“And if they don’t?”
Tyler’s companions all shivered at the darkness in the eyes he turned toward them. “Then I take her back.”
“Tyler, you can’t just kill the guards if they don’t let her out!” Mina looked horrified.
“Mina! Maddy!”
Everyone looked up at the sound of a man’s voice calling to the women. They grinned and waved at the tall blond man who looked to be in his early thirties. His light brown eyes took in Tyler and John.
“Vic!” Both girls gave him hugs.
He grinned and set them down. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“We need to ask a favour of you.” Mina was doing the eye fluttering trick women liked to pull on men and Vic looked completely in love with it.
“What can I do for you?”
“Vic, these are our friends, Tyler and John.”
Vic nodded. “John I’ve met before. You’re looking well, man.”
John grinned and Tyler nodded his greeting. His dark brown eyes locked with Vic’s lighter brown ones.
“There’s been a misunderstanding and we think a member of our pack was put in your ‘camp’.” Tyler growled the last word.
“If he’s human, then there’s no misunderstanding. This is where they go.”
“She is human, but she’s no rogue. She just crossed over and has no idea about Braw.”
Vic took a deep breath. “Little brunette with amazing eyes?”
Mina frowned and Tyler nodded.
“Listen, I’d love to help you out, but once they go in, they don’t come out.”
They all turned to look at the twenty foot fence with a thorny top rail. Even if someone managed to climb to the top, there was no getting over. From this close, it was impossible to tell how big the enclosure was. It stretched out as far as they could see in both directions.
“Rainen knows of this place?” Tyler frowned.
“Of course.”
“I highly doubt it.” He met Vic’s gaze once again. “Considering her mate is human, I’d say she might have some objections to this.”
Vic grunted. “That’s just a rumor. Rainen would never be mated to the enemy.”
Tyler turned and nodded to John. “I’ll meet you in Growlen.”
John’s eyes widened, but he nodded. “Stay safe.”
“Stay safe.” Tyler turned to the sisters. “Thanks for your help.”
Both frowned.
Tyler spun, his fist connecting with Vic’s jaw before he sprinted toward the gate. The second guard yelled a warning which cut off in a whoosh of air as Tyler’s shoulder collided with his abdomen.
Tyler jumped and pulled himself up onto the roof of the small hut stationed by the gate. Cries of alarm and warning shouts echoed through the air. Tyler looked down and saw three more guards running toward him. He unrolled his blanket, climbed the rest of the rails using the almost non-existent spaces between them, then swung the blanket so that it covered the thorns. He noticed some of them managed to tear through and he gritted his teeth as he hauled himself over.
“Where’s the key?”
“Stop him!”
“Halt!”
Tyler ignored the shouts and managed to hear John mumble something along the lines of ‘well, I guess I’ll be off, then’ before he shifted and loped off. He chuckled at the bewildered looks on the guards’ faces as he tipped his head in farewell, shifted, and bolted deeper into the enclosure. He ran until he could no longer hear the men. He wasn’t scared that they might come after him. They’d be daft to come in after him even if they were armed. Five guards against the moons knew how many rogues… it was suicide. He grunted. And yet, here he was. He reached down and made sure his dagger was loose in its scabbard. Now, he thought to himself, if I was a scared human girl, where would I be hiding?
His eyes turned up into the trees.
“Hey, you!”
Tyler turned, making sure his pack covered his dagger. He thought quickly and brought every saying he’d heard his Aunt and other humans he’d heard say come to mind.
“Oh, thank god!” he exclaimed, glad he managed to give the words his Aunt’s accent. She always said that Majs tended to sound Irish and whatever that meant, he didn’t think it was a good thing at this point in time. “I’m looking for my wife! Please, tell me you’ve seen her!”
The man, he couldn’t have been much older than Tyler, ran a hand through his black hair, frowning. “Ah, I guess that depends.”
“What’s wrong?”
The man seemed to shake himself mentally. “Never mind. I thought you were one of them.”
Tyler let his jaw drop. “Why the hell would you think that?” He prayed to the moons the man wouldn’t ask to see behind his ears. The sight of his Maj mark would be a sure giveaway he was lying.
“Just the clothes and the pack. They don’t let us keep those.” He shrugged again. “So, your wife, eh? What’s she look like?”
“They just brought her in. She’s about this tall, long dark brown hair, grey green eyes… her name’s Heidi.” Tyler held out his hand. “I’m Tyler, by the way.”
“Nathan.” He smiled and shook hands. “How long ago did you cross?”
“A month ago. Me and Heidi were taking a walk and the next thing we knew, we were here. What the hell is this place?”
Nathan grinned. “Damned if I know, but it sucks. Come on, we’ll head over to the camp. Maybe someone found your wife wandering around.”
Tyler took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face. “Thank you so much!”
It took a few minutes of making a trail through the dense brush, but soon the sounds of life reached his ears.
“Hey, Garry!”
“What’s up, Nathan?”
“They just dumped another one. Garry, this is Tyler. Him and his wife crossed over about a month ago.”
A man with greying brown curls and dark eyes nodded to them.
“They took my wife and separated us.” Tyler clenched his jaw and swallowed hard, hoping he looked more devastated than ready to kill. “Did anyone find her? Her name’s Heidi.”
“Tyler!” Heidi’s yell rose an octave as she ran out of the tent and ran at him, her hair streaming behind her.
“Thank god!” Tyler caught her in his arms and almost fell over with the force of her hug. He brought his face down to her neck. “They think I’m human and you’re my wife,” he mumbled softly so no one would hear.
She gave a small nod of her head and looked up at him. His heart clenched at the tears running down her face.
“Shush, love, it will be alright.” He noticed everyone was watching. “You’re not hurt?” He silently swore as the last sentence came out sounding Irish. She shook her head and he breathed a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes. “We have to get out of here.”
Nathan grunted. “Good luck with that. Trust me, we’ve all tried.”
The cry of a young child made Tyler frown. “They put little ones in here?” He couldn’t disguise his accent as the anger exploded from him. A few of the men and women were starting to frown. Heidi gripped his hand and plastered herself to his side. He pulled her close.
“You’re sure you’re alright?” He took her face in his hands and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“I… I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
He flashed her a crooked grin. “You’re stuck with me for a bit yet, my lovely wife.” He kissed her softly, his lips brushing lightly against hers. He meant to do it quickly; a man who’d just found his mate in a strange world would kiss her, yeah? What he hadn’t planned on was her little gasp of surprise, or the way she hesitantly ran her fingers through his hair until they were laced behind his head. He moved to get better access to her mouth and her breath hitched which caused his heart to jump. He forgot about the people watching. His tongue met hers and his groan vibrated through both of them.
Someone cleared their throat and Tyler pulled back slowly, his forehead still against hers.
<
br /> “Sorry,” he whispered. He closed his eyes as she played with his hair.
“You wouldn’t be a very good husband of you hadn’t,” she whispered back. She hugged him tightly.
Tyler looked over her head to Garry. “I’m assuming you’ve walked the perimeter line?”
Garry nodded. “There’re no weak spots in this blasted fence and no trees close enough to try and jump over without catching on those thorns.”
“Yeah, those thorns are something else.” He glanced down to his clothes which were a bit worse for wear since his climb over the fence.
“I thought you said you’d been captured.” Nathan was frowning.
“Actually, I never specified how I got in here.” He ran his teeth over his bottom lip as he thought. “Well, we can’t get the children over those thorns. Have you tried digging?”
“Wait…” Garry eyes were saucers in his head. “You climbed in here? On purpose? Why the hell would you do that?”
“I came for Heidi and now that I have her, I’ve got to think on how we’ll get out again.”
A ruckus sounded behind them and everyone turned to see who or what was going to be coming out of the woods.
“There he is! All humans who wish to live, get back in your tents!” Vic glared at Tyler. “You damn near broke my jaw, you bastard!”
“You’re lucky I didn’t kill you for putting her in here.”
If any of the humans had thought of hiding, their curiosity now had the best of them and they gaped at Tyler.
“She’s human!” Vic said the word like it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“And if I gave a damn about that, I’d have left her here!” Tyler pulled his dagger and handed it to Heidi. “I don’t care if they’re Maj or human, Heidi. If anyone tries to take you, you cut them.” He dropped his pack to the ground and stepped forward.
“You’re willing to die for her?”
“I’m willing to die for them. This is wrong! By the moons, you’ve put little ones in here! If they’re rogues, then fine, but most of these just had the misfortune to cross over.”
“They’re human,” repeated Vic, as though this was enough of an explanation.
“Heidi, you remember what I said?” He looked back to her when she didn’t answer. She looked so scared.
“Tyler?” Her grey green eyes met his. “Thank you, for trying to help me.” She bent down, took the dagger he’d given her out from under her pant leg, and tossed his back to him. “Be careful, please.” She swallowed hard and crouched down in a defensive pose.
He nodded and turned back to Vic. “You don’t want to do this.”
“It’s five against one, Tyler. Do you really think you can win? I’ll make you a deal. Come back out with us and I’ll let you visit her every other day. Through the gate, of course.”
“How about I make you a deal, Vic. Let all of us go and when I get out, I won’t go to Rainen to tell her what you’re doing here.”
The guards all gave a collective grunt. Vic’s expression went from amused to unsure. Heidi knew from having seen it that Tyler had just gotten that look in his eyes; the one that made her slightly afraid of him.
Tyler shifted and the humans who hadn’t caught on yet gasped at the sight of the large grey wolf now standing between them and the guards.
“Is he protecting us?” one woman whispered.
He launched himself at Vic with no warning. Heidi screamed as four other dogs jumped on top of them.
“Tyler!”
A dog yelped and tears flooded Heidi’s eyes. Another whine pierced the air. This was quickly followed by a bellow of rage. A coyote fell backward through the air, its throat slit. Tyler’s thick frame emerged from the chaos. He spun and drove his shoulder into a black wolf. A fox clamped its teeth around his forearm.
Tyler’s eyes met Heidi’s as he was dragged back under. He clenched his teeth to keep from crying out as the fox’s teeth ripped through the skin.
Heidi screamed something he couldn’t hear under all the growling. He shifted and managed to clamp his jaws around someone’s leg. Whoever had a hold of his leg let go and he was able to maneuver enough to clamp his jaws around Vic’s throat. He pulled back with a few jerky shakes of his head and felt the blood fill his mouth. Someone else screamed in pain and the coyote he was holding onto managed to free himself and run.
Tyler shifted back, searching for his dagger. He couldn’t let any of them get back to the gates. He couldn’t stop the whine as he turned into his wolf. He pushed himself forward, chasing after the coyote. The guard glanced backward over his shoulder and tried to pick up speed as the wolf caught up to him. Tyler slammed into him with his shoulder, sending both of them crashing to the ground. He slipped his hand into his pocket, pulled out the pocket knife he’d gotten from his aunt and uncle, and stabbed it into the man’s throat.
Tyler fell onto his back and tried to catch his breath. Bloody hell, was Heidi alright? He stumbled to his feet and ran back toward the camp, dragging his right leg. His heart dropped at the sight of Heidi lying on her back, covered in blood.
“Heidi!”
A few of the people gathered around her cried out at the sight of him. He ignored them and pulled her onto his lap.
“Heidi… come on, Heidi. Speak to me.” He brushed the hair out of her face and placed his lips softly against her forehead. He swallowed hard. “Heidi, please.”
His heart jumped at the feel of her fingers on his cheek. “Thank the moons,” he whispered. Heidi threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. Her sobs raked through her.
“Shush, now. It’s alright. I’m here.”
“I thought you were dead!”
He pulled back and smiled at her. “I’m much harder to get rid of than that.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks. “What about you? Where are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “I’m ok. Just my head hurts where he hit me.”
He growled. “Who hit you? Whose blood is this?”
“I don’t know who. One of the coyotes. He was on top of you… They were all on top of you.” Her voice hitched in her throat as another sob shook her. “I jumped on him and stabbed as hard as I could. When he jerked back his head hit mine…”
Tyler stared at her, speechless.
She frowned. “Are you mad?”
He blinked. “No.” A smiled tugged at his lips until he was grinning. “By the moons, why would I be angry? On the contrary.” He bent and kissed the tip of her nose. “I am very proud of you. You handled yourself very well.”
She blushed and he thought it might have been the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. Her hand touched one of the bites on his arm and he tried not to flinch.
“Oh, my god, I’m so sorry. You’re hurt.” Heidi scrambled off of him, her eyes wide as she took in all of the damage. “I… I need water.” She looked from one person to another. Everyone refused to meet her gaze.
“He saved you!” Heidi’s anger started to swell in the pit of her stomach. “He took on five of his own kind because he feels you don’t deserve to live like this!”
“He’s still one of them,” mumbled one of them men.
“And now you sound just like the head guard, don’t you?” Nathan glanced down to Tyler who was lying on his back. “Hey, buddy, are you gonna make it?”
Tyler grunted. “Like I told Heidi… It takes more than that to get rid of me. I could use a pail of water and some bandages if you have any.”
Nathan nodded and went to fetch the things he needed.
“Heidi, can you search through my pack and find my bag of herbs, please.” He closed his eyes and listened to her move around. “How many of you are here?”
“Twenty-seven.”
Tyler recognized Garry’s voice.
“Can you all travel?”
“We don’t have anywhere to go.”
Tyler cracked open an eye and looked around. His side was starting to ache, the bite on his forearm was bleeding, and his leg was
going to hurt for a while where the dagger had stabbed into his calf. Everything else was minor. Scrapes, bruises, small cuts and scratches. He’d gotten away lucky. Everyone was looking at him with a combination of fear and awe. He couldn’t blame them. Heidi moved into his field of vision and he smiled sadly.
“I’m sorry, Heidi.”
“What? Why would you be sorry?”
“For leaving you at the creek. I should have worried about the fire after you were done.”
“Tyler, you came for me. I don’t know how you got in here, but you did, and you killed five shifters to protect me. You don’t have to say sorry.”
“Four.”
“What?”
“I killed four. You killed the last one.” He grinned and pulled her down so he could kiss her forehead. Nathan arrived with the water and bandages.
“Garry?” Tyler looked around for the man. “Get everyone to pack only what they can carry.”
“But…”
“Do you want to stay here?”
Garry frowned. “No.”
“I have a plan, don’t worry. Just get things ready to go while I get put back together.”
Garry nodded and started to give out orders. Tyler pulled the torn tunic over his head and heard Heidi gasp. She stood before him, her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide.”
“It’s just a couple of scratches…” He stopped when he realized she was looking at the scar that ran in a crooked diagonal from his shoulder to his hip. He waved away her concern. “It’s an old injury.” He turned. “How’s my back?”
“A few scratches…” She took the cloth from him and gently cleaned the cuts. Once he was bandaged and in clean clothes, she gazed at him as he chatted with Nathan. Tyler caught her look.
“What’s wrong?”
“I… I just can’t believe you came for me.” A tear slipped down her face and he wiped it with his thumb.
“You thought I’d just leave you.” It wasn’t a question. His chest hurt at her nod. “Heidi… Heidi, look at me.” He tilted her face up with his fingers. “I promised I’d take care of you. I meant it. Until I can find a way to get you home, you’re mine to watch over.”
Heidi gazed up into his deep brown eyes and watched as the hard look melted into something softer. Her heart skipped.
Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) Page 6