Page 3 of Hayden's Haven
She hesitated. He reached out and let two fingers glide along her jaw. He had never touched her before, but at that moment, with her fear filling the air, he wanted—needed—to calm her. He glimpsed a frailty in Mila, one that unsettled him.
“Please, Mila,” he whispered to her, hoping she’d understand he was being serious and not trying to aggravate her. “You need to trust me on this.”
She nodded slightly, green eyes suddenly looking scared but not panicked. He didn’t think she’d panic. She was a trooper. She had risked her life taking care of Kate. Then, she had stood up to him and Callen when they’d first arrived and she hadn’t known who they were.
“I won’t give you any trouble,” Mila said, though she still looked nervous.
“Leave the backpack,” Hayden ordered when Kate’s wolf grabbed the lightweight bag between her teeth.
Kate bared her teeth without dropping the backpack. Was this his lot in life, to be defied by obstinate females? “Kate—”
Voices boomed off to their left. Eyes wide, Mila looked to Hayden, finally trusting him to lead. He pushed Mila’s backpack behind some bushes. He’d retrieve it later after he got the women some place safe. Eyes and ears turned in the direction of the voices. Hayden shifted. Immediately, he gave a low growl, ordering the female shifters to follow him.
Hayden dug in and started running. Even as his paws struck the dirt, he rotated his right ear, listening behind him. The men’s voices faded into the background. Kate’s untrained gait was heavy on the ground, breaking branches and crushing leaves beneath her paws, but she was keeping up. Mila was completely silent. That was the difference between a shifter raised as a shifter. They learned from an early age how to move through the woods quietly. Kate hadn’t had that advantage, but Hayden was sure Callen would teach her in time.
God, Hayden hoped Callen was okay. The enforcer should have caught up to them by now. If anything happened to Callen, after they’d finally found Kate. . . No, Hayden wouldn’t allow his thoughts to go there. He had to stay strong for Kate. She was already fighting an infection, and Callen was everything to her. Hayden would keep his thoughts to himself, make sure Kate stayed focused and optimistic. If anything, he needed a plan to keep the women safe while he doubled back to find Callen.
“Hayden!”
Kate’s shout stopped him. She had shifted back to human form for a reason. He shifted as he turned around. Mila was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she?” he yelled back to Kate, even as his wolf clawed at him to find Mila.
“I don’t know. I thought she was behind me, but when I looked back she was gone.”
“Shit.” He had to go find her, but Kate was breathing heavily and looked ready to pass out. She had her bag with her still. That would have slowed her, not accounted for how pale she looked. At least she still had that gun of hers.
“Get your gun out and wait here as long as you can. And for goodness’s sake, Kate, don’t shoot me when I return.”
“I’ll try not to.”
That made him feelsomuch better as he shifted and retraced their steps. It was a good mile before he picked up Mila’s scent. Some leader he was. He had lost her further back than he realized. Hell, he wasn’t even the one who had noticed. Kate had. It was little wonder so much of his pack didn’t have much, if any, faith in him. They only tolerated him as Damien’s second because of Damien.
The pack respected Damien, not that they shouldn’t. Their alpha was strategic, smart, fair, and strong. A true alpha. Hayden didn’t have Damien’s desire or strength to lead. Oh, he could fight with the best of them, had nearly taken Damien down during several sparring matches, but he had always yielded, too worried that he had hurt Damien. If he put his full effort into fighting Damien and ended up injuring the alpha, then Hayden would be stuck with leading the pack, something he never wanted to do.
Hayden would take over as alpha if anything ever happened to Damien, but he had left that destiny behind long ago when his uncle Logan had murdered Hayden’s father and then taken Hayden’s younger brother Drake to raise as his own. It was clear then and there who would follow in Logan’s footsteps. And given what being alpha had done to Logan and ultimately Drake, Hayden didn’t want anything to do with the position.
Hayden heard movement up ahead. He dropped into a crouch and waited. The noxious scent of fear filled his nostrils as the human came crashing through the trees. No, not human. Mila. Still dressed and carrying the heavy backpack. She had gone back for the damn bag.
Hayden’s wolf leapt into her path. She gasped at the sight of him and in her desperation to get away from him tripped over a root and fell face-first onto the packed earth. Immediately, Hayden shifted and bent down to lift her.
“Get away from me!”
The bitter scent of her fear tripled even though he had shifted back to human form and she could see who it was. Hayden backed away.
“I was only trying to stop you from running in the wrong direction. I came back for you.”
“That was your second mistake.”
“Second?” What the hell was she talking about? And did they really have to talk about this here and now? He had no idea where the men were, and he had left Kate by herself, with just her gun to protect her. Granted, she was a dead shot, but not if she passed out. “Never mind. Tell me later. We have to get going.”
“I’m not going to shift. I need my bag, and it’s too heavy for a wolf to carry.”
“I’ll come back for the bag.”
“When? In a week? A month? Whoever’s after us might take it. And I can’t leave it here for the weather or animals to destroy. All my research and samples are in here. I need this if I’m going to continue my work.”
Hell. That backpack was now more valuable than him and Kate combined. Hayden hoisted the pack over his left shoulder and extended his hand to pull her up. She didn’t accept.
