He caught up to me in seconds and resumed the leadership position. He slowed his pace slightly so I didn't have to work so hard to keep up. The forest quickly closed in around us the higher we climbed, and the path began to narrow to the point that we were forced to walk single file.
"Do you think she would have picked this trail to take?" I finally asked as the silence began to wear on me.
He stopped abruptly and I mentally prepared myself for a sarcastic rebuttal, but he surprised me. "Nah, not really, and neither did Rick, but we didn't want to risk it in case we were wrong. It would have been tough for her to cover this much terrain with her short legs. Plus, I'm not seeing any signs of her on the trail."
"You can do that?" I asked impressed, even though I didn't want to be.
"I know this trail well and I'm the only one who takes the groups this way, so I would notice if something was different."
"Must be nice to be in such good shape," I puffed out as we continued our hike.
He laughed. "You're not doing half bad for this being you're first time. I'm surprised you've kept up so well," he added, still chuckling.
His words slowly sank in. "You jerk, have you been deliberately making me run after you?" I demanded as anger rose up in me.
"I had to see what you're made of, beach bunny," he teased, standing at the edge of the steep trail.
"What the hell is your problem? One minute you hate me, the next you're kissing me and the next you're acting like an asshole again. Your mood swings are making me motion sick. Are you threatened because you're afraid I'm going to take your precious foster father from you?" I demanded, placing my hands on my hips so I could catch my breath after my tirade.
He looked at me incredulously for a moment with rain dripping down his face before he let out another bark of laughter.
I looked around for anything I could use to hit him in his cocky face.
Sensing my anger, he finally became serious. "I told you earlier, I don't hate you. When I first heard about you, I was afraid you would hurt Rick like your mom had. That night he found out about you, he cried. Did you know that? I came into his office and he was still clutching the phone with tears streaming down his face. I sat up with him all night as he ranted about the injustice of the situation. He cursed your mom for being so selfish and wound up breaking several things in his office that night, but by the time morning rolled around, he said he didn't care about her betrayal, he just wanted to know you."
His words were heartbreaking. I had been so wrapped up in what my mom had done to me, I only considered my own feelings. I hadn't thought of what it must have felt like for Rick.
"I was afraid you'd get here and decide this lifestyle wasn't to your taste and you'd leave before Rick could get to know you. That's why I taunted you. I figured if you were going to leave anyway, it would be better if it was sooner than later, but each of my taunts only spurred you on further," he admitted.
"It did," I admitted. "I was bound and determined to show you I could fit in here."
"I know and believe it or not, I admired you for it. I watched how you struggled to learn everything you could during the training. And then, what do you know, you actually began to excel at it. You’re a tough chick."
"If that's true, then why have you still been riding me so hard?" I asked.
His eyebrows arched at my words and I blushed when I caught the innuendo.
"You know what I mean, perv."
"I don’t know. You intrigued me or something. Maybe it sounds stupid or whatever, but I was trying to make you leave, but then I also wanted you to stay—it was making me nuts," he admitted. "I know it doesn’t make any sense. It would have been easier if you would've buckled under the scrutiny, but you didn't."
"I didn't come here to hurt Rick or disrupt your lives. I've been so pissed at my mom for what she did that I didn't stop to think of the impact on everyone else," I said, lifting my face so I could look him in the eye. "Friends?" I added, sticking my hand out so we could shake.
"Beach bunny, I want to be more than you friend," he said, grinning at me as he reached for my hand. Both of our hands were like ice, but I could feel the heat ignite between us as we touched.
"Can you handle that?" he asked, tugging me closer.
"The question is, can you handle it?" I asked as he dragged me in his arms.
"Definitely," he said as rain continued to pelt us from above.
My smile never made it to my face as the ground we were standing on crumbled away from the edge of the trail, dragging us along with it. My scream froze in my throat while the rough terrain whipped by at a rapid pace.
Chapter 9
My screams finally broke, ringing through the forest as the flow of water that had swept our trail out from under us dragged us down the mountain. I tried to hang on to Mason, but the momentum of the fall pulled his hand from mine.
I could hear him hollering my name, but lost track of where he was. The pitch-black night closed in around me as small bushes pelted my body over and over again along our continued descent down the steep decline. I tried to grasp the ground beneath me and felt my left middle finger snap. Letting out a scream of anguish, I cradled my injured hand against my chest as I continued to travel down the mountain at breakneck speed. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, I slammed into a tree. My head spun from the impact and instant darkness, different than sky around me, clouded my vision and I passed out.
My body felt like it was no longer whole. I reached down to check my broken finger to find my arm was missing. I tried to sit up in a panic and heard a low rumbling sound, almost like a growl. Two glowing, menacing eyes appeared at my feet. Jumping out of the darkness, a wolf sank his teeth into my leg, trying to rip my limb from my body. I fought, kicking my leg, trying to free myself from his vice like jaws. As I turned and jerked my body, I felt a warm breathing sensation on the back of my neck. I looked up just as another wolf tore into my jugular, and everything went black again. I woke screaming bloody murder and disoriented that I couldn't see anything, even with my eyes open. The dream felt so real, and for a moment, I forgot everything about the fall. After a few seconds, my eyes finally adjusted and I was able to make out the shapes of the trees around me.
I struggled to sit up, but my head felt like it was being pummeled by a jackhammer. Everything around me was spinning, making my dinner from earlier come up as I heaved on the ground beside me. I raised my hand tentatively to my head to check for any damage, encountering a smooth surface. I freaked out for a moment until I realized I was feeling my raincoat hood instead of my scalp. How my hood had managed to stay on my head while I tumbled down the mountain was beyond me. I reached up to untangle the strings that held it in place and shrieked in pain. The broken finger I had forgotten about reminded me with pain coursing through my hand and up my arm. I held it in front of my face, squinting to try and gauge the damage, but the surrounding darkness made it impossible to see. What a time for the moon and stars to be hidden by the clouds. As far as I could tell, the rest of my body seemed okay, so I cradled my injured hand against my chest and struggled to stand up. My head was still fuzzy and I clung to the tree that had stopped me from tumbling further down the mountain.