Chapter Eight
“You Seem Human”
Bryon had to admit; it was much easier to move around now that he’d had his foot cleaned and re-bandaged.
His injury still stung, and walking barefoot didn’t help matters much, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as before.
Still, a hospital visit was in order as soon as they made it out of Paradise Woods.
Miranda’s offer to clean his injury had been a great idea, but all it had done was buy them some time.
And time still didn’t seem to be on their side.
“I can’t believe it’s already afternoon,” he muttered. “I figured I’d be back at the sanctuary within thirty minutes.”
As they trudged through the woods, he glanced up for a moment. The sun still shone brightly through the treetops, and their surroundings were warm and mostly quiet. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear a couple of animals wandering. Wolves? Probably deer.
He expelled a sigh. By now, Theon and the other animal rescuers must’ve gotten breakfast and returned to the sanctuary, which meant they must have noticed his absence. Were they wondering where he was? Would Theon send Cal or Henry into the woods to look for him?
Bryon almost scoffed. The odds that Theon would assume he was in danger or stuck in the woods were next to zero.
He was a wolf shifter, and a competent one, at that.
As far as Theon and the others at the sanctuary were concerned, he could handle himself just fine.
His lips drew back into a smile. Boy, were they all in for a surprise.
He could almost see the looks on their faces as he showed up at Green Sanctuary, barely clothed and with an injured foot, a woman in pajamas on his arm. No doubt, Henry would have a good laugh about that. He’d always been one to find the humor in things.
“Look out!”
Bryon snapped out of his reverie just in time to see a jagged branch sticking up from the earth, a few centimeters from his raised foot.
With a gasp, he jerked his foot out of the way, nearly completely losing his balance in the process.
Miranda’s grip on his arm tightened, and she held on, trying to steady him.
“I’ve got you!” she said through gritted teeth.
He planted both feet on the ground, breathing hard. His injury stung from the sudden effort, but he paid it almost no notice. On the ground a few feet away remained the jagged branch, the mere sight of it sending a shiver down Bryon’s spine.
“Thanks,” he said, turning to face Miranda. “If you hadn’t warned me in time...”
“You’d have impaled your other foot, and I’d have had to drag you through the woods.” Her beautiful features scrunched up into a disapproving frown. “You’ve been doing an awful lot of thinking lately.”
He managed a slight grin. “Hard not to when there’s so much to think about.” Between his injury and the fact that they were likely still being hunted by this woman’s stalker, it wasn’t a short list at all.
“Got someone waiting for you back home?”
He lifted an eyebrow at her question. Bryon held her gaze, feeling his heartbeat accelerate a little.
She was standing close enough that he could count her eyelashes, if he stared long enough.
Her hand was still on his arm, her fingers digging slightly into his flesh.
He felt a slight tug in his belly. If he just leaned a little closer...
Miranda must have felt it, too, because her grip on him tightened a little. Was it just him, or was her face inching closer? He swallowed, taking a step back, and cleared his throat.
“What was it you said?” he asked her.
She did some throat clearing of her own, her cheeks reddening slightly. “I asked if you had someone waiting for you back home. Family? Friends? Maybe a girlfriend?” Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red. “Anyone. I’d like to believe you’re not a lone wolf.”
At this, he gave a slight chuckle. “No girlfriend. But I’ve got my friends, and they’re like family to me.”
“Oh? What are they like?”
He gave a shrug. “Accepting.” That was probably the most accurate description of the other animal rescuers. “We all share similar goals, understand one another.”
Miranda’s brows twitched slightly. “Let me guess: They’re animal rescuers like you, aren’t they?”
“Ding, ding, ding.”
She laughed at that. It was a rich, beautiful sound, and Bryon’s heart almost went into overdrive. Her eyes lit up, her lips pulled back, and the urge to lean forward and put his lips to hers gripped him like a giant claw.
“They sound like great people. I’m sure they must be worried about you by now. I know my friends are probably wondering what’s happened to me. I left my phone at home.”
“I did promise your safety,” he told her. “They can rest assured they’ll see you soon.”
She shot him a smirk. “If anything, I’m getting more concerned about your safety.”
Bryon could see that. If he was being honest, he was starting to wonder just how much of a threat this woman was to him.
When she first saw him shift, she’d looked beyond herself with terror, but so far, she seemed to have handled things better than most. She was even concerned about his well-being.
It was way more than he could’ve said for Harold years ago.
And then there was the fact that she was considering moving to Sylva. His stomach clenched at the thought of what that could mean for the pair of them.
Excitement fluttered in his belly, but quickly dissipated.
There still wasn’t a guarantee that she wouldn’t out him the second they arrived in town.
What was to say that her concern for his safety wasn’t purely motivated by her desire to make it out of here?
Once she was away from the woods and away from her ex-boyfriend...
well, she wasn’t exactly obligated to keep his secret.
Harold’s words slowly trickled back into his mind: What kind of monster are you?
He brushed the memory aside. Worrying about the future wouldn’t do him any good right now. For now, all he could do was focus on the foal that needed rescuing. They were getting closer to the creature. Only a matter of time now.
“Let’s keep moving,” he said.
His stomach growled then. Bryon’s jaw clenched. Maybe he should’ve grabbed a bite to eat before coming into the woods. But what was it he’d said to the others at the sanctuary? Rescuing the foal is more important than breakfast.
Famous last words.
***
Miranda couldn’t remember the last time she was this exhausted. Well, except for that time she’d attended an eight-hour pottery lesson a couple of months ago. By the time it was all over, she could barely feel her hands.
She refrained from protesting her discomfort.
Next to her, Bryon walked, limping with each step.
He wasn’t complaining about exhaustion, despite wincing as he moved.
He stared straight ahead, occasionally glancing left and right like he was expecting something to leap out at them.
So far, nothing had tried to attack them.
The wolf they’d encountered earlier was nowhere to be seen.
Neither was Jerry. Had he given up the chase?
It was starting to seem like a possibility, especially considering she hadn’t seen or heard him in hours.
Still, she couldn’t let herself get too comfortable.
There was always a chance that he was following them.
Either that, or they could bump into him at some point.
The thought sent a cold shiver down Miranda’s spine.
She decided to think of something else, focusing instead on Bryon. “How do you know for sure where we’re headed? Or even that the foal is there?”
Bryon simply shrugged, stepping over a deep groove in the earth. “I’m a wolf shifter, remember?”
“Right now, you seem human.”
“I’ve still got stronger senses. Plus, I’ve been in these woods more times than I can count. Still, I’m sure it would be easier to detect the foal if I were in wolf form.” He stared down at his bandaged foot and shook his head, grimacing.
“I think I prefer you as a man,” she blurted. It took her two seconds to realize what she’d said, and she felt her cheeks burn slightly.
But it was the truth, wasn’t it? She did prefer his human form.
Not only did she feel way more comfortable walking alongside a human, but this one was quite appealing to look at.
For a moment, she let her gaze travel from his handsome face to his torso.
And then lower. He still clutched the front of his bathrobe, shielding his groin from view, but she caught sight of a bulge through the material.
The memory of his erection throbbing against her resurfaced in her mind, and a tiny sigh escaped her lips.
“What was that?” Bryon wanted to know.
She cleared her throat. “Uh, nothing.”
He stared at her for the next few seconds, then shifted his gaze, staring at the ground. He pointed. “I think we’re very close to the foal, look.”
He pointed, and she let her gaze follow. “What exactly am I looking at?”
“Tracks, Miranda.” The sound of her name sent a flush of heat through her gut. He narrowed his eyes. “I think they’re the foal’s tracks.”
She could barely see what he was talking about, but she didn’t bother mentioning it. He was more of the animal expert here, anyway. “Which way do the tracks lead?”
He pointed leftward. “That way. Let’s go.”
With that, he turned and headed in that direction, his movements suddenly more animated despite his injury. Miranda did her best to keep up, staring at his broad back as they journeyed deeper into the woods.
For all she knew, this man could very well be getting her even more lost in these woods or taking them farther and farther away from freedom. Somehow, she trusted that he knew what he was doing. He was a competent man. And... well, he wasn’t bad company, after all.
The memory of her straddling him earlier crossed her mind then, and she bit her lower lip.
After all she’d seen, after all he’d told her about himself, Miranda supposed she shouldn’t feel so attracted to this man.
If anything, she should at least be a little repulsed, or even wary.
But her attraction had done nothing but grow.
“Try to keep up, will you?” he called from a few feet ahead, supporting himself with tree trunks as he moved. “We don’t have all day.”
“Funny you should say that now,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. Still, it warmed her heart to see him so excited to rescue the foal. “You really do care more about animals than my kind. And you still haven’t told me why that is.”
At her words, he slowed in his tracks, but didn’t look back at her. “That’s because it’s not something I like to remember. You’re not the first human to see me shift.”