Chapter 6

Lindsey

He was just standing there staring at me. No doubt he was thinking about what a freak I was. Why had I taken him with me?

Mate, my beast reminded me.

Suddenly I gasped. "Maya and Dante! Where are they? What have you done to them?"

"Relax. They"re fine," he assured me.

His voice was soothing and made me want to trust him. I had learned the hard way in life that I couldn't fully trust anyone.

"Where are they?" I demanded.

"Just up the beach. I have dinner cooking if you"re hungry. I just needed to check on you. Your skin is starting to burn from the sun. I"ll have a shelter finished soon that will give you some shade to sleep."

I shook my head, certain I must have hit it while landing or something.

"You"re helping us?"

"Of course I am," he said, sounding indignant and a little pissed that I"d even ask.

I must have hit my head, or maybe he had. This was like waking in a weird alternate reality. I tried to think back to what had happened. I remembered circling the island to ensure it was uninhabited by humans and then landing. I dropped this guy and Dante and felt Maya slide off of me before I wandered away to shift and sleep off the exhaustion I"d felt from flying so long and with so much extra weight.

"How long have I been out?" I whispered.

He shrugged. "A few hours would be my guess. The sun in starting to set. Are you okay to walk or do I need to carry you? I"d like to have the shelter finished before dark."

Carry me? My whole body warmed at the thought, but I pushed that thought away.

"I can walk," I said, a little sharper than I meant.

I got up and followed him down the beach. I couldn"t keep my eyes off of him. He"d shed the suit and was wearing nothing more than a pair of loose fitting underwear. It left little to the imagination, and while I hadn"t allowed myself to so much as look at a man since my days of teenage crushes, I couldn"t help but admire his perfect body. He was hard and toned in all the right places. It made my mouth water and a blush tint my cheeks.

Mate, my beast cooed appreciatively.

That only made me blush harder.

And of course he chose that moment to turn back to look at me.

He frowned. "You look flushed. I'm going to have to hike further into the island to see if I can find fresh water."

I kept quiet and only nodded though I almost blurted out that I could fly him. I was not ready for that. It had been a spontaneous decision to snatch him up and fly off with him. Until then, I had never flown with anyone, not even the kids. To do so was quite intimate to me and required a level of trust I wasn"t ready to give anyone aside from Maya and Dante.

Even though he"d told me, I was surprised to see the fire burning, the fish cooking, and the base of a shelter to sleep under already in construction.

"Looks good," he praised when he saw the little camp the kids were tidying up.

"We can"t put the tops on," Dante said.

"Of course you can."

My mate lifted Dante into the air as he giggled and placed the roof onto the structure.

"See. You can do it," he praised the boy that had become like a son to me.

It melted my heart to see them and a spark of hope was lit. I quickly snuffed it out. This was a Collector who was there to buy me, or maybe not me specifically but others like me. It didn"t matter that he was my mate or that in some recess of my brain I knew he was a shifter. He was the enemy and I had to keep my guard up and not forget that.

"Thanks, Walker."

"Walter," I corrected.

"No, it"s Walker," Maya insisted. "Walter Grimes was just his undercover name."

"That"s what he told you?"

"It's the truth," the man said. "My name is Walker."

My head was spinning with confusion.

"Walker, we found some more mangoes to go with the fish," Dante said proudly.

I instantly realized that he had somehow already wormed his way into the affections of these innocent children, and it angered me.

As he and Dante finished up the shelter, I helped Maya with he fish.

"I think it"s done," she said proudly.

Walter, or Walker, whatever his name truly was, came over and examined the fish.

"I think you"re right. Good job, Maya."

His praised tried to warm my heart. But I cut it off. No way was I going to let my guard down. He may be handsome and charming, he could say and even do all the right things, but at the end of the day he was nothing but a snake who owned people like slaves. That was simply unforgivable no matter who he was.

"I"m going to hike inland and see about finding some water. If not, I saw some coconuts on the walk back and we can drink those if needed."

I didn"t say anything as he hesitated a moment and then left us.

As soon as he was out of sight, I turned to the kids.

"I know he seems nice."

"He is," Maya cut me off. "He"s helping us."

"And he"s really cool, too," Dante added.

I groaned and shook my head. "We cannot forget who he is. He"s a Collector, and I have no doubt there will be people looking for him."

"If you were worried about that, then why did you bring him along?" she questioned.

I was prepared and didn"t know how to answer her. It wasn"t my place to explain what a mate was or how powerfully connected I felt to him even though I didn"t want to be.

"He"s not the good guy. You"re just going to have to trust me on that."

The two of them shared a look that told me they wouldn"t argue, but also didn"t believe me.

Only time would tell for sure.

"The important thing is that we are free. Look around. There are no bars or chains. Can you feel the sun on your face?" I held my arms out to the side like I was spreading my wings and twirled in a circle, soaking it all in.

The kids giggled and copied me.

"We're free!" they yelled out to the wind.

A weight was lifted from my shoulders. My biggest wish was to free them from captivity.

"But what about Walker?" Dante asked.

"Yeah, we aren"t going to just leave him here to die, right?" Maya said dramatically.

"No one"s dying," I assured her.

"Maybe he"s your Prince Charming here to rescue you, and us," Maya said in a dreamy voice.

"Lindsey"s no damsel in distress. Right, Linds? You"re the hero of our story."

I certainly didn"t feel like any hero, but I loved that he saw me that way. I never wanted to let them down.

"This is our story, and from here on out, we write it our way."

Walker cleared his throat behind me, and I gasped as I jumped in surprise.

"I found fresh water, but then it dawned on me that I have no way to carry it."

"I could probably make a bowl," Maya said as she started to weave a tight mess of vines into a bowl shape. "You might have to put mud on the outside and let it dry, but it could work," she said hopefully.

"It"s perfect," he insisted. "A little green witch, huh? I had you pegged for a mind or emotions reader when you started interrogating me."

She giggled. "Nope, just vines. But Dante"s a seer."

"Oh yeah. Did you see this coming?"

Dante sneered. "I saw you coming. We knew you were looking for Lindsey. I didn"t know how she"d react to it though."

Walker looked confused. "I wasn"t looking for Lindsey."

"Yes, you were," he insisted. "You were looking for her."

He seemed to consider Dante"s words and then nodded. "I suppose I was. I just didn"t realize it."

His eyes met mine, and I had no idea how to read the swirl of emotions I saw there. It left me stunned silent.

"Were you coming to rescue her?" Maya asked hopefully.

"That"s enough. Why don"t we eat," I said, cutting her off and stopping this ridiculous line of questions.

I"d seen the truth on his face. He hadn"t been looking for me at all. Dante had been wrong.

There was an awkward silence while we sat and ate. The fish was delicious, as was the fresh mango. I couldn't remember ever having such a wonderful meal.

By the time we finished and cleaned up, so not to attract too many animals into our little camp, the kids were yawning.

"Why don"t you two head to bed?" Walker suggested. "It"s been a big day, and I know I"m tired."

"Okay. Lindsey, are you ready?" Dante asked.

"Yes," I said as the three of us cuddled up under the shelter. There was still room for Walker, but he chose to sleep out by the fire under the stars.

The kids drifted off to sleep quickly while I laid there staring either up at the ceiling or out at the luscious tropical landscape. Walker had been sure to face the shelter away from the beach to protect us from the winds coming off of the water, which meant I couldn"t see him as he headed toward the shore.

A few minutes later, as I restlessly laid there, I heard him howl in the distance and realized he must have shifted and gone for a run. My heart ached at the thought. Once upon a time I could have been out there running with him. Now, I no longer had my wolf form. The only thing that remained was the head of my wolf. Everything else was different and hideous now.

I didn"t settle until I heard him return, but a part of me was disappointed when he didn"t join us.

All my feelings were getting mixed up and muddled. I"d never experienced such a thing before. I wanted to be near him, but I was scared. I wanted to learn all the things about him—who he was, what he did, where he came from—but I was also scared.

When I had escaped the Raglan facility that had turned me into the monster I now was, I"d made a vow to myself that I would never be scared again. Instead, others would fear me. And even though I"d been captured once more and held with a series of Collectors over the last few years, I was traded as much as I was because they were terrified of me. Once the novelty of owning a beast wore off, I was the first to head to auction.

Now that I was finally free, I didn"t know what to do or where to go. Was my childhood home still there? Was anyone living there? Would they remember me if they were? It felt like a lifetime ago since I"d been home, but I didn"t know where else to go.

I drifted off to sleep, allowing the memories to fill my dreams, something I avoided like the plague.