His foot came out next, making contact with her stomach, kicking the air right out of her.
“No, I will find her,” he snarled. “I gave you something and you pissed it away.”
She fought to breathe, the pain holding onto her and refusing to let her go. David moved away from her and walked to the other side of the room. “Take the animal to the warehouse and wait for me. I’ve got men who can track better than you.”
Very slowly, Vintina got back up to her feet and watched him go back to his desk, pick up the phone and say, “I need you to find my daughter.”
* * * *
Dannie sat on a log in front of the fire pit, next to Logan and across from them was Thorn at a grate over the fire, flipping some steaks. She kept looking over her shoulder toward the direction of the cabin where Katrina was being held. She kept glancing at it, and then at Thorn who seemed to be staring down at the fire.
“Okay, I can’t stand this,” Dannie said, standing up. “Are you going to get her, or am I?”
Thorn slowly looked up from the fire at her. Both eyebrows went up as if he might be shocked she spoke up or even just that she spoke to him at all. Thorn looked at Logan, then back at her before slowly getting up. He didn’t say anything, but walked toward the cabin.
“Is he always that quiet and scary?” she asked Logan.
“Most of the time,” he said and nodded. “Yep.”
She kept looking at the cabin, and started to feel a bit anxious when he didn’t return after awhile. “What’s taking them so long?”
“They might be trying to kill each other again.”
Dannie gasped and started to walk toward the cabin. Logan quickly stood up and went after her. “Whoa! Where are you going?” He took hold of her arm, stopping her.
“I’m going to see what’s going on.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Why?” She frowned up at him.
“Because we really don’t need to get between those two.”
“You’ve lost me here.”
“Trust me, Dannie. We just don’t need to get involved with whatever it is between them.”
“Once more, you’re not making any sense to me.”
He pulled her back to the fire and sat down, tugging at her to do the same, which she did, right next to him. “Okay, I’m not sure, and you can’t repeat it or I’m only going to deny it.”
“Deny what?”
“I think there might be a bit of attraction between those two.”
“No way!” Dannie huffed. “They hate each other.”
“Do they?”
“I’m going!” Katrina’s voice ended the conversation.
Dannie turned her full attention to her sister as she came to her feet. Before Logan could stop her, she went rushing toward her. They hugged. “Hey!” Katrina said, “Are you all right?”
Dannie didn’t speak, but nodded, holding onto her sister tight.
“Come on,” Thorn grumbled, pulling them apart.
Dannie gave him a quick look then turned and went back to the fire with Katrina. She didn’t sit down next to Logan who gave her a slightly pouty expression, but she ignored it. Thorn began to pull off the steaks as well as some huge potatoes that he had also grilled. One by one, he handed plates out with the food, without saying a word.
As Dannie cut into the meat, she glanced around at all of them. She noticed that Thorn watched Katrina, and big shock, her sister kept her mouth shut—at least so far.
“So what’s the bus for?” Katrina asked, breaking the silence.
Again, Thorn moved those eyes of his slowly up and Dannie held her breath waiting for the fight. Instead, he spoke very slowly and low. “We’re leaving in it after we eat, so I suggest you shut your mouth and eat. This is the only meal you’re going to eat for a while. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
Katrina narrowed her eyes on him and Dannie held her breath. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“And here we go again,” Logan groaned.
“Don’t start your shit.” Thorn pointed his knife at Katrina. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Yeah, well when it comes to you I’m never in the mood,” Katrina snapped and tossed her plate to the ground. Dannie closed her eyes with a groan. “Why don’t you just do what it is you want to do to me and get it over with?”
“I would, but then I’d have to bury the damn body.”
“Fuck you,” Katrina said.
“Fuck you!” Thorn tossed back, raising his voice a bit more than her.
“Enough!” Dannie yelled. “I can’t take any more of this crap.” She stood up, tossed her own plate to the ground, and walked away, toward the cabin.
Inside, she slammed the door closed and went over to the bed, breathing hard. Tears filled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks when Logan came in.
“Hey.” He came over to her and knelt down in front of her.
“They’re driving me nuts,” she said, her voice trembling, then sniffed, wiping at some of the tears.
“Can’t let them get to you. Block them out, like I know you have your mother.”
“They are not like my Mother,” she breathed out, taking another deep breath. “I can’t pretend that this is all normal when all I see are two people who want to kill each other. How are we supposed to figure out what to do and where to go, when I’m worried about them?” She nodded toward the door. “She has me so worried that she’s going to do something to set him off. I know he wants to get even with her because of what our mother made her do. She knows it also, so why in the world is she poking at him?”
“I don’t know. Can’t answer that one for you.”
With a loud groan, Dannie covered her face and bent over in complete frustration.
“Dannie, I know this is going to be hard for you, but you need to stop worrying about what your sister is going to do and say to Thorn and just think about us.”
That had her sitting back up, looking him in the eye. “What are you talking about?”
“I mean, my focal point is us, not them. At some point we are going to have to part ways with the two of them and be on our own.”
She felt a slight panic start to rise. “Why?”
“Because we’re being hunted. I need to protect you and not have to worry about Thorn or your sister.”
“No, no, no!” She couldn’t hold back the panic and stood up.
Logan also got up and opened his mouth to speak again, only to stop at the sound of someone knocking on his door.
She watched him turn away and hugged herself as he walked to the door, opening it. “Here.” Thorn stood in the door with something in his hand. “Nick already transferred your number to it, so we can keep in touch if we get split up.”
“Great.”
“Midnight we leave, so pack up and get a few hours of sleep in before it’s time to go. I want to be out of town and in another by tomorrow night.”
“We’ll be ready.” Logan closed the door turned and went to the counter where he put a cell phone down. “Might as well try to get a few hours sleep before we head out.”
Dannie nodded and headed for the bathroom. She changed, washed her face and when she came out, she saw Logan finish packing what little they had in the cabin. She didn’t say anything to him just went to the bed and slipped under the covers with a sigh. Her mind didn’t really want to shut down, but her body did, and as she heard Logan start to undress she felt her eyes get heavy.
Only sleep wasn’t happening yet.
Logan crawled in behind her, slid up close and his arms went around her, hot lips moving over the mark on her shoulder. That contact to her shoulder had sleeping going right out and the chills coming in.
“What are you doing?” she asked, squirming.
“What do you think I’m doing?” He kissed her shoulder, then the tip of his tongue touched the spot. Behind her, she could feel him getting hard, and one of his arms wrapped around her moved, the hand reaching under the cove
rs to her bare leg. “Relax Dannie. You’re tensing up.”
“Do you really think now is the time for this?”
He nuzzled her neck and she could hear him inhaling as well as rubbing his face into her hair. The hand touching her leg slid up, right between her legs to cup her mound. That had her sucking air into her lungs and stiffening up.
“When the moment comes, then it’s the right time,” he growled low in her ear. “And we have a moment here.”
That hand slipped inside her panties and Dannie jumped. He rubbed her, teased her with his fingers, and kissed and sucked at her shoulder. She liked him kissing her mark, but she didn’t know why and didn’t understand why every time he did it gave her the chills and had her squirming, her body starting to feel warm, especially down where he was touching her now.
“Why—why...”
He slipped two fingers into her, stealing her thought away for a moment. “Saying something?” he purred, moving those fingers in and out slowly.
“Why, um, why do I get these strange...” Those fingers moved faster. “You’re making thinking hard to do.”
“Good. You need to stop thinking.” Another suck to her shoulder and she moaned.
Reaching down, grabbing hold of his wrist, she stopped him from moving more. “Why do I get these strange feelings when you touch my shoulder like that?”
“My mark is here.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that when others see it they know you are my mate.”
“But why do I get these chills when you touch it?”
“Because it’s on this nerve that I guess you can say heightens the pleasure. When I bite it, during our orgasm, yours gets pushed even higher.” Guess to prove his point he gave the spot a nip and she gasped. “See.” Logan rolled Dannie over to her back, then he came up over her, and pulled her panties down her legs. Coming down on top of her, his hips moving to part her legs, Logan kissed her and started to move his hand once more against her sex. Within seconds, she was powerless to stop anything.
Right when she thought she might lose it, his hand stopped and he slowly entered her. It felt so different from the last time they did this. She didn’t know if it was because he had already got her wound up or not, but the steady motion of his hips, the steady stroking inside her, had her grabbing hold of his arms tight, even digging her nails into his skin.
Dannie still didn’t understand how in such a short time she could feel so differently toward him, or how she could be enjoying his touch so quickly, but she was. The build up inside her was enough to have her moaning and sucking air in loudly with each thrust.
“You feel so good,” he breathed out, the pace picking up. He kissed her again, deeper, his hips moved faster, his cock stroking inside her, building up the pressure until she knew she couldn’t take it anymore. Mere seconds before her orgasm hit, Logan released her mouth and bit her hard on the shoulder. She screamed, tightened her arms and legs around him, and held on while her body contracted around him. He moaned against her shoulder, but didn’t let go. A few more hard thrusts and Logan stilled inside her as well.
How long they stayed like that before he released her, she didn’t know. Once he rolled from her and pulled her close, the only thing Dannie could do was close her eyes. She was so drained that there would be no staying awake to ask any more questions.
* * * *
“Hey, time to get up.”
Dannie struggled to open her eyes and refocus them. Blinking several times, she looked up at Logan’s smiling face. “What time is it?”
“About midnight. Time to go.”
Still not sure what was going on, she looked around the cabin. The cooler that had been in the kitchen part of the space was gone and a set of clothes were folded on the table next to the door. Siting up slowly, she almost pulled the covers back but then remembered that she didn’t have much on below the waist.
“Can I take a shower?” she asked.
“Yeah, just make it fast and don’t do the hair right now. Don’t have time to dry it.”
With a nod, Dannie moved off the bed and headed for the bathroom. Starting the water, she yawned and looked around again. Everything that was left in the bathroom was now gone. Pulling her hair up, she stepped into the shower and washed quickly. With a towel around her body, she left the bathroom and dressed while Logan was gone. When he came back in, she was folding the towel and putting it on the table. He had a set of shoes in his hand.
“Thorn thinks these might fit you.” He handed them to her. She took them and sat down on the bed to put them on. Perfect. “Okay, let’s get moving.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, taking his hand and walking with him out of the cabin.
“No idea. Thorn has a plan, but he wants to be out of here in case some of your mother’s men come looking for us. We don’t want this place to be discovered.”
A black van was parked out front. Thorn stood at the back of it with the doors opened. Logan took Dannie up to the back. Inside, Katrina sat on a low seat looking not too happy. Dannie got in and took a low seat right next to her. She smiled at her sister when the doors closed, but Katrina didn’t smile back.
“You okay?” Dannie asked her.
“I’ll be better once I’m away from him,” Katrina smarted back.
“Any idea where we’re going?”
“Nope. Mongrel there won’t say shit to me.”
The guys got into the front, Thorn behind the wheel. Logan looked over his shoulder at Dannie and smiled. She smiled back at him, and then they were off.
They drove forever, it seemed, and the only time they stopped was for gas. Those were the only times that they could use the bathroom. Thorn said something low to Katrina right before letting her go to the bathroom the first time. What it was, Katrina didn’t say, but whatever it might’ve been kept her from running away. They didn’t even stop for food. Thorn had that covered as well and had packed stuff they could eat along the way. It was late at night when he stopped and that just happened to be in another spot covered by thick trees.
Dannie was more than happy to be out of the van and stretching. Two small tents were pitched, and from the look on Katrina’s face, Dannie knew that tonight was going to be the night her sister made a big move.
“You feel that?” Logan asked Thorn. “It’s the same feeling I had a couple of years ago in the woods right before we were taken.”
“Yeah, I also feel it. Someone’s tracking us.”
“How can anyone track us, if they don’t know where we’re at?” Dannie asked.
Thorn turned those cold eyes on her. “These guys are good at tracking us. Very good.”
“I don’t understand?”
“What he means is that these guys have only one purpose—to find shifters and they’re damn good at tracking us. Shifter trackers could be in any woods, in any community. These people are always looking for us. Therefore, no place can be safe for us, except for Ponca. Occasionally, we get lucky and find woods that are safe—ones that haven’t been infiltrated yet. Logan turned back to Thorn. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea to camp here tonight.”
“Maybe.” Thorn looked around the camp, opened his mouth to say something else, only to stop because of the sound of a bullet barely missing them. “Get down!” he yelled.
Gunfire shot out all around them. Dannie dropped and screamed, covering her ears. Logan moved to her, covering her body with his own. Glancing up she saw her sister make her move. Katrina had been on the ground, but not for long. She got up and took off running away. Logan saw her as she ran.
“Thorn! She’s running.” Logan yelled.
Thorn snarled, then also got up. “We’ve got to move, now!”
Logan nodded, took hold of Dannie by the hand, and jerked her up to her feet. The three started running in the opposite direction of the shooters, Logan tugging hard on Dannie’s arm, guns firing all around them.
* * * *
The plan had
been to camp for the night and get a few hours of sleep, not to have to fight. However, Thorn knew it was only a matter of time before they would be found out. He knew that bitch would have someone looking for them; he just didn’t think that those pricks would come shooting at them. Hell, didn’t she want her daughters alive, or was it a matter of killing them all now?
So now instead of sitting by a fire and resting, he was deep in the woods running as gunfire shot out all around him and the others. Running away from the fight wasn’t what he was really doing. Nope. Instead, he was running after Katrina who decided to run once the shooting started. That shouldn’t have surprised him either, yet for some strange reason it did.
“Thorn!” Logan yelled out from somewhere else deep in the woods. “She isn’t going to be able to keep up.”
“Then fight!” Thorn yelled back. “I’m going to get the other one.”
“Watch your back.”
Thorn let go of himself and changed as he ran. The clothes upon his back ripped away as his body took on the form of a large black and brutal animal upon two very large legs and feet. He yelled once as the bones broke and reformed. Hair covered every inch of his now naked body and once he was totally wolf he bent down and ran on all fours. The speed in which he ran made the trees blur.
Besides picking up her scent, he also smelled the scent of the others—men that the bitch sent to kill them all, no doubt. In his wolf form, not only did he see everything in red but his sense of smell was much, much sharper. He knew who were male, female, Katrina, and others. For a small second he wondered about what might happen to him once he came upon her in this form. Thorn never broke out in his full wolf form very often, only because he couldn’t trust himself. When one of the males he had scented came out from behind a tree the question of why was answered.
He pounced upon the human, closing his large mouth over the poor bastard’s head and pulled it right off with a nasty snarling sound. Two more came out and Thorn stood up on his back legs. The height of his wolf outdid the humans by at least five feet or more. Thorn snarled at them, then lunged, taking one down and biting him on the neck, then tackling the other as he ran away. More humans ran the guy down, stomping on his head and Thorn once more picked up speed. A howl off in the distance had him skidding to a stop and standing up once more. That howl belonged to Logan.
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