I had no idea, but there wasn’t time for an interrogation, because I heard the sound of footsteps tromping behind us and they were edging ever closer by the second.
As I glanced over the man’s shoulder to see who was charging toward us, my heart dropped into my stomach with a wave of terror. Thom and three guards were pounding their boots to the dirt as they belligerently ran in my direction.
I glanced at the river. Part of me wondered if I was better off jumping in and plunging my head under the water, submerging myself intentionally until all the breath left my body. Would it be better than going back with Thom as his slave?
There was a furious expression on Thom’s face and his eyes sparked with anger. His jaw was visibly clenched, and he had balled his hands into fists. Those fists were weapons that I wanted to stay clear of because I knew of their ability to inflict harm.
“There you are,” Thom huffed.
“I fell into the river,” I blurted out.
Thom’s guards looked more dangerous than ever. They looked as if they were hunting to kill.
I screamed. The man who had been crouching down beside me immediately stood up and went into defensive mode.
I watched as jet-black fur began to pop and prickle all over his body. It took me several seconds to realize what he was doing. He was a shifter too: an enormous black bear.
His eyes turned as black as coal and he bared his teeth threateningly. Now the hunters became the hunted. I was still propped up against the side of the pine tree, unable to move from the mixture of shock and weakness from my plunge into the river.
I didn’t know how to react as my mind raced a million miles a minute. Was he going to kill me? It didn’t appear that was going to be the case. He turned his gigantic back to me, facing in the direction of Thom and his guards.
His teeth were razor sharp as he growled aggressively at Thom. He was on his hind legs, looming at several feet above them.
Thom stumbled backwards and fell over a log, losing his balance as he dropped into the dirt, still wet from the lingering puddles left after the rain. Thom was caked in mud and grime. His eyes were wide and full of fear. He was muttering something inaudible under his breath as if he were frightened. His body language was full of dread as he continued to try and maneuver himself back to a standing, protected position.
“Please…don’t…” Thom trailed off in a stutter.
His arms and hands were shielded protectively over his head and face. He winced as he tried to duck and dodge swift blows from the paw of the man-turned-bear.
The bear roared. The bellow echoed through the woodlands and bounced off the trees. The bear’s voice was so violent that it made me cower, and I wasn’t even the one being backed into a corner. I tucked my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs with the blanket still cloaked over the top of my body like a mushroom cap.
The bear lunged closer to Thom and his guards, who were starting to scatter like mice as they attempted to scurry through the woods and leave Thom behind.
“Okay,” Thom squeaked.
There were tears shimmering in his eyes that I was certain would brim over and spill down his cheeks. “You win. I won’t hurt her. Just please. Don’t kill me.” Thom was trying to bargain with the bear, and I wasn’t sure if his reasoning would be enough to spare his life.
I just sat there as still as a statue, trying to blend in with nature and stay off the radar. If I could have made myself disappear in that moment, I would have.
I tried to summon my wings again, but my condition hadn’t improved enough to do the trick. The bear continued to stalk circles around Thom. Thom was whimpering and crouched into a protective ball. I had never seen him in such a state of panic before.
The guards had no choice but to back off. They were breathing hard and giving the bear hostile glares, but they wouldn’t approach it any closer.
The bear turned its head and glanced at me over its shoulder. Its black snout was sniffing the air as if expecting the wind to shift and bring a new outcome to this situation with it.
I met the bear’s gaze and there was a reflection of kindness and passion shimmering there that filled me with a sense of calm I hadn’t been expecting. In that moment, I knew that the bear was not going to harm me.
It let out another roar and began jogging towards Thom and his guards.
“Shit,” Thom wailed. “Run for your lives.”
The last thing I saw was the back of Thom’s head as he dashed away in a frenzy with his guards in tow. I was safe for the time being, but I wouldn’t hold my breath that someone as stubborn and prideful as Thom wouldn’t come searching for me again later.
Once Thom and the others were out of sight, the bear shifted back to the handsome and muscular man with the slick black hair.
He began walking, approaching me with a twinkle glimmering in his ocean-blue eyes. I felt a current of spontaneous attraction for him that I couldn’t explain. It was like a pull of chemistry that was binding us together.
He stood over me and extended his hand. I reached up for it without thinking.
“Come on,” he told me as he helped me to my feet.
My knees buckled but I managed to regain balance. “Sorry,” I chuckled sheepishly. “I’m still a little wobbly.”
“Take your time,” he said in a patient and soothing voice.
“Thanks.” I gave him a friendly smile. “Also, thanks for saving me from…them.”
“No problem at all.” He looked humble. “It’s my job to make sure no monsters enter these woods. Sometimes they sneak through, but they don’t stay for long.”
A slight dimple emerged in his left cheek when he gave me a handsome smile. My heart fluttered.
As soon as I tried to stand up on my full weight, I heard the crack and crunch sound that I had dreaded and feared for my entire life.
“Oh no!” I cried and glanced down. I fell to the ground once again in a heap of despair.
My legs were broken. I couldn’t walk. The most beloved part of my body had been injured and totally compromised. I wasn’t sure whether it had happened in the fall down the embankment or whether it had been the river and the current itself that had taken me down.
I couldn’t suppress the sobs, but I didn’t care anymore, about anything really, except for my hurt legs.
“Don’t worry,” the man said in a gentle whisper. He cupped his hand over my shoulder. He appeared sympathetic. “I can carry you.”
I lifted my chin and met his gaze. I hated to be a burden to him, but I had no choice but to take his offering. I wasn’t going to be able to make it ten feet in this condition. If I didn’t go with him, Thom would be back. He was probably hiding behind a tree just waiting for me to be alone again so he could pounce. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to protect my body, even the uninjured parts of it.
I gave him a subtle nod. “Okay, if you don’t mind carrying me?”
“Of course not.” The man gave me a warm smile and scooped me up in his arms, but his demeanor quickly shifted into paranoia once again. “We have to hurry. We can’t stay here any longer.”
I completely agreed with him. I snaked my arms around his neck as he jogged with me in his arms through the woods. I ducked my head down and never looked back.
19
Blaze
I moved as swiftly through the forest as I could, back in the direction of the bunker. The river ran alongside the bunker, but I had drifted significantly farther away than I had initially realized while I was attempting to fish. That all changed in an instant when the black swan shifter crashed into my life, literally like a hurricane.
I suddenly remembered that in the tussle and frenzy of the attempted ambush by the Master and guards in the woods, I had completely forgotten about my fishing gear.
Oh, well. I would just have to go back for it later, unless that Master and his guards snatched it. In that case, I would be fuming mad, but we had extra equipment down in the supply room of the bu
nker. I couldn’t focus on that problem right now.
I had a bigger worry to deal with. I glanced down at the girl, who was still wrapped in my arms with a look of terror in her eyes.
“My name is Blaze,” I panted. “What’s yours?”
I figured we might as well learn each other’s names before we made it back to the bunker.
There was a flicker of hesitancy in her eyes as she met my gaze. She paused briefly. “Sophia.”
“Your name is Sophia?” I asked.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“That’s pretty,” I told her.
Her cheeks blushed a rosy pink and she looked down at her hands. “Thank you.”
I continued to run as fast as I could, holding her as tightly as I could. “If you feel like you’re slipping at any point, just tell me.”
It was hard for me to gauge how much control I had over her body in my arms, but I was struggling against the weight. She was petite and slender, but it was a lot to carry and run at the same time.
“Okay,” she said and gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”
“For what?” I asked and heaved a deep breath. I felt the saturation of both rain and sweat as it clung to my shirtless back.
“For getting you mixed up in this mess…” she trailed off and her voice cracked. Her eyes were red and bloodshot as if she was on the brink of crying.
“None of this is your fault,” I reassured her. “Those men were after you. I was just glad to be in the right place at the right time to protect you.”
Sophia exhaled a heavy sigh of relief. “Me too. You have no idea.”
“I do have some idea,” I told her. “I used to be a slave too.”
Sophia gave me a puzzled glance. “You were?”
“Yes,” I told her with a nod.
She seemed to doubt my declaration. “You escaped?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Where are we going?” she asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking?” There was at hint of curiosity in her voice.
“The bunker,” I told her.
“The bunker?”
I knew she wanted me to elaborate, but I was too wary. I needed to discuss the matter at hand with my friends back at the bunker.
“Yes,” I told her and then went silent.
Much to my relief, she took the hint. I glanced down at her after a few minutes. She was still staring at her hands cradled in her lap. She looked somewhat crestfallen.
“We’re almost there,” I told her.
She looked at the horizon mapped out in front of us. “Okay.”
The bunker was underground, but there was a door covered by ivy and overgrowth that kept it hidden from the rest of the world. Only the people who lived in the bunker knew where it was.
A few minutes later, as we approached it, I set her down gently next to a large pine tree. I walked around in a small circle for several seconds in order to catch my breath.
Sophia was inspecting her broken leg with gut-wrenching despair. I wanted to encourage her that not all hope was lost, but I had a few items to cross off of my to-do list first.
“Just stay there for a few seconds,” I told her and planted a hand on my hip as I continued to walk around.
I ran a hand through my black hair. I noticed that she was staring at my naked chest. It didn’t make me feel exposed. It made the blood rush to the flesh between my legs that pulsed with desire that I was foolishly feeling in that moment. I couldn’t afford to take the risk of letting my guard down.
“It’s not like I can go anywhere,” Sophia said. She gave me an adorable yet pitiful smile that made my heart melt. There was something pure about her that I couldn’t ignore. On the surface at least, she appeared genuine, and I tried to take a deep breath and trust my instinct to bring her here.
“I need you to do something for me,” I told her.
She wrinkled her forehead. “What?”
“Can you…can you close your eyes for me?” I was pacing now, shifting my weight from one foot to the next.
Sophia appeared calm, other than the fact that her leg was broken. She didn’t seem to be the least bit fazed by my hyper energy. I wasn’t sure how to process that, or whether or not I should be skeptical about her behavior. I decided that I was just overthinking things and that I should try to calm down and be rational.
Now, the expression on Sophia’s face changed. The color drained from her face. She had a look of dread mixed with panic swimming in her wide eyes, but she was still enticingly beautiful. Part of me wished that she would summon her wings again. She was so gorgeous with her wings, even though they were black and had been matted and waterlogged before. There was something beautiful about a person who was broken, even if they couldn’t see themselves that way.
“Why do you want me to close my eyes?” she asked in a tone dripping with paranoia.
“Well,” I began with a chuckle and licked my lips. “We are at the bunker.”
Sophia’s eyes combed across the landscape and then she frowned. “I don’t see any bunker here.”
“The entrance is hidden,” I explained. “Since you are not a resident of the bunker, I need you to close your eyes while I open the door. Then I’m going to come back and pick you up. I’m going to bring you into the stairwell from there and then I’m going to seal the door shut again behind us.”
I was hoping that she would appreciate my honesty and oblige me. To my relief, she said okay. She took a deep breath. “Just know, I can protect myself if you try anything funny.”
There was a somber tone in her voice. I smiled. “I have no doubt about it,” I said.
I began to walk backwards so that I could keep my gaze locked in on her. If she opened her eyes again, even for an instant, I’d be the first to notice.
When I arrived at the bunker door, I swung it open and held it in place with a little rock that we always used for that purpose. I jogged back to Sophia’s side.
“Keep your eyes closed,” I told her. “I’m going to pick you up now.”
I noticed how her muscles visibly tensed, but she nodded her head. “Okay. I’m ready.”
I scooped her back up into my arms and took her inside. I placed her gently on the ground again.
“Sorry,” I apologized. “I know the concrete floor is cold, but I can’t bring you inside just yet.”
“Aren’t we already inside?” Sophia asked as she gazed at the staircase leading down into the main quarters of the bunker. Her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.
“Not all the way.” I shook my head.
I closed the door behind us just as I had told her in advance that I was going to do. It was never a good idea to leave the bunker door open for too long. There were too many threats in the outside world that we didn’t want to bring into our safe haven. I was a man of my word and I wasn’t going to do anything to compromise her trust in me.
“You need to wait right here,” I told her, knowing that her leg was too injured for her to maneuver down the stairs. I felt confident that she would stay put.
“Where are you going?” Her eyes looked panicked again.
“I have to go get something,” I told her.
“Okay.” Sophia appeared cautious. “How long will you be gone?”
“Not long,” I said. I hated that I had to be so ambiguous, but there were other lives at stake here. “I promise. Just stay right here.”
My heart was pounding with ferocious anxiety as I jogged down the stairs in an attempt to fetch my friends Cameron, James, and Ayden. I needed them to see Sophia for themselves. I needed their advice on what to do next. I couldn’t make a decision this enormous by myself.
I was grateful when I found them in the kitchen. “There you are,” I said, out of breath.
“Are you already back from fishing?” Ayden asked with surprise.
“Yes,” I said.
“Then where is our dinner?” James asked playfully.
“Forget about the dinner.” I waved my hand di
smissively. “I need to show you something.”
The guys gave each other serious glances and then looked back to me. “What is it?”
“Just follow me up to the staircase landing,” I told them.
They hesitated a moment or two and then finally agreed. We raced back up the stairs and as soon as they laid eyes on Sophia, they stopped dead in their tracks, mouths hanging open in sheer shock.
“Who is she?” Cameron asked. His eyes were twinkling with both trepidation and awe.
“She says her name is Sophia,” I said. “She fell into the river and broke her leg.”
“What is she doing here?” James frowned and scratched his head. “Why did you bring her here?”
“She needs our help,” I said somewhat defensively. “I made her close her eyes while I opened the bunker door if that’s what you are worried about.”
My friends exchanged a look of doom with one another.
Sophia apparently caught onto their reluctance to welcome her with open arms. That’s when I realized that we were talking about her in the third person while she was right there with us.
“Please,” she begged. “I need help. My Master’s name is Thom. He and his guards are searching the woods for me right now. There was a violent wind and one of our carriages got knocked on its side. I was standing right next to it. In order to avoid being crushed, I moved to the side and didn’t realize I was so close to the cliff. I tumbled below and fell into the river. That’s when Blaze here saw me and jumped in the water to save me.”
Sophia’s words were heartwarming, a tale of heroism that was aimed at me, but I didn’t feel like I deserved it. Her eyes darted between us, pleading wordlessly for mercy and compassion.
“What were you and your Master doing up here in the mountains?” James asked, pitching a curious eyebrow.
“Thom’s castle was destroyed,” Sophia said. “He took his favorite slaves and guards and forced us to follow him. We took horse carriages into the woods.”
Cameron and Ayden exchanged a knowing look with one another. “Uprisings,” Ayden said as if he believed what Sophia was saying to be true.
Cameron gave him a nod of approval. He pointed to Sophia’s leg. “That looks pretty bad.”
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