Page 13 of Taken By the Exiled Laird

He stood, his voice biting as he responded with barely contained bitter rage. "We are outlaws. We are exiles. Do ye understand that, Noah? There's nae returnin' tae how things were ten years ago. We dinnae have a permanent home because there's nae place for us in this world. Why is the line drawn for ye at ransom? We steal. We threaten. We kill."

"Only when—" Noah started, but Theon did not pause.

"We are hunters, and we are hunted as well!" he reminded Noah with a furious gesture of his arm. "We are hunted like animals! Any one of the lairds in that so-called alliance would hang, draw, and quarter us at the first opportunity. How many times have we had tae tend to each other's wounds? How many times have we feared each other lost?" He glared. "If we want any semblance of our old lives back, we need tae take it back, nae matter what the cost. With Briana, we can force Cameron and MacFarlane to listen. We can finally make a difference. I thought ye understood that."

"So ye'd kill an innocent woman tae get yer clan back?" Noah demanded bitterly. "If yer plan fails and they dinnae obey yer demands, we cannae simply let her go free. Would ye kill Briana tae make yer point?"

Dark heat flashed across Theon. He tried not to think of the tears he'd wiped from her face just that morning as he said, "Aye. If that's what it takes."

Noah stared at him. He stood, obviously unsettled. "Ye're nae the man I thought ye were, then. I cannae believe this is true."

Theon scowled. "And ye arenae the man I thought ye were if ye'd let the life of one woman threaten the safety of all of us."

"What woman? Dinnae act like ye see her as a person. Ye've told me she's only leverage," Noah snarled.

The two of them glared at each other, tense fury burning from both. There was no telling what might have happened next, but the door burst open and Graeme entered, his mouth in a deep frown visible even through his thick red beard.

"If ye two are quite done thinkin' about murderin' each other," Graeme said. "It may interest ye tae ken that our leverage has long since fled intae the woods."

"What?" Noah and Theon demanded in tandem.

"She's gone. Nae doubt she ran the second ye left her," Graeme replied. "I've searched the whole camp. There's nae kennin' where she might be now."

Theon's jaw clenched and he uttered a low, furious curse. He should never have left her untied, but there was no way they could simply let her go. Not now that she'd seen them all. Not now that she knew who and where they were.

"Stay here," he ordered. "I'll fetch her back."

"Theon—" Noah started.

Theon shook his head and held up a hand to silence him. "Stay here," he repeated even more firmly. "This is me hostage. Ye've already caught yer game for the day, brother. Leave me tae me own prey."

Briana's lungs burned and her skirts tore as she ran as fast as she could through the thick trees. She had no idea in which direction she was going or if she would even survive long enough to find a road or anyone to help her, but it didn't matter. She couldn't stop, not now. She would just keep going until she'd put as much distance between her and her kidnappers as she could. She was bleeding from a dozen tiny cuts all over her face and arms from passing branches, and her feet and legs ached more deeply than she'd ever experienced before.

She finally slowed, gasping for breath, gripping a tree to try to help her stay upright. Had she gotten far enough away? She'd been turned around at some point, so she didn't know how far she'd gone or how deeply she'd traveled into the woods. She could be lost there forever, but it didn't matter. At least she was free. Wasn't she?

Just as she thought it, she heard the muffled crunch of a footstep on the damp foliage that carpeted the forest floor. Then another. Then another. They were getting closer, and Briana had no doubt as to whom they belonged. A shiver ran down her body and she darted behind the tree, knowing that there was no way that she could outrun her pursuer in this state. Her breath came heavy, and she felt as though her lungs were betraying her, each heavy gasp another hint to where she hid.

Please let him go past without noticin' me, she silently begged. Please dinnae notice me. Please.

The footsteps suddenly stopped and Briana held her breath, the pounding of her pulse in her ears so loud she was sure that Theon must be able to hear her. She leaned against the tree with her eyes closed, trying to steady herself. Where had he gone? Had he turned away? Was he still coming? Why couldn't she hear him any more?

She stood there, hidden, for two minutes. Five minutes. Close to ten. As the time passed, she began to relax. He'd missed her. She'd escaped. She silently counted down from ten then readied herself to peer around the tree, just a peek to see if there was any sign of her would-be captor.

But just as she turned, a hand suddenly gripped her arm. She yelped in alarm, but he was already dragging her back, one arm wrapping tight around her waist, the other releasing her arm only to cover her mouth. She breathed shakily against his warm skin, fighting the urge to bite again. She could still see the marks from where she had hurt him the day before.

He crushed her against his hard chest, holding her closer than she ever remembered being to another person, and the heat of him against her back sent a strange surge of something through her own skin. She was desperate to run, but another, darker part of her wished to close the distance even further.

He released her mouth after a moment, but his hand settled lightly on her collarbone, his fingers only a breath from her neck. The message was clear—struggle, and he could kill her in an instant. She went still as a deer before a wolf, her mind clouded by the way he was pinning her against him and how close her escape had been. Her whole body prickled with warmth and something pooled in her lower stomach and between her legs, inflamed by the frustration she felt at him holding her life in his hands.

Theon leaned down and whispered in a low voice, his breath warm and tickling her ear. "Where were ye gonnae go, Briana?" he asked in a cruelly gentle whisper. "Would ye run tae yer father? Yer brother? Or would ye flee tae the side of yer betrothed? Either way, nae doubt ye'd lead them here and destroy me wee family. Is that nae right?"

She wouldn't want to admit it, but he was right. Where would she go? Disturbing, poisonous depression twisted in her stomach and cut through the tension that was lighting up her body at every point she pressed against him.

How stupid she had been to dream of freedom! Even if she had escaped these woods without being caught, her only choices had been the ones that Theon had just mentioned, and what would either of them matter? Both were cages, just as much of a prison as any other. There was no freedom for Briana.

She would not let him see her sorrow. She tried to respond with her usual sharp wit, but her breath caught in her throat as his grip tightened on her waist and his fingers pressed harder into her collarbone. A dangerous thrill flooded through her and she almost unconsciously pressed against his chest in response.

"It doesnae matter what yer answer is. There's somethin' ye need tae understand," Theon continued in that same low, dangerous voice. She was hyper-conscious of the way his hand now splayed on her stomach, so close to areas where none had ever gone, but the desire fought with horror at the implicit threat in his tone. "I want—I need me clan back. Me brothers need their lives back. And I intend tae get them, nae matter what the cost. Ye're the key, Briana Cameron. The key I've waited ten long years for. And until one of them gives me back what I need, ye are mine."