Wild: Hangman's Haunt Book 1

by Kay Elle Parker

  But he drew a bolstering breath, nodded once. “Bedroom?”

  “Through there. I’ll give you some privacy.” Brenna jerked her head toward a plain white door. She started to add something, then only shook her head and disappeared toward the far end of the apartment.

  Daxon carried Baylee to her bedroom, put his shoulder to it and nudged it open. He avoided looking at anything but the bed; he didn’t want images of them rolling around in her bedroom stuck on his brain. Their night in the forest would be hard enough to live with.

  He set her down gently, stripped her efficiently before bundling her under the pale blue duvet. He’d miss her body as much as he missed her mind; he couldn’t say that about many. He crouched beside her, cupped her face. “I’m sorry it turned out this way, baby. Maybe it’s for the best.”

  She whimpered softly, her hand reaching for him, wrapping tightly around his wrist.

  Carefully, he extracted her fingers from him, kissed her knuckles before holding them to his forehead. He asked for forgiveness, for the strength to leave her and for Baylee to find peace. Then he stood.

  “Goodbye, Baylee.”

  Chapter Seven

  Coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee.

  Baylee smiled as her senses flickered, homed in on the marvelous scent. She wondered how on earth Daxon had managed to procure her favorite beverage when they were so far out of town. Surely he hadn’t walked all the way there and back just for that? Just for her?

  “Daxon...” she murmured softly, reaching out for him. Her hand slipped over cold sheets. The smile turned into a frown. “Daxon?”

  She forced her eyes open, took in the familiar surroundings of her bedroom, and blinked in surprise. Something heavy filled her belly, a horrible sensation of sinking washing over her. “Daxon?”

  He’d brought her home, right? That meant something. She recalled, vaguely, him saying something about having things to do but coming back for a second try at a first date. She relaxed a little, a dreamy smile returning as she thought about seeing him again.

  A lonely spot inside her, one carved out over the years despite her friends and the people who’d become her surrogate family within town supporting her, closed up as if it had never existed. He did that for her, effortlessly, and she doubted he even knew what he’d given her.

  Last night, he’d given her more than she’d ever imagined possible. Hope for a future. Sex hotter than any books she’d read from her naughty corner. Safety, security. Male attention. More than that, he’d treated her like a woman, offered her a chance to take her identity and be the woman she’d always wanted to become.

  Baylee squealed happily and moved to sit up. The squeal died, evolved into a breathless moan as muscles twanged and wept. “Oh. Oh shit. Nobody warned me about this!”

  She pressed her hands to her thighs, trying to stem the ache. Places throbbed in delightful remembrance of exactly what she’d put her body through. A laugh bubbled out of her even as she grimaced.

  “Baylee?”

  “I think I pulled something.” She laughed harder. “Several somethings, actually. Jesus, I need to be fitter. Maybe I should join the gym.” Oh no, that wasn’t such a good idea—gorgeous personal trainer guy worked there and he’d made his intentions obvious.

  “Guys, she’s awake!” Brenna called out.

  Within thirty seconds, her friends were gathered around her on the bed, bearing painkillers, orange juice and, oddly, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. Cassie perched beside her while Allix stretched out alongside and Brenna sat cross-legged by her feet.

  Baylee took the offered tablets, downed them with several deep swallows of refreshingly cold juice, then leaned back gingerly, teeth bared as she tried to control the grunt of discomfort.

  For a moment, no one spoke.

  “Why did nobody tell me I’d feel like I’ve been beaten with a foam bat?” Baylee whined in a cheerful tone. “Would’ve been nice to have a warning. Jesus, my legs.” She giggled again.

  “It’ll wear off soon,” Cassie said gently. “A couple days, tops.”

  Baylee shook her head. “Oh no. No, no, Daxon’s taking me out on our first date tonight. I can’t go out like this; I’m not entirely sure I can walk right now.”

  “Sweetheart—” Cassie began, then cut off with a sharp look from Allix.

  Dread curled in her belly again, a vicious rattlesnake waiting to strike. Baylee struggled to sit up properly but managed to wriggle her way into a comfier position where her friends couldn’t look down on her. “Why are you guys so quiet? After-sex discussions are usually a lot livelier.”

  Allix blew out a long breath, then sighed. “There won’t be a first date, Bay. Not with Daxon.”

  “Allix,” Brenna hissed reproachfully.

  “Don’t Allix me. She deserves to know the truth so she can move on with her life and forget about that fuckwit.” Allix reached out and touched fingertips to Baylee’s cheek. “Daxon left this morning, Bay. He’s gone and he’s not coming back. I’m sorry.”

  The rattlesnake struck, fast and hard. It stole her breath, her voice. Dreams shattered into fragments of glass that sliced at her mercilessly, leaving her bleeding from a thousand separate cuts. Denial hit first, smothering all else. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, just leave her like this.

  Baylee’s bottom lip quivered as she shook her head. “You lie.”

  Brenna closed her eyes for a moment; when they opened again, tears shimmered over the amber. “She’s not lying, Baylee. He brought you home, tucked you into bed and made the right choice for you. He knew he wasn’t any good for you.”

  “No.” Baylee wiggled, stiffness and pain forgotten in the need to find him, and scrambled to get out of bed. “He was the best thing to happen to me in a long time. I have to find him, tell him—”

  “He’s been gone nearly twelve hours, Baylee. Unless he gave you an address or a phone number, there’s no way you can track him. Honestly, I don’t think you should.” Allix looked sad. “He made the right choice.”

  Phone number. Baylee bristled. “The right choice? For me or for you, Allix? What the fuck did you say to him? One minute we’re going on a date tonight and the next he just leaves? I’m not buying it.”

  “It wasn’t Allix.”

  Baylee froze. Her eyes flicked toward Brenna. “What?”

  “I waited here all night for you, in case...just in case. When he brought you home this morning, we talked. He didn’t know if he wanted to stay or go, Bay. That indecision...it’s not what you need. Stability, dedication. You want a family, children, and Daxon didn’t know if he could give you that.”

  Betrayal noosed around her neck, tightened viciously. She tried to swallow, couldn’t. Tears formed in her eyes, but Baylee refused to let them fall. “You talked. You decided. I know what I need, what I want in life. That talk you had? That should have been between me and Daxon, not you.”

  Brenna turned pale. “Baylee, it wasn’t like that, I promise you. I just didn’t want you to get hurt. He seemed like a nice guy, he really did, but he wasn’t right for you.”

  Her hands fisted. White-hot rage enveloped her, awakened something inside her. It stretched lazily, purred at her, unsheathed its claws. Instinctively, Baylee knew if she wasn’t careful, she would rip her friends into pieces; metaphorically, physically, emotionally, she couldn’t tell, but she just knew she would cause harm. “Get out.”

  “Baylee.”

  “No, enough. Every time one of you sleeps with a guy, we have this big celebration and it’s all fun, and dirty, and sexy. Brings us all together, you know? The highlights and the low points. But when it’s my turn? When I finally have sex and part of that experience is that big celebration? I don’t get that togetherness.” Baylee bared her teeth as the thing inside her growled. “I get you three united against me. The one guy I like enough to sleep with, you chase away. No more. I want you out, all of you. I need time to myself.”

  “Baylee, no one meant to hurt you,” Cassie murmured. />
  Her anger became so vast, so all-encompassing, Baylee couldn’t react to the plaintive plea in Cassie’s dark eyes. She wanted blood, had an overwhelming urge to taste the echoes of their pain. “Get out. Now.”

  Numb, Baylee watched the women she’d grown up with, the friends who’d become her family, leave miserably. Allix stopped in the doorway, sent her a beseechingly look, but Baylee simply shook her head in disgust. She heard the front door close and let the tears fall.

  Someone had kindly put her cell phone on charge while she’d been asleep. Baylee stared at it blindly as she wept. She might not have an address for Daxon, but she damn sure had his phone number. Once she let this tidal wave of emotion pass, she would pick up the damn phone and call him.

  Ask him to come back. Ask him why he left. Beg him to come home.

  The storm passed, left her feeling weak. Regardless, she needed to fix this horrible mess. Her hand trembled as she picked up her cell, scrolled through to her calls list and pressed his number. “Come on, Dax, pick up.”

  It rang once, twice. Cut off. She tried again, only this time it went straight to voicemail. And again, and again, and again. In the end, she resorted to texting him.

  Please don’t ignore me, Dax. We need to talk.

  It took only a moment for the reply to come through. Her hopes rose even as her heart plummeted.

  Forget me, baby. I’m no good for you.

  No, you stupid moron. I need you to talk to me! Baylee barely restrained herself from launching the phone across the room.

  If you won’t talk to me, I’m coming to find you.

  It took five minutes, but the phone buzzed in her hand. Expecting another text, she jumped when it kept vibrating. A call. Daxon was calling her. Giddy with delight, she answered with a breathless “Daxon.”

  “Don’t try and find me, Baylee. Please. It’s been hard enough to keep myself under control, to not come back for you. If he catches your scent, I won’t be able to stop him.”

  “Then why did you leave?”

  “I had to, before my feelings for you prevented me from doing so.” Daxon sighed heavily, and she could hear the exasperation in his tone. “Forget me, Baylee. Forget last night and move on with your life. Find a man who kneels at your feet and worships the ground you walk on. One who can give you everything you’ve ever wished for. Forget me.”

  Her voice broke. “Will you forget?”

  His short, sad chuckle spoke volumes. “Never will I forget you, Baylee.”

  “Then how can you ask me to?”

  “Because my path is set. Yours is just beginning. Do as I say and in a few weeks, a couple of months, I’ll be nothing more than the vaguest dream.” Another sigh. “Take care, little witch. Don’t let your fire go out.”

  The line went dead. Baylee screamed in frustration and this time let the phone fly. It hit the wall, shattered into pieces of circuitry and broken plastic. She didn’t care. It didn’t matter, it was easily replaceable.

  He cared for her. She’d heard it in his voice. He hurt too, as much as she did, and she wouldn’t stand for it. She wouldn’t sit back and let the memories of him be all she had of him. Damned if she’d let him turn his back on what they’d had, on what they could have, through some chivalrous sense of honor.

  The hunt was on.

  The thing anger had unleashed inside her purred in approval. She didn’t have the faintest idea what it was, how it had come to be, but she would use it to her advantage.

  Within the hour, she’d showered, dressed and headed down to the store. Her place, her dream. For now, that dream would have to be shelved. It took only five minutes to write the sign and stick it in the window.

  It said simply: Closed Until Further Notice: Apologies For The Inconvenience

  Her next stop, despite it being almost ten p.m., was the Outback store. Well past closing time, but Baylee didn’t give a shit. She went around the side of the building and up the external stairs to the apartment above, hammered brutally on the door.

  It swung open to reveal a rugged lumberjack of a man. Just over six feet tall, with dense chestnut hair and a matching full beard, Erik Foster scowled at her with bushy eyebrows that completed the hair set. “Baylee? You know the hell time it is?”

  “Sure do,” she said cheerfully. “I need a favor, Erik.”

  He huffed. “You want to come in?”

  She presented her credit card with a flourish. “I want in downstairs.”

  “Baylee, shop’s shut. Come back in the morning. You look a little feverish,” he added as a concerned afterthought. “You sick? Want me to call Brenna or Cass for you?”

  She snarled at the mention of their names. “I’m going on a trip, Erik. I need supplies. I need them now. Be a pal, will you, and just open the goddamn shop.”

  He eyed her up, his grey eyes worried. “What kind of trip?”

  “Hunting trip. I haven’t got all night, Erik. Please?”

  “Fine. But you owe me.” He reached up somewhere behind the door and came out with a set of keys. Shrugging on a red and black checked padded jacket, he shoved his feet into a pair of heavy boots and stepped out beside her. “What’s brought this on?”

  Baylee followed him back down the metal stairs. “Everyone keeps telling me I need a vacation. I’m taking a goddamn vacation.” She waited impatiently while he unlocked the shop door, calmed the alarm system with a five-digit pin number, and turned on the lights.

  “I’m not sure about this, Baylee. You don’t seem yourself.”

  Baylee ignored him, zipping through the store toward the clothing section. She gathered thermal tops and trousers, socks, gloves, even several pairs of underwear guaranteed to keep her lady parts safe from frostbite. New boots, proper hiking boots, and a rather large backpack. Extra warm jacket.

  Next came supplies. Torch, batteries, heat packs. A two-man tent, inflatable mattress and two heavy-duty sleeping bags. Matches, cooking utensils, a small and lightweight camping stove. Everything and anything she thought she might need, she added to her pile.

  Fully kitted out, she began to pack everything as Erik rang them up. Somewhat dubious as to whether or not she’d be able to lift the damn pack by the time she was done, Baylee handed over her credit card and went to the small changing room to transform herself from meek Baylee into huntress Baylee.

  She came out just in time to see Erik hang up the phone. “Don’t tell me you’ve done what I think you have, Erik.”

  “Cassie’s on her way,” he said in answer to her statement. “I can’t in good conscience let you take off like this. For Christ’s sake, Bay, you haven’t even told your friends you’re pulling a disappearing act.”

  Furious, she snatched the receipt, scanned over the seven-hundred and ninety dollars she couldn’t afford, and signed it anyway. “My friends have no say in what I do or where I go.” She bent down, picked up the rucksack and the tent. “I left my other clothes in the changing room. You can give them to Cassie when she shows.”

  Her new gear was heavier than she’d thought. She struggled to wiggle into the pack. Her mind flicked ahead to the next job on her list; the 24/7 convenience store down the road. “I appreciate the favor, Erik. See you around.”

  Letting the door shut loudly behind her, Baylee caught the tail end of his curse. At a brisk pace, she headed down the street and into the store. Her credit card took another hefty beating as she stocked up on things she thought she’d need and that she could carry without adding too much weight.

  It didn’t occur to her she knew nothing about camping or survivalist tactics. It never crossed her mind Daxon might have left the state. This was her mission, one she would see through to the end. One way or another, she would find him and she had a damn good idea where to start.

  As she came out of the 24/7, she saw Cassie hurrying into the Outback. Good timing, she mused. On instinct, she veered the opposite direction, cutting around the back of the store and taking the long way back to the road out of town.
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br />   Never let it be said Baylee Anderson did anything by halves.

  DAXON HADN’T GONE FAR. His time with Baylee might have been short and fleeting, but his brother still lurked in the vicinity of Hangman’s Haunt. He couldn’t go home without the little shit, regardless of what pulled him inexorably back toward the town.

  He’d driven for nearly four hours to circle around to the top of the mount. His brother had been sighted twice in this region, and it stood to reason he’d holed up around here somewhere.

  Daxon wished—not for the first time—he’d not been hobbled by his mother’s side of the family. This entire endeavor would have been much easier if he’d had a wolf in his arsenal, or something more appropriate for the surroundings.

  The panther, the jaguar, the leopard and lion were all ecologically designed for warmer climes. They didn’t fare well in Montana on the brink of winter. Of course, he had the lynx, the bobcat and the ever-efficient mountain lion at his disposal, but he’d never developed an affinity with them as he had the panther.

  The phone call from Baylee had interrupted his search; the shrill trilling of the damn thing had scared everything in a five-hundred-foot radius away. He didn’t know why he’d bothered bringing the damn thing, tied to a piece of cord which he’d hung around his neck, when he’d known she would contact him.

  Truth was, the way he’d left gnawed at him. At his insides. Leaving her asleep, expecting him to be there when she woke...it fucking rankled. Why the fuck had he let the little redhead push him into making that choice?

  Daxon paced, grinding his teeth. His potential life mate, the one destined to walk the earth with him. He wanted, desperately, to go back to her, to beg her forgiveness, swear his loyalty to her until life ended. But he’d made the break, and he wasn’t sure going back to her now would be the right thing.

  He hung the phone back around his neck, reverted into the panther, and set off deeper into the trees. He caught nothing but the scent of rotting plants, deer, rabbits. Normal smells, nothing out of place. He had thousands of acres to cover but all he needed was the faintest trail.