squirmed out of his hold. He didn’t scare her, not really. She didn’tknowhim. He wasn’t Kurt and that touch, though he hadn’t moved his hand or made any moves to touch her elsewhere, felt too intimate.
“I wanted to make sure you were steady. I don’t want you to fall,” he said, offering his hand to her again.
He was giving her a choice. Before she could overthink his offer, she slipped her hand into his. Firm but not too strong, his fingers wrapped around hers. He was trying to keep from scaring her. She relaxed a bit.
This was the first sense of safety she’d had in a long time. And yet she couldn’t let herself fall for the illusion of being safe. It was like when she’d been happy with Kurt. The moment she had let her guard down, that happiness, that safety, had been ripped away.
“I wish we could slow down,” the shifter said, his voice slightly on edge. “But I want to put as much distance between us and Drake’s camp as fast as possible.”
She was a liability to him; she had already tripped on roots and downed branches several times, and each time he had kept her from falling, without complaint.
“I guess you’re not much of a talker,” he said.
I used to be. When Kurt was alive. When I had someone to talk to, someone who cared about how my day had gone, about my frustrations and worries. A man who truly cared.
“I can talk for both of us if I have to. Though the conversation will seem rather dull. Feel free to jump in any time.”
She couldn’t help smiling. At least he wasn’t looking at her. He might get the wrong idea. With her free hand, she tightened the pants knotted around her waist. She didn’t want to lose them; he would need them later.
Anna winced and bit her bottom lip, holding in a curse as another broken branch sliced through her foot. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to keep up this bold pace of his. Her feet were really starting to smart. Each step resulted in another cut or bruise, but she needed to focus on keeping up with her rescuer. She would worry about her injuries later.
Later. She hadn’t thought of ‘later’ in what, weeks? Months? How long had Drake kept her in that cave? She shuddered again at the memories.
“Not much longer,” her shifter whispered. Her shifter. . . She half-laughed, half-cried inside. She shouldn’t be thinking of anyone beside Kurt as ‘her shifter.’
The shifter glanced back at her, his face tense and yet very calm, confident. A layer of fear seemed to peel away as those dark eyes quickly skipped past her to assess the surrounding woods. He knew what he was doing, and he took his job seriously. That was an immense comfort right now, having another to rely on. That had been the hardest part with Kurt. With no other family, she had to be the strong one. Kurt had certainly tried his best not to appear weak, so she wouldn’t worry.
“Still with me?” her rescuer asked, his eyes scrunched together. There was concern in his face, behind those dark eyes. Dark hair and eyes. . . If it weren’t for his rich colored skin, he’d blend in with Drake’s pack. She shuddered at the memory of those shifters always touching her.
A warm hand cupped her face. Her eyes snapped open. The hand withdrew.
Not Drake, her shifter, the man with a foreboding look about him was standing there, waiting for her to adjust, to relax. God, she loved his eyes, especially the softness they held. He would not hurt her.
