Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Old rage whipped through my insides and butted against the grief.
“We’ll get her back.” It was a thick, gritted promise. “I’ll text you later.”
Without saying anything else, I ended the call, doing my best to fight off the horrors that wanted to consume. Knowing full well what Silas was feeling right then.
I sucked it down and forced myself to keep moving.
My boots thudded against the damp dirt as I followed the rugged path that had been carved by my feet. Branches of oaks and pines hung heavy overhead, their thick trunks interspersed with the spindly pines that grew dense in this part of the forest.
Duke panted behind me, his tail swishing back and forth as he trotted along, the only companion I needed.
We kept moving down the side of the mountain on the east side of my property in the direction of the river that ran the border of my land. It was the area where I got the most trespassers since a campground sat right above the farthest northeast line, hikers ignoring the slew of No Trespassing signs I had staked up on the fence that surrounded the perimeter.
I hopped over a fallen tree then ducked under a low-slung branch, pushing it out of my way as I slid down an incline. The soles of my boots dug in for traction as I hunted through the underbrush.
The sound of the river grew louder as I angled my way down the harshly sloped terrain.
I suddenly froze when I felt a shift in the air. The hairs lifted at my nape and my pulse increased. Couldn’t shake it, this creeping sense that skittered over me.
Inclining my ear, I listened to the sounds of the forest. The faint rustle of the trees as the breeze blew through and the rush of the river at the bottom of the ravine.
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that set me on guard.
But I could feel it.
Something wasn’t right.
Duke’s ears twitched as he listened, and his golden tail went rigid.
“You feel that?” I rumbled low.
Duke gave a little whimper, no question, sensing it, too.
I started to wind through the thick pines again, slower that time as I listened for any movement or sound.
Branches scratched against my arms and my heart rate accelerated. I was always fucking on edge because I never knew who might be coming for me.
This felt different than when I sensed one of those random trespassers hiking on my land.
Anxiety bubbled beneath the surface of my skin, awareness coming on that whoever was out there truly didn’t belong.
Adrenaline squeezed my chest, and I reached back to grip the handle of my gun that was hidden under my shirt and strapped into a holster at my back, not pulling it out but ready.
I never got complacent.
Never took the chance.
I followed in the direction of where the sensation was coming from, and I hopped off the path and weaved through the shrubbery.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins as Duke and I angled through the woods.
I hustled down a steep decline, soles of my boots skidding and digging into the damp, dark earth below.
The sound of the river grew. A loud whoosh of the water as it streamed down from the mountain peaks.
I slowed to a creep when that sense became all-consuming.
My skin prickled.
Someone was there.
Pulling my gun from the holster, I knelt low as I dashed between the cover of trees.
My breaths turned jagged and shallow as I edged up behind the trunk of an ancient oak and peered out through the limbs and leaves at the area that opened to the river.
Here, grass lined the bank, and it had a few of the same boulders that I’d traversed on my way down sporadically sitting along the water’s edge.
Through a break in two of the large rocks, I could see movement.
Someone concealed in the barrier the boulders made.
The flash of flesh.
The fall of long hair draped down a bare back.
What the fuck? Did someone have the audacity to take a swim in my river?
I swallowed down the murder that had been itching in my fingers, and irritation rushed in to take its place as I tucked my gun back into its holster.
This was my sanctuary.
Miles between me and humanity because I no longer possessed any of that.
Teeth gritted, I wound out of the cover of trees and moved toward the intruder, though my footsteps were somehow restricted.
It felt like I was sludging through quicksand.
Like time had been set to slow.
Or maybe it was just set to rewind.
I blinked as I came up around the side of the boulder, sure my mind had to be playing tricks on me. Eyes convincing me of something that wasn’t there. Something that couldn’t be there.
A woman was facing away, wearing underwear that were soaked and nothing else. Long locks of cinnamon hair clung to the slick moisture of her back and shoulders as she lathered a bar of soap over her skin.