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Each step she takes on the forest floor littered with twigs and leaves might as well be a cannon going off through the quiet night.
I pause a moment and listen.
A branch cracks to my left, and I wheel toward it, storming through the trees, brushing aside the branches that cut and pull at my exposed skin.
The chilly air and sharp bites of pain only feed my anger.
Who the fuck would dare come onto the mountain?
Someone with a death wish, clearly.
It’s the only logical explanation for why this young woman would come up here, dressed like that, and knock on my damn door like she’s an invited guest.
I don’t do guests.
I don’t do people.
For very good reasons—ones that don’t simply vanish because a beautiful woman shows up.
I climb over a fallen log, following rustling leaves and breaking sticks on the forest floor. Her muttered curses fill my ears as her feet are no doubt scraped and cut on every rock and twig under them.
Stopping, I hold my breath and wait for her to move again.
A few seconds tick by. A minute draws out to two.
I shift my axe into my other hand, squeezing it tightly. “I don’t know where you think you’re running, but you aren’t going to make it far.”
My voice carries through the dense trees, bouncing off thick trunks, the only sound until her sharp intake of breath draws my attention to the right.
She’s moving in a circle.
Probably trying to make her way back to the car.
The corner of my mouth curves up despite my willing it not to. “Clever little doe…”
Smart, maybe smarter than I gave her credit for…
But it doesn’t mean she’s going to survive these woods or my questioning when I get my hands on her. Her motives, her purpose in coming here, must be exposed.
I wield the axe now, cutting a path through the thicker foliage, chopping back branches that slow my advance, kicking away logs, barreling toward the sound of her rushed footsteps.
Her whimper of fear and pain floats to me on the breeze.
It should give me pause, should make me want to assure her that she’s all right, but that would be a lie.
Coming up here sealed her fate.
A loud crash sounds ahead of me, and I take three long strides, smashing my way through a thicket to find her sprawled on her back, clutching her right foot, a large gash across the bottom of it near the arch.
Tears stream down her cheeks as she stares up at me, scrambling backward on her elbows and ass, her dress torn and frayed. The ripped hem moves up and up the farther she retreats, exposing even more cuts and scrapes covering her long, bare legs.
“P-p-please, don’t hurt me…” She holds up a trembling hand, like that’s going to do anything to protect her. “Please!”
Clearly, this woman doesn’t know me.
Already towering above her, I raise my weapon, ensuring she’ll see the gleam of the blade in the thin sliver of moonlight filtering down on us. “Who the fuck are you, and what the hell are you doing here?”
“I…I…”
