Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (22 page)

“Where’s Graulen.” I hadn’t
heard of that particular town yet.

“
About a day’s travel west
of Howel.”

The tent opened again and a tall
blond man walked in. “Enough talking.” Brynn, Clara and Nadine
jumped and huddled together. Jenna stood.

“Where’s our supper.”

I stood beside her. She was a
couple of inches shorter than me.

“There’ll be no supper tonight,
you mouthy wench. Next time you’ll think twice before you
interfere.”

Jenna took a step toward the
man. “Next time you’ll think twice before you try to touch one of
those girls.”

The man stalked up to her. I
noticed he had a black eye.

“Maybe I’ll just touch you
instead.” He grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her out of
the tent.

Jenna growled low in her throat
and twisted so that she was facing him, blocking his path. Her knee
connected with his groin and then moved up to meet his face as he
doubled over in pain. She stumbled back and I took the opportunity
to take three long steps toward them. I swung my leg as hard as I
could and kicked him in the head. He fell to the ground,
unconscious, his head sticking out of the tent.

“When’s he going to learn not to
bug that dark haired one,” mumbled one of the men outside the tent.
One of my captors poked his head in the tent and came in holding
his hands up. He surveyed the situation, shrugged, took five buns
out of a bag and threw them on the ground. Without a word he
grabbed his friend by the hand and dragged him out of the tent.

“Will they be back tonight?” I
asked Jenna. She shook her head.

“No. He’s the only one who likes
his fun. The others leave us alone.”

One of the girls in the corner
whimpered.

“Shit. He used them didn’t
he?”

She nodded. “Clara and Nadine.
Then I got here. I almost escaped the first night, but I let them
catch me again. I couldn’t just leave them here knowing what was
going to happen to them.”

The wind blew the tent open and
the fire light illuminated our surroundings. I was able to see the
girls clearly for the first time. Though the three blonds in the
corner didn’t look hurt, they were obviously horrified. I looked at
Jenna and noticed the bruise on her cheek and a cut under her jaw.
She took a deep breath.

“
Come on, girls. Come eat
a bun. We can pretend we’re playing catch the cunnies.” She
shrugged at me and smiled. I had to admit that I was in awe of this
young woman. Though she had yet to turn of age, she was now the
self-appointed protector of three other women.

She knelt on the ground and bent
over to take a bite of one of the buns. I did the same. After a few
minutes, the others joined us.

“Sounds like we’ll be travelling
tomorrow,” Jenna stated. “Try to get some sleep, girls.”

Everyone made their way to the
pile of straw that served as the bed. Clara, Nadine and Brynn
huddled together while Jenna and I sat together a bit farther away.
Once the blonds had fallen asleep, I turned to Jenna.

“Who taught you how to
fight?”

“My brother, Ray. Mom and Dad
were killed while they were out on patrols. I was just a pup. Ray
raised me.” She smiled. “What about you? It takes some practice to
be able to kick like that with your arms behind your back without
falling on your arse.”

I laughed. “My mate. And I’ve
had lots of practice.”

“I saw the look you gave Brynn.
You’re her, aren’t you?” Jenna’s voice was just a whisper.

I nodded. “I am.” I listened to
the men snoring outside. “Get some sleep. I’ll take first
watch.”

Jenna nodded and lay down. “Make
sure you wake me for my turn.”

“I will.” I got myself as
comfortable as I could and got ready for a long night.

*****

I awoke to the sound of Jenna
grunting. I jumped to my feet, ready, glad that it was starting to
get light out and I could see.

“I told you to quit
interfering!” The blond man wound up and kicked Jenna where she lay
on the ground. She rolled with the kick, trying to get away.

I ran at the man, throwing my
shoulder into his chest with all of my weight behind it. Both of us
fell to the ground. I stumbled, trying to get to my feet.

“What’s going on in here?” One
of my abductors came stomping into the tent. The blond man took
advantage of my distraction and punched me in the jaw. Spots
started to fill my vision as I fell to the ground.

“Hayden!” Brynn’s voice sounded
far away in the haze inside my head. I shook it to clear it and
managed to get my eyes to focus just in time to see the blond man’s
fist coming at me again. I rolled to the side, swiped my leg
against his, and was rewarded with his surprised cry as he hit the
ground. I scrambled to my knees and stopped short.

“I’d stop while I was ahead if I
were you.” The second man pressed a bit harder on his dagger to
make his point and I felt it bite into my neck. I saw Jenna wind up
to kick the blond man.

The latter saw what she was up
to and grabbed her leg, pulling her to the ground. He wound up and
punched her in the face as he straddled her.

“Take it easy, Garth. She has to
be sellable when we get there.”

Garth stopped in mid swing and
looked up. His friend’s dagger cut a bit deeper into my throat and
I gasped. Outside, someone was fighting.

I heard an animal running, a
grunt of pain and a man’s dying scream. Even from in the tent I
could hear the bones breaking. There was a moment of silence and
whatever was in the clearing charged again. This time the man’s
scream was long and tortured. It cut off abruptly.

“Look, go in the tent! Take the
one you want!” That sounded like my second abductor. A man’s
footsteps could be heard running away from the tent. By the sounds
of it, he didn’t get far.

“What is it?” Garth asked from
on the ground. Jenna lay still under him, turning blue from the
pressure of his hand on her neck.

“I don’t know!” My abductor
pushed me to the back of the tent where I fell to the ground. Garth
scrambled to his feet and stood beside his friend, dagger drawn. I
went to kneel beside Jenna and let out a sigh of relief as color
flooded back to her face.

“If you think you’re so tough,
why don’t you shift and settle this man to man?” I had to hand it
to the fourth man outside; after seeing his friends picked off one
by one he was showing a lot of spunk. Everyone in the tent listened
intently to see what would happen. Someone groaned and the sound of
a person hitting the ground could be heard. There was a loud hiss
of pain, a gasp, and the sound of a fist connecting with a nose.
This was followed by a gasp and an airless grunt which I recognized
as the sound of a dagger going into someone’s diaphragm.

Garth and his friend looked at
each other and we all looked to the tent opening, wondering who or
what was going to come walking in.

The blonds in the corner gasped
and screamed at the sight of the bloodied man as he came charging
into the tent. Jasper’s sky blue eyes locked with mine and even I
was shocked. He looked wild and out of control. It was almost as if
he had shifted but was still in his human form. He blinked, took a
deep breath, and honed in on the men standing in front of me. I got
to look him over for a fraction of a second. His tunic was ripped
and soaked with blood. I wasn’t sure if it was his or not. His nose
had been broken and his leg was bleeding.

With speed that surprised even
me, he threw his dagger at Garth who grunted in surprise as it dug
itself to the hilt into his belly. I threw myself at the second
man, knocking him to the ground from behind. Jenna was a fraction
of a second behind me. Her foot connected with his face with a
sickening crunch.

Somewhere behind us, Garth
screamed. I looked back and found Jasper pulling his dagger from
one side of the blond man’s stomach to the other. He pulled it out
with one swift movement and slashed it against the human’s throat.
He seemed to fight to get himself under control and focused on the
man lying under me and Jenna.

She gave me a questioning look
and I stepped back a few paces. She followed suit. Without a word,
Jasper stalked to the last human alive in camp, pulled his head up
by the hair and slit his throat with one fluid motion.

I waited while he rocked back on
his heels, took a deep breath then turned his attention to me. We
gazed at each other for a moment. The wild look left his eyes and I
gave him a half grin.

“Your nose is broken.” I was
rewarded with a perfect smile.

“But I still have all my teeth.”
He got up and pulled me to my feet before crushing me to his chest.
“By the moons, Shlova, I’m starting to think that maybe you get
taken on purpose!”

I started to laugh. “Yeah,
that’s it!” I leaned against him and tried to slow my breathing.
“That’s exactly what I’m doing!” I looked up into perfect blue eyes
and smiled. “How did you find us?”

He leaned down and kissed me
softly. “The blue bird saw you get taken. She found Trent a short
ways from where you were, told him to come get me and which way I
needed to head. She followed you here and doubled back to come get
me.” He wiped his dagger on his pant leg and cut my hands free. I
groaned as my shoulders rotated back to their regular position.

“You came alone?”

He nodded. “I was on my way to
meet you when Trent found me.” He handed me Garth’s dagger and I
helped him cut the rest of the girls free.

I introduced him to all of them.
“Jenna, Clara, and Nadine, this is my mate, Jasper.”

He nodded to them even though
Clara and Nadine were staring at me. I frowned. “What?”

“You’re… you’re her!” stammered
Clara. I touched the amulet which had made its way back to the
front of my neck and nodded.

“So if they didn’t know who you
were, what in the world was going on here,” asked Jasper.

“It looks like these men were
abducting women to sell as slaves.”

Everyone fell quiet as something
came close to the tent.

“By the moons, I knew the man
was great at what he did, but this is ridiculous.” There was a
pause. “Uncle Jasper! Aunt Hayden! Are you alright?”

I burst out laughing and left
the tent. “We’re fine, Trent.”

His dark eyes narrowed as he
looked me over. “Are you sure?” He touched my jaw softly. I gave
him a hug.

“I’ve had worse. What are you
doing here?”

“Well, at first I listened to
what Uncle had told me. I was to stay put at all cost. Then I
thought I’d better go for help.” He shrugged. “I decided that would
take too long and that I should probably go after him so I could
give him a hand.” He looked around and shook his head in amazement.
Jasper stepped out of the tent and Trent’s eyes widened. “Uncle
Jasper! Are you alright?”

Jasper smiled. “I’ve had worse
and your Aunt was just about to fix me up.” He knelt without being
told to and sucked in a breath as I ran the green wave over him. He
shook his head and smiled. “Thanks, Shlova.”

I pulled his head to my chest
and kissed the top of his head. “No, thank you.”

He stood behind me and wrapped
his arms around me tightly, his chin resting on my head. He took a
deep breath.

“You’re alright?” he asked.

I reached a hand back and ran my
fingers through his curls. “I am.”

The rest of the girls were
making their way out of the tent.

“Trent!” Brynn was a blur of
blond as she ran toward my nephew.

“Brynn? What in the world are
you doing here?” He hugged her tightly and rubbed her back as she
sobbed into his tunic. He held her back and wiped her tears away.
“Are you alright? Where’s Bree?”

She shook her head. “She was
with Tyler. I was on my way to see you.”

Trent pulled her to his chest
and smoothed her hair. “Shush, Brynn. It’s alright. I’m…” Whatever
he was about to say stuck in his throat.

I glanced up at him and would
have laughed at the deer in the headlight look on his face had he
not looked so scared. I turned, ready to fight whatever was coming
then relaxed. Standing at the tent’s entrance stood Jenna and I
understood. Her long dark brown wavy hair blew around her in the
breeze, her light grey eyes just as wide and scared as Trent’s.

Brynn looked from Trent to
Jenna, her lips pursed into a small ‘o’ shape. She wiped her tears
and kissed his cheek then came to stand beside me. She sensed my
confusion at her actions and shrugged.

“Brent told me Trent must be
fated. It was the only explanation why I couldn’t get him
interested in me.”

I wanted to laugh. Low on
self-esteem this girl wasn’t.

Trent swallowed hard and cleared
his throat. “Your face… are you… I mean… does it…”

Jenna shook her head. “I think
it looks worse than it feels.”

Trent slowly closed the distance
between them. He touched the side of her face softly and she closed
her eyes. He brushed a few stray strands of hair away then tucked
them behind her ears.

“Auntie? Do you think…?”

I got Jenna to kneel so that I
could heal her. Trent held her hand and flinched at her gasp as her
face healed. I moved the wave over her ribs and my jaw clenched as
it confirmed what I had thought.

“Trent, I need you to kneel
behind her. Hook your arms under hers so she doesn’t fall when I
mend these ribs.”

He nodded and did as I had
asked. Jenna leaned back against him. Both of them closed their
eyes. Jenna jerked and Trent pulled her tightly against him. They
stayed like that until her breathing got back to normal. Jenna
relaxed against him and reached back, her hand running through his
short hair.

“It’s shorter than in the
dream.”

He blushed. “I had a run in with
some birn bushes.” His chin was resting on her shoulder. It was
almost as if the rest of us had disappeared. “Are you just as
scared as I am?” His voice was husky.