by Megan Brooks
They couldn’t have been at it for more than a couple of hours when he decided he’d had enough. “You guys want to break for lunch?”
“Not really,” said Megan. It hadn’t been all that long since breakfast.
“There are some snacks in the car,” offered Angelina. “Are you all right to get back on your own.
It was obvious that Angelina was just trying to get rid of Richard at this point. He didn’t seem to catch onto that, though. “You sure you don’t want to take a break?” he asked Megan.
She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she assured him, knowing full well that he wasn’t offering out of concern for her well being. He just didn’t want to look weaker than a couple of women. “You go on. We’re going to be at this for a while. You need your strength.”
Richard complained about not realizing this was the sort of thing he had signed on for. He left in the end, though. That gave Angelina and Megan a chance to actually climb. They got to the top of one cliff face and sat down there.
“So you’re still married,” said Angelina with a sigh, after a stretch of awkward silence.
“Yeah,” Megan said with a sigh. There was no point in sugar coating the truth. She wasn’t proud of herself, but it was what it was. “I got home and didn’t know what to do.” She shrugged. “I jumped the gun seeing you and your sister and just… I didn’t know what to do.”
Angelina reached out her hand and placed it on Megan’s. “I really did miss you,” she said. “I worried about you. I thought, surely, you’d get the tourist offices’ number some time and, at least, give me a call there. You never did.”
Megan looked down at the hand on her own. “I’m sorry.” She really was. There was so much she regretted now, and she had no idea how to take it all back. She couldn’t.
“I never took this off.” Angelina raised an arm to show Megan the corresponding bracelet to the one she had given her. “I know that’s probably very uncool. I know you took yours off, but-”
“No,” Megan interrupted her. “I still have mine. I just… It’s at home with that picture of us. You remember the one from the photo booth. I kept it. I looked at it every day.”
Angelina was looking at Megan sadly now. For a while she just stared, then she leaned in. Megan closed the rest of the distance between them, longing for the kiss she knew was coming.
“I’m back!” called Richard.
Megan and Angelina both separated quickly. This whole thing was such a mess.
At the end of the day, Angelina took them back to the hotel. Richard headed straight up. He was exhausted and not exactly thrilled with the day. That suited Megan just fine.
“When do you go back home?” asked Angelina, once Richard had disappeared through the doors.
“Tomorrow,” said Megan. She was longing for that kiss, but she knew it was a terrible idea.
“Are you going to see me off this time?” asked Angelina. There was something almost cruel about the way she asked it. She apologized immediately. “I’m sorry… I just… Do you really prefer your husband to what we had?”
“No,” Megan said, immediately. “But it’s not like I can just move to Spain?”
“Are you so happy back in the US?” Angelina asked. There were tears in her eyes again.
“No.”
“So why can’t you move here?”
“It’s not that simple,” Megan insisted. “You know it’s not that simple.”
Angelina took a step back. So much for that kiss. “Have a good life, Megan. It’s probably best if you don’t see me off tomorrow. It might make your husband suspicious.” Angelina turned to leave.
“Angelina-” Megan called after her, but she was already getting in the car she’d dropped them off in. In moments, she had gone.
In her car, Angelina drove through the city, tears rolling down her cheeks…
Chapter Thirteen
Richard, who was red as a lobster by now from the sunbathing, was glad to be headed home. “That was fun,” he said, but it sounded forced. “Makes me really appreciate our house in the suburbs, though, right?”
Megan couldn’t quite agree with him. For her, it was the opposite. Still, she trudged into the airport with her bags in tow. She wasn’t sure how she had expected this vacation to go. This wasn’t quite it, though. All of this felt inherently wrong. Suddenly, she very much wished she had seen Angelina off.
She considered turning around now and doing just that. Her flight would be departing soon, though - and it wasn’t like Angelina would thank her for going against her wishes.
Megan swallowed down her regrets and got in line for the final security checkpoint.
“Megan!” Angelina’s voice cut through the commotion of the airport.
“What the?” Richard turned and squinted through the crowd. “What’s she doing here?”
Megan didn’t care. She dropped her bags, turned, and ran for the voice. She and Angelina stopped just short of each other.
“I’m sorry for everything I said last night,” Angelina blurted, out of breath. “I was emotional, but that was mean.”
Megan shook her head. “It’s fine. I deserved it.”
“No,” Angelina said, firmly. “You deserve so much better.” She handed Megan a slip of paper with a phone number on it. “Give me a call, all right? Don’t just leave me wondering what happened to you… Even if you do stay with your husband.”
Megan took the paper. She smiled at Angelina and nodded. She desperately wanted to hug her, but she was afraid that would look too strange. “I’ll do that,” she said, quietly.
“Megan!” called Richard, impatient. “We have to leave now if we’re going to catch our flight.”
“Go on,” said Angelina, offering Megan one last sad smile.
Megan chanced a hug. It was quick and chaste. She turned and hurried back to Richard before she could second guess herself too much.
“What was that about?” asked Richard, but Megan just shrugged off the question.
“She was just a friend. She wanted to give me her number.” She wasn’t sure Richard believed that, but she wasn’t sure she much cared anymore either.
They boarded the plane together. Megan’s heart was racing the whole time. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was making some kind of horrible mistake as she took the aisle seat next to her husband.
“You know,” began Richard, chuckling to himself. “The first time you came down here, I was sure you were going to have an affair to get back at me.” He said all of this like it was an amusing anecdote in hindsight. “I even hired a private investigator.”
“I know,” said Megan, blankly.
“You knew?” Richard sounded genuinely surprised to hear that. “I guess he wasn’t very good at his job, huh? He said he thought you were up to something, but he couldn’t prove it. I knew better anyway. Our relationship is stronger than that.”
“It’s really not,” said Megan.
“What?”
Megan realized what she had just said. Instead of regretting the words and scrambling to take them back, it was like a floodgate had opened. “I can’t stand you, Richard. I haven’t been able to stand you for a long time. I certainly never forgave you for the affair.”
Richard stared at her with his mouth open. He was speechless for several long moments. Suddenly, his jaw set, like he was actually angry with her for spoiling their vacation in this way. “We’ll talk about this when we get home.”
“No,” said Megan, realizing what she had to do. “We won’t.”
“Please fasten your seatbelts…,” said the stewardess through the airplane’s internal intercom system.
Megan’s heart sank even further when she heard the stewardess’ command. It was now or never. Megan stood and sprinted down the aisle as fast as she could. She ignored Richard calling after her and shouldered past a stewardess.
“Ma’am, we’re about to go to the runway. You need to sit down,” said the stewardess sternly.
“I need to get off this plane,” Megan insisted, her voice quivering. They warned her that if she left, the plane would be taking off without her luggage and all. Megan kept going anyway. She couldn’t control her tears nor her emotions, which at the moment hurts so badly. Megan ran back into the airport and past the lines and crowds of people. Was Angelina even still here? She hoped she was. “Angelina!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring that people were staring at her like she had just escaped a local asylum.
She was outside the doors before she saw her. Angelina was standing next to her motorcycle, her posture slumped and her expression sad.
“Angelina!” Megan called.
Angelina looked up startled.
Megan crossed the distance between them at a sprint. She launched herself at Angelina. Angelina was barely able to catch her but caught her in a hug.
“What are you doing?” Angelina asked, pushing her back to arms length and looking down at her like she had gone insane.
“Something crazy,” said Megan, terrified and out of breath but unable to keep the grin from her face. “I love you, Angelina. I absolutely adore you. I’m staying.”
Angelina stared at her. She shook her head and laughed. She seemed unable to stop smiling afterward. “What about Richard?”
“Screw Richard.”
Angelina laughed again. She pulled Megan back into a hug and kissed her again. This time it seemed to last a very long time. “I love you,” she said when their lips parted. It was the first time she had said those words to her - and the first of many times to come.
THE END.
Bonus Book
The 3 Shifter Brothers
-The Trap
Mindy Darkwood
Chapter 1
Robin’s legs burned. Her thighs stung with scratches from briers she had run through. Her feet stumbled, constantly, over things in the forest that the darkness hid. She couldn’t outrun the people pursing her. That much was clear.
There was a sudden drop as Robin lost her footing and tumbled down a steep hill. Her heart was pounding in her chest, making it difficult to think clearly. Even so, she knew running again wasn’t an option. They were almost upon her as it was.
Robin threw out her hands. She touched nothing at first. She moved onto her knees and groped at her surroundings for a second time. She felt a log - large and dead and hollow. Robin didn’t give the matter a second thought. She dropped down to her belly and scrambled inside it.
Robin went silent and strained her ears. She heard… nothing. Robin held her breath. Were they near? She couldn’t hear them. Had they already passed her by? Maybe they lost her when she had fallen. Maybe they would give up looking. She could stay here for a while, come out when she felt more confident she was truly alone, then make her way to a road.
Her camera was a lost cause. There was no going back for it now. If she could just come back with the authorities, then- Robin screamed as hands closed around her ankles and pulled her from her hiding spot, hard.
Chapter 2
Orson had been avoiding the camp by the lake. The Hunters there were in the area looking for his family. It was only natural that he give them a wide berth. Today, he’d seen the woman get too close, though.
She had looked out of place in the forest. With her jacket that was too thin and her sneakers that were too loud on the leaves. She had stalked the Hunters like prey, and she was much too inexperienced a predator for that. It was clear that she didn’t know what they were, what they were capable of.
For a long while, she had sat at the edge of their camp with a recording device. They had caught her, of course. They were chasing her now. They would likely kill her. Orson had known them to do it before. His brothers had told him not to get involved. It wasn’t a good idea to risk the safety of the pack for the stupidity of one outsider.
Orson’s ears perked. He heard her screaming. Damn.
Orson let loose a roar and moved in. The Hunters were gathered around a fallen tree trunk. They had reached for the weapons upon hearing. Orson. Now they saw him. Their eyes were wide, surprised. One raised a gun but never had a chance to fire it. Orson was upon him too fast. He slammed two of the Hunters to the ground at once, rending limbs from sockets as he rose. He grabbed a third Hunter by the front of his shirt and slammed him down into the tree trunk. The impact sent the woman scrambling from within it. Apparently, she had been hiding there.
She didn’t pause to look too closely at the carnage. She screamed and ran. Good. Let her run while Orson dealt with the men also now trying to scatter.
Orson chased out one of the fleeing men, then a second. A woman’s scream drew his attention. It took his eyes only a moment to find its source. The woman had fallen again, this time she didn’t get up. He rushed to her side. What a waste, if he had gone to her rescue only for her to die during her escape.
There was blood leaking from her temple, but she was alive. It seemed she’d merely tripped in the dark and hit her head. Orson looked around. Had he gotten all the Hunters? Something told him that he hadn’t. He couldn’t just leave her here to track them down.
Orson cursed under his breath and lifted the woman up from the ground. He headed home.
Chapter 3
Robin didn’t wake all at once. She had never been much of a morning person. The bed was especially comfortable today. She yawned and rolled over onto her side, bundling up in her quilt.
Wait. Her bed didn’t have a quilt.
Robin’s eyes snapped open. The realization that she was not in a place she recognized hit her immediately. She sat up with a yelp and regretted it. Her head spun at the sudden movement. She put a hand to it and felt a bandage there.
The door of the strange bedroom opened. A large, burly man poked his head in.
Despite her spinning head, Robin scrambled back toward the headboard. It was about this time that she realized, not only was she in a stranger’s house with an aching head, she was also without pants and wearing an over-sized t-shirt that was not her own.
“Calm down,” said the man at the door. “Hey, Luis,” he called out over his shoulder. “The girl is up.” He turned back to Robin. “You had quite the exciting adventure, I hear.”
“What?” Robin wasn’t sure what he was getting at. She clutched the quilt close and eyed him, warily.
The man at the door stepped inside. He motioned to himself, “Killian,” he said, in way of an introduction. Killian was one of the largest men Robin had ever seen. He was all lean muscle, with broad shoulders and a chiseled jaw. “What I’d like to know is why you were running around the woods all on your lonesome. What business do you have with the Hunters?”
The way he said the word, ‘Hunters’ was unusual. It was like he was referring to something very specific and very bad. “I don’t…” Robin trailed off, clutching her head again. It ached horribly.
“Leave her be,” said a second voice - Louis, presumably. “Orson can question her, if he wants. This is his doing. She’s clearly terrified. If you want answers, best to just keep her comfortable until he gets back.”
Robin didn’t much care for the idea of “waiting” for anyone. No, she needed to get out of here. She needed to get out of here now. “What do you want? Just let me call someone- They can- They can drive me home. Robin stumbled over her words as she tried to make them sound as least-threatening as possible. Of course, she fully intended to call the police the moment she was far enough away.
“It’s a little too late for that,” chuckled Killian - which wasn’t terribly encouraging.
“Come away from there,” called Louis. “Don’t mind him ma’am. We don’t even have a phone here. We’ll be happy to drive you home as soon as our little brother comes back with the truck.”
Robin relaxed a bit, eager to latch on to a scenario that didn’t place her in too much trouble. “What happened?” Robin asked.
“You’ll have to tell us,” said Killian. “You were attacked in he woods. We don’t k
now much beyond that. You’d know better than us why you were there.”
Robin grew a little tenser where she sat. “I… I’m not sure why. I don’t remember- I… I was attacked?”
Killian frowned, his brow furrowing as if this caused him some concern. “You’ve been through a lot,” he said, his tone becoming rather more gentle. “Just rest. We won’t be any further than right out back, if you need us.”
Something in Killian’s voice set Robin at ease a bit. She was very tired, after all. There wasn’t much she wanted more at the moment than rolling over and going right back to sleep. She sank back on her pillows. Her eyes drifted shut, gradually, as if of their own accord. Dimly, she was aware of Killian leaving the room.
She wondered when their younger brother would be home.
Chapter 4
The Tracker found his quarry and he waited. At least, he had assumed he had found his quarry. He would need to enter the house in order to confirm that the woman was there.
The beast that had killed his brothers had gone - likely to hunt. The Tracker counted two others inside. They were likely part of the same pack. His fellow Hunters knew a pack was in the area. It seemed the pack they had been tracking was a relatively small one. How disappointing. Even so, The Tracker settled in for the long haul.
In the brush outside the cabin, The Tracker waited. He’d waited in the same place for days at a time. A few hours was no problem at all.
There was no definite sign of the woman for a while. Eventually, the two beasts inside moved out to the back to chop wood. The Tracker moved quickly.
The Tracker scoped out the front of the house first. He spotted the woman quickly enough. She was dozing peacefully in one of the bedrooms, a bandage around her head. She was quite the looker. Dark hair, pale skin. Her lower half was beneath a sheet, but what he could see was pleasantly curvaceous. It was hard to resist moving in for a closer look.