31. Hunter
Hunter
My mind keeps trying to relive the moments leading up to the attack, when I had let Cherry walk off with only Lexi at her side to go play cornhole. I should have insisted on going with her, I should have placed myself between her and the forest.
So many should have’s. You’d think we would have learned our lesson by now. This isn’t even the first rogue attack on our property. But things are different this time. We’re stronger. She’s stronger. And we have the bond.
“Hold tight, baby. We’re coming,” I tell her through the bond.
“I know,” she says back, making my chest expand with the knowledge that he still hasn’t caught her. “I love you.”
Fuck. I can hear the pain and fear in her voice. Despite the fact that she knows we’re right behind them, she’s still being hunted by her enemy, and that’s enough to push me a little bit faster.
We all come to a halt at a narrow passage between the rocks, covered with fallen trees.
“She went through there,” Bain says, even though we can all smell her scent just as he can.
My eyes narrow when I see Blaze’s footprint in the dirt, further in, realizing he has followed her through this narrow gap.
“What the fuck, how did he get through there?” Chase asks as we all skid to a stop at the narrow spot Cherry and Blaze somehow managed to slip through. I’m not surprised Cherry fit through here; she’s tiny. But Blaze? He’s far too big, just like we are.
“Come on, we need to find another way around,” Maddox says as he moves to the left.
“Chase, you’re with me. Hunter, Bain, and Gage, you go the other way and try to find a way through.”
Nobody argues as we quickly get moving again, searching for any way through the rocks. We are so close. And I refuse to think about what will happen if we don’t make it in time.