Page 13 of Captive Wilderness
Breathing deep, I hobbled to the front door and outside, needing to be alone. I sank into the wooden chair and wrapped my arms around my knees. Staring out into the forest, I cried.
7
KANE
I stood frozenby the calendar, staring after Brooke, and didn’t know what to do.
That last look on her face tore through me. She’d seemed so lost, adrift in her circumstance, and the urge to make all her problems go away made me clench my fists. I wanted to be a superhero for her, to fly her to wherever she needed to go, to find her sister, to beat the shit out of the people who put her in a collar, let them heal, then beat the shit out of them some more.
What sort of person would put a collar around a young woman’s neck? She’d said her sister had called them hunters, but who and what were they? Anger coursed through me, accompanied by the seductive red haze edging the periphery of my vision. I wanted to give in to the feeling, to lose myself in it, but there was no one here to take the brunt except Brooke.
And putting her in any more danger was out of the question.
Gripping the countertop behind me, I used the breathing techniques I’d taught myself over the past few years to cool my emotions. In through my nose, out through my mouth. I took deep, long breaths all the way to bottom of my belly. The haze of red slowly receded, but the need to do something for Brooke remained.
John would be here with supplies in two weeks. There was enough food for Brooke and me until then. We might need to eat a bit more canned soup than usual, but that wasn’t a big deal.
She’d said someone came out of the plane after her, and it made me edgy. I hadn’t seen or smelled any sign of anyone else out there. Could she be wrong? Assuming so would be a mistake. I needed to stay vigilant.
I strode over to my computer station and shook my mouse to wake it up. The perimeter alarms were connected to a program I kept running in the background. It would let me know if someone tripped a sensor. I clicked onto the icon for the program. Nothing indicated a breach.
Straightening, I ran an agitated hand through my hair. Who had put that collar around her neck? It couldn’t have been Landon. My cousin might have sold my design for profit, but he wouldn’t resort to abducting women. I knew him at least that much, didn’t I? But selling theonedesign I’d made with shifters in mind… My stomach rolled at his betrayal.
It had been the three of us all the time—me, Landon, and Walker—inseparable until everything had gone to shit when I was twenty. Until that day when I ran from Goldenlach Ridge, looking over my shoulder the whole time, waiting for the authorities to pick me up. I’d tried to do it their way, to settle in a small city and mind my own business, but the anger inside me won. Just like Walker had once accused me of, I gave up—on society and myself.
After that, I left BC and didn’t look back. My actions broke up our trio like it hadn’t meant anything. Maybe if I’d stayed, I’d be working with Landon right now at his company and could have stopped what happened to Brooke. Maybe if I’d stayed, I would know where the hell Walker was right now instead of not knowing if his time overseas in the army had killed him.
That made me shake my head. If that was the case, Landon would have told me.
I missed them. Being out here on my own was its own kind of peace, but it wasn’t a substitute for our friendship. The stab of regret and guilt got me right in the chest.
None of that explained Landon’s betrayal. I’d received guarantees from my cousin. We’d signed contracts about the design. Why would Landon breach that? Were all the designs he said he would work on at Urick Enterprises in jeopardy of being sold off to the highest bidder? If the collar around Brooke’s neck was any indication, then the answer was yes.
I needed to get it off her as soon as possible. With my cousin’s resources, I could find a way. I also needed to find out why Landon had fucked me over. Whether he was behind Brooke’s abduction or not, he had to be behind the bastardization of my design. There were too many similarities to ignore. Even if that plane’s intended target hadn’t been Vancouver, my cousin had to be connected somehow.
When John arrived in two weeks, not only would Brooke step on his plane, but I would too.
The thought made fingers of dread tickle down my spine. I’d been gone from civilization for so long. It held no appeal for me, nothing but foreboding. What if I wasn’t able to keep it together? Being alone all these years made it certain I wouldn’t hurt anyone ever again. Now I had a woman in close proximity to me, I and was planning on returning with her. Funny how things could change so fast.
I wasn’t laughing.
Glancing at the clock above the kitchen cupboard, I noted that it was getting on to the noon hour. I would make some lunch and change the bedding. It wasn’t laundry day, but with a new person in my cabin, in my bed, I wanted things to be clean. There was water already heating, after all.
In my bed.The thought twinged something deep inside me, and I shook it off. I had no business thinking those kinds of thoughts.
But first, lunch. Since she kept the crackers down, she might be able to eat something more substantial. I grabbed the bread, peanut butter, and honey out of the cupboard—the items for my favorite sandwich—and hoped she wasn’t allergic to anything.
A strange sensation crept up the back of my neck as I made two sandwiches instead of one and set them onto plates. I’d been alone for so long, doing things for another person felt foreign. I hadn’t taken care of another person since I’d been a teenager—and look how that had turned out. My sister might be happily settled down with kids of her own now, but the last time I’d seen Emily, before I’d moved west for good, she’d still looked at me with wariness.
When I realized I touched the scar at my neck, I dropped my hand, angry at myself. It did no good to think about that day.
Picking up one of the plates, I headed to the porch. I found Brooke in my chair, her arms wrapped around her knees, her vacant eyes fixed on the forest. I took a step toward her, and she lifted her gaze to mine. My breath caught in my throat. Even though she’d had it rough over the past day, her features were stunning. High cheekbones, arched eyebrows, and her tawny eyes made her look like she belonged on a runway. My hand tightened on the plate.
It took her long seconds before she focused on me. She’d been far away.
I extended the plate to her.
“Thank you,” she said, taking it. After staring at the sandwich for a moment, she picked it up and took a small bite.
