“I fell asleep in the chair, you idiot!” I yell, grabbing at my hair and tugging.
I look back at James as I pace the dark hardwood floor of the kitchen.
“James, he’s hurt her before and he’ll do it again.”
“Okay,” James starts.
“Let’s think.
Do you know where she would go?”
“I know she’s from Kentucky,” I say
“We could track her scent,” James says finally
Aaron laughs.
“You gave her your scent, you dumbass.”
I feel myself wanting to make another dive for him.
I feel James’s hand come down on my shoulder.
We all turn to the sound of the front door opening, and our eyes fall upon Colt, who has returned in fresh clothes.
“Aaron,” his eyes glare at him.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“Why does everyone always assume it’s me?” he shoots, taking a gulp of coffee
“Sam took off,” James explains.
“Aaron watched her leave and didn’t tell Ethan.”
“Now she’s out there with some insane asshole who tried to kill her!” I yell
“We can find her,” Colt says, patting my back
“I left my scent all over her,” I remind him as I rub the sides of my head
I hear Aaron laugh.
“Why is she so important?”
“If you have to ask that,” James tells him, “then you’ll never fucking know.” James turns to me.
“Let’s go find her.” He begins digging his cell phone from his pocket.
“I’ll come with you.
The two of us might be able to find her faster.” He looks at me as I hear his phone ringing from where I’m standing.
“I’m calling Trent and Eli.”
I nod and begin pacing the floor faster.
“Hurry up; she’s only got a few hours on us.”
“Go to your place, get a bag packed,” he says.
“Trent.”
I can only assume Trent has answered, but that doesn’t stop my rage.
“We have to go now!”
“Go fucking pack and meet me back here!” he orders
I storm off, slamming the door behind me
I pound my fists on my steering wheel as I pull out into the quiet street.
My mind is twisted with thought.
Red.
Elise in my dream.
The tree.
I’ve gone my entire life without anyone.
Why her? Why now? And, why did she just leave? I have a strong urge to pound the steering wheel again, but I increase my speed to my house instead.
I take a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself.
I keep my eyes on the road and scan for any police that may be hidden as I slowly move my speed up 10 miles per hour over the limit.
I watch the road and keep an eye out for pedestrians as I remember how I found Sam on the side of the road, pushing a motorcycle four times as big as her.
I let out a slight laugh and shake my head.
After all these years I’ve spent alone, I hadn’t given one single thought to finding a mate or even wanting to.
I never thought that a mate would find me.
It was always the furthest thing from my mind.
I’ve practically turned myself into a workaholic, and I filled every minute of my spare time with building my house.
I do everything that it takes to fight my rage as the full moon approaches and to control myself around others.
I never thought that this would happen…not to me anyway.
I take the turn and make my way down my dirt driveway where I stop in front of my house
I leave my Jeep running and jump from it, then bound up the steps and through my front door, leaving it wide open.
I take to my stairs inside, taking two at a time, and head up to my master bedroom.
I grab the first duffel bag that I can find and begin piling it with everything I think I’ll need.
Clothes, phone charger, underwear.
I make sure to quickly unplug anything and lock up before rushing back to my waiting Jeep.
James had better be ready to go by the time I get there.
I climb inside and buckle up before heading back down my driveway
I feel a sudden pang of hurt in my chest.
I can’t explain it, other than without her right now I feel incomplete.
It’s strange to think that one could become so attached to a complete stranger in a matter of one night.
I shake my head.
The effect she has on me is simply incredible.
It’s strong, wild, and completely out of my character.
I lean forward and jam the buttons to my radio, looking for something to relax my mind that is now moving too fast to comprehend.
The urge to find her is overpowering, but the fear of hurting her while in a rage is overwhelming.
The two thoughts seem to cross my mind at the same time and collide.
I think about our night together.
That feeling she gave me that seemed to begin in my stomach and work its way throughout my entire body.
The way her lips felt on mine.
I let out a long, drawn out sigh.
Finally, I come to a conclusion.
The power Red has over me is far greater than the fear of my rage ever hurting her.
The connection I got after only a few hours is too strong to let go.
It’s the ache in my back and bright light in my eyes that slowly brings me back to consciousness.
By the time I do open my eyes, my head is pounding.
My body feels completely weak.
I can’t imagine why people voluntarily drink.
I rub the haze from my eyes and suddenly things become clearer.
Meeting Ethan in the woods, the cabin and the tree, and meeting his brothers.
Maggie.
I left.
But…I don’t remember stopping anywhere.
I make a slow attempt to sit up.
My head throbs in such a manner that when I glance forward I can see a steady pulse in my vision.
I nearly slam back down on the somewhat soft surface before glaring around the battered and disgusting old room
“Well, if Sleeping Beauty isn’t finally awake.” The voice is familiar.
I pray to turn and find Ethan, but I know who I’ll find.
I slowly move my head with teary eyes and find Josh
I almost can’t bear to look at him.
His innocent, boyish face and good looks are both a façade; this I know all too well.
You can see it plain as day in the deadness in his eyes, washed out and such a dull brown that they remind me of the dead bark of a tree.
A tree…a simple tree that only brings my thoughts back to Ethan Parker.
Could it all have been a dream? Some crazy and elaborate fantasy created in my mind, describing the kind of man that I wished I had in my life.
The differences between these two men are as stark as the difference between the glowing full moon and the inky black sky
I give my head a shake as though to snap myself back to the hotel room.
I look at Josh again.
His golden blonde hair boasts an expensive stylist.
Hair so perfect and bright it only makes those empty eyes stand out to me, that dull and lifeless brown that I have grown to hate.
The disdain is so blatant that it makes me cringe in such a way that I feel a tremble travel the length of my body
This man has hurt me, so much that looking at him brings bile to the back of my throat.
His thin frame and 5’9” stature make him seem unimposing and friendly.
/>
Lying deep past the boy-next-door meets boy-band-member looks is a physical power and domineering persona that can bring me to my knees.
Literally
“And just where the fuck did you think you were going?” he says, kicking his feet up on the dirty little table.
It’s then that I realize I’m in some run down motel with him
I grab my head in my hands.
My thoughts seem to be swimming too fast on top of the headache that is beginning to grow stronger.
I can’t think straight.
Between my head and my heart, it just hurts
“Where in the fuck were you going, Samantha?” He screams so loudly my head feels as though it may explode
I look up, sniffling.
“A ride.”
“A ride?” he asks.
“A ride that brought you all the way down to fucking Louisiana!”
The tears come on steadier now as I wipe at my face.
“I ran out of gas.” I see Josh through blurry eyes as he walks toward me.
I feel his hand wrap with ease around my wrist as he yanks me out of the bed
“You’re coming back home,” he says.
“Right now.”
He storms out of the dank, old motel room and straight to his brand new Chevy with me in tow.
I feel myself being flung into the passenger seat of the truck.
He doesn’t bother stopping in to pay the bill as he storms out of the parking lot.
I hunker down in my seat, feeling the cold of the leather seats through my jeans enough to make me shiver as I wait for the heat to kick in
“Whose shirt are you wearing?” Josh asks, anger spewing from his voice as he glares at me from the corners of his eyes
I feel my heart rate increase.
Fear rises and fills my body from head-to-toe.
I swallow hard and think as quickly as my mind is capable at the moment.
I have to be sly.
“I found it along the way,” I shoot out finally.
“I ruined my shirt working on my bike.”
I glance at Josh who seems almost satisfied with that reply.
My shoulders release some tension as I feel myself letting out a long sigh.
I at least have his lack of knowledge in motorcycles to throw against him
He makes a funny noise and twists his face briefly.
“So, you put on a man’s shirt?”
Though I’m caught off guard, luckily I’m able to think on my feet.
“I needed something,” I tell him.
“I couldn’t very well run around covered in oil.”
“You mean to tell me that you didn’t take any clothes,” he says, glaring at me from the corners of his eyes again
I take what I hope isn’t too long to think things through again.
My mind whirls with the events just the night before.
Ethan had gone to get my saddlebags for my fresh jeans.
My bags were already at the cabin by the time Josh had found my bike
“I told you,” I begin.
“I was only going for a ride, and I got lost.”
“You got lost.” He scoffs.
“You got lost, and instead of stopping, you ended up going all the way to fucking Louisiana.”
I swallow hard again and nod as the heat has finally kicked in and is tingling on my frozen arms.
“Where are we going?” I ask, already knowing the answer
“I’m taking you back home,” he tells me
* * * * * *
The hours pass along the highway.
My mind feels as though it’s racing faster than the faded lines on the side of the road.
How in the hell did he find me?
I try to keep my gaze looking out the window, but for some reason, I can’t help but to glare at Josh.
I was almost free, and now here I am, in this truck, on my way back to that house - the exact two things that I was trying to escape from.
I study the lines of Josh’s face.
He’s relaxed now and staring out at the road as his fingers drum out the beat of the song that’s playing on the radio on the steering wheel of his truck
“Thank you for finding me,” I whisper, finally breaking the silence.
“I thought I was going to be lost in those woods forever.”
He turns quickly to stare into my eyes briefly.
“You know better than to leave like that, Samantha.”
“I just wanted some air,” I say, protecting my own rear-end.
“I needed to think, you know,” I say softly, tucking my hair behind my ear.
“Sometimes I just need to think.”
He gives me a slow nod, as though he really understands.
“You can think just fine from our bedroom,” he says with a silky voice
My heart sinks as the hope of ever getting away slowly begins to fade.
“I was really scared,” I mutter as I blink my tears back quickly so Josh doesn’t see
“I told you that you can’t get away from me,” he says.
“I will always find you.”
I attempt to withhold my shudder.
“I’m glad you did,” I lie.
“How did you know where to look?”
He releases a chuckle.
“Do you really think that I would let my girlfriend ride on that deathtrap that you call a bike without installing a GPS locator?”
I force myself to control my gasp as I finally feel the need to surrender.
If I’m going to get away from Josh, it’s not going to be now.
I have to be cunning and strategically plan my getaway.
Which means I have no choice but to go back to Kentucky with him and plan my escape as quickly as I can; only this time better and with no chance of Josh ever finding me.
Without my bike I know I’ll have a few problems presented, but if there is one thing I have ever been, it’s determined to get away from Josh
My thoughts flit back to Ethan, and I feel some part of my heart swell.
How can it be possible that after spending one night with a man that I miss him? How can it be possible that after finding out he’s damned by a curse to go crazy each full moon that I would want to see him again?
* * * * * *
A few days after we returned to Kentucky, I find myself moping around the house that I despise.
It’s not that it’s a dump; it’s actually a very beautiful southern inspired home.
Huge with two stories, it’s white but has an awful pink trim and a wraparound porch
Josh’s mom has two passions in life: shades of pink and floral designs, and they are everywhere.
The room that I am supposed to share with Josh is a shade of pink that would shame Pepto Bismol.
I think it’s being in this house that makes me hate pink and floral print that way that I do to be honest
It’s quiet in the house right now; it has been all day.
Josh’s parents are at work.
They keep mostly to themselves, and they believe their son is a complete angel, disregarding the marks all over my body.
If we lived anywhere else, if his father wasn’t a judge and his mother a lawyer, Josh would be in jail by now
Josh was up and out of the house with his friends by 8 a.m.
and to be honest, I couldn’t care less.
It has given me plenty of time to shower, relax, and think.
Think about Ethan, who right now, is clouding my getaway plan.
With my motorcycle sitting in God-only-knows-where, Louisiana, this will be much harder than last time.
With the bike rigged with that damn GPS device, going back could mean leading Josh straight to me again.
Staying in Kentucky is absolutely out o
f the question.
Aside from hating it here, I don’t want to be in the same state as Josh.
Even worse, I would never see Ethan again.
I try to shake my mind out of it.
Thinking about Ethan isn’t going to help me any right now, especially when he has a way of making my brain so warm and fuzzy
I let out a sigh.
I should have never left that night.
He and his brothers, though a little crazy, tried to help me.
His sister-in-law took me in without knowing me and made sure I was treated like one of the family.
Ethan, who barely knew me, came to check on me while I showered.
And what did I do? I took off in the middle of the night, drunk, with no real idea of where I was going.
I don’t regret leaving because Josh found me.
I regret leaving because, well, I left Ethan.
I don’t know how to explain it.
It’s odd.
I feel weird…especially at night.
The past few nights, I have been a whole mess of emotions and I feel something pulling me back to Louisiana.
It’s strong, and at night, it’s even stronger
“Samantha.”
I shake out of my little funk to see Josh staring at me with furious brown eyes.
I was so locked in my own brain that I hadn’t notice he was home, let alone standing right in front of me.
I stare back at him, confused, because right now it’s all I know to do
“What the hell are you doing, Sam?” Josh shoots, grabbing onto my bicep
“I wasn’t doing anything.” I wiggle, trying to free myself from his grasp
“The hell you weren’t,” he yells, giving my arm an even tighter squeeze
I shoot him a dirty look.
“I was standing here thinking, that’s not a crime.” I reach to pry his hand off me
He gives his head a shake.
“No, I think you’re fucking lying.
You’ve been acting this way since I picked your ass up in Louisiana.”
“Acting what way? Standing around the house thinking? What else have I got to do?” I snap.
I open my mouth to speak again but Josh overpowers me.
I feel my back slam so hard against the floral wallpaper that the photos shake and nearly fall to the floor.
I let out a high pitched yelp as he holds me in place, adding to the pain that’s shooting down my spine from the initial push
Little Red Page 6
