In no mood for eating and eager to get to civilization, she picked up the bag and shouldered it, before turning full circle, wondering which way was home.
She didn’t know where she was. She couldn't see much sky through the canopy. The way the light filtered through the trees made it difficult to locate the rising sun—at least then she'd know which direction was east. She made an uncertain guess and set off in the direction she hoped was home.
While she walked through the woods, she recalled everything she’d been through. The foxy wolf-dogs, the men, and the hut—they must’ve been real. How else could she have gotten out of the ropes? And what other explanation was there for the picnic bag?
As she walked, the snap of a branch turned her head, and Lauren came to a sudden stop. She squinted through the trees, looking for one of the dogs she’d seen the night before. It never materialized. A squirrel darted across the forest floor, scampered up a tree, and chattered at her from a branch far out of her reach.
Alone again, Lauren dug her hands into her pockets and shook her head. The surreal and magical happenings of last night would never happen again. She’d had a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which defied a rational explanation even after a great deal of thought.
Leather clad men had deployed a pack of trained wild wolves to check her out before they saved Lauren from bondage, after which they took her to a bedroom, removed their clothes and lulled her to sleep.
Already, it pushed at the limits of credibility.
To add that she’d woken up, first in a mountain hut, and the second time, alone in the forest, it didn't work as a story.
As for the nudity…
No.
If she told someone, no one would believe her? Lauren wasn’t sure she believed it herself.
Strangely, the whole magical episode with the men had made the earlier terrifying ordeal pale in significance. The terror she felt when abducted by the bullies was pushed to the back of her mind but not forgotten. It wasn’t a prank taken too far. She’d been left bound to a tree. For all they cared, Lauren could have died.
Lauren didn’t know what she should do about it or who she’d tell. Or, indeed, how she’d tell the story because it seemed too far-fetched without any corroborating evidence. She had no bruises or rope burns or a credible explanation for how she’d gotten free.
Perhaps the photographs would turn up on social media and give Lauren confirmation.
If so, she’d have to deal with it then. Meanwhile… well, the night had been a prank. Maybe someone had spiked the sparkling grape juice in the grocery shop with something psychedelic.
Yeah, that must’ve been it. When she fell asleep, or while she hallucinated, the pranksters had cut her down from the tree. And they’d left food.
Hell, maybe she’d never even been tethered to a tree.
But no matter how hard she tried to sell herself this line, her heart insisted otherwise, the events all too real to her.
They'd acted like it was a prank, but Odelia and her goons had left her for dead, and they hadn’t returned.
Noble naked men and wolves—they were real, too.
Time passed. Lauren wandered the woods, unsure whether she was heading in the right direction or was traveling in circles. In daylight and with the mist gone, the woods she passed through didn’t look half as ancient as they had the night before. Then again, with just Odelia’s phone to light the way, and Jason dragging her along, Lauren hadn’t had a good look at anything in detail.
Eventually, the trees grew sparser.
Hearing the noise of distant traffic, Lauren brightened and headed toward it. So long as she found a street, she’d be able to get home.
Lauren crossed out of the forest and stepped onto a slope, and with joy and relief, she recognized the town in the distance. Still making its ascent, the early morning sun cast a cheerful orange glow over Beaumont, making it appear magical. At least one thing turned out well over the past few hours—she’d been walking through the woods in the right direction. She still had a long walk ahead, but better a long walk than never seeing home again.
Hope renewed, Lauren let memories of what happened last night roll off her shoulders as she made her way down the hill. She wanted to put the past behind her and optimistically embrace the future. Her freedom.
No matter how far she went in life, or how much time passed, she didn’t think she could ever forget the way the men had looked at her the whole time they were together. That kiss, those looks, they should be treasured memories.
For the first time in her life, Lauren had felt wanted, in an adult way. Loved, even.
As for the moment before the man slipped out through the door, Lauren couldn’t make sense of it. The déjà vu she experienced. The look in the stranger's eyes. How full Lauren’s heart had felt when saying words her heart knew, but her brain couldn’t place.
Reflecting on what it all meant, she walked, and the distance passed by quickly with so much on her mind. When she passed the gas station on the edge of town, the large clock inside told her it was eight-thirty already. She was still a little over thirty minutes from home. She couldn't figure out why she'd been so far into the woods, as she certainly hadn't walked for hours with Odelia and company the night before.
When she arrived outside her home, the morning sun was hot and high. Uncle Joe would’ve already left for work, but Aunt Lori was most likely sleeping after her night shift. Lauren eyed the house from the sidewalk, trying to decide the best way to do this.
The backdoor led into the kitchen. From there, she intended to sneak up the staircase to her bedroom. It wasn’t ideal, but with any luck, it would keep Aunt Lori from hearing her. Sleeping at the front of the house, she was far more likely to hear the front door open than the back.
Decision made, Lauren squared her shoulders, and cut across the side and headed for the backdoor.
With a steady hand, she placed the key in the lock, careful not to scrape it or let her other keys jingle. She turned the key and the doorknob before inching the door open. She stepped inside and closed it carefully. Just inside the kitchen, she removed her shoes and crept barefoot across the kitchen. She dodged the squeaky part of the floor, headed down the hall, and…
Came face-to-face with Aunt Lori as she stepped out of the living room, an empty cup in hand. By the look of her fuzzy pink robe and the curlers in her hair, she was ready for bed but had waited up.
Lauren froze.
“Well, it’s about time you made it home,” she remarked in a strained voice. She wasn’t happy. She dropped her gaze. “It’s not like you to disobey house rules, Lauren.”
“I know,” Lauren murmured. “I’m sorry.”
No matter how she put it, she couldn’t hope to explain what had happened last night. Who would ever believe her? She’d gone over and over it in her mind and wasn’t sure what to believe herself. A man who looked wild. A magical cozy hut, which felt more like home than Lauren had ever felt before. A sense of fulfillment.
All of it seemed insane, even to her.
It would unduly worry her aunt to hear about the bullies who strung her up. Lauren didn’t want to tell any of the tale. The earlier part was an ordeal she wanted to forget, not to relive in the retelling of it. The rest she couldn’t begin to explain.
She had yet to come up with a credible cover story for the night.
“You weren’t with that Stevens girl, were you?” she asked.
“No!” Lauren stepped back with surprise, wondering what prompted the question. She’d never hang out with Odelia by choice.
“Let me smell your breath.” Despite the sound of discipline in her voice, she struggled with it. Aunt Lori and Uncle Joe seldom punished her—they weren't natural disciplinarians—and Lauren did her best to never give them cause to dish out punishments or rein her in.
“Aunt Lori!” Lauren protested, eyes widening.
“Tell me you weren’t with them,” she repeated. “I want to know, Lauren. Don’t lie t
o me.”
“I wasn’t.” She rubbed her arm and wondered why she’d ask such a thing. “I’m sorry to worry you. What did they do, anyway?”
“They were drinking. And for some unknown reason, the Stevens girl decided they should go for a drive. They were out on 88 when they ran off the road and totaled the car, injuring everyone inside.”
“Well, of course, I wasn’t with them.” Feeling uneasy, Lauren shrugged and held out her arms. “I’m not hurt.” She paused long enough to separate emotion from what she said next. “What did they hit?”
“The police say the driver lost control, there was no one else involved.” Aunt Lori sighed, shaking her head. “The girls were so drunk they insisted there was a man shining a brilliant light at them, dazzling the driver, and blinding him. I don’t think the police are taking that part of the story seriously because at one point they claimed he was a giant.”
Lauren wondering if they were on their way back to release her via car instead of on foot. Her blood ran cold as possibilities raced through her mind. They intended to come straight back but couldn’t. What if they’d died? What if no one had released her? She shook her head.
They’d left her for dead, but they could’ve died. Karma? Justice? Lauren wasn’t sure what she thought about this news.
Aunt Lori frowned at her. “But that doesn’t excuse you from staying out all night without calling. Uncle Joe said you told him you were going to Jade’s place, but Jade’s mother said you weren’t there.”
“I… wasn’t.” Lauren wouldn’t attempt to lie, but she couldn’t tell the truth, either. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Aunt Lori gave her a look somewhere between hopeful and worried. She crossed her arms and sighed, then shook her head and smiled. “All right.”
“All right?” Lauren asked.
“You’re twenty, you're an adult. I won’t ask what you did if you don’t want to share. I’ll accept it’s best I don’t know. I’ll just have to pray you were safe.”
Lauren’s cheeks burned as she realized what her Aunt suspected.
Lauren shook her head quickly. “No! No, it wasn’t like that.”
Yes, she'd been with a naked man, two in fact. Yes, she thought about going further than they ever should with a stranger who must have been at least ten years older than her.
“Well, whatever it was…” Aunt Lori exhaled slowly, like the words pained her. “I love you, and Jesus loves you more. I know He’s got big plans for you, Lauren. You take yourself upstairs and think for a little about how you made me and your Uncle Joe worry, then you come back down here and have breakfast.”
“Really?” Lauren wasn’t expecting to be let off so easily. She was an adult, but it was irresponsible not to tell her aunt and uncle not to worry if she wasn’t home. She didn’t ever get in trouble, but she'd have understood if this was one of those times. Regardless of her age, she lived under their roof.
“Really. And if you ever stay out all night again, please use your phone to let us know you’re safe? You don’t understand how worried we’ve been. Especially after what happened to the other girls and boys.”
“Are they going to be okay?” Lauren didn’t honestly know what answer she hoped for, after what they’d done to her.
“I don’t know, but I think so.” Aunt Lori nodded toward the stairs. “Now let’s go, miss.”
Lauren beamed. She bobbed her head and ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time.
The first day after graduation and things already looked up. If this was a taste of what the next chapter of her life would be like, she felt excited about what the future held.
Karma, wreaking revenge on bullies, and the strange, magical men.
CHAPTER SIX
Later that afternoon, after they had both caught up on rest, Lauren perched on the couch watching reality television with her aunt. She sat transfixed, half intrigued by the aftermath of paternity test results, and appalled by the people resorting to sorting out private stuff in front of a daytime TV audience.
When Uncle Joe returned home, Aunt Lori rose and headed into the hall to greet her husband.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“I found it on the front step, sitting in a basin of ice,” Uncle Joe replied. “I don’t know how it got there. I was about to ask you the same question.”
Lauren perked up her ears and rose from the couch, joining her aunt and uncle in the hall. Uncle Joe held a rolled up bundle of newspaper in the crook of his arm, the pages bent and folded around something.
“What is it?” Lauren asked, looking at the newspaper curiously.
“Fish,” Uncle Joe said. “Wrapped and sitting in ice on the porch.”
Lauren opened her mouth as if to speak, but she found no words. Instead, the thread wrapped around her sternum tugged as realization dawned. “Fish?” she repeated.
“Hmm. I take it they aren’t yours? I wonder if this is someone’s idea of a prank. I’ll throw them out.”
“No!” Lauren’s heart shattered at the thought. She didn’t know how, but she knew they were from the forest men, and they were meant for her. “No, they are mine, I mean.”
Aunt Lori and Uncle Joe gave her odd looks, and Lauren dropped her head.
“You were with me all day today. When did you have time to go out fishing?”
“Ummm…” Lauren drew in a deep breath. She didn’t like lying, but she saw no way around it. Neither of them would believe her if she told the truth. “Remember Kevin? He works in the seafood department?” At their understandably blank stares, she plunged on. Of course, they wouldn’t remember him—Lauren had never mentioned the boy before. She had to make it seem like they were old friends, though, if she was going to talk her way out of this. “Anyway, we’ve been keeping in touch. He mentioned he was going fishing yesterday.”
Lauren continued to babble, thinking on her feet and making it up as she went. “He invited me to go with too, but I was working late. He must’ve come to share some of the catch with me.”
She almost felt proud of her story, invented on the spot, except for the part where she felt awful about lying.
“What a sweet man.” Aunt Lori cocked her head to one side and looked as if she didn’t buy the long-winded story. “Why wouldn’t he have rung the bell? Your friends are always welcome here, Lauren.”
“It’s probably because I told him you work nights, so you sleep during the day. He must’ve been worried about disturbing you.”
As far as Lauren could see, it was the perfect lie. Kevin was a real person, but Lauren’s relationship with him wasn’t. Lauren didn’t make friends easily, nor had she been drawn into the fold at the grocery store. When she earned enough to justify quitting, she’d be done without a second thought. She didn’t belong there.
She wondered whether she belonged anywhere. After her night in the woods, not even Aunt Lori and Uncle Joe’s house felt like home. Her soul yearned for somewhere cozy and rustic.
“What a sweet, thoughtful man. You should invite him over soon,” Aunt Lori insisted. “I’d love to have him stay for dinner.” And it occurred to Lauren perhaps she now suspected Kevin of being her boyfriend, and maybe the man she’d spent the night with.
“Speaking of dinner, I guess we’re having fish.” Uncle Joe hefted the bundle. “Heavy suckers. Probably good eating. Do you want to help me debone and skin them, Lauren?”
“I don’t know how.” Relieved to divert the conversation away from sweet and thoughtful Kevin, Lauren fell in beside Uncle Joe, and they headed for the kitchen.
“No better time to learn. You can impress your friend Kevin the next time you see him.”
Had Aunt Lori already spoken to Uncle Joe? Lauren inwardly cringed at the idea of them discussing her love life. Did they believe she’d spent the night in some guy’s bed?
Did they think Lauren had a secret boyfriend called Kevin?
Uncle Joe set the wrapped fish on the counter and arranged the cutting boa
rds. As he did, Lauren stood by the fridge and watched. In his early sixties, with slightly graying hair on his temples, Uncle Joe was youthful and spry in every way. He had the face of a man half his age and the spirit to match, and Lauren found his enthusiasm inspiring.
Cutting boards arranged, he unwrapped the newspaper and removed the first of two whole fish from inside. He rinsed it in the sink. Lauren had no clue what kind of fish it was. Big and meaty, its scales shone silver and flashed with green beneath the kitchen light like gemstones. She’d seen aquarium fish before, but nothing so big and defined. It looked beautiful.
She blushed and folded her arms across her chest to hold herself. The men in the woods had brought these fish for her, she knew it. They were doing their best to provide for Lauren, even though she hadn’t asked them. First the wine, bread, and cheese, and now the fish. What was their goal?
Did one of them do something with Odelia’s car, how was that possible? Could they be behind the mysterious dazzling light? If so, was it on purpose to get vengeance for the gang's actions in the wood? Or had the crash been nothing more than a coincidence?
Since the men had left gifts of fish, Lauren was pretty sure the crash wasn’t a coincidence.
“Fish have tiny little bones, so you need to be careful when you’re filleting them. If you know the proper way to do it, you can get all the bones more or less every time.” He set the fish down on the cutting board on top of one of the newspapers, and selected a long, thin knife from the knife block and wielded it expertly. “You want to make sure the bottom of the fish is facing you, just like this. Can you see from over there, Lauren?”
Lauren nodded. “Yes, Uncle Joe.”
“Good, good.” He pointed at the fish’s head. “The first thing you want to do is take off the head. You want to get your knife right under the gills and slice downward at a diagonal until you go through the bone. After that, you’re going to flip the fish around and do the same on the other side until you can take the head off.”
Defenders_Sons of Olympus_Reverse Harem Romance Page 4
