Page 70 of Shelter (The Wanderers 4)

CHAPTER22

“Come on,” Haley demanded two hours later as the five of them hurried to get as far away from that location as possible.

She’d been shaking ever since Rush and Storm relayed the story about the two men while grabbing their belongings and moving everyone out of the bunker.

She understood the urgency. No way would they risk staying another hour let alone all night. But she had a new sense of urgency too. She wanted to be able to defend herself. “I’m serious,” she said as she jogged to catch up with Storm. “You’re all carrying a gun. I should have one too. I know you’ve got at least one extra weapon on you.”

“No.” Storm shook his head, not slowing down. “There’s a bounty on our heads, Haley. We need to keep moving. We don’t have time to stop and give a lesson on gun safety.”

Haley stopped walking, put her hands on her hips, and glared at his back.

The rest of the men came to a halt at her rear. “Uh, Storm,” Braylon said.

Storm turned around, rolling his eyes. “Haley, seriously. The answer is no. It’s too dangerous. I’ve had years of training. My entire life I’ve been taught to protect you. Hell, I started learning how to protect you before you were bought and paid for. Let me do my job.”

She shook her head. For the first time in her life, she felt like she could actually say no to someone. Not just anyone but a man. Four of them to be precise because they all looked less than willing to hand her a weapon.

She came just shy of stomping her foot. She could get her point across verbally. “You can’t be with me every second of every hour of every day, Storm.”

“Watch me.” Stubborn man.

“You’re not going to sleep? Or shower? Or use the bathroom?”

Storm smirked. “Princess, those are not deterrents. I would not hesitate to wrap my body around yours while I slept or take you into the shower with me if I needed to keep you safe. If you want to watch me pee, be my guest.”

Haley groaned and turned her attention toward Braylon. He had difficulty saying no to her. “Talk some sense into him, Bray. What harm would it do for me to be able to protect myself?”

Bray cringed and took a deep breath. “No harm in knowing how to protect yourself, Hales, but we don’t intend for you to ever be in a situation where you need to.”

“You can’t control every eventuality.” She glanced at Riggs who was intentionally staring at his feet before shifting her attention to Rush and staring at him.

Rush gritted his teeth as he inhaled through his nose. She did not care that she was pitting him against the others. She was done being treated like a child. “I’m a grown woman. I won’t be coddled anymore. I’ve told you all that. I don’t care that I was raised to be demure and sweet. Those days are gone. Either treat me as your equal or don’t talk to me at all.”

Rush flinched. “Okay,” he relented. “Only because I agree you need to be safe. The women living with The Wanderers are protected like spun gold, but they also take self-defense classes and learn to use weapons. You can join them when we arrive.”

She started to protest, so he held up a hand. “I’ll give you a crash course now, but we don’t have time for more than that. We need to keep moving. I don’t like the fact that those men found me.”

She nodded. She didn’t want to be unreasonable. She just wanted to be able to protect them the same as they protected her. Hiding behind men all her life wasn’t going to fly.

Haley knew she had a spine inside her. She’d spent the first six years of her life with a strong woman who knew how to shoot a gun, flay a fish, and skin an animal. Her mother had worn pants, hammered nails, and hauled logs to the cabin.

Haley’s parents had worked side by side, sharing the load. It wasn’t until she was taken to the girls’ home that she found herself in dresses with nothing but knitting needles and sewing patterns.

She glanced around at her men and straightened her spine. “Just so you know, I wasn’t always so pitiful. I might have spent the last fourteen years being trained to be sweet and demure, but not the first six. I know how to hold a gun. I know how to load one too.”

They all gasped.

“Your parents taught you?” Bray asked.

“Yep.”

“And you remember?” Rush questioned.

“He didn’t teach me once. He taught me gun safety from the time I could stand and flex my fingers. I’ve never shot one because we couldn’t afford to make that kind of noise or waste the bullets, but I remember how to use one.”

They all stared at her in awe. And she liked it.

She took a deep breath. “My mother wasn’t demure. She was hardworking and athletic. It’s time for me to become more like her and make her proud.”

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