Page 47 of The Night Hunting

“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching for me.

“Stay back!” I scooted away, and the movement sent a jolt of pain through my head. I groaned. I must have hit my head when this brute threw me back. But glancing now at the rocks covering the side of the tunnels, I would say he had also saved my life.

The man raised his hands, the flashlight pointing up. “Raika, I don’t know what is going on, but we need to talk.”

“Talk?” I scooted away a little more, until I could rest my back on the side of the wide tunnel. I felt dizzy and tired. But when I leaned over the rocks, sharp pain jolted through my back and I yelped.

The man advanced toward me, worry etched in the gleam of his eyes and the knot of his brows. “What is it?”

“Stay back!” I yelled, a finger raised.

He stopped, but didn’t retreat.

Good enough … for now.

I reached to my back and found my shirt was ripped on the left side. When I peeled the fabric back a little, I found another wet patch. I hissed as a new wave of pain rippled through my side. Probably a deep scratch, but now that I knew of this one, it hurt more than my head.

“Raika … you need to let me see those cuts.” He glanced to the side, to where my bag had dropped off my shoulders when I fell. “Do you have a first aid kit there?”

Funny thing was, I did. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. Besides, didn’t he want to kill me? From what Roman had told me in that gas station, this brute and his friends were part of my former pack. They had found me and they had followed me here.

They were here to kill me.

Why did he need the first aid kit for that? With his size and visible strength, all he had to do was pin me down and squeeze my neck. I probably wouldn’t even be able to move or scream.

I shook my head—and another pang of pain bounced around my skull.

I groaned.

“Raika, talk to me.”

“What’s there to talk about? Do you like to taunt your victims?”

He balked. “Victims? Wait, I’m confused. What is going on? Why are you running from me? Why aren’t you letting me help you? Hold you?”

“Hold me?” I scoffed. “I don’t even know you—”

“What?” He ran a hand through his hair, and his bicep contracted. Damn, he really was ripped. I blinked. What the hell was I thinking? “Raika … you don’t remember me?”

I lifted my chin. “When you and your pack tried to kill me two weeks ago, I lost my memories.”

“I tried to kill you? My pack?Ourpack, Raika, and we would never try to kill you!”

“Stop, stop!” I searched for an exit. There was only one way to go, and from the little I could see in this barely illuminated place, it seemed to be a long tunnel. Then I remembered … “Where’s Roman?”

The man shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m hoping he is on the other side of those rocks—” He gestured to the pile of boulders blocking the tunnel’s entrance. “—and not under them.”

I flinched. I hoped so too. “I need to get to him.” I braced myself against the wall and pushed up. “He told me he feels pain when I’m hurting. I don’t want him to suffer.” My head grew dizzier.

“Why would he feel pain when you’re hurt?”

“He’s … he’s my mate.” Darkness swam at the corners of my eyes.

The man advanced on me so fast, I didn’t even see him coming. He put his hands on either side of my head, caging me against the rocky wall.

He bared his teeth, his eyes yellow. “He’syour mate? No, Raika. He’s not.”

He lowered his head and looked right into my eyes. I tried melting into the stone behind me, but there was nowhere to go.

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