Page 55 of Sanctuary (The Wanderers 1)

Gatlin shook his head. “Don’t even try to talk me out of it. You know you’d do the same thing if it were Mom or Brea.”

Gray sighed, nodding. “Just…be careful.”

Ariel grabbed Jay’s shirt and forced him to look at her. “Listen to me. I know you’re freaking out. I get it. I am too. But Layla is no wilting flower. She could live for six months alone in the woods with nothing but a pocket knife and a match.”

Jay couldn’t help but give Ariel a small smile at the visual. “She is kinda badass, isn’t she?”

“Yes. I’ve spent the night in the woods with her many times. We know our survival skills. She knows how to make a lean-to and what she can eat and can’t eat. She knows how to track. She has a better sense of direction than most living beings. Wherever she is, she’s fine. I promise.”

Jay gave her a nod and hugged her again before joining his partners in a jog toward the exit. Her little speech had been helpful. He’d already known his woman was sharp and educated and smarter than a whip, but it didn’t hurt to hear her sister point out Layla’s specific skills.

Five minutes later, the four of them were in a vehicle driving toward the cabin.

Gatlin was at the wheel, gripping it tightly. “Where would she go?”

Jay sat in the passenger seat, rubbing his forehead. “First she would have run hard and fast to get away from possible danger.”

Nile gripped the back of the seat next to Jay’s shoulder. “If she’s really that good at direction, she would have eventually either doubled back or headed for the road.”

Jay looked over his shoulder to catch Ledger nodding. “She wouldn’t have even known where the fuck she was since she would have arrived there under the seat of the fucking van.”

Jay shook his head. “Do not underestimate our woman. I’ve seen her studying maps of the area. No way did she go there blind. She knew exactly where she was. She probably knew how many miles it was to the road and calculated how long it would take her to get back to the compound on foot if she needed to.”

Gatlin chuckled, lightening the mood. “Jay’s right. We need to chill. She’s fine.”

“Unless she’s not,” Nile interjected. “Unless she fell and twisted her ankle or broke a bone or got caught on a limb and ripped a hole in her side.”

Jay shook his head. “It won’t help to think like that.”

Nile groaned. “What’s our plan here? To drive to the cabin, park this car, and then pan out and comb the forest in the dark?”

“Basically.”

“We can’t even shout her name or we might risk alerting someone in the area,” Ledger added.

Jay shot him a look. “No one is going to be out in the woods near that field in the night. We know there are no homesteads. No cabins. Not even a lean-to for miles in any direction.”

“We can’t be sure those two men really left. They might have pretended to leave, hidden their car, and tracked Layla themselves. Depends on how convincing Tarin and Jeremy were about the sunglasses.”

“Fucking sunglasses,” Jay muttered.

Gatlin chuckled again as he glanced over. “Think we should ban her from wearing them?”

Ledger grunted. “I think we should ban her from leaving the fucking compound.”

“That’ll go over well,” Jay said. “And not just with Layla. You let the council hear you talking like that and you’ll be kicked out.”

“The council and anyone else who gets in my way can bite my ass. This isn’t about fucking equality or women’s rights or autonomy. It’s about keeping my damn woman safe, which I did not do today.”

Jay reached over the back of the seat and grabbed Ledger’s hand. “I hear ya, man. I do. We all feel the same way, but we can’t steamroll her, or she’ll tell us to go fuck ourselves.”

Ledger returned Jay’s grip and then released him to rub his temples. “It’s just that she’s…” He swallowed. “She’s got me wrapped around her finger, ya know?”

“Yes,” Jay agreed.

“I’m half in love with her,” Nile muttered.

“Just half?” Gatlin asked. “Catch up, man,” he joked.

---