Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
“My camera,” she said. “Please, I need my camera.”
“I just saved your life, little human.”
She pointed down the embankment. “I have pictures of the hunters. That’s why they’re after me. I need that evidence for the police.”
And in that instant, all his carefully built walls of hatred for humans lowered just a bit—for her.
“I’ll get it.”
Wilder easily reached for the dangling camera and handed it back to the girl. She appeared soft and pale, her skin flawless. He took a deep breath in, her scent filling his lungs. He didn’t hate it.
“Thank you, but they’re coming here. They’ll find me. I don’t know what to do.” Her voice was shaking, panic slurring her words slightly.
“They want the pictures you took?”
“Yes, it’s evidence of their crimes. I saw them kill a bear and gloat over it,” she said.
“A sow with cubs.”
“You saw it too?”
He didn’t answer her. The hunters were going around the embankment and would be on top of them soon. Wilder wanted to get the girl to safety. His cabin was on the sacred shifter ground, but far from this location. They may have to settle in a cave for the night. The sun would go down within a few hours, and they’d never make it in time.
Humans were delicate creatures, susceptible to the cold, elements, and predators. He’d try to protect her so she could survive long enough to bring the incriminating pictures to the human authorities. Not that he trusted them to act. As far as he was concerned, all humans were corrupt, greedy, and destroyed everything they touched.
He handled trespassers his way. Unfortunately, he was too late to help that sow. Wilder wondered if they’d killed all the cubs, or if they were hiding nearby. He had to find out.
“They’re getting closer. We should leave this place,” he said. “You’ll have to move faster than you were earlier.”
He’d been tracking her for miles. Anyone on sacred land was a threat.
“You saw me earlier?”
“This is my land. I know everything that happens here.”
She grabbed her belongings and followed after him. Being so much smaller, she struggled to keep up. He had to stop too often to wait for her to reach him.
“What’s your name?” she asked as she stepped over forest debris.
“Wilder.”
“My name’s Poppy.”
He wasn’t planning to be best friends with her. Right now, she was just more convenient to him alive than dead. She had pictures that could help the bears from human hunters. And they had a common enemy.
His bear had been annoying him, more interested in the human than it should be. He blamed the fact it was mating season, because he was not attracted to human beings. His bear was just confused.
They’d been traveling for only fifteen minutes, but the distance between the men and them was closing quickly. She was not fast enough.
“You need to move faster,” he said.
“I can’t,” she said. “I just can’t move anymore.” She leaned a hand against a tree, barely able to catch her breath.
“Do you want me to carry you?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Carry me? That won’t make us faster. I’m not exactly a lightweight.”
“You’re a tiny little thing. Come here. I’ll carry you.”
“I don’t know...”
“Would you rather deal with the hunters and their guns?” he asked.
“Okay, fine. Whatever.”
He wasn’t sure if he should throw her over his shoulder or carry her in his arms. He’d never transported a human female through the forest before.
She reached for him and he picked her up. When she wrapped her legs around his waist, it took him by surprise. His cock twitched on instinct, but he refused to acknowledge it. He had to hoist her higher with a hand under her ass. She was thick in all the right places—just like a female bear.
He’d find one of his nearby caves and bunker down until morning. Once the hunters were gone, he’d help her back to the mainland parking lot where her little blue car was parked. Hopefully that would be the end of this unwanted adventure.
Wilder enjoyed his privacy and the silence of the forest. The only pleasures he allowed himself were honey and strong coffee. He didn’t need this little blonde in his life. And whether he believed it or not, neither did his bear.
Chapter Two
Poppy was not used to anyone being able to lift her. She’d always been considered overweight. It was something her doctors constantly moaned about. Even when she lost weight, they were not happy. She did her best to stay as healthy as possible.
Whoever this man was, he clearly was strong, and she held onto him, consciously aware of his hand on her ass. She tried not to think how good that hand felt. It was not appropriate to be attracted to a man she didn’t know. He shouldn’t even have his hands on her.