My eyes narrow in suspicion, searching for the trap. “You’re so happy that I didn’t paralyze you by digging out the bullet that you’re going to reward me by eating me out in the woods? As much as that sounds lovely, I respect you enough to admit I need a shower.”
He rolls us away from the ledge, pinning me beneath him. “It means that as much as I desperately need you, you need me too.” He runs his knuckles along my cheek, forcing me to watch as his mask fades away to reveal such abject misery and longing, it’s a knife to my soul.
“You spent so much time in silence, you don’t know how to live without it, even though it was killing you. And now that you’ve had a taste of what life could be like with us in your head, you’re forced to face your demons and admit the truth to yourself.” His lips brush against mine as he murmurs, “It was never about losing control, it’s acknowledging you didn’t have it in the first place. You’ve never been happy with who you are or your place in this world, and you have to finally accept that pain isn’t going to magically go away with or without us.” He trails his knuckles over my cheek as he stares down at me, the expression in his eyes mirroring everything I don’t know how to put into words. “Lucky for you, I know how to make the void echo back when I scream into it. Stick with me, beautiful; it’s not so bad being lost if you aren’t alone.”
Chapter 26
Beckett
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Careful of our footingon the slick rock, fingers bleeding from gripping the jagged rocks, we inch our way around the next curve and pray that there will be a reprieve waiting for us. Much longer at this rate and we’re going to have to take our chances swimming, but with the violent waves from the impending storm, neither of us want to risk it.
Well that, and my cousin may have gotten into my head with his mates’ theory about ocean predators. I’ve never met an aquatic shifter, but it makes sense if we evolved to keep the prey population in check, beneath the surface would require attention, too. And if I’ve never met someone of one of those species, there might have been another evolutionary glitch similar to the vampires.
They say sirens lure sailors to their deaths, but maybe that’s actually ocean vampires, A.K.A. mermaids, the piranhas of the deep. And the more I think about it, the more I remember how big of a problem I thought the Bermuda Triangle was growing up, and wonder why we all conveniently decided to forget about it as adults, avoiding the area instead.
“At least we aren’t too far from home,” Scarlett optimistically states now that I’ve confirmed we’re on the far fringes of the national forest outside of Coria Bay, about a two hour drive away.
Hating to burst her bubble, I point out, “We’re going on day six, babe. If I know Kase, he’ll barely have slept searching for you, so he’d have already passed this way, and he’ll be following the coast. We were probably asleep and didn’t hear him calling.”
She adamantly refuses to accept the theory. “He likely went south and Malcolm this way, and he isn’t tapped into the pack link, so we wouldn’t know, and neither would they. He’d be checking beaches since he wouldn’t be able to see the caves from the top of the cliff. And you and I both know Kasen will think the same and retrace Malcolm’s steps searching for a scent trail, at least.”
A rock breaks under her hand and mine snaps out on instinct, latching onto her arm despite the fact that we’re standing on a narrow ledge and I doubt she’d actually fall.
“It’d still be a hell of a walk home if we cut through the forest, but at this rate, I’d bank on another four days before we make it back.” Even when she has a new handhold, I don’t immediately release her.
“Not like we’re in a rush. Depending on how badly things exploded when we left, police probably have eyes on Drake Enterprises in case I show up, knowing I’d have nowhere else to go,” she points out bitterly. “We just need to get within range of Kasen so we can touch base and figure out what we’re going to do. I still think it makes more sense for you to go find someone that’ll let you borrow their phone.”
I start sidling my way around the bend, paranoid to have her out of my sight for even a few minutes. After hearing the vile shit the asshole that tampered with the elevator planned to do to her and watching a bullet tear through her shoulder right in front of me, I can’t risk leaving her alone out here while I track down someone with a phone. Hell, I don’t think my wolf would let me even if I wanted to. Since I woke up, all of my instincts have been forcing me into a constant state of being on high alert that has me absolutely exhausted. But after coming so close to losing her, then being a burden that left her scared and hungry instead of taking care of her, I just... I can’t. I can’t trust that she’d still be there when I came back, safe and whole.
The stone we’ve been walking along ends, and I search for somewhere that will support our weight on the other side of the cliff face, gritting my teeth. My muscles are still sore as fuck after being shot, even if the wound is healed. But minimal meals and the shittiest sleep I’ve had in years from roughing it this week has taken its toll. I’m ready for a hot shower and to guzzle a gallon of water.
Scarlett can live off of my blood; two in one food and hydration. I’m not used to an extended stretch of hunting as a wolf anymore, though, city life spoiling me over the last decade. Rabbits and squirrels can keep me going well enough, but I’ve got Scarlett feeding from me too. The main problem, though? I can’t risk going deep enough into the park to search for drinkable water, and we don’t have the supplies to distill ocean water. As far as I’m concerned, this storm can’t come fast enough, but it’s a backhanded gift that’ll wash away any faint trail for Kase to track us down.
I scoff, but the effect is ruined by my labored breathing as I help her around the curve to join me. “Like hell I’m going to leave you a sitting duck around here when it’s literally crawling with predators. You’re too sweet for this world, Scarlett. I’m sorry that people have trouble seeing that, but at the same time, I love that they don’t see you like I do.”
