by Rita Herron
Chapter Two
Brack scanned the woods for the woman’s attacker, but the swish of trees and slight tremor of the earth below his feet told him that he had frightened off the creature. He slowly knelt to check the woman’s pulse, pushed her long, curly hair aside, then pressed two fingers to her neck. Her skin still felt warm, and a slight pulse throbbed in her throat. Thank God.
But he had to get her help. She was bleeding and would die if he didn’t hurry.
He reached inside his pocket to call 911, but his cell phone showed no service. Damn. Knowing he had to get her out of the elements, he gently eased her to her side, carefully bracing her against his arm to support her. Her face was covered in snow, her complexion ashen, her cheeks dotted with ice crystals and chafed red from the cold. He brushed away the flakes and gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes and whimpered, then tried to pull away.
“Shh, I’m not going to hurt you.” He lowered his voice to a soothing pitch, the same tone he’d perfected with the falcons.
Her eyes widened in terror, and she moaned and pushed at him. “No, get away!”
“My name is Brack Falcon,” he murmured. “I live at Falcon Ridge. I’m going to carry you out of here. You’re bleeding.”
“No…”
Why the hell was she fighting him? Women had been afraid of him before, due to his large size and his affinity for wild animals. But she needed him. “Listen, Miss, you need a doctor.”
She gripped his arm with bloody hands. “No, g-got to find K-Katie first.”
His breath puffed out in a white cloud. “What?”
“My little girl,” she moaned. “She’s out here…I have to find her.”
A child. That explained why she was trudging into the blizzard at night.
“I can’t leave you. Whatever attacked you might come back.” Or you might bleed to death, he added silently. And she was much too young and beautiful to die.
“He might get Katie!” she cried. “Please, she’s only four…she’s so little, and she’s all alone, and she can’t walk very well…”
Brack’s gut clenched. A four-year-old lost in the woods with something attacking humans close by. He didn’t want the picture in his head, but the image flashed there anyway, sending fear through him.
Their gazes locked, and something shifted inside him. Some emotion he didn’t want to identify. He had connected with the woman on some instinctual level.
“Please find her,” the woman pleaded.
Brack searched his brain for another option. She felt so small and vulnerable in his arms, and she was hurting. Yet she was more concerned for her daughter than her own safety. If he carried her back to Falcon Ridge, by the time he returned, the creature might have hurt the little girl. Or she’d be so lost he might not find her in this weather.
He had to go after the kid.
His chest tightened as he jerked off his coat and wrapped it gently around the woman, then lifted her and moved her beneath an overhang. The jutting cliff would protect her from the new falling snow and somewhat from the bitter wind. But he had to hurry.
She clutched his hand again and squeezed it. “Please go now. You have to save her.”
She stared at him. In her eyes, he saw terror, and the realization that she might not make it, but that she didn’t care. She’d sacrifice her life to save her daughter’s. In fact, she’d probably been attacked doing just that.
Emotions swelled in his throat, but he pushed them aside. He didn’t have time for them.
He had to find Katie and bring her back to her mother. Then he had to make sure they both survived.
SONYA FELT her little girl’s fear as if it were a physical part of herself and tried to stay alert.
But her head swam, and the world danced in a haze in front of her eyes. She was bleeding, felt so weak, her body was throbbing…
Her head lolled backward…she could hardly keep her eyes open.
No, don’t go to sleep. Don’t pass out.
She had to hang on. She had to be awake if that man found Katie. What had he said his name was?
She forced her eyes open, but she was completely disoriented. She could no longer see two feet in front of her. Panic gripped her, and she tried to move, to get up, but nausea rose in her throat, and she swayed and collapsed back against the ridge. Pain throbbed relentlessly through her back and arms. But she refused to give in to it. She had to stay calm.
The man would be back. He’d promised. He knew where he’d left her.
Brack Falcon. He said he lived nearby. She’d heard rumors in town about the men at Falcon Ridge. They were strange. Dangerous. They lived in the wild like animals.
But he had spoken so softly to her and had promised to find Katie.
Wind ripped through her coat and tossed debris through the air, the throbbing in her body intensifying as the minutes dragged on. Panic gnawed at her again.
Katie. Dear God, had the creature gotten her? Had Katie stumbled and fallen in the snow? What if she stepped off a ridge or embankment and was hurt? What if Brack Falcon couldn’t find her?
She curled up inside his coat, a sob wrenching from deep in her soul as her little girl’s face flashed in her mind. Katie, with the big brown eyes. Katie, who liked Cheerios and peanut butter cookies. And strawberry shampoo and bubble baths and picking wildflowers in the yard.
Katie with the guileless smile and the determination to overcome her handicap. Katie, who never complained about being left out or struggling to walk, all the things other kids took for granted.
Katie, with no father.
Or rather, one who hadn’t wanted her.
The agony of Stan’s betrayal and parting words felt like a heavy weight slamming into her every time she thought about it. He had wanted a baby, but with Stan, everything had to be perfect.
Katie wasn’t. At least not in Stan’s eyes. And neither was Sonya because she carried a genetic disorder that had caused Katie’s physical problems.
She’d been heartbroken at his cruel comments, but most of all she hated him for abandoning Katie.
Katie might have a physical handicap, but she was perfect in Sonya’s eyes. The most precious child that had ever existed.
She had the heart and soul of an angel.
Pain and fatigue clawed at Sonya, tempting her into unconsciousness. She closed her eyes, a tear leaking out and freezing on her cheek.
Sonya could live without a man in her life. She never wanted that kind of heartache again.
But she’d die if anything happened to her daughter.
WHERE IN the hell was the kid?
Brack stooped to search for footprints, indentations in the icy ground, anything to help him find the child.
Ahead, twigs and debris swirled through the snowy haze, and the sound of a cry floated toward him. It was her. The little girl. He sensed her presence nearby just as he sensed the injured animals in the woods when they needed him.
He was part animal himself, he’d been told enough times. He connected with them on a deep level, much more than humans.
But the woman’s pleas had torn through his defenses. He could still see her wide-set green eyes staring up at him in terror.
His pulse kicked up as he scanned the horizon. It was so damn dark. She might be wandering aimlessly in the forest. She might have fallen and hurt herself. She might be hiding from wild animals.
He closed his eyes, forced his mind to siphon through the fear and zero in on his instincts. What would a little girl do if she was lost or scared?
Find a place to hide? Maybe in a cave or one of the old mines if she stumbled upon one.
The soft swish of a falcon’s wingspan cutting through the air sliced through the noise of the violent wind, and he glanced up and saw the falcon again. Soaring lower than normal. Heading to the east.
Again, he followed it, and the flashlight beam caught a small scrap of red fabric that had snagged on a broken branch. The little girl’s, maybe?
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He picked up his pace, then started yelling her name. “Katie! Katie! Where are you, honey?”
His voice floated through the wind and echoed off the mountain. Could she hear him?
Seconds later, he spotted a group of branches piled at the mouth of a cave, and a pair of small crutches was lying near the entrance.
Her mother’s pleas taunted him. Please find her. She can’t walk very well….
He paused, listened. A small cry echoed from within the stone walls. The little girl was inside.
Relief whooshed through him.
He slowly inched forward, knowing she was probably frightened and that he might scare her.
“Katie?” He ducked inside the opening, scanning the gray interior, listening for sounds of her breathing. How far back was she? “Katie?”
He paused, allowing a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then eased another step forward. “Katie, your mommy sent me to get you.”
A small whimper. Almost indiscernible. Still, it chilled his insides.
He glanced to the left, shined the flashlight across the interior.
“Katie, my name is Brack, honey. Your mommy’s worried about you.”
“Mommy?”
The tiny voice made his heart squeeze. She was huddled into a ball, her arms cradling a small animal close to her chest, her chest heaving with sobs. In between her gulps, the soft meow of a kitten drifted toward him.
“Yes, honey. Your mommy.” He squatted down, putting himself more at her eye level, then lowered his voice. “She wants me to bring you back to her.”
A hiccup, then she nodded, her chin still resting against her knees. “Is my mommy aw wight?”
God help him, he didn’t know. But he had to lie. “She is now, but we need to get her to a doctor.”
“It’s all my fauwt,” she cried. “My fauwt that m-monster gots her.”
“Shh, it’s all right.” He reached his hand toward her. “Come on, we have to go now, honey, before the storm gets worse.”
Her eyes were so luminous with fear that she reminded him of a small bird trapped by a predator. “Can you stand up, honey?”
She sucked in a breath that rattled with fear and then clutched the wall with one hand. But she kept the other one wrapped around the kitten.
“What’s your kitty’s name?”
“Snowball…” Her voice broke, brittle, like ice cracking in the wind. “That’s why I runs outside. To finds him.” She wobbled forward, her thin legs buckling, and he caught her. “I needs my crutches.”
“We’ll get them.” He scooped her up into his arms, letting her carry the kitten between them. God, he wished he had a blanket or something to shield her from the cold. She buried her head against his neck, shivering, but she didn’t complain as he dashed outside the cave. He stopped only long enough to grab her crutches, then tucked them under his arm and rushed through the woods back to her mother.
He just prayed the woman was still alive when they reached her.
Chapter Three
Brack dashed through the woods, battling the wind, well aware of the tiny child in his arms who had placed her trust in his hands. He couldn’t let her down.
But what if they were too late to save her mother? Did Katie have a father at home waiting for her? If so, why had the man let his wife go out into the approaching storm to search for the child alone? Where the hell was he now?
And who would take care of Katie if the woman didn’t make it?
His own memories of losing his father erupted from his past to haunt him. Even though his father hadn’t died when he’d been carted off to jail, Brack had felt as if he had. Once he had been incarcerated, his father had cut off all communication with his boys. As an adult, Brack realized that his father had done so to protect his sons, but at six, he hadn’t understood. Instead, he’d felt as if he’d been abandoned.
He cut through the patches of broken limbs and trees, grateful the falcon had led the way to Katie. Her body jerked with the cold, so he cradled her closer, using his own heat to keep her warm.
“We’re almost there, lamb chop,” he murmured.
She nodded against his chest, and his lungs tightened at her brave little face. Finally, he made it to the overhang where he’d left her mother. The woman was so still that panic squeezed the air from his lungs. She lay curled on her side, her knees hunched upward, her head buried in her arms. He quickly knelt and checked for a pulse again. Tension coiled in his muscles when he didn’t feel one, but he shifted his fingers slightly to the left. Yes, he found it. Her pulse was weak and thready, but she had one.
He eased Katie down beside her mother.
Katie tugged at the coat sleeve. “Mommy!” Katie cried. “Mommy, wake up!”
He tipped the little girl’s chin up so she’d look into his eyes. “Honey, I need for you to climb on my back and wrap your arms around my neck. I’ll carry you piggyback, then I can lift your mommy, too. Can you do that for me?”
She bobbed her head up and down, then bit down on her lip. “But what about Snowball?”
Hell, he could no more leave the kitten than he could the woman and child.
He tucked the kitten into the pocket of his coat. “There, now he’s safe and warm.”
Katie smiled at him then, so trusting, that he could have sworn a moonbeam bounced through the dark storm and lit her face like an angel.
He gestured to his back. “Now, hop aboard.” He crouched to the ground so she could wrap her arms around his neck. He grabbed her hands to secure them, and she tried to wrap her legs around his waist, but they dangled as if she didn’t have the strength. His throat convulsed, but he patted her hands. “Good girl.”
She pressed her face against his back away from the wind. He tucked Katie’s crutches below one arm pit, then scooped her mother into his arms and strode back toward Falcon Ridge.
SONYA STIRRED from the depths of unconsciousness and cold. She had to live, wake up, find Katie. Make sure her little girl was safe.
But she was so cold. So tired. Her limbs felt like dead weights and pain throbbed through her. Sleep offered a reprieve, and the darkness pulled her into its abyss. She gave in to it, but then she was trapped in a minefield where light had been obliterated by cave-like walls and where strange mythical creatures stalked the night.
Terror splintered through the fog, and she forced her eyes open. She had to escape the tunnel of darkness, find the light. Then she was being jostled, moved. Somewhere in the haze, Katie’s small voice soothed her.
Finally, she felt herself being lowered onto something soft. Warm. A blanket being tucked around her. Then another. And a fire nearby. The crackle of wood. The hiss of the flames. So cozy. She sank back into sleep, craving the peace it offered.
“Mommy, mommy, you gots to wakes up!”
Katie’s tiny, terrified voice shattered her rest. Sonya forced herself to blink through the fog of pain and cold, but the details of what had happened were fuzzy.
Where was Katie? She couldn’t see her, had lost her in the blizzard. No, that creature had attacked her, and she’d warned Katie to run.
A husky, deep voice followed. “The paramedics are on their way.” A brush of her hair, and she looked up to see a man’s face peering over her. Dark, scruffy hair. Black eyes. A wide-set jaw. He looked dangerous and unkempt, wild like the mystical animal creatures she’d been dreaming about.
Was he the bizarre creature that had attacked her in the woods?
No…he had saved her. And Katie was clinging to his back, her small hands clutching his neck in a choke hold as if she couldn’t let go.
The man…he’d found Katie for her… Brack Falcon…
“You’re at my place now, at Falcon Ridge,” he said in a deep voice. “The paramedics are on their way.”
She tried to nod but wasn’t sure she had actually moved her head. “Katie?” she croaked.
He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “She’s fine. I found her hiding in a cave
nearby.” He swung her daughter from his back as if he’d been handling her all his life, and Sonya swallowed back tears. He was huge, had powerful muscles and the biggest, widest hands she’d ever seen on a man, but he gently cradled his arms under Katie’s weak legs and placed her beside Sonya as if Katie were a delicate china doll that might break if handled too roughly. Then he wrapped a thick blanket around Katie.
Katie’s father had never held her like that.
Fresh tears filled her eyes as Katie snuggled into her.
“Mommy, I was s-so scared,” Katie whispered. “I…thought you was gonna leabe me.” Her voice caught, and she buried her head into Sonya’s neck.
Pain shot through Sonya’s battered arm as she slid it below Katie’s back to hug her. “No, baby, Mommy would never, ever leave you.” She brushed Katie’s shoulder-length hair from her damp cheek, then rubbed small circles on Katie’s back to soothe her. “Do you hear me, sweetie? Mommy will always be here for you.”
But fatigue and blood loss had drained all the life from her, and she felt herself slipping back into the darkness again.
“Is there anyone I can call?” Brack asked, drawing her back to reality as if he, too, thought she might be fading off for good. “Your husband? Katie’s father?”
Sonya shook her head. “No, no husband…. No one.”
Worry flickered in the man’s black eyes. He was so serious, somber…maybe she wasn’t going to make it.
“Call Miss Margaret,” she choked out. “She babysits Katie while I work.”
He cuddled the blanket around Katie, wrapping them up together. “This Miss Margaret—how do I reach her?”
“The paramedics…friends of mine.” Her voice broke off, weak. “They’ll know.”
“No, Mommy.” Katie tugged at her face. “Don’t leabe me!”
“Not leaving…” Sonya whispered. “Just have to sleep.”
Katie tightened her arms around Sonya’s neck and squeezed so hard Sonya coughed for air, but she cradled her daughter tighter, unable to release her for fear she would slip away forever.
Then Katie would be all alone with no one to love her.