She had pulled a shoestring from the high-top tennis shoes she wore and tied it tightly above the wound in her leg. Smart girl. She was also trying to lift herself up with the stick.

  I realized that she wasn’t going to make it out of here on her own, and she definitely was going to allow my wolf to come near here, so I did what I had to do.

  I shifted.

  She stood right there and watched the whole thing all the way up to the part where I unfolded naked in front of her.

  “Tatia,” I said.

  Her mouth fell open. Her gaze fanned my face, recognition setting in like a light bulb, but then her irises sort of clouded over and her shoulders went limp.

  I cursed myself when I wasn’t near enough to catch her when her legs gave out.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  TATIA

  The man I’d met at the bar. Treyton…the shifter…he was carrying me.

  I must have passed out back there because I wasn’t fighting for my life anymore. I was cradled in the arms of a man I didn’t know. He was running with me. Taking me away.

  I didn’t feel afraid. Not with him. That was…strange.

  He smelled…so good. Like forest and night breeze. His skin was so soft, but his chest was hard and solid. Even if I wanted to fight him, I was too tired to put forth much of an effort.

  He must have noticed that I was awake because he was staring right at me with those enchanting jade-colored eyes that touched my soul. I blinked a few times just to make sure that this was real. The eyes that were staring back at me were familiar.

  I fidgeted a bit in his arms and that loosened his grip on me.

  “I’ve got you, ginger cat. You’re safe with me,” he whispered.

  My lips parted. I wanted to speak, but when I swallowed, the back of my throat burned from the dryness.

  “We can’t stay in this forest. Let me get you out of here and then you can beat me off with a stick after I know you’re safe.”

  His deep, sexy voice was so calm and alluring. But he was also something else. How did I not notice at the bar?

  “I…what are you?” I said, in a low whisper, thinking he wouldn’t hear me.

  “Your knight-in-shining-armor,” he replied, grinning.

  I almost laughed. He had a sense of humor. That hadn’t changed.

  “And whatever you need me to be,” he added, more seriously.

  “Where…?” I cleared my throat.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not a rogue wolf.”

  Rogue wolf? He called the cult-ish men rogues. Odd. If he wasn’t a rogue wolf, then what kind of wolf was he?

  He studied me intently. I must have looked a mess. My vision was a bit cloudy with fatigue rolling through me like some unrelenting thunderstorm. I was so freaking tired I didn’t know if we were going left or right.

  “Are you the police?” I asked.

  “Nope.”

  Who was he? Why had he saved me? I couldn’t let my guard down now. I had learned the hard way that no one was to be trusted, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I could barely walk. And if I wasn’t mistaken, I could’ve sworn I heard other animals lurking about in these woods. At least, I had gotten away from that cult group led by those sickos. The half man, half wolf who was carrying me now seemed sane enough. In fact, he had killed one of them. But where was he taking me?

  Pain rode up my leg from the injury I’d sustained. I bit my tongue and let my head fall against his chest. My cheeks pressed up against his bare skin. He was so warm. What? Had he even attempted to put on some clothes after he changed?

  “Oh my God, you’re naked,” I blurted out.

  “I’m…sorry,” he replied. He sounded as if he was truly embarrassed. “Anyway, you trust me?” He actually grinned.

  My lips were formed to utter the words no, but then he said, “Never mind, if you do or don’t. Here’s the thing, sweetheart. We’re on dangerous territory. I’ve got to get you out of here, but you’re going to have to trust me.”

  I swallowed. “Um…okay.”

  “The gate is less than half a mile up ahead. My friend is waiting there for me. Don’t be alarmed. We’re both here to help.”

  I peered into the darkness. “How do you know someone is there? Half a mile away. I can’t see anyone. It’s so dark.”

  There was a long pause and then, “I know his scent. Just like I know yours.”

  “Oh,” I breathed. I had questions. I needed answers.

  It didn’t take him long to clear the distance to get to the fence—the same fence we’d been told to run through and learn our fate.

  Just like before, I couldn’t see much because it was dark, but the van I’d been shoved in was now gone. I recalled hearing the gunshots earlier that alerted the bad guys that someone was onto them. Then chaos ensued. That pregnant girl and I were grabbed and yanked through the gates and rushed through the forests. I thought I would pass out from all the running and dodging prickly branches and fallen trees, but then the wolf with the mossy green eyes showed up. Treyton showed up.

  “I’m going let you down for just a moment. Don’t put any pressure on your leg. Just grab hold of my neck and I’ll swing you onto my back. Got it?”

  I nodded.

  The transition from his arms to his back wasn’t smooth, but what was more unsettling than my pain was being on the back of a naked half man, half wolf while he navigated the landscape and climbed up a steep incline with minimal effort. He was exceptionally strong with almost inhumane strength. But who was I kidding? This was the same man that had morphed hundreds of bones in his body to change into a full-grown man.

  “You’re going to have to wrap them tighter than that, sweetheart. You’re getting a little lax. I don’t want to lose you,” he said, turning his head slightly and pausing so I could comply.

  “Oh, God,” I mumbled, as I gripped my legs around his waist. Good thing, I was wearing several layers of clothing, but none of that seemed to matter. He was still rock hard all over.

  “You’re pretty heavy for such a little thing, you know that?” he rasped, but through it all, he kept a crooked grin on his lips.

  I blushed and pressed my lips together to keep from giggling. Nothing about my situation was funny, but this guy had a thing for making light of this serious situation.

  Just as he had said, when we reached the gate, a guy with sandy brown hair and a strong build ran up to us. “Bro, you took fucking forever,” the guy exclaimed, handing over a small sack.

  Treyton slid me off his back and onto my feet and then removed some clothes from the sack and pulled them on. “Miscalculated the timing after the rescue. I’m here now.”

  “I was about to come after you. We need to get these closed,” the guy said, shoving the gates close and then wrapping chains around the post.

  Treyton moved to help him secure the gates. They snapped on two huge iron padlocks.

  “I’m glad you didn’t come after me,” Treyton told the guy. “I didn’t realize how thick the forest was here. You would’ve gotten lost without a scent. I also had my hands full, so there was no way to send that follow-up message while in wolf form.”

  The guy glanced at me and then down at my injured thigh. His nostrils flared. “The med vac is gone. And it’s just you and me. I hate to tell you this, bro, but we’ve gotta run. While I was waiting, I saw two cars pass by here and they stopped to look.”

  Treyton nodded. “You go to Arrow Lake and tell Draven I’m okay. I’ll get her to Dr. Greyson. He’s less than a mile from here.”

  While they were talking, a dizzying spell took me. Treyton must have sensed my plight because he rushed to my side, lifting my arm over his shoulder. I shifted my weight to my uninjured leg to keep me from landing face first in the dirt.

  “You can’t pass out, ginger cat,” he commented. “You gotta stay awake.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  The men exchanged more words and then I was back in his arms and he was walking, faster this time.

  “Where…?” I asked.

  “I know the doctor. I’m taking you there.”

  I tried to look out in front to see where we were headed, but all I saw were trees and darkness. The moon. The stars. Flashes of light…

  My head was killing me. I was so freaking dizzy. Maybe because of all the moving. He was moving too fast and the motion sickness was doing a number on me. “I can’t…everything’s spinning…” I mumbled, pushing myself away from his chest.

  “Take it easy. You put up a good fight back there before I reached you. Don’t worry, I’m not like the others…talk to me…Tatia…”

  His voice consoled me, and his arms felt warm and secure around me. I was left with no choice but to surrender to my fatigue.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  TREYTON

  “You know, when you first ran off beyond the fence like that, I didn’t expect you to come out alive,” Dr. Greyson said, grabbing a roll of gauze from a tray.

  Hours after treating all the women, Dr. Greyson was still our saving grace. He was just about the only doctor in the territory who we trusted. He’d been an ally to the Timber Rock pack for decades. Long before he married a fellow female shifter, he’d always been helping us out in one way or another.

  Dr. Greyson made his way back over to the bench with the gauze.

  “I had to go in.”

  “And you paid a price…” he mumbled, inspecting my side. “You said you saw something else out there?”

  “The rumors are true. Natural wolves still roam those parts and they didn’t seem happy about me being out there. I wasn’t looking for another face-off, especially not with a natural wolf, and both myself and the female were injured,” I said, wincing as Dr. Greyson applied pressure to the stab wound in my abdomen.

  “I wonder how long the rogues have been hanging around that place.”

  “Don’t know. That’s what I’m going to find out as soon as I get back home. I assume the agents took the captured rogues to their prison.”

  “Probably so. No news from Draven yet. He knows you’re here, so I suspect he’ll be calling shortly. The other guys headed back to Arrow Lake when you communicated that you were safe. I still don’t know how you do that.”

  I chuckled. “It’s a wolf thing. Plus, they needed to know about the natural wolves. I pushed my luck crossing that territory. I didn’t want anyone else in danger, especially since the last girl apparently didn’t want to be rescued. She was pregnant and everything.”

  “Is that where you got the bump on your head?”

  “Damn right, I did. That pregnant wench nearly knocked me out,” I grumbled.

  “You were a mess and so was she…” The doctor nodded his head in the direction of Tatia who was napping in a nearby chair. “What were they going to do to these women? How did she get caught up with them? Makes me wonder what she’s been through.” He sighed. “But I’ve got you two all patched up for now.”

  I glanced across the room at Tatia, noting the way her chest rose and fell as she took even breaths. She was calm and peaceful for now, but I didn’t know how much she’d recall when she woke up again.

  The lighting was low and almost nonexistent down in the basement, but I could make out her beautiful features easily. She was huddled beneath a fleece blanket with her legs curled up to her chest. She kept going in and out of consciousness as I rushed us to the doctor’s ranch. She had woken up maybe once or twice when Dr. Greyson was cleaning her leg wound and checking her vitals. Dr. Greyson’s wife had also been in here earlier speaking to her. Although, she didn’t respond, another woman’s voice seemed to reassure her that we weren’t killers. But she was too weak to remain alert for any extended amount of time.

  I still didn’t understand this connection I felt to her. It was as if I knew her already. Like something had happened between us in the past before we met at the bar and I couldn’t remember when and where it was.

  “Well, you found what you were looking for. Those women should be thanking you for not giving up.” Dr. Greyson pulled on his stethoscope on and listened to my heartbeat.

  “She was the one leaving the clues. We wouldn’t have found them so quickly if it wasn’t for her.” I gnawed on my bottom lip. “About the other women…where did the agents take them after I left?” I asked.

  “They’re safe. No life-threatening injuries. They remained pretty calm while in the med van. Malachi’s crew took them away, probably to state agencies that can assist them until they get back on their feet or back to their families. Only one of them claimed to be from the Arrow Lake area.”

  “That’s reassuring.”

  Dr. Greyson placed his equipment on the table and took a brief glance at Tatia. “Malachi gave me a contact number of the center where he’ll be taking the women. Miranda will be calling soon to let them know we have another one. I’m sure she’ll want to be with those she recognizes after this.”

  “There wasn’t much time to talk out there. I’m not sure if she has anyone to go to in Arrow Lake.”

  “Either way, Draven knows that you’re here and that I’ve patched you up. Now, you can just rest for a couple days if you need to and then head back to Arrow Lake. I think they can take it from there with those rogues.”

  “If I can stay the night, I’d really appreciate it,” I exclaimed.

  “Stay as long as you like. Miranda will bring some food down here soon.”

  “Thank you.”

  Just as Dr. Greyson picked up his tray, his wrist bumped up against a glass bowl and it crashed to the floor.

  Tatia gasped and sat upright in the chair. Her eyes widened as she observed her surroundings. Her gazed searched every corner of the room until finally her attention landed on me. She jumped out of the chair and backed up into a small corner.

  “Hey!” I held up my hands. “You’re okay. We’re trying to help you. Remember me?”

  Recognition crossed her face, but her body movements told a different story. “Where am I?”

  Dr. Greyson stepped forward. “I’m Dr. Greyson. Treyton brought you here so I could help you. It looks like you fell on your knee earlier and you had an open wound on your upper thigh. There’s a bit of swelling, but you’ll be okay.”

  “Where is this place?”

  “This is my home…my basement,” Dr. Greyson replied. “My wife and I live here. Her name’s Miranda. Do you remember her from before? She was talking to you when you first came. She went upstairs to cook some food.”

  Tatia looked at the floor. I could hear her frantic heartbeat from across the room. The last thing I wanted was for her to be scared. All I wanted was to help her escape the rogues.

  She glanced back up and shook her head. “I remember a little, yes.”

  “I’ll bring her in, if you’d like. I know this must be scary, but please, let me assure you that we’re not going to hurt you. And Treyton’s a good guy.”

  She nodded. “I saw you. You were a…” Her lips formed into a perfect “o” and the word—wolf—was on the tip of her tongue but she didn’t say it out loud.

  I swallowed. “Wolf shifter. I’m different, yes. I had to shift back. There wasn’t any other way to carry you out.”

  She looked around the basement again. Down at the broken glass on the floor. At the tray of medical equipment. At the blood-stained towels in a small wicker basket. She squeezed herself into the corner again.

  “Please…I don’t want to have a baby for anyone…”

  “No, no…” Dr. Greyson shook his head. “Thanks to Treyton and his team, those rogues were captured. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

  “But the mean one got away with the pregnant girl. She was helping them.” She cringed. “She attacked you with the rock.”

  I frowned. “I’m sure she had her reasons.”

  Dr. Greyson looked warily between us.

  I nodded. “Like she mentioned, the girl was pregnant. I scented it. Likely by one of the rogues. I wouldn’t hold it against her. She was probably just protecting her baby.”

  “If I had just called out to the police or something…” She shook her head. “If I had left more clues, maybe…”

  “It’s okay. You’ve done enough. It’s because of you that any of them were found. Your clues helped.”

  Her eyes widened. “You mean someone found the things I left behind.”

  I nodded. “The buttons? I found them. The piece you tore from your shirt. There were cuts on your fingers and scratches your arms. You were deliberately using the branches to scratch yourself. It also helped that I met you at the bar just days before. I already knew your scent. I was tracking you the whole time.”

  She exhaled. “Police dogs are able to scent blood, so that’s what I left behind. The day after they snatched me, I was looking out of the van window and I spotted two cops and their dog. They were giving out flyers. I never saw what was on the flyer, but I made myself believe that someone was looking for us and that someone had reported a kidnapping. That same night they took us through the forest. We were shoved into a barn and then they took us some place with no windows…it was just dark and stuffy. Felt like a prison.” She wrapped her arms around midsection. “They told us not to yell for help. They also reminded us what would happen to us if we tried to contact the authorities, but when I left those clues, I didn’t care. I just wanted my freedom back.”

  Dr. Greyson and I exchanged glances. “You’re safe here. Okay? I’m human, just like you. I’m going to see if Miranda is down with the food. I’ll be right back,” he said, and climbed the stairs to the main living area.

  Tatia came out of the corner she backed herself into. “Please, I just need some time to think. Why’d you bring me here? Why’d you help me?” Her body seemed a little more relaxed.

  “I had to.” I didn’t have any other explanation for my actions.

  “Have the cops been contacted?” she asked, shyly.