Heart of the Hunter

by Chance Carter

  “So,” he said, “you just heard all that?”

  Elle nodded.

  “You see, Elle. I tried to warn you. I knew once your lover boy heard the truth, he wouldn’t feel the same way about you anymore. You saw it with your own eyes. When I told him what you really were, it just took all the wind out of his sails. It took the love out of his heart. He feels nothing for you now.”

  “That’s not true,” Elle said, but even as she said it she could hear the doubt, the fear, in her own voice. She was already beginning to doubt herself. She was beginning to doubt Forrester’s love. She’d held fast through so much. She’d refused to give up on him. But now she could feel all her certainty, all her confidence, evaporate.

  How could Forrester ever love her? She was worthless. She’d been sold as a slave by her own mother. She was nothing more than a whore, and the daughter of a whore.

  “And besides,” Gris went on. “You saw him. I’ve beaten the shit out of him. If you don’t let him go, he’ll be dead soon. I’ve got the whole police of this town on my side. If you don’t come home with me, I’ll tell them never to let him out.”

  “You can’t do that,” Elle gasped.

  “I can do that, and I can do a lot worse. I can get him killed, Elle.”

  “The police would never let you do that.”

  Gris bent down to her and pulled her to her feet. Then he shoved her up against the door and pressed her face to the window.

  “Look at him, Elle. He’s almost dead already. They let me do all that, you think they’re going to stop me now.”

  Elle shook her head. She couldn’t bear to look. Forrester looked like he’d been attacked by a pack of wolves and left for dead. She knew he wouldn’t be able to survive too much more abuse at the hands of Gris and his friends.

  “How about this?” Gris said. “Either you get in my car right now, and come home with me where you belong, or I go back into that cell and kill lover boy.”

  “Gris,” Elle cried.

  “I’m not kidding, you little slut. I should kill him just for what he did. He touched you. And you’re mine.”

  Elle couldn’t believe what was happening. She couldn’t believe what she was about to do, but she had no choice. Forrester was in no position to be able to defend himself. If Gris went back into that cell, it could mean the end for Forrester.

  Even still, something inside her resisted Gris. She couldn’t bear the thought of going home with him. She couldn’t bear the thought of being dragged back to the life she’d struggled so hard to escape. Going back with Gris would mean death for her heart. Could she really do that? Could she allow herself to give up her own future to protect Forrester?

  And she knew the answer.

  A hundred times, yes.

  Of course she could. She loved Forrester, more now than ever. If Gris went back in there and killed him, she’d be dead anyway. The body can’t live without its heart.

  Gris shoved her aside. “Need time to think?” he barked. “Let me go stomp on lover boy’s face while you make up your mind.”

  “No,” Elle said, her voice strong and clear. “I don’t need time to think. I’ll come with you. Just don’t hurt Forrester any more.”

  Chapter 36

  Elle

  GRIS DRAGGED ELLE BY THE wrist out of the police station. They crossed the snowy parking lot and he pushed her into the passenger seat of his car.

  “I don’t have to tie you up, do I?” Gris said, menacingly.

  Elle shook her head.

  “I mean, I’ll go back into the jail and kill Forrester if you try anything. You know that, right?”

  “I know it,” Elle said.

  “Okay, good,” Gris said.

  He went round to the driver’s side and got in. Elle took a deep breath.

  This isn’t over, she promised herself. This isn’t the end.

  Whatever Gris thought he was going to do to her, whatever he had planned for her life, she wasn’t going to let him get away with it. She’d come too far to give up everything to a brute like him. She’d escaped Los Lobos. She’d escaped him. She could do it again.

  She watched as he turned the key and started the car. She remembered the night she’d gotten into the pickup next to Forrester. She remembered the way his arm had looked with the pit bull tattoos. She remembered the way his eyes sparkled in the light.

  “Where are you taking me?” she said to Gris.

  “You know damn well where I’m taking you. I’m taking you home. And don’t think it’s going to be as easy to get away from me a second time. Now that I’ve got you back, I’m going to make damn sure I keep you. You’re not going to have a car. You’re not going to have a job. You’re going to stay in the house, and you’re going to do what you’re told. You’ll eat when you’re told to eat. You’ll talk when you’re told to talk. And you’ll fuck when you’re told to fuck. Are we clear?”

  “Gris, you can’t do this to me.”

  “What do you mean, I can’t do this to you? I am doing it to you, and there’s no one in the world to stop me.”

  “My friends. They’ll call the police when they realize I’m gone. They saw you threaten me.”

  “Didn’t you see what just happened back there, sweetheart. I have the police in my pocket. The sheriff in that town is as spineless as a snake. All I had to do was threaten him and he gave me the run of the town jail.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  “Well, truth is, I didn’t have to say much. He was ready to believe all sorts of terrible things about your little boyfriend, Forrester. Turns out he came from that town, and everyone knew who he was.”

  “I know. I heard.”

  “Then you’ll have heard that his past wasn’t all that different from yours, Elle. His parents didn’t love him either.”

  “His mother died. I’m sure she’d have loved him if she’d lived.”

  “But she didn’t live. Forrester killed her coming out of her. And the dad hated his guts for it.”

  “His dad must have been sick.”

  “Call it what you want, sweet cheeks, but that father brutalized Forrester and in my book, that counts as hate.”

  Elle’s cheeks flushed. She hated the way Gris was talking about Forrester, and she hated when he called her sweet cheeks.

  Gris lit a cigarette. They’d left the town behind and were heading into the dark and windy road that led through the mountains into the town. Elle thought back to the night she’d arrived. It had been so recent, and yet it felt like a lifetime ago.

  Gris kept talking.

  “I guess that’s why you were so attracted to him, Elle. I mean, apart from his pretty boy looks. He was a discard, just like you. No one wanted him, just like no one wanted you. Did you hear the story of what his old man did to him?”

  At that, Gris let out a hearty laugh. Elle felt sick.

  “So, Elle, listen. I’ve been thinking. I don’t want you getting away from me again, so I came up with a plan. Why don’t I put a ring on you?”

  “Excuse me?” Elle said.

  “I’ll marry you. That way, you can’t go anywhere. You’ll be mine.”

  “Gris,” Elle said. “The only reason I’m in this car right now is because you said you’d hurt Forrester if I didn’t come with you. I don’t want to marry you. I’m in love with him.”

  Gris laughed again. “You can’t be in love with someone who doesn’t love you back, you stupid bitch.”

  “Gris,” Elle said, but she wasn’t even sure what she was going to say.

  She knew she was in love with Forrester, but she wasn’t so certain he was in love with her. What if she was wrong? What if Gris was right? Could there really be love if the other person didn’t feel it too?

  But she knew he felt it. The last time she’d been with him, she’d felt his love. She’d felt it right in the core of her being. He’d loved her like a raging fire that no one could put out. She knew that. The only reason Forrester hadn’t showed up the other
day at the diner was because Gris and his henchmen had thrown him in jail. If he’d been able to get out of there, he’d have come for her.

  “I’ll never marry you,” she said firmly.

  And then it came. What she knew was coming, sooner or later. Gris’s heavy hand swung across the car and slapped her right in the face.

  “Don’t make me pull this car over and teach you some manners, bitch.”

  “You can’t teach me anything, Gris,” Elle said back, defiantly.

  She’d made up her mind. She’d let Gris create some distance from the town. She’d buy Forrester some time to get over his injuries. She’d stay with Gris for a few days if necessary. But then she would escape. As soon as she felt Forrester might be out of that jail, she’d escape and get back to him.

  “You know what,” Gris said, “I should just stop the car and get you to suck my cock. That will show you what you’re worth.”

  “I’m worth so much more than that, Gris.”

  “That’s not what you used to think. You always did whatever I wanted. You were my little slut.”

  “I didn’t know what to think back then.”

  “You were my slut then and you’re my slut now, Elle.”

  “No I’m not, Gris. I’m more than that, and I know it now. You don’t know me as well as you think you know me. I’m not the girl that was with you. That’s not me anymore. Those few nights with Forrester taught me so much. They taught me to respect myself. They taught me to love myself. He showed me that I’m beautiful, and that a real, loving, kind man could want me and want to have a baby with me.”

  Gris was getting mad but she didn’t care. He had to know the truth. He had to know that she was too strong for him now. She wasn’t going to be bullied. She wasn’t the timid girl he thought he knew.

  “Forrester loved me more than you ever did, Gris. He treated me right. He lifted me up into the air and swept me off my feet. And he made love to me, Gris. He didn’t just fuck me. We made love. Real love. And it was the most amazing thing I ever experienced in my entire life. I’m not going to forget that. I’m not going to let you take that away from me.”

  Gris made to slap her again but this time, when he swung at her, she blocked his hand. It was the first time she’d ever done anything like that. He turned to look at her, surprised that she’d defended herself. That was something she’d never had the nerve to do before. She had more courage now.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Gris snarled.

  Elle smiled back defiantly. “Forrester Snow. That’s what.”

  Chapter 37

  Elle

  IT WAS GETTING LATE WHEN Gris pulled into a gas station on the side of the road. Elle glanced at the gas gauge on the dashboard. They still had half a tank.

  “Why are you stopping?” she said.

  He looked at her, and it was the first time since leaving him that she could see him for who he really was. She’d spent so many years loving him, that she hadn’t seen his flaws before. He’d been a god to her. After the childhood she’d had, having a man to stand up for her and protect her held an almost irresistible appeal. She’d forgiven him all his sins, all his shortcomings, and forced herself to love him.

  She shouldn’t have. Even at the time, she should have known better. He didn’t deserve her love. There were a million warning signs that another girl would have picked up on. The way he was forceful with her in the bedroom, it wasn’t the kinky sort of play that she enjoyed, it was aggressive and threatening. The way he never did little, kind things for her. The way he lost his temper and got violent.

  She’d always prayed that she’d one day have a guy who woke her up in the morning before work, just to give her a kiss goodbye. Or who came home from work in the evening with a little token of his love, some flowers, a cupcake from the bakery, even a story about something that had happened to him during the day.

  But that wasn’t the man she got. Gris had never done any of those things. Not even at the very beginning. Elle knew now why she’d accepted it. She’d read that people accept the love they think they deserve. When she was younger, she’d believed that was all she deserved. It was just a few short years ago, but she’d really suffered from low self-esteem and didn’t dare to believe that she deserved a man who treated her the way she’d always wanted to be treated. So she’d accepted what Gris had to offer her, which wasn’t much.

  She’d tried to make the most of it. She’d tried to give him so much love and kindness that he turned around and started loving her back. But it hadn’t worked out that way. That’s why she left. She’d finally found her courage and gotten out of that situation.

  The reason it took so long was because of fear. She’d have left far sooner if she hadn’t been so afraid of Gris. The first time he hit her, she thought she was imagining it. She thought she was having a flashback to her time with Los Lobos, or one of the foster homes she’d been placed in after being rescued from Los Lobos by the authorities. But so quickly, Gris’s violence and abuse became her new reality. Before long, it was normal to her. She accepted it, again because she thought it was all she deserved.

  She’d gone from worshipping him like a god, to fearing him like the devil.

  But now, as she looked at him driving into the gas station, the snow falling gently all around them, she didn’t see a god or a devil.

  All she saw was a man. And if you can see a man, you can also see the little boy that he once was. Every man contains the child he started out as. And that’s what Elle could see now. She could see why Gris was always so mean to everyone. She could see why he was so cruel to her. It didn’t come from a place of strength. It wasn’t because he was more powerful than she was. It was because he was weak.

  “What are we doing here, Gris?” she said. “Are you going to let me go?”

  “Of course not,” Gris said, letting out a little laugh.

  “Why not, Gris? You know you’ll have to eventually. You can’t keep me forever. Not against my will.”

  “It won’t be against your will forever, Elle,” he said. “You’ll change your mind. You’ll love me again, like you used to. I know you will.”

  “I never loved you, Gris. I thought I did, but it wasn’t love.”

  “How can you say that?” he said. There was genuine sadness in his voice and Elle felt a pang of sympathy for him, despite what he was doing to her and what he’d done to Forrester.

  “Because I didn’t know who I was, Gris. And if you don’t know who you are, you can’t really love another person. Not properly, anyway.”

  “What do you mean, you didn’t know who you were?”

  “Think about it, Gris. You know the story of my childhood. You’re the only person I ever told it to.”

  “Yeah, I know it. So what? I didn’t exactly have a rosy childhood myself.”

  “I know that,” Elle said. “But it meant that when you met me, when you came along, I was still trying to figure out the really basic things about my life. I was trying to figure out who I was, what I wanted, what kind of a person I was going to become. I didn’t know what I wanted, Gris. I didn’t know what I deserved.”

  “And now you do?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “And you deserve more than me, is that it?”

  Elle looked at him compassionately. Despite wanting desperately to leave him, she still found it difficult to tell him this. She wasn’t used to asking for what she wanted, or saying it out loud.

  “That is it, Gris. I want more. And I deserve more.”

  “What’s so bad about my love?” Gris said, becoming strangely vulnerable all of a sudden.

  “Nothing,” Elle said. “It is what it is. And I hope you can continue to grow, and become a more loving person in the future. If you do, you’ll be able to give some girl, some day, the love she deserves.”

  “But not you?”

  “Not me, Gris. I’ve already found the love I want, back in Stone Peak. And I want to be with him. Forrester claimed my heart.
I’m his now, and nothing you can do will be able to change that.”

  Gris nodded. He knew that what Elle was saying was true, but it was still hard for him to accept. Perhaps it was too hard. Elle couldn’t tell. All she knew was that she no longer feared Gris. She just hoped, for his own sake, that he wouldn’t cause trouble for himself and get into a fight with Forrester.

  Forrester was the exact opposite of Gris. Forrester had real strength. If it came to a fight, Forrester might kill Gris. He would only do it if he had to. Elle knew that. But it would still be a tragedy for Gris. It wasn’t his fault that he came from where he came from. It wasn’t his fault that bad things had happened to him when he was a child. But it was his responsibility now to overcome it, and become a better man than his own father had been. He was responsible for the man he would become, same as everyone else, and he still had a chance to make some woman happy some day. If he only made the right decisions now.

  Gris locked the doors.

  “We’re going to sleep here for a few hours. I can’t drive in this weather without some rest.”

  “We’ll freeze,” Elle said.

  “I’ll keep the engine running so that we have heat.”

  “What if I’m not here when you wake up?” Elle said.

  Gris shrugged. “You’ll be here, Elle. Because we’re still not far from Stone Peak. If you’re not here when I wake up, I’m going back to that jail, and I’m killing that man you think you’re in love with. You’re not in love with him. It’s an infatuation, plain and simple.”

  Elle sighed. She’d thought she was getting through to him. She’d thought he might let her go. It was probably too much to hope that someone could change that much in such a short time. Over time, Gris might become a better man, but not today. You can’t expect miracles from people, especially after they’ve had a life like Gris’s.

  Chapter 38

  Forrester

  FORRESTER FELT DIZZY BUT HE forced himself to his feet. Maybe it was a sign of how out of it he was, but he could have sworn he saw Elle’s face at the window in the door at the end of the corridor before he’d lost consciousness.