Technically, Ryder had crossed it once before when Afana’s men had brought her to the bunker, but she wiped the thought from her mind a moment too late to prevent the memory of it from resurfacing. She looked at the water and wrinkled her nose, remembering that day and the tiny floating bodies. Not every captive from the raid had made it to the bunker.
Ryder psyched herself up. Get in. You're stronger than you used to be! She counted to three, took a deep breath, and stepped into the water.
It was colder than it looked. It seeped into her boots and then soaked her pants. With each step, the dark green water got higher, and the fetid stench of rotting vegetation intensified. Plenty of things had met their end in this place, and she refused to be one of them.
She pushed forward, and soon, it was up to her breasts. Not that anyone looking at her would know she had breasts. They were bound tightly with bandages.
If she got through this alive, she wouldn’t have to perform the ritual of binding herself anymore. The thought made Ryder feel uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be on display like the other women in the bunker. She wouldn’t be a prize for any man.
Getting away from that hellhole kept her slogging through the mulch. That, and her mission to save Terrier and the other innocents that Afana held in his lair. The hunters could choke to death on a thousand diseased wolf cocks for all she cared, but the women didn’t deserve to be prisoners. They had done nothing wrong.
Her whole body was in the biting cold water now, and the soft riverbed beneath her feet was muddy and uneven. Something brushed by her leg, and she froze, trying to do her best impression of something that wasn’t food.
After a full minute of standing stock still she hadn’t felt anything else in the water, but that didn’t stop her from imagining what could be swimming around in the darkness. She forced her legs to move and take another step. Her foot came down into empty space. She tumbled forward and went under.
Foul-tasting water rushed into her mouth, and she launched herself upward. Her head broke the surface, and she gasped for air. She flung her hands forward, trying and failing to stand. The movement disoriented her, and she panicked, losing her footing again.
An image of Terrier in captivity flashed through her mind, and she knew she had to survive. Not only for herself, but for the others.
Shit, her mind screamed as she tried to right herself. An invisible current tugged at her, pulling her away from the swampy area and out into open water. The calm, still waters came to life around her, sweeping her off into a full-fledged river.
The current’s erratic movements twisted and turned her body like a ragdoll. Ryder fought to stay afloat, but her strength finally failed her. The water pulled her under, and her head slammed against a submerged boulder, knocking her out cold.
When he got to the edge of the forest, Leandro tasted the girl’s scent on the dry breeze that fluttered past his snout. The woman he’d saved earlier had come through here. Judging from the way her trail ended at the water’s edge, he assumed she’d gone in. Her scent was still strong, though. She had to be close.
He looked past the marshy area and upriver in the direction of the current. His keen eyes spotted a body floating on top of the water. It was her.
Leandro leaped down the riverbank and slid on the mud, but he was moving too fast for it to slow him down. He reached the edge of the water, shifted back to his human form, and jumped in without a second thought.
Leandro got to her in no time. He pulled her to his chest while he swam on his back so he could keep her head above water. Holding her like that, he used his free arm to paddle them both back to the spot where he’d jumped in the river.
He heaved her onto dry land and collapsed beside her. Even with his strength, the strong current had worn him out, and he needed a chance to catch his breath.
Leandro looked down at her unmoving body. Was she dead?
Ryder coughed, taking Leandro by surprise. She thrashed and heaved, choking up water. She was alive.
And Leandro was naked.
He wasn’t sure which version of him would scare her more —a naked man standing over her, or a white wolf? He imagined his wolf would be less threatening. He had saved her life in wolf form after all, and a naked wolf aroused less suspicion than a naked man.
He changed back into the white wolf just before the woman turned over and saw him. Her expression was unreadable, but Leandro knew that some humans liked to kill animals.
So, he stepped away from Ryder. She looked at him with those beautiful Siberian eyes. She didn’t pull a knife, which he took as a positive sign.
Still, Leandro decided not to wait and see if the mysterious girl would change her mind. He decided to hide in the trees and keep an eye on her from a safe distance.
Chapter Six
Massimo went to the shed at the lower end of the garden where he brewed his beer. This was a daily ritual for him, bottling the beer he would sell in Pinewood later, but his mind wasn’t on beer. Today was the day Massimo got to taste his newest homemade creation—vodka.
He was tempted to go back to the house immediately and see how the liquor had turned out, but he forced himself to tend to the beer first.
