Sharon’s Wolves(92)
The man paced, his hands on his hips. He glanced back at the pile of rocks and kicked one. “Fuck,” he screamed.
She looked around. Where were they? A cave? Whipping her gaze back to the pile of debris, she decided they were indeed in a cave, and the entrance was blocked.
He rambled some more. “I had a mate once too, you know. And that bitch was white, just like you. I denied it. Walked away.” He spun around again to face her, his voice rising. “It’s wrong. An abomination. We aren’t meant to mix the races. My people were here long before you pilgrims arrived. Centuries. You stole our land, raped our women, and that wasn’t enough? No. Now you have to continue to mate with our men and women.
“Well, enough is enough. I’ll teach your family to fuck with nature.” He turned back toward the pile of rocks and picked up another one to toss it aside.
Sharon tried to make sense of his weird lecture. He was Native. She could see that. And he didn’t think the races should mix. But did they have a choice? Wasn’t it Fate who determined who each wolf shifter was destined to mate?
The man was crazed.
Another pile of rocks fell when the man grabbed one and yanked it loose. Shocking her, he stumbled backward.
She gasped as more rocks tumbled from high off the ground. The noise was deafening. She scrambled back farther, shoving with her feet.
The man screamed. His anger wafted off him in waves that she could feel from yards away. With a battle cry, he launched forward, shouting obscenities at the rocks as he continued to grab them. They fell faster. He didn’t care.
Right in front of her eyes, a larger chunk fell toward him.
He screamed again as it slammed into him, and he fell backward so hard his head hit the ground with a thump, bouncing off the ground before coming to a rest.
A plume of dust rose into the air.
Sharon’s heart pounded. She didn’t dare move. She didn’t even know what to do. Was he dead? She inhaled long and slow, staring at his face. Blood trickled from his mouth and nose. His eyes were open wide, unblinking. Yeah. He was dead.
Thank God. She didn’t know why, but she was alert enough to know this was a good thing.
Now, where was she? She tried to stand and found her legs too weak and wobbly. Her head throbbed. A sense of déjà vu flooded her system. She squeezed her eyes closed and breathed. In. Out. Slow down. Whoever he is, he’s dead. And he was evil. Don’t give him your power.
After a few minutes, she managed to pull herself to standing. She made her way across the dirt until she stood next to the man. She had no desire to approach him, but she did want the flashlight now half buried under the rubble.
She lifted several rocks out of the way and snatched it from the ground. A quick scan of the area told her she was indeed in a cave of some sort, perhaps trapped now that rocks had fallen. And there was a duffle bag off to one side. She shuffled toward it, unzipped it, and found several bottles of water, protein bars, a jacket, and a bottle of pills.
On closer inspection of the medicine, she knew nothing more than before. The bottle contained something called diazepam. It meant nothing to her.
She shrugged into the jacket and sat back down on the floor. She needed to think. Setting her pounding forehead on her folded hands against her knees, she attempted to assess what had happened to her. She could remember nothing. Her mind was a complete fog. How had she ended up in a cave in the dark? And was that an earthquake she’d felt?
She grabbed a bottle of the water and drained it in moments. So thirsty…
There were five bottles left. She needed to conserve them. Who knew how long she would be trapped. She also needed to conserve the batteries in the flashlight. Reluctantly, she shut it off, leaving herself in total darkness. Exhausted, she curled up on one side, using the duffle bag as a makeshift pillow, and closed her eyes.
»»•««
The next time Sharon woke up, the earth was shaking again. At least this time she remembered waking up before and seeing the man get pummeled by the rocks. She remained still while the earthquake continued, gripping her flashlight and holding her body stiffly. Where the hell was she? And how would she ever be rescued?
A presence to her back made the hairs on her neck stand on end. She wasn’t alone? She fumbled with the flashlight in the nearly total darkness, flipped it on, and aimed it behind her as she came to a sitting position.
A short gasp escaped her lips, and then she closed her eyes for a second and took deep breaths. When she reopened them, she found the same vision in front of her. A shadowy figure. An aura. She squinted at the apparition, straining to find an explanation in the back of her mind.
She should know about this. Whatever it was, it was calming. It meant her no harm. It was a protector of sorts. She knew that with clarity, even though she fought to regain the memories that would tell her why.