Page 107 of Knot Her Mountain Men

He lunged forward, grabbing my ankle, but I kicked out hard, heel meeting his face. The satisfaction of hearing that crunch was quickly overwhelmed by a fresh surge of panic as he dragged me closer. His hands tore at my clothing, curses falling as easily as breath from his lips.

Pumpkin didn’t stand for that. She grabbed my jacket, trying to pull me away from him while I kicked and screamed. I picked up anything I could, hurling snow, spruce cones, and other detritus at Brandon’s face until something hit home. He reared back, clawing at his eyes, giving me precious seconds to get away again. I risked one swift kick to his chest while he was temporarily blinded, twisting to dodge his grabbing hands.

“Go, go, go,” I ordered Pumpkin, sprinting after her on all fours before bursting back onto a trail and getting properly to my feet.

The whistle sounded again, further away than before.

“Bear!”

I had to get back to him. Brandon wasnotgoing to take them from me. If I was going to die, I wanted their marks on my skin first. I wanted a whole fucking life with my pack.

That was what it came down to when I was faced with losing them.

I wanted to keep them.

I wantedthemto keepme.

And fuck it all, I was going to survive until I could make that a reality.

I screamed out for Bear until my throat was raw, my muscles aching, a sharp spearing pain in my side trying to force me to stop.

Come on, body.

I caught sight of a figure in the distance, and relief poured over me when the whistle sounded again.

“Be—” I crashed to the ground, Brandon getting his arm around my throat in a chokehold.

An unholy roar filled the air.

Brandon was ripped away from me, his shriek of pain rivaling that roar. Frantic arms scooped me up. Bear’s panic was so tangled with mine I couldn’t tell which belonged to whom. Our rushes of relief at finding each other crashed together and I fought my way back from the brink, rubbing a hand over my throat.

Pumpkin got herself between us and Brandon, barking up a storm.

Brandon rose up like some horrible demon and before I could warn Bear, Brandon stepped forward, but his whole face went pale, and his bellow scared the shit out of me.

The clank of metal drew my eyes down.

Holy shit.

A metal trap was snared around his leg. That could’ve been me if I had stepped the wrong way.

Bear pulled me to the opposite side of the trail, out of reach of Brandon, hastily checking me over.

“I’m okay,” I croaked. Then the dam burst and I locked my arms around Bear, sobbing those words over and over. I burrowed hard against him, breathing in the scent of him, the scent of home, overwhelmed all over again by how much I never wanted to be without him again, how much I…loved him.

Brandon shrieked again. He’d tried to release the trap and it had snapped right back onto him. I followed the chain attached to it, seeing that it was bolted into the frozen ground.

“Home,” Bear whispered harshly in my ear.

“What about Brandon?”

Bear sneered at him. “He can wait.”

My alpha scooped me up when I almost collapsed after getting to my feet.

“Wait!” Brandon frantically pawed at the metal keeping him secure. “You can’t leave me out here.”

“Why not?” I snapped. “You don’t think you deserve the same thing you did to me?”

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