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Chapter 1
Cedara
I’m afraid. It’s not a feeling I’m used to, but who could blame me? I’ve been on the run for days, ever since I broke free from the men who imprisoned my family and me.
I never found out who they were, but I recognize evil when I see it. And they were the purest form.
My mind is a fog, my thoughts scattered and wild. In my rare moments of clarity, I circle the facility where we were held, desperate to find a way back in to save them. But it’s impossible. I can’t risk being captured again. Not by them. No matter how desperately I want to get to the others.
But as the days drag by, things start to trouble me. Quiet footsteps. A hint of unfamiliar scent. The sense that I’m not alone out here.
Someone is watching me.
And it doesn’t take long before we encounter each other.
I almost walk into him in the forest. I sense him before I see him. It’s like a prickling sensation that washes over my skin, making the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I freeze, my heart beating like a jackhammer as I slowly turn around.
There, standing at the edge of the clearing, is a man…looking straight at me. He’s tall and broad-shouldered. A wave of dark hair falls over his forehead, chocolate streaked with silver. But it’s his eyes that capture me. Dark. Deep. Looking straight into my soul.
For a moment, we just stare at each other, neither of us moving. It’s like time has stopped. Everything else fades away except him and me. Those eyes…the strange tingling on my skin.
Who…? What…?
Without realizing it, I’ve taken a step toward him. It’s like there’s an invisible thread drawing me closer. His hands curl at his sides, a thigh muscle flexes as if he’s poised to stride forward.
I should be turning…running. But I don’t. Instead, I take another step, lost in those impossibly compelling eyes. Lost in the promise they’re making that I can’t quite understand.
It’s you…
The thought comes to me out of the blue. And with it comes a sense of…rightness. As if the world just slipped into its natural order.
It’s you…
I’m another step closer when a rustle nearby has me pivoting with a snarl. A sudden movement in the undergrowth breaks the spell as a small deer bursts into the clearing and stops short. It stares in terror at the man and then at me…a wolf on the hunt. Except, I’m not hunting anymore.
I’m running.
I spin around, my heart leaping into my throat as I bolt back into the forest. I don’t know who he is or what he wants, but I can’t take any chances. Not now, not when I’m so close to finding a way to save my family.
I have to save them. Have to!
I can’t leave them to whatever fate those bastards had planned for us.
But right now, I have to save myself. I run for what feels like hours, my lungs burning and my legs aching. But no matter how far I go, I can’t shake the feeling that he’s still out there, following me. It’s like he’s a shadow, always just out of sight but never far behind.
As night falls, I burrow into a cluster of thick brush and collapse, my chest heaving as I struggle to catch my breath. I close my eyes, trying to calm the racing of my pulse. But even in the darkness, I can feel his presence, just on the edge of my awareness.
Go to him.
Why?!
Why are all my instincts screaming such madness? Everything out here is trying to kill me. Or lock me up.
That’s what he wants to do, too. I’m sure of it.
At least, I think I am.
And yet, I want to turn around and close the distance between us. Be near him.
