Page 23 of Hunted by Them (Primal Desires #1)

RYDER

Just to be safe, I called every hospital within an hour’s radius of her apartment, and no one had a Sage Harlow. That was a good thing, but it didn’t help me find her any faster. I refused to believe that she was dead. I could still feel her out there waiting for me.

All fucking night I looked for the asshole in the picture, and when I finally found his house, I swore. The expensive condo sat inside a tall fence-lined property with gates to match. It had a smattering of guards, cameras everywhere, and probably the best alarm money could buy.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t have broken in, but I needed Dash and Jaxon for a job that size. Luckily, when I got back and told them what I’d found, they were both in, and we were paying Connor Keating a visit this evening.

Yawning, I sipped my coffee and continued on my rounds as I played out the plan.

The forest at this hour was in a strange waiting pattern.

Too late for casual hikers. Too early for couples sneaking into the lot to fog up windows.

No nervous laughter, no crunch of snack wrappers.

Just…waiting for the creatures of the night and the break of dawn marking the next day.

“Hey Rick, how was your shift?” I walked along the path toward the front entrance booth. Rick was a good guy, always had a pleasant smile, and didn’t bother with any of the drama. He was nearing seventy and only worked the day shift, collecting money from parkgoers.

“Good, it was a busy day, but most of the people have gone now. You should have a quiet night. There was only one that might get stuck out on the trail. Seemed like a real city type.”

I smirked, knowing exactly what he meant.

“A quiet night sounds perfect to me. Say hi to Lorna and the kids.” I smiled, tipping my hat.

“Will do. We’re having a barbecue in a couple of weeks for all the guys. Spread the word,” Rick said, as he started to gather his things from the booth.

I laughed. “I wouldn’t miss one of your famous barbecues or the chance to sweet-talk Lorna into giving me her potato salad recipe.”

“Ha! Good luck with that,” Rick chuckled.

I took a sip of my much-needed coffee and spat it back out on the ground when I looked over at the parking lot.

Her car was back. Sage was here. My Sweet Daisy was here.

Relief washed over me, and I hadn’t realized just how anxious I was until I sucked in a deep breath and it felt like the first one all day.

Glancing around, I searched for any sign of her, but she wasn’t in the lot. There were only three vehicles left, and I narrowed my eyes at the Ferrari. That was not the type of vehicle you brought here. The hair stood on the back of my neck, even though there was no clear reason.

Walking over to her car, I peered inside and tried the doors, but they were locked. I did the same to the Ferrari and studied the footprint left in the soft gravel.

I sniffed the air. A storm was coming. The cool, wet scent was on the breeze, and the pressure had started to change, like the storm was pushing down on the world as it passed.

Beneath the storm smell was a faint trace of Sweet Daisy’s soap.

And under that was a hint of the wild tang she had carried since I first chased her down.

I stepped around the vehicles and walked slowly toward the trailhead. I’d tracked and hunted my entire life. Finding those who didn’t want to be found was what I lived for. But Sweet Daisy wasn’t trying to hide.

I crouched, fingers brushing the fresh impressions in the dirt.

The tread of her boots was the same, including the uneven impression where she walked harder on the inside of her heel.

Her steps were light and quick. She moved with purpose.

Layered over them was a much larger print.

A man’s stride, heavier and careless. No care for silence, no respect for the trail.

Rage spiked hard in my gut.

Conno r.

I had nothing to go on other than the car, but my instincts told me he’d followed her here, and they were always right.

I pulled out my phone instead of the radio.

“Jaxon.”

“What’s up?” His voice came through staticky from being deeper in the park, where cell service was sketchy.

“She’s back.”

“You’re shitting me.” His laugh was filled with the same relief I felt when I first saw her car. “Hey, Dash…Ryder says our Sweet Daisy is here at the park. That’s a good thing, so why don’t you sound happy?”

My jaw locked. “She’s not alone, I think she was followed.”

Silence for a heartbeat, then both Dash and Jaxon said the same thing. “Connor.”

“Yeah, that’s my thought. We have a Ferrari in the lot right beside her car. I don’t have a good feeling,” I said, standing up straight.

“Then we end him. You want us to bring the supplies,” Dash asked.

It was good to have him back on board. I didn’t like being at odds with my best friend, but his stubbornness almost got him a broken fucking nose.

“Not yet,” I growled as I marched for the work truck.

“What the fuck are you talking about? She’s out there with him right now, Ryder,” Dash argued.

“Fuck you two, I wish you’d both grow up,” Jaxon barked out. “Give me back my phone.”

I climbed into the truck as I listened to the two of them bicker.

“Hey! Fuck. Be ready, but I need to make sure it’s him. I’ll find Sage and let you know.”

“Why are you always so reckless? You’ve been like this since we were kids,” Dash snapped in the background.

I killed the call before his voice could needle me further. We were back on the same page where Sweet Daisy was concerned, so the last thing I needed was to start another war.

Wheeling the truck around, I drove through the employee-only access and pulled onto the trail.

The forest surrounded me like an old coat.

Every root and shadow belonged to me. The crickets and frogs were loud tonight.

The air had shifted again, and the eerie call of an owl echoed off the branches and across the ridges.

Somewhere far off, a coyote yipped and was answered.

The canopy swayed as the sun dipped lower in the sky.

It was the breath of the night, but the undercurrent was wrong, like the forest was telling me to hurry.

My headlights easily cut through the quickly darkening shadows, making it easy to see Sweet Daisy’s trail and the boots that followed her. She’d stopped and turned around at one point, like she thought she might be being followed.

His prints were longer now. Predatory in his pursuit. I drove faster. They couldn’t be far. Sweet Daisy must have noticed him because the prints suddenly left the main road for a narrower trail that I couldn’t take the truck down.

Fuck. I shut the truck off, grabbed my hunting knife, and took off like it was all one fluid movement.

Voices filtered through the dark, but they were too faint for me to understand the words.

“You fucking bitch! How dare you do that to me?” The man’s tone was filled with rage. “You think you can humiliate me. You think you can just walk away from me. No one walks away from me. You leave when I tell you.”

Her answer was defiant. “Get off me, you fucking psycho!”

Branches snapped, and my vision went red with the thud of bodies struggling.

I broke through a cluster of firs and saw them.

It was definitely Connor. He had her slammed against a tree, his hand locked around her throat. His face was twisted, spit flying with every word. His other hand gripped her wrist, forcing her back, trying to pin her.

And Sage…my Sweet Daisy, fought like hell. She kicked, clawed, and bucked against him with wild fury. Her teeth snapped as if she wanted to bite his face clean off. I sprinted across the open area as he threw her to the ground. I snarled.

“Stay down!” Connor roared. “If I can’t have you, then no one can, Sage. Do you hear me?”

I was closing in fast, but my Sweet Daisy was faster. Her pack had come off in the struggle and lay beside her on the ground. I watched as her hand dove into the front pocket.

“No,” she hissed up at him. She came up with something in her grip.

My heart slammed.

The antler. The one I’d left for her as a memento that night I snuck into her room.

With a scream, she stabbed Connor in the thigh. He wailed like a dying badger. I was only a few strides away when she jumped to her feet and drove the sharp piece of bone into Connor’s shoulder. His howl ripped through the trees.

“What the fuck! You stabbed me, you crazy cunt. I’m going to kill you,” he roared. He staggered back, hand grabbing at the bone protruding from his flesh.

Sage was panting hard, eyes wide, and her hair windswept across her face. She looked like prey no longer, but something darker, something claimed.

Mine.

Pride swelled hot in my chest.

I surged forward, seized Connor by the back of his neck, and yanked him off his feet. I slammed him into the dirt so hard his head snapped. He groaned, dazed, and with blood seeping into the earth like an offering. I glared down at the man at my feet as he tried to point.

“Get her, she’s crazy and tried to kill me.” He held his head and rolled over onto his back, the antler still firmly in place. “I need a hospital, and her thrown in jail.”

“Me? You fucking prick.” Sweet Daisy lunged at him, but I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her back.

“Don’t believe him. He stalked me out here and was threatening to kill me,” she yelled, surging against my arms, like she planned to tear his eyes out of his head.

“Please tell me that you see he is lying?”

She looked up at me with worry in her eyes. Obviously, the police were not being very helpful.

Figures.

“I do,” I said, and she stopped struggling.

“What? You believe her? She’s unstable, she’s nuts, she’s…” I kicked Connor across the jaw to shut him up and knocked his ass out.

“That’s better,” I whispered and looked at my Sweet Daisy as I released her.