Page 49 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

The door shut before I could stop her. What just happened? What just changed? Moments ago, she had been a mushy mess of chuckles in my arms. Now she was shutting me out.

And for what? The reminder that our time was coming to an end?

I didn’t see what was wrong with acknowledging the reality of the situation. I didn’t understand why she was upset. She was leaving behind some perfectly good rabbit. After procuring another blanket, I huddled up and turned the skewers, evenly cooking the meat. Nothing about this felt right.

Yet the truth couldn’t be avoided. We were coming up to the end of our trip. We would be in Buckhannon soon. We would have to face facts eventually. Why not start now?

The more I stared into the fire, the more I felt the ache of my words.

One more night.

Did I really want this to end? For the life of me, I just couldn’t bring myself to answer my own question.

Chapter 16 - Kylie

Why were the birds so loud this morning? It wasn’t like they didn’t have their choice of trees in the entire backyard. The place was practically overgrown with lots of bushes and hiding spots.

I rubbed my head while squinting against the morning light.Did Faye put another birdhouse near my window?

I cracked my left eye open. This wasn’t my room. Those weren’t my curtains. Thrifting was my thing, but plaid was most certainlynotmy thing. Red plaid was draped over every object in the room. The bed sheets were plaid, the comforter was plaid, and so were the shirts hanging over the chair in the right corner near the window.

In the light, I spotted jeans in the closet next to an old rifle. Sheesh, I expected the butt of that gun to be made of plaid too. The pattern was infecting my mind as I sat up from the bed and crouched over my knees.

Ugh, my head hurt. My knees ached. The entirety of my body felt like it was on the verge of collapse. Of course, that was what I got for not eating dinner last night. As much as I was hungry for the rabbit I had caught, I hadn’t felt like trying to stomach what Fred had said to me.

He’d made it sound like I was annoying.

Yet the whole way here, the entire time we ran beside each other, he had stolen glances and nudged his shoulder into mine. When we were in the mine together, he’d kissed me hard. When we slept in caves, he had curled up with me.

He was protective. He was kind.

I rubbed my forehead.He’s just doing his job. Any good soldier would have done similarly.

Plenty of research studies were done on people who went on mission together. Danger had a way of bringing people together. Sometimes, people formed feelings during their mission that just didn’t exist outside that context.

How could I have been so naïve? Fred was doing his duty to protect me. That hookup was nothing but a product of stress and adrenaline. The fact that I had read into it as something more was silly, a mere fantasy that kept me bonded to him so I could survive.

We weren’t lovers. I wasn’t even sure if we could be friends after everything that had happened. I dragged my fingers over my closed eyes and tugged on my cheeks while groaning. Even as I tried to convince myself it was a bad idea, all I wanted to do was lean on him.

He was my crutch and my rock right now. He was getting me away from the enemy.

He used you for bait.

I shot up from the bed and faced the closet. Right next to it was the bathroom. From what I could tell, nobody had walked in here last night. Had Fred come in here?

My fists curled as I marched into the bathroom. Red blotches spotted my face.

Had he checked on meat all?

Sweet goddess, I needed a hot shower and a stiff drink. Since the electricity wasn’t connected, I had to settle for tepid water and some sips from the faucet. I made myself presentable in a loose flannel shirt and sweatpants, then slowly opened the bedroom door.

Fred was nowhere in sight. The blanket was on the ground and the leftover rabbit was sitting on a plate on the coffee table. Hungrily, I drifted into the room and dropped to my knees, digging into the cool meat. There wasn’t a ton of flavor to it—just some salt and pepper packets we had located in a kitchen drawer—but it was better than anything we’d had in days.

Tears stung my eyes. “What I wouldn’t give for a greasy bacon cheeseburger right now…”

Fred appeared, just about scaring the daylights right out of me. I sucked air into my lungs and tried to clear the tears from my eyes. Instead of evaporating, they trickled down my cheeks.

He set a mug of coffee in front of me.

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