“Yes, but I’m not typically fleeing through it at a breakneck pace.”
“Need I remind you that you insisted on coming along?” A huff of annoyance was his only answer. “When we reach the rendezvous point, I’ll contact the team and they’ll pick us up. And for the record, I don’t like giving up any more than you do.”
Silence, thick and heavy.
He wasn’t capable of forcing her to talk any more than he was able to make her see retreat was for the best. So he started walking, keeping the pace brisk but making certain she was close behind. As they went, he reached out to his commander.
Nick? The op was a bust. We got inside, but somehow August knew we were there.
You two okay?
Yeah, but it was a close call. We’re using the alternate escape route, but it will take us a day or more to get to the rendezvous point.
All right. Let me know when you get close and we’ll be on our way. And Ryon, be careful.
He smiled at the real concern in Nick’s tone. Will do.
He wasn’t sure how long they’d been under way, but it must’ve been hours before her breathless voice cut into his brooding.
“Can we rest for a minute?”
He stopped and turned to face her, wry amusement tugging at his lips. “And give August a chance to catch up? Sure, why not. Maybe he’ll be so overjoyed to see you that he’ll just kill me and spare you. It’ll be a regular family reunion.”
Ignoring his teasing, Daria shrugged off her backpack, snatched her canteen from inside, and took a draw, careful to conserve the precious water. When finished, she replaced the cap and squinted up at Ryon, who watched her without comment.
“Tell me the story of how you and your SEAL team were turned in Afghanistan,” she said quietly.
He sucked in a breath, wondering if this was some new strategy to prove her point. But he sensed no deception, just an honest desire to know his beginnings as a shifter. “I’m not sure you’re ready to hear—”
“Stop protecting me! Trust me to know when I’m ready.” Her eyes narrowed, her jaw set.
“All right. When we make camp, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
“Fair enough.”
Ryon tensed, then narrowed his gaze in the direction from which they’d come. “Break’s over. We’d better get going.”
The heat and humidity of the day escalated as they walked until there wasn’t a dry thread left on either of their bodies, which didn’t do much for their already touchy dispositions.
Ryon pushed on, indifferent to her temper. They stopped only once more for a quick drink of water. “You hungry?”
“Unless you have a T-bone steak hidden in your pack, I’ll pass.”
“Nope. But I have dried beef, MREs, and energy bars. Or we could always skin a lizard.” He waggled his brows, and with a snort, she grabbed her pack and started walking again.
That was the end of the subject of lunch.
Daria was visibly relieved when he announced they’d better find a place to make camp. His chest swelled with pride as he studied his brave mate. She was making the best of an unavoidable—but temporary—situation.
“Right here,” he said, pointing.
Ryon led the way into a gnarled mass of vines and overgrown foliage. About twenty yards in, he located a spot where the grasses on the forest floor and the surrounding plants had formed a bowl-shaped bubble perfect to hide them.
Leaving the M16 slung across his back, he swung the large pack to the ground and retrieved a rolled-up piece of canvas strapped in a side holder. He popped it open with a snap and in short order had a small tent in place just big enough for two.
Ryon looked at her and nodded. “It will be hotter than Hades with the thing zipped up, but we should be relatively safe from things that walk, crawl, and slither.”
“We could just sleep outside in wolf form,” she noted. “It would be cooler.”
“It would, but if your uncle’s men catch up we’ll have to run and leave all of our stuff behind.” He shrugged. “We could do that, I suppose. We’d just have to drink out of streams and hunt like real wolves to eat.”
She wrinkled her nose. “As much as that idea pleases my wolf, the idea of tearing into raw animal flesh doesn’t do a thing for me.”
“Then we camp like humans.”
She glanced around. “Shouldn’t we start building a fire before it gets dark? To keep the other critters away.”
“Not unless you want to post a message in neon lights telling August where to find us.” He gave her a considering look. “Or maybe you want to have it out with him.”
“I do, but not out here, like this.”
A flicker of remorse went through him. Heaving a weary sigh, he strode to his pack without a word. He fished around and brought forth two silver packets of MREs, followed by two small metal bowls and spoons used for camping. Placing the bowls on the ground, he knelt and tore the tops off both packets, then poured one into each bowl. Last, he added a bit of water to each and stirred. Finished, he sat cross-legged and held out one of the bowls.
“Your dinner awaits, madam.”
Daria walked over and sat beside him. “It only looks slightly better than freshly slaughtered rabbit.”
“Sorry. The Four Seasons seems to have misplaced my reservation for this evening.”
Sitting beside him, she laid a hand over his. “I don’t mean to sound like such a bitch. You’re doing the best you can under the circumstances and I’ve given you a hard time. I want you to know that you are the most important thing to me.”
He swallowed hard, trying not to appear as vulnerable as he suddenly felt. “Am I?”
“Yes.” She paused. “Tell me what happened that day.”
“This is hard for me to talk about.” Encouragement shone in her whiskey eyes. After a long moment, he began his story as the shadows lengthened in the forest.
“There were six of us on the SEAL team together—me, Jax, Aric, Zander, Micah, Phoenix, and Raven. It was so hot that day, we were about to melt.” He laughed softly, the pain always there, under the surface.
“Little did we know that more than half of us were about to die. But not at the hands of any enemy we’d ever seen in our worst nightmares . . .”
6 years earlier . . .
“Jesus Christ, I’m rank,” Raven bitched, scratching at his crotch. “When I finally get to change this underwear, it’ll probably walk off.”
Micah grinned. “With assistance from the crabs you caught from that woman in the last village.”
“Shut up, needledick. She did not give me crabs.”
A few of the guys chuckled but Ryon wasn’t paying much attention. He was thinking about his mom and sister, wondering whether he’d make it out of this godforsaken hellhole to see them again. Forget sex. Sweet baby Jesus, what he wouldn’t give for a huge bowl of his mom’s peach cobbler smothered in vanilla bean ice cream.
Would he be home by Christmas? As they trudged onward, he dreamed of how great the reunion would be. If he got leave, he’d surprise them. Just show up at the house and watch Mom and Lisa screech with joy when he came through the door. He’d bring lots of presents, champagne, and—
“Hold up,” Jax whispered, coming to a halt. Tensing, he studied the mountain forest around them, and frowned. Somewhere hidden in the greenery, a footstep crunched to their left. Another to their right. And one from behind.
Ryon and Micah exchanged a fearful look. This area was supposed to be clear, and they couldn’t have reached their target’s stronghold already. God, they were surrounded!