Page 10 of Ransomed to the World
Her mouth went dry, her nipples hardening and begging for attention, and she thought she might have whimpered.
“Now let’s head back to camp so the others won’t worry.” He jerked his head, indicating she should go first.
Annora wasn’t proud of the way her legs wobbled.
Who knew romance could be so damned addicting?
By the time they made it back to camp, the guys had everything set up. There were three tents—one for Willa, one for Loulou and Lionel, and one for her and her men. The rest of the wolves opted to remain on guard or sleep under the stars.
Food was cooking on the fire, flames dancing, throwing shadows around the clearing.
As she and Edgar entered the campsite, each of her mates looked up at her to confirm for themselves that she was safe and whole. Mason walked across the clearing with—she squinted—a whole fucking tree trunk under his arm. He placed it near the fire, creating a triangle with two other logs already in place.
He straightened and nodded, brushing off his palms, then smiled brightly at her. “Would you care for a seat?”
She lifted her brows in surprise, then grinned and perched on one of the logs, the flames from the campfire warming her. Then she popped back up. “What should I do to help?”
Edgar stacked the branches they collected nearby, and Xander and Camden were finishing up the tents and unrolling their sleeping bags, while Logan was busy cooking something that smelled divine.
“Sit.” Mason nudged her toward the fire. “Enjoy.”
“Guys.” Instead of sitting, Annora cleared her throat, sinking her nails into the meaty flesh of her palms, the sting helping to ease her nerves.
It didn’t take long for them to gather in front of her, jostling for position good-naturally, their looks expectant.
“I decided…I don’t want to choose, especially now with danger circling us. I don’t trust Daxion not to target you to hurt me. Until this matter is settled, I want us to stick to our original plan of staying together.”
She expected disappointment, but the guys only nodded, and she blew out a relieved breath. “I’ll still spend some time with each of you individually. Xander will continue combat training, Edgar will work with me on my magical abilities, Camden…we’ll work on your touch.” Instead of shying away, he nodded. “Mason still needs to show me more about how to survive out in the wild.”
“And me?” Logan quirked a brow at her, but a hint of doubt about what he had to offer shadowed his eyes.
“Wi…will you teach me how to cook?” She twisted her fingers together, suddenly nervous about her complete lack of womanly skills, and she nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’ve never had a chance to learn, and I want to be self-sufficient. That you’re able to make something over an open fire that smells so delicious is amazing. I—”
“I would be honored.” His chest puffed up, his chin lifting imperiously. “I am the best, after all.”
Xander snorted, Mason rolled his eyes, while Camden and Edgar just shook their heads and turned away. It wasn’t long until they were all sitting on the logs and eating, the temperature dropping drastically as the sun dipped behind the mountains.
For some reason, she’d expected them to be the only ones on the mountain, but it was anything but silent. Insects were loud enough to create a white noise she found soothing as most of the birds and animals were bedding down for the night.
A few of the wolves decided to take the opportunity to hunt for their supper, and Annora shook her head at the thought of heading blindly into the woods at night. It was like asking to be eaten. Loulou plopped down next to her with a sigh. “You’re not going with them?”
“Bunny.” Loulou sighed dramatically, looking glum as she pouted. “While I might be faster than some of the wolves, they don’t trust that other predators wouldn’t see me as an easy snack.”
Annora snorted at the likelihood. Those wolves would tear anything apart that even looked in Loulou’s direction. “So you stayed behind to let them enjoy their run—”
“—without having to worry about me,” Loulou finished and shrugged.
Annora gave the bunny a side-eye look, watching her scratch a welt on her arm. Loulou caught it, gave Annora a crooked smile, and threw up her hands. “Fine. These paws are made for city life. I volunteered to stay so I didn’t have to deal with the horde of bugs out to feast on my flesh.”
Willa exited her tent, then stumbled over the ground and cursed. She dropped down on the other side of Annora and scowled. “Fucking woods.”
“Don’t like nature either?” Annora couldn’t hold back her amusement.
“No, I like nature just fine…just notonme,” she deadpanned.
Annora grinned until Willa turned her snarky green eyes on her with an evil smile.
“Training time.”
