Page 30 of Horned to be Wild
For a moment, she stood frozen, watching rainwater pool on her floor, soaking into her rug. The reality of her situation crashed over her—she was alone in a damaged cottage with no powerwith a violent storm raging outside. She couldn’t stay here, but there was only one place she could think to go, one person who would help her, despite everything.
Torin.
She hurried into her boots, and dropped her phone in a clear plastic bag. Her winter clothes were still in storage but she wrapped a heavy blanket around her shoulders and took a deep breath before plunging out into the storm.
The rain slammed into her, instantly soaking through her clothes, and wind tore at the blanket, threatening to rip it from her grasp. The weak light from her phone barely penetrated the curtain of water as she stumbled forward, following the path to his cabin more from memory than sight.
The woods felt strange and unfamiliar in the storm, branches whipping wildly and the ground turned to slick mud that threatened to pull her boots from her feet with each step. Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the twisted shapes of trees, making monsters of the shadows.
She was shivering violently, but she kept moving. She’d never felt so small, so vulnerable. Each step was a battle against the elemental fury surrounding her.
“Torin,” she whispered desperately, his name lost in the howling wind.
Another flash of lightning revealed the path ahead—and a massive horned figure hurrying towards her.
He’d come for her.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Torin had been in his workshop when the storm struck, sanding a piece of wood with short, angry strokes, trying to find some sense of normality amidst his tangled thoughts.
The storm had begun as a low grumble of thunder, and he’d ignored it. He’d worked through worse weather. But the rising wind rattled the shutters, and the thunder grew closer, louder. Lightning flashed, bright enough to shine through the cracks in the shutters. He locked everything down, then carried a shivering Mabel back to his cabin.
Thunder crashed overhead, rattling the windows of his cabin. The storm was vicious, trees bending almost to breaking point in the howling wind, and he paced restlessly back and forth, trying to convince himself that Lila was fine. She was an adult. Resourceful. Independent.
But the moment the power went out, his carefully constructed walls crumbled like rotten wood. All his resolve to stay away from her, all his certainty that she’d be better off without him—vanished in an instant. She was alone in the old cottage withthe ancient wiring and the siding he hadn’t finished repairing, surrounded by massive old trees…
“Damn it,” he growled. He placed a couple of battery-powered lanterns around the cabin, then grabbed his heavy oilskin coat from its hook by the door. Mabel bleated anxiously from her pen in the corner.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
The storm slammed into him the moment he stepped outside. Rain lashed his face, soaking through his fur almost instantly but he ducked his head and kept going. He was halfway to the cottage when lightning flashed, harshly illuminating the forest in front of him—and illuminating Lila, a small, fragile figure, struggling through the storm towards him.
Ignoring the stinging rain and the wind whipping through the trees, he charged towards her, closing the distance between them in a few long strides. Lightning flashed again, illuminating her pale, rain-soaked face, her eyes wide with relief.
“Torin,” she gasped, her voice nearly lost in the wind.
He pulled her against him, using his body to shelter her from the worst of the rain. She felt cold, too cold, her clothes soaked through.
“Are you all right?” he demanded.
“Y-yes, but the c-cottage. Window. Branch.” Her words were choppy, teeth chattering. “Glass everywhere.”
The image of her alone in that shattered cottage filled him with horror. He should have been there. Should have protected her.
“Come with me,” he said simply, and swept her up into his arms.
She immediately curled against him as he cradled her close to his chest, shielding her from the rain with his broad shoulders as he carried her back to his cabin.
Mabel was waiting when he pushed the door open, bleating anxiously when she saw Lila.
“She’ll be fine.”
He set her gently on her feet, then stripped the sodden blanket away from her and tossed it aside. His eyes swept over her, checking for injuries. Her hair was plastered to her skull, her clothes clinging to her trembling body. A small cut on her cheek had already stopped bleeding, but the sight of it made his chest tighten. If that branch had gone through a window closer to her…
Her hands shook, her skin cold and clammy. He needed to get her warm. He built up the fire in the fireplace, then toweled her down briskly before placing her on the rug in front of the fire and wrapping a blanket around her trembling shoulders.
“You should get out of those wet clothes,” she said, her teeth chattering, and his heart did a funny little flip. After everything she’d been through, she was worried about him?
