Mated to the Highland Wolf

by Leal, Samantha

  10

  Awakening with a start, Jessa realized Shane was awake as well. It had been his slight movement that woke her. She was still tired but knew it was just as well she had awakened. She knew what they had to do. She had known all along. She whispered for him to get up and grab his bag. She made the signal for silence and he complied without question. He could feel that something was disturbing his mother, so he just did as he was told in silence. The stealthy communication had become second nature in this new world of survival. It was not the first time that they had had to leave quickly and without detection.

  They left the house with practiced efficiency, leaving Michael asleep in an adjacent room where he had apparently crashed to sleep after his own spent passion. Jessa was thankful that Shane had not seen him as they left. They moved north, changing course and making sure to leave no marks behind to be tracked. She settled back into the woods, moving quickly, her son walking deftly beside her. He was beginning to show signs that he would become a natural woodsman, she noted. But her mind was addled and her thoughts returned to the man she had just escaped.

  She wanted to put as much distance between them and Michael as she could. She was convinced that having him in her life meant nothing but trouble. If nothing else, he was trouble for her at least. Her body ached with every step she took and her insides were sore and raw. It was a pleasurable pain though, and the barest hint of a smile played on her face as she walked with her son into the rising sun.

  ***

  Michael slept better than he had in years, feeling pleasurably dead to the world. His mind had stopped racing as he had just lain there, totally sated. He awoke on the short sofa, he legs sticking almost a foot off the edge. He could not help but smile at the prior night’s events. He had one of those smiles that could be felt from one side of the face all the way to the other. Stretching, Michael’s first instinct was to check on her. He just wanted to see her, maybe just to affirm that the night had really happened, but he thought against it.

  He remained in bed for almost another hour and still had not heard the slightest sound from the shuttered bedroom. After he had changed his clothes, which he still wore from the day before, he washed his face and started a small fire outside for breakfast. He found it hard to imagine, him cooking breakfast like he was the woman in the relationship. He didn’t care though. If playing the female role got him sex like that, he would do any little chore needed to make her happy. Hell, he’d put on a dress too if that’s what it took.

  Unable to wait anymore, Michael nudged the bedroom door open quietly. He could not believe that the kid, at least, hadn’t gotten up yet. He fondly remembered his own always being the first one up in the house. He knew that door had not budged since he had been up because his eyes were never far from it. One always had to be ready in this world.

  As he opened the door, he realized with a start that they were gone. Unable to believe his eyes, he hurriedly checked the rest of the small house. He scanned the immediate perimeter as well, calling their names.

  Looking around he quickly surmised that all of their belongings were gone as well. She had taken it all with her, which meant that wherever she went, she did not plan on returning. Michael cursed and smashed his fist into the wall. Here he was sleeping like a baby from the best night of his life thinking he had finally found a woman…and not just any woman, but a woman he could really have feelings for, and she had up and left him in the night. Just his luck to lose her before they even got started. He knew he shouldn’t have come on so strong, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Fuck. He had blown it again.

  After a moment of malaise, he realized she couldn’t be that far ahead, especially traveling with a child on foot. She couldn’t have left before the sun came up, could she? He didn’t know, but he knew that he had to find her. He had to find her again, he corrected himself with a shake of his head. He knew she liked him. It was obvious. He just had to get her to see that they could be a good thing for each other.

  With Michael’s mind set, he packed up quickly and picked up the tortillas his domestic smitten ass had actually made for the stubborn woman and her son. He had planned on a sort of breakfast in bed, and maybe impressing her with his thoughtfulness. They were simply ground corn and water, but still.

  He couldn’t believe his own naivety and cursed himself for letting his guard down, as well as for being such a sucker. His agitation made his steps quicker, though it wasn’t long before he realized that there was no trail to follow. This woman had once again surprised him. Although he would have appreciated a nice clear set of tracks and signs to follow, he also had to admit that he found her growing list of survival skills to be pretty impressive.

  He continued east, the way she had been going before he had pounced on her like a wild cat. He walked faster than she could, even running for short bursts, but still not a trace of her could be found even with his trained eye. If he didn’t have a few scratches on his chest, he may have thought the whole night had been just a really good dream. After a day of chasing her, he wondered if he was chasing a ghost. Maybe she was just a nymph that crossed his path one night because the Gods had smiled on him. Sometimes anything felt possible in this strange abandoned land.

  ***

  Jessa had no misconception of what had happened between them. She blamed it on pure hormones. Michael had fit the description of her desire and he had caught her at a moment of weakness. She kept telling herself that version of the narrative as she walked, one foot in front of the other. Each step reminded her of the man with the sea-blue eyes, but she tried to push him from her mind. She couldn’t be distracted and he was most definitely a distraction with a capital D.

  There was something more to her running off from him though. He had touched a part of her that she had not felt in a long time and she was not sure that she wanted to feel again. She had to keep her walls up. Every time Jessa got close to someone in the world, something bad happened. She couldn’t lose anyone else. In an effort to escape all that pain, she had convinced herself that if she just got to the coast and maybe found an island somewhere, everything would be okay. That was what kept her going.

  Besides, Michael had his own mission, and he had plans to go in exactly the opposite direction from where she wanted to go in order to fulfill it. While her mind hoped that she didn’t see him again, she knew that her body would ignore her if he so much as appeared around the corner. She couldn’t afford to be thinking about this now, she decided. She had to get them to safety. With that thought, she grabbed her son’s hand more tightly as they walked along yet another road. Leaning into the strengthening breeze from the coast, she quickened their pace just a little bit more. They would find their island. She was sure of it.

  The End

  The story continues in Book 2, available now from Amazon

  A Baby for the Bear

  Samantha Leal

  Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thank you so much for your interest in my work!

  Chapter 1

  Freya stood and stared at herself in the mirror. It was still early morning, but she couldn’t sleep. She had far too much on her mind. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed. Her eyes were glistening back at her, azure blue and piercing white, and she wished that the bags beneath them would disappear before her first day but knew she was out of luck.

  Behind her the clock ticked and flashed 6:00 am. She hadn’t set the alarm for another hour at least, but there was no way she could go back to bed now. She looked over at her closet and at the outfit she had chosen. It was hung up on the outside and looming over her. A pair of jeans ripped at the knee, a tight white t-shirt and little flats. It wasn’t anything special, but she’d needed to kee
p her mind clear and know what she was going to be wearing in advance. She had so much riding on her college experience, and she didn’t want to ruin her first day by stressing last minute about what she should wear.

  Somewhere outside a bird began singing. The sun had yet to rise, but the dawn chorus started up across the quad, making her feel better. She was a college girl now and she had all the freedom she could ever want. She needed to embrace it, not fear it.

  Freya had always been a timid girl and kept to herself. Growing up, she had a select, loyal set of friends and feared that leaving her hometown security and being away from her family would be difficult. She had now been at college a week and found herself settling in. She had made acquaintances, and even though they weren’t the sort of people she would generally choose to hang out with, they seemed nice and had been fun for a few nights out. She just knew there wasn’t going to be a lasting friendship there. Everything was so new and exciting, and she had to keep her feet on the ground as to not get swept up in it all. She didn’t want to be one of those people who completely changed the second they went off to college and ended up screwing up their future with a lack of commitment to the real reason they were there in the first place. She was going to ace all of her classes and exams, and she was going to go places. No matter what happened or who she met, she would always put her education first.

  The sound of the trash men filtered up from the street and Freya walked over to the window. The sun was beginning to rise and she decided to open it and let in a cool blast of air. It helped her feel more awake, and as she stretched her arms over her head, she knew it was the right time to stop pacing her dorm room and finally get showered, dressed and out there, ready to start the day.

  “I’m so glad I didn’t have to share,” she smiled to herself as she looked around at the double room she had all to herself. “Imagine having to work around someone else all full of nerves!”

  The idea of sharing a room with a complete stranger had never appealed to her. Freya knew that no matter how strange and alien a place was, she would always prefer to have her own space, somewhere she could unwind and have some privacy. Though this had also meant she was at a disadvantage. She saw roomies who had bonded quickly, and Freya felt slightly out on a limb, as if she was going to be denied a close girlfriend that she so really wanted.

  She pulled her towel from the back of the door, and as she made her way into the corridor, she was very aware that not one other person was stirring.

  Maybe I’m going to have to lighten up, she thought. I should probably party more and worry less.

  She giggled to herself as she pushed open the door to the communal girls’ showers and turned on the light. To her complete surprise, there was another girl in there, wrapped in a towel and about to go into one of the cubicles. They stood staring at each other for a moment before Freya smiled and shrugged.

  “I guess you couldn’t sleep, either?” she asked.

  “Nope,” the girl replied, seeming nervous too.

  “I’m Freya,” she held out her hand and the girl shook it.

  “I’m Julie,” the girl nodded. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one who wasn’t out partying all night.”

  “Yeah,” Freya laughed. “I want to make a good impression, you know?”

  “Sure,” she said, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder. “I would have hated to be hungover on my first day in classes… For some reason, I just feel like it would set me on the course to fail!” she laughed.

  “I felt exactly the same,” Freya grinned. “I don’t think I’m cut out for the binge drinking, hard partying side college has to offer.”

  “I know what you mean,” Julie said as she took another step inside the shower before turning back and smiling again. “I’m in room 5C, we should hang out sometime… if you want…?”

  “I’d like that,” Freya smiled, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.

  The girl nodded and waved before she ducked into the shower and closed the door. She was the first person Freya had met who seemed like the type of person she would have been friends with back home. She could see herself striking up a friendship with Julie. After Freya showered and left the bathroom, she called “Bye!” over the sound of the water jets.

  “Catch you later, Freya!” Julie called back.

  Freya smiled. She had officially made her first real college friend.

  Chapter 2

  At the end of a long day of navigating her way around campus, meeting her new teachers and trying to keep on top of all of her work and ever-expanding reading list, Freya staggered back to her dorm room, opened the door and collapsed on the bed.

  It was only 4:00 pm, but she felt like it was the middle of the night. She reached over and pulled her cell phone out of her bag. The only message was from her mother, asking her how her first day had gone. She smiled and texted a quick reply.

  She was already overwhelmed with the amount of work, but she wasn’t going to let it deter her. She knew she could handle it. She opened up her diary and looked at the scrawled reading list. There were at least thirty books on it, and even though she knew she would never be able to read all of them, she would have to try to read at least half.

  She was about to crawl under her duvet and try to sleep when there was a light knock at the door. She silently debated ignoring it, but when the tap came again, she slid from the bed and dragged her feet across to the door. She opened it and was instantly glad that she had.

  “Hey,” Julie smiled with a wave. “I thought I’d come and see how you did today.”

  “Oh, hi,” Freya smiled, stepping back so the door hung open. “Do you want to come in?”

  Julie didn’t answer her but smiled and walked past her into the room. She sat down at the chair next to Freya’s desk and rested her hands on her knees.

  “So, how did you find my room?” Freya asked with an impressed laugh.

  “Oh, I just asked a couple of people,” Julie smiled. “It’s not exactly hard to find anyone in this building, especially with a name like yours… pretty unique!”

  “I guess,” Freya sat down on the bed next to her and looked around the room, unsure of what to say next.

  “Listen,” Julie said, as if she could tell there was a slight tension in the air. “I was just wondering really if you felt like getting off campus tonight and going for something to eat… Sort of like a celebrate the first day at college type of thing?”

  “Sure,” Freya sat forward. “That would be great.”

  Julie smiled back at her, and Freya had the feeling there was something else on her mind that she was holding back.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked her finally.

  Julie shrugged and smiled. She was staring at Freya, taking in every feature on her face and sizing her up.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said. “You just remind me of someone, that’s all.”

  “Oh?” Freya asked, but Julie waved her hand as if to bat away the conversation.

  “So, tell me all about how you did,” she said instead. “I’ve got a mountain of books to buy. What about you?”

  “Oh, totally the same,” Freya laughed, “I think I’m going to be glued to books for the foreseeable future.”

  “Yes!” Julie laughed. “Me too! Good job we’re not into partying, huh?”

  “Well, I guess we’ll have to let our hair down at some point,” Freya shrugged. “All work and no play makes Freya a dull girl… or something.”

  Julie threw her head back and laughed. “I’m glad you said that before I did,” she grinned. “Everything in moderation, I guess.”

  “Definitely,” Freya nodded.

  “What are the other people like?” Julie gestured to the rest of Freya’s corridor.

  “Wild,” she rolled her eyes. “I went out with them last week, but to be honest I didn’t really gel with any of them.”

  “I don’t think I’ve even really met anybody else apart from you…” Julie said quietly
. “To be honest, I’m pretty selective about my friends.”

  Freya nodded, knowing exactly what that felt like.

  “So,” Julie jumped to her feet. “Can I come back around seven?”

  “Sure,” Freya stood up to and walked over to the door with her. It hung open still and they could see other girls and guys coming back from their own lectures and seminars. “I’ll be ready!”

  “Great,” Julie smiled as she started on down the hallway and turned back and waved.

  As she walked away, Freya had a suspicious feeling. There was something in Julie’s eyes that Freya couldn’t put her finger on… It was as if she wanted something from her, but didn’t dare ask. She shook out her shoulders and told herself to stop being paranoid. Both the girls obviously had trouble making friends, and they had found each other and instantly clicked. Maybe Julie just couldn’t believe her luck that she’d found someone in the craziest dorm on campus who liked spending her evenings more chilled out than girls gone wild. But as she started to get ready and curled her hair, she couldn’t shake the feeling. When Julie came back for her later, she was determined to find out what was going on. She would just have to tread carefully.

  Chapter 3

  At seven o’clock, Freya re-opened her dorm room door and turned off her mp3 player. The hallways were crammed with people going out for the evening and arranging parties. One of the guys she had met on one of her first days there ducked his head in and asked her if she wanted to go to a kegger with them, but she shook her head and said no thanks. He shrugged before turning on his heel and going back down the hall. As he turned the corner to head towards the stairs, he did a double take at the short, pretty brunette walking in the opposite direction. Freya instantly recognized Julie and got to her feet and waved before she stepped out into the hall, slamming the door behind her.