Untamed: The Savage: The Complete Series (13 page)

I
kicked
off my shoes and ran. When my shirt caught on a branch, I ripped it off and continued. Neither the cold nor my injury slowed me down as I surged through the forest. I was woozy from blood loss but adrenaline kept me going.

Chloe needed me. I felt it deep in my gut, not bothering to question the
whys
or
hows
. I didn’t have time. I just hoped I wasn’t too late.

Once inside the main cavern I paused, gulping in air as I listened for any signs of the police. But there were no yellow tapes sealing off areas, no signs of police officers standing guard. It was as if they’d never been here.

I hurried deeper into the darkness, my spine tingling with awareness. I slowed as I neared my home, listening in case the police were inside. I heard a set of footsteps shuffling around and then some grunting. Whoever was inside was exerting himself.

And then I heard it, the pained moans of a woman.

I sucked in a breath and jolted into action. I slipped between the walls and found a short, balding man with his back to me, bending over Chloe on the stone table. She rocked her head side to side with her eyes closed as candles flickered all around her.

The sound of cloth ripping pulled me up short and filled me with rage. I stormed inside and wrenched the man away from Chloe, throwing him sideways across the room.

He grunted in surprise, eyes growing wide when he caught sight of me. I towered over him, recognizing his face. I had seen him before, wandering around in the forest by himself at night. Sometimes he traveled with Morcillo, but more often than not he was alone.

He pointed a trembling finger at me. “Are you…”

I turned away from him, back to Chloe. I ground my teeth together when I saw that her hands were tied together above her head, her shirt ripped open down the middle. The gash on her head was bleeding. The thought of what he’d done to her—and what he had planned to do—ripped a roar right from my throat.

I twisted back to him, blinded with contempt. I had spent most of my childhood enduring beatings but never before had I felt this kind of outrage. This man was going to die at my hands.

“Alaric.”

Chloe’s soft voice pulled me up short. I spun around and found her blinking up at me. The man took advantage of the distraction and leapt on me, wrapping his arms around my neck. I reached around, trying to get my hands on him, when he dug his fingers into the bullet hole in my shoulder.

I howled, dropping to my knees. From above I could hear Chloe struggling and shouting my name. I opened my mouth to comfort her but a meaty arm wrapped around my neck, crushing my windpipe.

“I just have to say,” the man said, squeezing tighter. “I’m a big fan.”

I clawed at his arm, sure that my head was about to explode. My lungs burned but I managed to get back on my feet, carrying him on my back. I lurched backward and slammed him into the wall once, twice, until he dropped to the ground. I turned, my throat burning as I took in big gulps of air.

He pointed a gun at me. “Sorry it has to be this way.”

A gunshot rang out.

Chloe screamed.

The man fell to the ground, the gun slipping out of his hands.

To my right emerged a shadow, Officer Morcillo coming in to view. He held a gun in his hand, still pointed at the fallen man. Morcillo crouched over him and held two fingers to his pulse then spoke in his two-way radio. “Shot fired. Subject down with single gunshot wound. Start rescue.”

I took a step toward Chloe when Morcillo pointed the gun at me. “Stay right there. Don’t move a muscle.”

I did as told, watching as he untied Chloe and helped her off the slab. She ran right across the room and stood in front of me. “Alaric didn’t do it,” she said to the cop, shielding me with her body. “Tim Wells was the killer.”

I didn’t care if the cop shot me right then, I couldn’t not lower my hands and touch Chloe. I wrapped an arm around her middle and pulled her against me, breathing her in.

She’s safe now. She’ll be taken care of.

As the adrenaline wore off, the effects of the past few days started to catch up with me. My legs gave out first, buckling under me. My vision dimmed but not before I saw Chloe reach out for me.

F
rom a forest thick with fog
, I heard a melodious voice calling my name, beckoning me to the clearing.

Gentle fingers brushed hair away from my face. “Alaric. I’m here.”

Even through the mist I recognized Chloe’s voice. But I couldn’t tell if I was only dreaming or if she was really here in North Carolina.

A soft hand flattened over my forehead. “He’s still really warm,” she said.

“The fever should break soon,” another voice said, one I didn’t recognize. “He was lucky we got to him when we did. He developed an infection from the wound in his back that needed medical attention. A few more hours and he would have gone into shock.”

The hand on my forehead moved to cup my cheek. With all my might, I pried my eyes open and was rewarded with a view of a face so beautiful it hurt. “Beauty,” I rasped like it was the first word I’d spoken in years.

“He’s awake!” She bent closer, her sweet breath fanning across my face. “How are you? Are you in pain?”

“I’m good now,” I said, my voice coarse. “What happened?”

She took a shuddering breath and shook her head. “I don’t know. You just collapsed. I thought maybe you’d been shot or something.”

My arm felt like lead but I managed to bring it up to touch her face. “I’m okay.”

With a smile, she bent down and touched her lips to mine. Before the kiss could really begin, we heard the voice of Officer Morcillo talking to the security guard at the door. A second later, he knocked and came inside. The man looked grave, as usual.

“Glad to see you’re awake,” he said, but didn’t really look it. His lips twitched. “Thought for a second there you’d die before I’d have the chance to arrest you.”

Chloe’s hand found mine. “He’s still going to jail? But he didn’t kill those people.”

“Afraid so. He may not be the serial killer, but he has many years of home invasions to account for.”

Before Chloe could ask another question, I said, “How did you find us?”

Morcillo set his hands on his hips. “After you evaded arrest, we scoured the caves again and found your hideout. We set up surveillance. We heard everything Tim had to say.”

“But isn’t there something that can be worked out? Can he just pay what he owes? Or maybe do community service?” Chloe asked, determination etched on her face. It was then, as she kept trying to protect me, I came to the crushing realization that this woman truly did love me. Me, the wild man of the forest without any money to his name.

Morcillo shook his head. “That’s not up to me. My job is to deliver him to the judge.” He turned to me with a nod. “I’ll be back. Don’t even think about leaving.”

I promised to stay put. I didn’t want to run anymore, not when what I wanted was right here beside me.

After he left, I said, “Chloe, don’t worry about me.”

Her eyebrows knotted. “I can’t help it.” She chewed on her lip. “I was thinking…”

I waited with a smile on my face.

“I have money saved up. About forty-five thousand dollars. I want you to have it.”

“What? No.”

“To pay your debts.” She went over to the chair and pulled something out of a backpack.

I froze. “Where did you get that?”

She brought the notebook over to the bed and laid it on my stomach. “I found it on your bed,” she said slowly. “I’m sorry I took it.”

I lifted the pages of the book and let its pages float down, dates and items blurring together. “Out of everything in my cave, this is the one thing I would have saved. Thank you.”

“My name is in it.” She let out a soft breath. “Did you set out to steal me, Alaric?”

“No.” I held her gaze, remembering that night back in October when I’d caught sight of her from the woods. She had been like a bonfire in the dark forest, and I had been helplessly pulled to the light. “I just wanted to see you, smell you. I didn’t originally plan on taking you.”

I knew from the way she bit her bottom lip that she was recalling it too. “I’m glad you did.”

“You’re the only thing I’ve taken that I don’t intend to give back.”

A sad smile formed on her lips. “Please take the money.”

“No,” I said simply.

“You’d rather go to prison?”

“I don’t want to hide anymore, Chloe.” That was the truth of it all. I had been fooling myself, thinking I was living in the mountains when I’d really been hiding. From people, from life, from love. But finding Chloe months ago in that cabin had opened up a whole new world for me, had showed me that I was living half a life in shadows.

“But…” A tear slid down her cheek.

I tugged on her hand and pulled her down onto the bed, gathering her into my side. “I’m going to make things right, Chloe,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “No more running. No more hiding. I want to live out in the open. With you.”

I
stayed
in North Carolina by Alaric’s side while he recovered from the septic shock. He was weak but he brushed it off, trying to get up and move on the second day. The nurses and I reprimanded him, but he just shrugged it off and kept trying.

“That man is one stubborn son of a gun,” one of the older nurses said to me one night after trying—and not succeeding—to make Alaric stay in bed. We glanced at the immense man who was currently shuffling around the room with a grimace.

“Tell me about it,” I said, shaking my head.

“Maybe he’ll listen to you,” she said and left.

I walked over and took hold of his arm. “Hey, you need to rest.” He leaned into my shoulder and allowed me to lead him back to the bed.

He sat on the edge of the thin mattress, a wry smile peeking through the hair falling over his face. “I’m not used to sitting still for so long.”

“I see that.”

He took hold of my wrist and tugged me down on his lap, nuzzling his face into my neck. “Why did you come here?” he asked, his breath warm on my skin, “even after I abandoned you?”

I stiffened under him. “Because I felt you were in trouble. I needed to make sure you were safe.”

He pulled away and fixed me with his dark gaze. “I’m sorry I left you, Chloe. I thought I was doing the right thing.” A lump of emotion lodged in my throat. I couldn’t speak even if I knew what to say. “I would have stayed with you for as long as possible.”

“I wanted that too,” I whispered but couldn’t bring myself to tell him about the plans I’d made to leave the city. Somehow it no longer mattered, not when he was going away for a long time. “Now I’m not so sure what to do with myself.”

“Go back to Atlanta. Live the life you’ve always wanted,” he said. “Don’t even waste one second thinking about me, okay?”

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think past the ache in my chest. He wanted me to move on without him. I dipped my head as a tear slid down my cheek, the hurt I’d bottled up finally spilling over.

He nudged me until I looked up. “But I’ll spend every second of every day thinking about you,” he said, using the fleshy part of his palm to wipe away my tears. He held my face in his large, warm hands. “Waiting for the day when we can be together.”

With tears blurring my vision, I said, “Someday.”

O
n the fifth day
, the police came for him. Morcillo arrived, accompanied by several other burly police officers. “I’m not taking any chances this time,” he said with a grin.

Alaric nodded as an officer ambled towards him with a pair of handcuffs, his features set in resignation.

I turned away as Alaric held out his wrists, but still heard the metal clinking closed. The ache in my belly grew, the presence of all the officers in the hospital room making the air too thick to breathe. I slipped out of the room just as Morcillo began to read Alaric his Miranda Rights.

In the hallway, I wrapped my arms around my stomach and tried to breathe.

All too soon the door opened and one by one the cops filed out, three in front and three in back. The man at the very center of it all found me, his eyes dark and serious. “Can I have one second?” he asked Morcillo, who nodded.

Alaric lifted his bound hands and cradled my face. “Go home, Chloe. Please.”

I searched his face for a long time and, finally, I understood what he wanted: To hold on to the last scraps of his tattered dignity. So even though everything in me wanted to stand by his side and see him through the entire process, I nodded.

He heaved a shuddering sigh as he bent his forehead to mine. “I’m very lucky I found you in that cabin,” he said hoarsely. “Otherwise I’d still be hiding in my cave, not knowing what it’s like to love somebody so much you’d give up your life for them.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and mashed my lips to his, kissing him with fierce abandon. With my eyes closed, I imagined us back in the mountains, just the two of us in the wild. Alaric growled when the handcuffs kept him from touching me like he wanted, but he made do with holding my face, kissing me back just as savagely. It was a moment of despair, of promise.

We pulled away only when someone cleared his throat. I took in big gulps of air and took a step back, trying my best not to break down. “I love you, Alaric.”

The police officers flanked him and led him away. I watched as they walked down the hall and turned the corner, wanting to call him back and tell him I was the lucky one, that he had freed me and changed me. I would never be the same again.

A
laric was sentenced
to twelve months in prison. I wasn’t there for his arraignment or his subsequent sentencing. In a way it was a relief. I was barely getting by as it was; to see him behind bars might break me.

Yet the guilt sat heavy on my shoulders, the little voice in the back of my head reminding me that I should have pushed harder, should have tried other avenues to get him cleared of the charges. Even if he had resented me in the long run, at least he would be free.

Still, I knew I had done the right thing, and, even if the doubts haunted my dreams at night, I forced myself to move on.

I
took on clients again
. I sold a lot of my things, moved out of my apartment, and stayed with Anna temporarily.

“Any prospects today?” Anna asked one night in the guest bedroom as she watched me folding my clothes and setting them back inside my suitcase.

“Not yet.” I had been living out of my luggage for the better part of three weeks now. I had looked at plenty of apartments but, even if they were all very nice, I hadn’t chosen any. Truth was, I simply couldn’t see myself living in Atlanta anymore.

“You know you can stay as long as you need,” Anna said, kneeling on the floor beside me. She put an arm around my shoulder. “But Chloe… you’ve got to stop putting your life on hold. One year is a long time to hold your breath.”

I glanced at the pile of boxes in the corner of the room, my life—or what was left of it—packed away in neat little cubes. I sighed, knowing she spoke the truth. “You’re right.”

“Course I am,” she said, squeezing me.

I found an apartment a few days later, in the same complex as Anna’s. The move went quickly since I didn’t have much. And I let go the breath I’d been holding and began to live my life again.

I
avoided
contact with my father for months, until one day, when he showed up at my doorstep. As I peered through the peephole, I considered leaving him out in the hallway. It would serve him right. But he was my father and I knew deep down that what he’d done was out of love.

Still, just because I opened the door and let him in didn’t mean he was forgiven.

“Chloe Jane.” He opened his arms for an embrace that I ignored.

“Have you come to bug this apartment too?”

“No.” He let out a deep sigh. “I apologize for that breach in privacy.”

“How long had you been listening to my conversations?” When he didn’t answer, I added, “The truth, please.”

“Since you moved in.” I opened my mouth to yell when he said, “You were so young then, barely even in your twenties. You had just moved out. I needed a way to still feel like a part of your life.”

“Normal people do that through calls and visits, not by spying on their children.”

“I’m sorry, Chloe Jane. Truly.”

My resolve softened at the expression on his face, but I folded my arms across my chest. “Here’s the thing: I don’t want you in my life if you won’t respect my privacy.”

“I understand. I agree.”

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for his next words. I had never known him to be so quick to acquiesce. “You can’t meddle in my life anymore. Especially my love life. You are not allowed to manipulate or threaten anyone in my life, not if you want to remain in it.”

He held out his hand, giving me a proud sort of look. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” After the handshake, he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “I know I just agreed not to meddle, but here.”

I took the piece of paper, my spine tingling when I saw the North Carolina address written on it. “What is this?”

“It’s the last time I interfere.” With a breath, he headed to the door. He turned back at the last minute. "I’ve never told you before, but you remind me of your mother. She always had a free spirit.”

“I don’t…”

“You didn’t because I tried so hard to suppress it. I didn’t want you leaving me too,” he said, a sadness in his eyes I’d never seen before.

I swallowed hard. It was the most vulnerable he’d ever been in front of me and it made me love him and ache for him at the same time. “Wherever I go, you’ll always be my father. That will never change.” I walked over and wrapped my arms around him. “Even if I fly away, I will always fly back.”

He pulled away and looked meaningfully at the piece of paper in my hands. “So go fly.”

T
he address was not so
easy to find. I automatically headed to Bryson City thinking the GPS would lead me there, but the directions pointed to a place ten miles northwest. So I drove on, following the road alongside the river with the windows down, enjoying the breeze flowing through my hair.

Finally, as the sun was starting to make its way down the sky, the GPS told me to turn off the main street into a narrow dirt road. I followed it for half a mile, winding in and around the trees until finally coming to a stop when the GPS declared I had arrived at my destination.

My mouth hung open when I caught sight of what was in front of me. With shallow breaths I got out of the car, unable to take my eyes off the large wooden structure suspended fifteen feet in the air by the tree growing through its center.

“The tree house,” I breathed. My feet carried me closer without my knowledge. I just floated toward it, mesmerized by the green shingles on the A-frame roof, the wood railing encompassing the entire house, and the stairs that led enticingly to its glass front door.

I pulled out my phone and called my dad. “How did you know?” I asked as soon as he picked up. As far as I knew I had never talked about my dream home outside the forest, had kept it tucked in my heart until the day Alaric and I could make it into a reality.

“Know what?” my father asked. “What did you find?”

“You mean you haven’t seen it?”

“No.”

“You sent your only daughter into the mountains, not knowing what she’d find?” I asked, laughter bubbling up from my chest.

“I had it on good authority that you’d be safe.”

“Who?” I noticed it then, a muted thwacking sound. I looked around and saw the little shed further down the way. After saying goodbye to my father, I made my way through the trees towards the green metal outbuilding. I passed by the open doors of the building, finding an open space with tools and wood. I didn’t linger; I followed the sound, curiosity spurring me on. My heart beat fast and hard but I steeled myself for the inevitable disappointment.

Alaric still has five months left,
I told myself over and over.

I turned the corner and froze. A tall man stood with his bare back to me, his muscles rippling as he swung an axe over his head and brought it down, splitting a log in half.

I watched him for several moments, unable to believe my eyes. Alaric was supposed to be in jail. What the hell was he doing out here, chopping wood like some sexy lumberjack?

He stilled then, lifting his head to sniff the air. Then he turned his head and looked over his shoulder.

“Alaric.” His name came out on a breath. “What… how…?”

He turned around and set the axe down. I couldn’t take my eyes off him if I tried, he was just too beautiful. He had shaved recently, leaving only dark stubble left on his jaws, but his hair was as wild as I remembered.

He marched right up to me and, without word, took my face in his hands. His mouth found mine with a groan. I could feel the heat radiating off him, could feel his rough hands caressing my skin. He tasted and smelled just like I remembered, like I’d dreamed.

Before I could protest, he bent down and scooped me up in his arms, carrying me across the clearing before walking up the steps that led up to the house in the tree. He went inside, walking past the main living area and going directly to the bedroom.

He set me down on my feet at the foot of the bed, his eyes raking over me.

“My Beauty,” he rasped before dipping his face into my neck and breathing me in. He emitted a low, satisfied rumble from the back of his throat as I felt the edge of his teeth on my skin, followed by his tongue.

Without preamble he ripped off my clothes, laying me bare in seconds. He dropped to his knees and pulled me to him roughly, his mouth opening up and devouring my breast while his hand gripped my ass.

With my entire body on fire, I grabbed hold of his hair and pulled him closer. His fingers slid between my legs and found my folds, spreading around my wetness. He devoured the other breast as he moved his hand to the front and plunged two fingers inside my heat. I cried out, clenching instinctively, already on the verge of climax.

“I’ve thought about you every day,” he murmured, my nipple held between his teeth.

I couldn’t form words. I could only moan as I ground my clit into the heel of his hand, urging him on. I whimpered when he stopped, his fingers dragging out of me deliciously as he stood up. He towered over me with an expression on his face that promised a long night ahead. “Later we can go slow and gentle,” he began, wrapping an arm around my back and jerking me flush to his naked body. “But right now, I just need to be inside you before I lose my mind.”

He held me in his arms and impaled me, his thick shaft hard as granite. I wrapped my legs around him and held on, tried to keep from breaking apart as he gripped me by the ass. He drove into me, long, relentless strokes that reached the deepest part of me that had lain untouched for half a year. I kissed him all over, still finding it hard to believe that Alaric was here, a free man making love to his woman.