Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
“What?”
“Me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“However it may have happened, however many times they’ve tempted me since to smother them in their sleep, they’re mine now, and you just threatened them.” Quicker than I’ve ever moved and smoother than I’ve ever managed, I lift my bow, draw an arrow, and slide it in place. The sheriff isn’t expecting it, so he doesn’t think to lift his rifle before I aim. “Now turn around and walk away.”
His visage becomes enraged while disapproval marks his tone. “Young lady, I am an officer of the law.”
“Does it look like I give a shit, old man? Last warning.”
The sheriff makes a humming noise, studies my bow and form, and sighs heavily when he realizes I’ve been trained well. By the best, in fact. By Thorin Thayer himself. “Very well then. I’ll be seeing you again, Ms. George.”
I can hardly believe it when the sheriff leaves.
Once I’m sure he’s gone and I’m not being followed, I circle back to the creek and find a tree downwind where I climb until I have a bird’s eye view of the den. For hours I sit and wait.
I’ll admit I grow antsy watching the sun moves across the sky. My mountain men will have long ago realized I’d snuck out and are no doubt hunting for me.
If I had a radio, I could tell them I’m okay, but noooooo.
Serves ’em right. Let them squirm, I say.
However, if they run into the death squad before they find me, my guys will probably shoot first and ask questions later.
And then there’s the sheriff.
What if he goes straight to Khalil, Thorin, and Seth? They won’t go quietly, and the sheriff is naive enough to think he can talk them into turning themselves in. He hasn’t said as much, but it’s obvious he’s developed a fatherly affection for them. Things will inevitably get ugly if I’m not there to stand between my guys and the well-meaning sheriff.
Okay, where is this bitch?
As if I summoned her, I see a flash of tawny fur.
The mother wolf darts from the tree line with something clutched in her mouth. She drops the bloody piece of carcass near the den and starts sniffing around. I do not doubt she can smell the bear when she whines. Sympathy twists my stomach.
I have no idea if her pups are okay.
They haven’t made a sound or emerged from the den in the entire—I check my watch and grumble at the time—three hours—I’ve been waiting for their mom to return.
She’s back, which means my babysitting duties are over, but I stay where I am with my gaze focused on the mouth of the den.
I feel the mother wolf’s pain as she whimpers and whines before disappearing inside the den. Three minutes later, she emerges again with one…two…three pups running, tumbling, and pouncing at her heels.
The largest one is black with a small tawny patch at the top of its snout. It paces anxiously between the mother wolf’s front legs while the other two—a gray wolf and a white one tussle and bite into each other.
The pups can’t be more than two feet long from snout to tail and weigh no more than a gallon of milk. They’re at the age when their heads and paws are too big for their small, wiggling bodies.
They’re adorable.
And very much alive.
Most importantly, the pups are safe now with their mother to watch over them.
I can go home now.
My stomach growls, and I realize I haven’t eaten yet, so I climb down as quietly as possible, but it’s no use.
Wolves have exceptional hearing.
The moment my feet touch the ground, and I turn, I see the mother wolf staring at me through the trees while her babies tear into the buck she’d stolen from me.
I’m not close enough to present a threat, but I still back away slowly, waiting for her to growl or bare her teeth like she did the other times we’ve crossed paths. After a long and intense stare-down, the tawny wolf turns away and trots over to her ruined den. She plops down inside at the mouth of the hole where she can watch over her young. Only then does my stomach unknot itself, and I can breathe again.
Holy shit.
I guess it’s fortunate she stole my kill. I have no doubt the wolf would have fed me to her kids if she wasn’t full of Bambi’s father.
The moment I turn to leave, I walk straight into the jaws of another predator, and I scream.
Green eyes, olive skin slick with sweat, and a furious expression stare back at me. “What the fuck are you doing out here?”
“Seth! God!” I punch his chest, and he grunts. “I was almost eaten twice today. Don’t scare me like that, you jerk!” Lifting my mask until it rests on top of my head, my nervous gaze moves behind him, expecting to see the others. “Where’s Thorin and Khalil?”