“Aren’t you a shifter?” Holly asked. “How about you go full bear and get us the fuck out of here if you’re so keen on helping me.”
“Unfortunately, those two are smart enough to put locking spells on the ropes.” He held up his wrists. “I can’t shift with these on. Besides, the fairy glass would sever my paws if I tried.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Holly challenged. “How do I know there’s a spell on the rope?”
“That little thing called trust.”
“You won’t ever have my trust again.” Holly sniffed. “You never had it to begin with.”
“That’s not true,” Loch countered. “I had it for a night. In your closet. Don’t bring up the paralysis thing. We’ve already been over that.”
“Maybe I was stupid enough to trust you for an hour, but that’s no longer the case. You broke my trust, and it’s not likely you’ll earn it back.”
“You said something similar to Keller, yet I saw you riding his cock not even an hour ago. How’s that for trust?” Loch shot back.
“You don’t get to hold that—or anything—against me, right now,” Holly snapped under her breath. “I’m in this mess because of you.”
“You’re in this mess because you ran off. I didn’t tell you to do that.”
“You manipulated me into doing it,” she shot back.
“Explain that logic to me,” Loch whispered. “I sought you out at my own risk. You ran. You fucked up. Now we’re both paying for it.”
“Don’t you dare blame this on me.”
“I’m hearing an awful lot of whispering,” Fang snarled from up ahead.
“Mind your business, Fang,” Loch snapped. “She’s the maiden. I’m a firstborn. Can you let me try to get laid in peace?”
“You’re not getting laid until we’ve both had a go with the maiden.” Fang grinned.
Holly felt like she was going to pass out.
“We ain’t firstborns, but that shouldn’t mean we don’t get to have a taste.”
“That won’t happen,” Loch whispered. “I won’t let it.”
She didn’t trust him, but to hold onto her sanity, she decided to believe that statement and only that statement. She couldn’t lose her head now. Johnny, Garret, and Keller were probably out looking for her now, but if she was as far away as she believed herself to be, she couldn’t count on them to get to her before trouble started. She had to rely on herself now.
CHAPTER 29 - Keller
Keller pounded through the woods. Every one of his senses was buzzing with floods of information. When he returned to the spring, Holly was nowhere to be found. He followed her scent into the woods. Why she would ever run off like that is beyond him.
Unless she was planning it the whole time.
The farther he tracked her scent, the more he believed she’d run away for good. That was until he picked up another scent, the very scent he’d been tracking when he left Holly alone. That was his first mistake. He should’ve taken her back to the house and then followed the scent. He was stupid. He fucked up. He was so desperate to make the woods safe for her that he had let her slip right through his fingers.
Whoever he was tracking had found Holly before he did. A few drops of Holly’s blood were splattered on the forest floor. He assumed she was struck. There wasn’t enough blood to indicate a stab wound or any other kind of serious injury. Whoever went for her probably knocked her out and carried her off. Her scent went cold far too quickly. He should’ve been able to track her much farther than he had.
He couldn’t do this alone. He needed help.
He sprinted back to the house, shifting only once he reached the door. He didn’t care if anyone saw him. Getting Holly back was the only thing that mattered.
When he stepped into the empty house, he swore. Garret and Johnny were still out searching for those other bears. He needed to find them, now!
He bolted to the kitchen, where Holly hung up her chart. Garret was the only one who wrote in the search location. Keller was grateful for it. He and Johnny were on the north ridge. That was in the opposite direction of the spring, but he didn’t have a choice. He had to get to them.
He charged onto the deck and leaped over the rail, transforming in midair. He hit the ground running and ran hard all the way up to the north ridge overlook. It didn’t take him long to pick up Garret and Johnny’s trail. He found them within minutes.
He shifted back into his human form, not caring if he didn’t have extra clothes with him. Johnny and Garret looked more than surprised to see him.
“Holly’s been taken,” he blurted.
Garret and Johnny quickly shifted into their human forms.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Johnny snapped. “What do you mean taken? Weren’t you with her?”
Guilt flooded Keller. This was all his fault. “I was. We left the house.”
“You what?” Garret snarled. “I thought we agreed it was too dangerous for her to leave.”
“She was going stir crazy,” Keller countered. “She needed to get out. I didn’t take her to town or anything. I just took her to the spring so she could get some fresh air and a change of scenery.”
“And what? You forgot her?” Johnny snapped.
“No,” Keller said through clenched teeth. “I caught a scent. I think it was the bears who came to the house last week. I followed them. I told Holly to stay put. I wasn’t even gone for five minutes and she vanished.”
“How do we know she didn’t run away?” Garret said.
“She wouldn’t do that,” Johnny muttered as he started to pace. “She wouldn’t run away.”
“She didn’t,” Keller said.
