Page 11 of Hayden's Haven
“Speak your mind already, Kate. I’m in no mood for games.”
“I have no problem hitchhiking, though it can get dicey, Hayden. I’ll get picked up. Mila will too, even as beat up as she is, but no one’s going to even stop if you’re with us. We’re going to have to split up.”
“I’m not leaving you. Either of you.”
“Then forget hitchhiking. We’ll end up getting picked up by the cops long before anyone else will chance giving you a ride.”
“Then we keep moving south, through the woods.” He started walking, all the while listening for Kate’s steps behind him. To a large extent, he was starting to think they’d be better off without him.
* * *
MILA
Hayden had been carrying her for well over an hour, his scent wreaking havoc on her the entire time. More than once she found herself tempted to reach up and stroke the stubble along his jaw, or run a finger along those very masculine lips. She must have hit her head against that tree harder than she realized to be fantasizing about him, though admittedly it kept her from thinking about the attack. She started shaking when she thought of everything that had happened, what could have happened had Hayden not arrived when he had. Once she started shaking, she couldn’t stop. The temperature was in the teens, typical January weather. Shifters had a higher tolerance for cold compared to humans, but she wasn’t much of a shifter. She spread her bare hands against the back of Hayden’s neck, seeking his warmth. He startled from her touch.
“You’re freezing.”
“Sorry,” she said, moving her hands lower, onto his shirt.
“It’s okay. You can warm up on me. It’s the least I can do.”
That was an odd statement, but she wasn’t going to say anything. She was simply glad to be able to warm her hands. Touching Hayden had a soothing effect on her as well, like sitting down on a chair by the fireplace with a blanket and a good book.
“Your wolf should be healing you faster,” he said. He sounded annoyed.
“I’ll let her know you object to her speed,” Mila replied, only to be met by a growl from Hayden or his wolf. It was hard to tell them apart at this point, but it didn’t matter. She needed to keep her sarcasm in check, or he might decide she was too much trouble and leave her behind. She wasn’t usually that sarcastic except when she was scared, and she was scared. Not of Hayden, but of everything else. Leaving her pack, being chased by shifters they didn’t know, and going to another pack she knew nothing about, other than the fact that Kate trusted them.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Mila said. She was good at putting her foot in her mouth.
“I’m the last one you need to apologize to. For anything,” Hayden said.
She had yet to figure him out. He blew cold and colder with her. Granted, they hadn’t had a great start back in the bakery, but since then she had tried to be friendlier. Mastering the social graces had never been high on her list of priorities, though it was possible that had more to do with her mother always telling her to be less awkward, to flirt more, and talk less since attracting a strong shifter was of paramount importance.
Studying and learning medicine had made her feel alive and worthy. She had discovered her love of helping others the day her friend Kaylee had broken her leg slipping on a slick stone as she crossed the river. Neither of them had had their first shift yet, and Kaylee was in so much pain. Mila had fashioned a rough splint for her, and they’d made it back to camp before dark. Mila had been so proud of how she had helped Kaylee, only to be berated by her mother for having ventured far from home without anyone to watch over her. As if Mila were helpless. Then again, her mother had recognized her weakness in her early on, before she shifted.
“The shifter, the one who attacked me. . .”
“He won’t hurt you again. I made sure of it,” Hayden said, his deep voice a caress upon her soul.
Why did Hayden have to be a white wolf?
Mila inhaled, unintentionally catching a lung-full of Hayden’s delicious scent, a drug that reminded her of spring and warmth, despite the fact that they were trudging through the forests of Wyoming in the dead of winter.
“Did you hear me, Mila? He won’t hurt you again. You’re safe now.”
“I heard,” she said. Believing it was another matter. Safe was a relative term. Here and now, wrapped up in Hayden’s arms, she was safe, but at some point he’d walk away, forget all about her, leaving her alone to combat the wave of memories that wouldn’t end until they sucked her into that black hole again and finally crushed her. The shifter today was dead; he couldn’t hurt her anymore, but Vance still could.
She hadn’t fought so hard to climb out of that hole only to be plunged back in by some bastard in the woods. Why did all shifters have to be so brutal? Even Hayden. He carried her so gingerly, but he had crushed that shifter’s throat so easily, like that alpha Drake several years ago. White wolves. . . She needed to keep her distance from them.
“Put me down and take the bags from Kate, please.”
He glanced back to check on Kate. “She’s fine.”
“So, you’re a doctor now?”
“You’re injured.”
“Bruises, maybe a concussion, but I can walk.”
