Chapter 13 Willow #2
His eyebrows raise in amused surprise. “Is that what they told you?” He glances over his shoulder at his brothers, a smirk growing on his lips.
“Because if they did, they were lying. The entire Redmere tribe are cannibals. Everyone knows it.” His eyes bounce between mine before he tells me, “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from them. ”
I want to tell him that it’s him and his brothers I need to be protected from, but I have a feeling it won’t help my situation.
So I stay quiet, my eyes filling with tears at the realization that I’ve been stolen away and might be stuck with these men forever if the Hunt ends and I’m still in their possession.
I never even got the chance to see what this bond was between the Vikings and me. I only just learned about it and them yesterday. I haven’t even had my first kiss yet. Deep regret fills me. I should have done it when I had the chance last night, instead of turning away like a coward.
Glancing around at the men in front of me, I worry that if one of them kisses me, it might break me. I don’t want them to be my first anything.
I wipe my tears away as I look past them and into the woods, trying to figure out which way we came from so that when I have the chance, I can make a run for it. I won’t sit here and let them take anything from me that I’m not willing to freely give.
Slowly, the brothers begin to disperse around the clearing. Two of them tend to a fire that was already set, and three of them appear to be standing guard around the edges. Milo and Declan beckon me forward to take a seat on a cut log by the fire, then they sit on either side of me.
I’m not sure if they are guarding me or if they are trying to be friendly. Either way, I wrap my arms around my body as I stare into the flames and try to figure out the best time to make my move.
Night is probably the best shot I have. Even though it will be much more dangerous to move through the woods in the dark, at least half of them should be asleep, if not more. My gaze moves to the surrounding trees, then to the sky. It’s still only midday; it will be hours before it’s dark.
A tugging sensation in my chest has me placing my hand there. Didn’t Ronan tell me that was the mate bond? Wasn’t that how they found me the first time? If that’s true, then they’ll be on their way here right now.
My small smile of hope is squashed as a loud roar comes from the trees to my left. The three of us jump to our feet as we stare into the forest. That sound wasn’t human. It didn’t sound like the trolls from yesterday, either. It was more like the sound of a wild animal, like a bear.
Several of the men pull out their swords and move to form a wall in front of me as I slowly start to back away. The sound comes again, and my eyes widen with fear. What the hell kind of animal is that?!
The ground rumbles as if something large is moving, and I see the trees and bushes start to part. A brown mass of fur steps into sight, and I scurry backward until my back hits the rock wall.
The creature must be nine feet in height. Its body is shaped like a massive bear, covered in brown fur, but it has a horn in the center of its head. A head that’s shaped more like a large cat, with two large fangs.
I realize the head is reminiscent of a saber-toothed tiger.
It opens its mouth and roars, showing off all its sharp teeth, then sets its sight on the men in front of it, with their swords pointed in its direction.
It lifts its giant paws and bats away Valen’s sword as if it were a pesky bug and not a deadly weapon.
Then, in one quick motion, it pounces, biting Valen’s head clean off before I can blink.
A scream lodges in my throat as my flight instinct kicks in. Turning, I run into the trees on my right and don’t look back. I can hear the men’s screams and the roar of the beast, and fear that it will make quick work of them and come after me.
Those brothers may have stolen me without my permission, but it didn’t mean I wanted them dead. They hadn’t actually harmed me yet.
I keep running as tears streak down my cheeks and try to concentrate on the pull in my chest, but for some reason, I can't focus on it and am unable to tell which direction it’s tugging in. But I don’t dare stop. I want to be far from that beast when it’s finished with its current meal.
My heartbeat is pounding loudly in my ears, blocking out all other sounds, which is probably the reason I run straight into the middle of a camp.
I skid to a halt when I see two small tents and a firepit. My first instinct tells me that I’ve found people and I’m safe. Then I see who’s inhabiting the camp.
Five men push to their feet, their eyes wide and delighted as they take me in. I recognize a couple of them from the beginning of the Mating Hunt. One is the man who had squeezed his junk when I looked at him. Right now, he’s grinning at me and licking his lower lip as he takes a step toward me.
“My my, what do we have here?” he says, taking another step in my direction.
I back up, right into something hard. I glance over my shoulder as the brick wall behind me grabs my arms and holds me against him.
This man has to be almost as big as Hawk, the biggest man I’ve seen here besides my Vikings.
I try to yank my arms from his grip, but he holds my arms tight as the other men step up in front of me. The gross one moves in so close that I can smell his disgusting breath, and I turn my head to the side to lessen the stench.
He doesn’t like that, grabbing my chin and wrenching it back to face him. “You look at me when I’m talking to you, do you understand?” he asks with a glint of anger in his eyes. I nod my head and try to pull my face from his grasp, but he holds me a little tighter, making my chin ache.
“Who are you running from?” he asks, and when I don’t answer, he squeezes my face, making me wince. “You’ll learn to answer when we ask you a question. Now tell me, who are you running from?”
“A beast,” I tell him, so he’ll leave me alone.
“You haven’t been on your own for two days, have you?” he asks, his eyes trailing down to take in my entire body.
When I don’t answer, he starts to squeeze my chin again, and I manage to rip my head out of his grasp.
I see his eyes narrow before he glances at the man holding me. “Put her in our tent. We’ll teach her how a lady behaves properly for her mates.”
“No!” I scream as I’m dragged toward one of the tents.
It doesn’t take much for the huge guy to drag me over, pull up the flap, and toss me inside.
I twist onto my back, planning to run back out, but the giant man steps inside.
Desperation has me kicking my foot up between his legs, and he lets out a pained grunt, clutching his crotch as he starts to tip forward.
I roll to the side to avoid him landing on me, then I quickly jump out of the tent, just as the gross man steps up. His eyebrows lift in surprise when he sees me, and he lunges for me, but I manage to twist out of his grasp and take off behind the tent and into the trees.
“You’re going to fucking pay for that!” he roars as his footsteps pound the ground behind me. I run as fast as I can, not caring about where I step, as tears streak down my face again. I trip over a large root and fall to the ground, wincing as pain shoots through my body.
I hear him fast approaching and roll to my back as he steps out of the trees, coming to a stop above me. His smile is full of evil intent as he takes another step forward, his hands flying to his belt as he starts to undo it.
“Please don’t!” I cry, holding up a palm toward him, unsure what he’s about to do. Whether he plans to hit me with it or remove his pants to do something else, it’s going to cause me a lot of pain.
He pulls the belt from his pants, and his smile grows even bigger. “Fucking you is going to be magnificent.”
An ax appears above his head. At the same time, he glances over my shoulder, and a surprised look fills his face.
Suddenly, a hand covers my eyes, right before a loud, wet thud sounds in front of me and I jerk in surprise.
I’m lifted and turned, and as I start to panic, the hand drops, revealing Hawk’s beautiful hazel eyes.
“Hawk!” I gasp, throwing my arms around his neck and wrapping myself around him as tightly as I can, letting the tears run freely.
“I’ve got you, little one,” he whispers, one arm holding me tight as the other runs up and down my back. “We’ve got you now.”
“Is she hurt?” I lift my head to turn toward Ronan’s voice and get a glimpse of a body on the ground, but Bo is suddenly there, blocking my view.
“Don’t look, sweetheart,” he says, gently reaching up to cup my cheek. “We don’t want you to see that.”
I remember seeing the ax above that man’s head, and my eyes widen. That must be why Hawk covered my eyes. “Did Ronan kill him?”
“He did,” he confirms.
“His friends will probably be coming after me too,” I tell them, remembering he wasn’t the only one in the camp.
“We already took care of them. It’s what took us so long,” Ronan says as he steps up beside Bo. “Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes scanning my face.
“No,” I tell him honestly as tears start to fall again.
“Don’t cry, Willow,” Bo says, looking pained. “Tell us where you’re hurt and we’ll fix it.”
“I thought I’d never see you again,” I tell him honestly as the emotions of everything that’s happened today come crashing down.
“You’re crying because… you were taken from us?” Hawk asks, still holding me tight.
“I know it’s stupid but—”
“No,” Ronan says, cupping my face as he cuts me off. “Not stupid at all. Having you taken from right under our noses sent us into a tailspin. Even with the bond telling us where to go, it still took us far too long to get to you.”
“You’re our mate, Willow,” Hawk says, nuzzling his nose into the side of my head. “I hope you know that means we will always come for you.”
I turn my head toward him and place a soft kiss on his cheek, and he pulls back to look at me in surprise. “Thank you,” I whisper. His eyes roam over my face before landing on my lips.
I think he’s going to kiss me, but Ronan speaks, ruining the moment. “Let’s get out of here before the stench of the bodies attracts any animals.”
We start to move, me still clutched in Hawk’s arms as I tell them. “They aren’t the ones who stole me from you.”
“We know,” Ronan says from where he’s leading us through the trees.
“Do you know about the beast too?”
He nods. “Yes, it wiped out half of their group. The other three ran off in the opposite direction you went, so we followed you instead of finishing them off.”
“I’m glad,” I say, wrapping my arms a little tighter around Hawk.
“Did you see the beast attack?” Bo asks. I lift my head and see him right behind us, looking at me with concern.
An image of it killing Valen springs into my mind, and I nod. “He bit off a man’s head.” I swallow the lump in my throat before adding, “It all happened so fast.”
Bo reaches up and rubs his hand down the back of my head. “I’m sorry we didn’t protect you from that, Willow. We’ll do better, I promise.”
I place my hand on his arm and give him a reassuring squeeze. “It wasn’t your fault. And you saved me when it really mattered.” I can’t imagine what would have happened if they hadn’t found me when they did. That man had zero good intentions about what he was about to do to me.
“I’m never letting you pee alone again,” Hawk grumbles into my neck.
“Good,” I whisper back, holding him just a little bit tighter.