Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Things are back to normal all right. We spend the rest of the day cracking jokes and bonding. Ryder even pulls out his acoustic guitar to play a few songs, including a silly one about Raegan he makes up words to.
I’m grinning at Ryder when Logan rushes around the corner, panting and eyes frantic. Immediately the hairs on my arms stand on end. The three of us scramble to our feet.
“What is it?” I demand, not entirely sure I want to know the answer.
“It’s…” he chokes out, terror twisting his features. “My wife. Kristen. She’s gone.”
“What do you mean gone?” I step forward, the urge to calm him overwhelming. “Maybe she just took a walk.”
He violently shakes his head. “N-No. When I went into the tent just now to check on her, there was blood.”
“Bear?” Raegan croaks, voice quivering.
“I don’t know,” Logan hisses. “Fuck. I don’t know where she is, but I have a really bad feeling about this.”
I step away from my siblings to grab onto his biceps and meet his panicked stare. “We’ll help you look for her. It’s okay. We’ll figure this out together.”
He rapidly nods before pulling me to him in a crushing hug. Days ago I might have died to have this moment with him. Knowing what I know now, that he has a wife, I’m not as comfortable with this hug. Still, I’m not an asshole and give him the comfort he so clearly needs.
“Help me find her, please,” Logan begs, breath hot against my neck. “We were trying to get pregnant and she recently missed her period. What if we were finally going to have a baby only for something horrible to happen to them both?”
He shudders in my arms. It explains why he was so pissed she was drinking the other day. Whenever my mom has been pregnant in the past, she avoided alcohol because it was bad for the unborn child.
“We’ll find her. She’s going to be okay,” I lie, rubbing my palms up and down his back. “I promise.”
Ryder steps into my view and I don’t miss the annoyed look he gives Logan. I know he doesn’t like him, but now’s not the time for any of that.
We have to find Kristen.
Because, whether it’s a predator who took her from where she slept or she wandered off after drinking too much, it won’t matter. The wilderness is dangerous. And not everyone who dares to enter it will survive it.
* * *
* * *
Logan needs to stop touching my brother. What is it about these people infiltrating our land and then putting their grubby paws all over my siblings? It’s weird and it’s gross and I want them to fucking stop.
I clear my throat, reminding Logan his wife is missing and maybe just maybe he needs to stop hugging Ronan so we can go find her.
They finally break apart, but I don’t miss how Logan lingers in close proximity to Ronan, nor do I miss the pink stain on Ronan’s cheeks.
Irritation has me grunting and gesturing for Logan to lead the way. Once he passes, Ronan steps beside me, and much to my annoyance, so does Rae.
“Go sit with Dez,” I growl to her.
She huffs, lifting her chin high, and hisses back, “You go sit with Dez. I’m going out there to look for Kristen and you can’t stop me.”
Unbelievable.
Our group makes it out the gate and then we traipse through the trees until we find a smattering of tents set up. Logan takes us over to one of the bigger ones and unzips it before stepping aside. I crouch down in front of the opening and peer inside.
Like he said, there’s blood and it’s smeared on the blankets that are rumpled and shoved away too as though the person fought their attacker. There aren’t any signs of damage to the outside of the tent, which leads me to believe this was not a bear.
“Anyone from your camp missing?” I ask once I stand back up.
Raegan, unable to resist, also peeks inside. “Not a bear,” she concludes after a few seconds. “This place would be smashed and shredded if so.”
No one calls her Captain Obvious, though it’s on the tip of my tongue. Luckily, Logan responds before I can lash her with my barb.
“All present and accounted for.” He scrubs a palm over his face and shoots me a harrowing look. “I honestly worried it was you who’d taken her.”
I stiffen at his words. “Me?”
He shrugs as though it’s a no-brainer. I’m left reeling, and quite frankly, offended.
“Why Ryder?” Ronan asks, a frown tugging at his pouty lips.
“We barely know you all,” Logan says with a huff. “No offense to you, personally, but you weren’t with the group that got attacked by the bear.”
“Neither was I,” Ronan offers.
“I know it wasn’t you.” Logan’s smile is small and private for Ronan, but I still see.