Page 42 of A Wolf's Treasure
“They will no’ have ye. No’ ever again.” The words were thick and heavy in his ear. “No’ ever again.”
Chapter 14
Ryanne ducked behind a tree and watched as a very large, very nude male with long, black hair ran up to Duncan and pulled him off the ground and into his arms.
The blanket she held fell to the mud at her feet.
A burning sensation ripped its way through her chest, immediately overridden by a wave of loss so profound she lost her breath and feared she would drown beneath it as the world spun around her.
Twisting around until she was completely hidden with her back to the tree, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the world to stabilize. When she peeked around again, the large male was gone. And so was Duncan.
She took a deep breath. And then another. Too late, she saw the error of her ways. Getting involved with this wolf beyond using him as an informant had been a mistake of immense proportions. Ryanne had no time to feel forlorn.
But…
It had been so long since she’d felt any kind of a real connection with anyone. So, she’d give herself these moments to feel these emotions, and then, when it was over, she would lock them down tight where they wouldn’t hurt her anymore and get back to doing what she needed to do to stop her father.
A few minutes later, she took a shaky breath and stepped away from the support of the tree. The rain was finally letting up. Wringing out the skirt of her dress, she now deeply regretted her choice of clothes. For one, she was freezing. Two, although it did allow her a good range of maneuverability, the dress did nothing to protect her skin when in combat. And three, it tended to get snagged flowing out behind her when she ran through underbrush or low hanging branches.
And that wasn’t even mentioning her boots. They, also, were very pretty. But were not made to run through mud and moss and leaves. They were only good for scooting around a dance floor or perhaps sitting pretty on the open tailgate of a pickup truck.
At least she hadn’t wasted any money on them.
She wondered if Duncan’s Jeep was still there. Maybe she should go back and check on it, instead of standing alone in the middle of the forest looking like the swamp creature.
And, maybe, if she was lucky. She’d run across something that would tell her where Thomas’s wolves were hiding out. If she could get one of them alone, she could try getting some information out ofhimabout her father’s plans.
Exhaling another breath, a little stronger this time, she pushed the last swells of emotion down and locked them away. Later, perhaps, she would pull them out again and examine them. But for now, they were just getting in her way.
As she pulled off her boots and prepared to run barefoot back to the Jeep, Ryanne knew deep down she wasn’t fooling anyone. Least of all, herself. The myriad of feelings she felt for the shifter were not something she was just going to be able to push aside and ignore. They were still there, simmering beneath the surface, creating a hodgepodge soup made up of a combination of her feelings for the wolf and her own insecurities.
A few minutes later, she cautiously entered the small clearing. The Jeep was still where they had left it. She assumed Duncan or someone from his pack would be back to get it in the morning.
Ryanne suddenly hoped it would be unlocked. If it were, it would be able to provide her a temporary shelter for the night. The fact that she could easily run back to the cabin hovered on the edge of her thoughts, and it would be the healthier thing to do, but she was reluctant to leave the memories here. Both good and bad.
As Ryanne approached the vehicle, she heard something snuffling around the other side. Thinking it was an animal, she smiled, always glad for company. But when she rounded the back bumper, it was no cute little bear cub she found nosing around, but a grown werewolf. To be exact, the one she’d zapped earlier.
Knowing she had no more than a second before he knew she was there—and thanking the gods for the direction of the winds that had kept him from scenting her before now—she raised both hands and tapped into the core of her power. Blue lights burst from her fingertips, hitting him square in the area of his heart.
It was enough to stop him where he was, but not enough to kill him. She didn’t want to kill him. This was exactly the opportunity she’d hoped for, although the other wolf—the beta—would have been a better option. This one was nearly as dominant as Duncan and would be harder to crack.
Once he was on the ground, she tried the doors of the Jeep and sent up a prayer of thanks to find them still unlocked. Rummaging around, she wasn’t surprised to find a thick length of chain. Anyone with an off-road vehicle should have the tools needed to pull it out of ditches and such.
Or, in this case, restrain another shifter.
Ryanne wasted no time dragging the wolf’s body over to a tree and securing it to the base of the trunk. Luckily, this wolf was a bit smaller than most and it was merely a matter of flipping him onto his back and running the chain around his front legs and chest and waist, just in case he shifted when she wasn’t paying attention. She had no idea how long he would be out, as she might have put a little more juice into those jolts than she’d meant to. But, hey, she’d panicked.
Once she made sure he wasn’t going anywhere, Ryanne climbed into the Jeep and locked the doors to wait. In the process of searching for the chain, she’d also discovered another blanket. It was thin, but warm and dry, and she pulled it over her with a grateful sigh.
Now, she would wait.
It was almost dawn when the shifter finally stirred. He had, in fact, shifted back to his skin while he was out. But luckily, Ryanne hadn’t slept, so she’d seen it happen and hurried to secure his hands and arms better.
When he woke and found himself chained to the tree, he was not at all happy. Yanking on the bindings, he tried to free himself, with no luck. And when Ryanne jumped out of the Jeep, drier and warmer than earlier if still tired, he growled at her.
“Release me, soul sucker.”
She squatted down in front of him, crossed her arms over her bent knees, and grinned at him. “Is that supposed to insult me?”
