Page 22 of Protective Assignment (Warrior Peak Sanctuary #1)

River felt the tears streaking down her face as she ran back to the cabin, but she let them fall unchecked.

It felt as though she had gone back in time to relive everything again the moment she had laid eyes on Louis—the moment she had been reminded of a past she wanted nothing more than to leave behind.

Her heart pounded in her chest, her body screaming at her to do one thing—run.

She should not have put off leaving as long as she had.

She should not have let running into Hannah stop her yesterday.

And now, with them at least suspecting her connection to the Shepards, thanks to Louis and her reaction to him, she was truly left with no choice.

It was too dangerous here. Maybe she’d get enough of a head start that Ryker and the others wouldn’t find her and they’d leave this place alone.

And then there was Cade. Her heart clenched at the thought of him.

He already knew more than she wanted him to and would probably be glad to see her go.

She arrived back at the cabin and started restuffing everything back into her bag that she’d removed the night before.

This time, she wasn’t going to be stopped, she wasn’t going to let her emotions get the better of her.

No matter how tempting it might be to stick around just a little while longer, she was leaving.

She would figure out which direction to go once she got back on the road.

Eventually, she’d forget about her time here and her new friends she was leaving behind.

They were definitely better off without her around to cause them unnecessary pain and bring danger to their door.

She had no clue what the Shepards would do if they found this place, though she could guess from past experience.

She didn’t want these people to suffer any ill will trying to help her.

But before she could race out the door, Cade arrived at the cabin. She could barely even look at him. She tried to brush past him but he blocked off her exit, stopping her from fleeing.

“Hey, River, I need you to talk to me,” he told her. “Lawson is practically blowing his lid back there. If you’re going to stay, you need to tell us what’s been—”

“I’m not going to stay,” she shot back before he could get out another word. No point in pretending any longer.

“What are you talking about?” he replied, catching her arm before she could make a break for the door again. “Of course you are. You’re not going anywhere. They’re out there, you can’t risk—”

“You don’t understand, Cade!” she exclaimed, staring up at him, her eyes desperate.

“They’re coming after me. If I stay here, they’re going to come to this place, and they’re going to ruin everything you guys have worked so hard to build.

I don’t want that for you. I can’t stand the thought of it.

So will you just…just let me go? Please? ”

His eyes were wide as he looked down at her, trying to take in what she had just said.

He shook his head slowly and crossed his arms in defiance. “If you think I’m going to let you walk out that door without explaining what you mean,” he replied, “you’ve got another think coming, River.”

Cade wasn’t moving out of her way and River wasn’t sure what to do next.

She took a deep breath, trying to collect her scattered thoughts.

She had to think of something to say to make him let her go.

Every minute she stood there was costing her time and distance on the road. Bringing danger closer to them all.

But looking at Cade, seeing his confusion and the different emotions crossing his face…

she couldn’t just leave like this. He had given her so much in these last few weeks, a safety and security she didn’t even know was possible for her.

And a kindness she had been craving for longer than she could remember.

The least she could do in return was tell him some part of the truth. She owed him that much.

“Fine,” she muttered. “I’ll tell you everything.”

She sank down on the couch and dropped her bag at her feet.

Maybe it was better this way. She was so tired of running, of being afraid of everything.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them like a shield.

Her heart skipped a beat when Cade sat down beside her and wrapped one of her hands in his.

The warmth of his touch was all she needed to get the words out.

Hesitantly, she told him the story of what had brought her out here.

When she and her sister, Haven, were kids, their father had wanted to make a better life for them, the way so many fathers did, and so he’d started working for a shady character called Hector Neimons in the small town they lived in.

Before long, Hector had brought him and his family into the Shepards of Rebellion, a biker gang that basically functioned as a cult worshipping at the altar of the Neimons family, especially Hector’s son, Ryker.

Even when things started getting darker and more dangerous, their hold on River’s father was too intense.

River had grown up in a world of paranoia and violence, where every wrong move had been punished harshly.

There wasn’t a single choice she could make that wasn’t scrutinized by the other members of the growing Shepards group.

They were cut off from the rest of the world, only allowed to rely on the Neimonses for food and supplies.

It was why she had learned to sew, so she could at least mend the tattered old clothes that they had given her to live in for years on end.

And she had been used to it. It had been normal for her, because she had never known anything else. Even when the crime and violence started getting out of control, she reminded herself of how much the group had done for her and her family, how they had supported them when they had been struggling.

Of course, she had to put to the back of her mind the fact that the gang had been the one to cause most of that struggle in the first place.

Like when her father had been kept away from work for months because they were suspicious of his intentions.

But it was easy to forget that part when everything she’d had—clothes, food, shelter—all came from them.

Eventually, it had become too much for her father, and he had decided he wanted to get his family out of there.

It was when River was a teenager, and the thought of something new was tantalizing to her.

She had to find out what there was in the rest of the world, what existed beyond the bounds of the life the Neimons family had created for her.

And so, her father started to put together a plan.

It wasn’t much at first, but it was something.

They put away supplies, enough to cover them while they were on the road for a few weeks to find somewhere new.

He seemed sure the gang would come looking for them, but he assured his family it wouldn’t go much deeper than that.

He swore they didn’t care enough about the family for them to really try too hard to get them back.

As long as River and her family kept their mouths shut about the gang and their criminal activity, they would be able to escape unharmed.

And maybe River had believed that at some point.

Maybe she had trusted her father and actually allowed herself to believe that they would be able to get out, make a clean break and never look back.

How naive she had been. But now, all this time later, she could see it had been nothing more than a pipe dream, a fantasy they had all been clinging to because the alternative was more than they could bear.

The alternative being that they were trapped, and there was no way out, no matter what they did.

That was how it went. On the night they were due to leave, they had everything packed up and ready to go. Haven and their mother were in the car, and River and her father were packing up the last of their stuff before they hit the road.

Before returning to the house to grab the last of their belongings, her father had given specific instructions to her mother for her to keep watch and if anyone approached, or there were any signs of trouble, then she and Haven should leave immediately.

He’d get River and himself out and they’d rendezvous at a location her parents had already agreed upon.

But before they could get anywhere, a shot rang out.

“River, get down!” her father yelled to her, and she ducked back inside their small house for cover. Outside, she heard the roar of the engine and watched as her mother drove off with her sister. As soon as the dust had cleared, she saw her father’s body sprawled on the driveway.

She ran to him at once, but it was too late. They had killed him. She cried out, suddenly all alone in the world. Her mother and sister had followed the plan and fled, and she was still trapped here, without even her father to rely on.

“Don’t worry, River,” Ryker had told her. “We’ll take good care of you.”

It sounded more like a threat than a promise.

And so, she’d stayed. She had nowhere else to go, nobody else to turn to. She just had to trust in herself, and pray that one day, she found a way out.

The Neimons family took good care of her.

She was moved into their home so they could keep a better eye on her there, and she hated every moment of it.

Someone was always watching her. Things only grew more and more dangerous as time passed.

What had started out as little more than a ragtag group behind their leader soon began to build into something with real focus, something really violent and obsessive.

Even more so when Hector died and left Ryker in charge.

Ryker was so much worse than his father.

More of a control freak than Hector had ever been, and when it came to recruiting new members, he didn’t wait for them to come to him.

If he saw someone he liked the look of, he would snatch them up and brainwash them until they didn’t have any choice but to go along with the sick, twisted nightmare he dragged them into.

River had no idea what had happened to her mother and sister, but prayed they had made it out. Ryker held their escape against her, and eventually made good on his threat to force her to repent for it.

“You’re going to be my wife,” he told her.

She could still remember that moment, the horror of it.

Up until then, she had been almost committed to the Shepards, willing to do whatever it took to make sure they didn’t go looking for her mother or sister.

But that moment, after he uttered those words to River, it was too much.

More than she knew she could ever handle.

She had to get out. She couldn’t be his wife. Not in a million years. Even the thought of it was enough to make her feel sick. She swore to herself she would find a way out before she got married to that monster, and she started to plan her escape.

She paid attention to the rotation of people watching her, pocketed and stole stuff to hide for her travels when backs were turned, noted the distances from the different places she was working or sleeping to the nearest exits—hoping to escape into the woods and disappear.

One day, she found her opening. A couple of Ryker’s men had started arguing and then a fight broke out and it captured everyone’s attention, so she was momentarily forgotten.

She’d made her break for the woods and had been on the run since.

“That was the abusive ex you told me about?” Cade asked, as she filled him in on the story.

She nodded. “He was…rough with me,” she replied, lowering her gaze to the ground. “But he was that way with everyone. He was worse than his father. More dangerous. More obsessive. And he’s the one looking for me out there right now, I’m sure of it. He’s the one hunting me.”

“And you were going to your family?”

“Yes,” she explained. “I know my mother has a lot of family in a small town in New York called Chittenango. That’s where I’m headed. I need to find her and my sister again. I need to know they’re okay…but you ruined it.”

His eyes widened and he jerked back, dropping her hand. “What are you talking about?”

“You ruined it,” she repeated, the lump in her throat making it hard to speak.

“Because I… I couldn’t risk caring about anyone, Cade.

I couldn’t risk getting sidetracked along the way.

But now I’m here, and I… I really care about you!

And I don’t want to leave, even though I know I have to.

Even though the Shepards are going to come looking for me, even though—”

Before she could say another word, he reached out and pulled her to him, planting his lips firmly against hers. She let out a surprised squeak, but then, closing her eyes, leaned into the kiss.

When he pulled back, he caught her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes. The way he stared at her, it was like he was trying to see all the way into her soul. Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity of his gaze.

“You’re safe here, River,” he told her. “I’m going to make sure of that, you hear me?”

“Cade, you can’t—”

“I can,” he replied with conviction. “You don’t know what I’m capable of. But I know I can protect you. Whatever it takes. And then, we’ll get you back to your family, okay?”

She gazed at him for a long moment and, to her surprise, she found herself starting to relax. Even though she knew she should be terrified right now of what could happen, when he spoke those words to her, she believed him.

“Okay,” she breathed back, and he kissed her again. And this time, she knew it was more than just a kiss. Now that she had laid herself bare to him, she wanted nothing more than to take their relationship to the next level.

To give herself to him utterly and completely.