I walked away from the cave to investigate when I saw Scaron emerge from behind a tree. The primal urge to protect my luminescence mate roared within me. I growled as I approached him, and he smiled. I was confused at first. No one had ever smiled at me in my shifted form before. Then something moved out of the corner of my eye. It was one of Scaron’s goons. I had no time to react before the other male took the rock that was in his hand and crushed it against my templewith incredible force. They’d set up a trap, and I’d walked right into it.
Chapter 2
Taylor
CW: kidnapping
Fuck!How am I going to get away from these guys? I’d finally fallen asleep and was having the most wonderful dream of Brexl caressing me in all the right ways, when I was rudely snatched out of my bed and thrown over Scaron’s shoulder. Of all the people I’d want to see right now, this jackass was at the very bottom of my list.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded.
“Shut up, female. Where we’re taking you is none of your concern.”
“I’d beg to differ!” I squirmed against him, but he only held onto me tighter.
“That shifter filth isn’t worthy of a luminescence mate.” One of the other two males spoke up as he ran beside us.
“What do you know about Brexl’s worth?” I spat out. “He’s twice as worthy of a mate as the three of you combined.”
“Oh yeah, if he’s so worthy, then why don’t I smell him on you?” Scaron retorted.
I clamped my mouth shut. They wouldn’t understand. Brexl was worthy of a mate. I was the one who was broken. I just couldn’t do relationships. I always lost myself in them. My most recent relationship was the worst of them all. I’d molded myself so quickly to what Kent had wanted that I scared myself. When he got down on one knee to propose, I saw my future flashbefore my eyes. Me spending the rest of my life pretending to be someone I wasn’t, and my husband hating me when I finally found the courage to be myself. The worst part was that this wasn’t the first time, either.
I was hopeless. I’d never been able to just be myself in relationships, and I couldn’t bear for Brexl to look at me with love in his eyes, knowing he was in love with someone who wasn’t real, because that’s what would happen. That’s what always happened.
“How long do you think it’ll take for him to wake up?” The male to my right asked.
“Not long. We need to get to the water as soon as we can.”
Water? What water? I wasn’t aware of any large bodies of water nearby. We had the stream near the mountain, and there were a few rivers nearby. Was he referring to one of those?
It wasn’t long after that before the hard ground beneath Scaron’s feet turned to sand. The beach! I’d forgotten that the guys had mentioned there was a beach near the valley. I strained my neck to look around and sure enough, there was what looked like a dark purple ocean ahead of us.
Was he taking me here because the water would mask our scent? Think Taylor, think! What did I have on me? I shoved my hands in my pockets and found a ration bar and the necklace that Brexl had given me.
I knew it was silly, but I liked to keep it on me. Just because I didn’t want to be mated to Brexl didn’t mean that I didn’t like him. He was sweet and sexy in his own brooding, shy guy kind of way. He deserved the best, someone more suited for relationships than me.
I palmed the necklace in my hand and gave a silent apology before letting it fall to the ground. If anyone could find it, Brexl could, and once he did, he would know he was on the right track.
I squirmed again as we hit the water. The guys ran through the shallow depths. No footprints to track, no scent to follow. Unfortunately for me, It was a smart plan.
Off in the distance, I could see a set of caves that could only be reached from the water. I did not want to find out what might happen to me when we reached those caves. What was Scaron’s plan, anyway? Force me to mate with him? Then what? Did he think I’d just stick around the valley because he put his dick in me? Did he want to get me pregnant, hoping I’d stick around afterward? No matter what his plan was, I was sure it was as delusional as he was.
He could have maybe gotten away with whatever he was planning if he’d taken someone else’s luminescence mate, but Brexl’s? Yeah, no. Scaron wasn’t going to walk away from this one.
Chapter 3
Brexl
CW: General violence/fighting and injuries
They’re headed for the beach. There’s nothing else in the direction they are running but the ocean. Scaron was hoping I’d give up once I lost Taylor’s scent, but I’d never give up. Taylor may never be my mate, but she would always be mine to protect.
Like it or not, I was made for hunting and killing. Usually this fact would appall me, but today it was a gift. If Taylor needed a monster to save her, then a monster I would be.
My legs ached as I pushed my body to its limit, but I’d finally reached the sand. Taylor’s scent was faint and quickly vanishing. The salt air made it impossible for me to tell what direction they’d taken her in. The idea that Scaron might be hurting her even now made me want to rip his heart out of his chest. I could not fail her. I would not fail her.
I’d picked a direction and started to run, when something caught my eye. A brown cord stuck up from the sand. I reached down, and my breath escaped my lungs as I saw Taylor’s necklace dangling from my fingers. The sun and moon pendants shimmered in the sunlight. I still couldn’t believe that I’d found the courage to give her this necklace. I didn’t know what I’d been thinking at the time. I just wanted her to know she was special. None of the other males seemed to pay attention to her, which felt wrong to me. How could they ignore the female with the long black hair, bright smile, and confident demeanor? None of theother females were as perfect as Taylor was, and I wanted her to know that, even if the message was coming from someone like me.
