Untamed: The Savage: The Complete Series (6 page)

“I’m sorry,” I said, handing the skewer back. “I’ve never been able to stomach red meat.”

“Here,” he said, handing me one of the potatoes he’d buried under the fire. I took it gratefully and ate with gusto, not caring if the center was still slightly crunchy.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel Alaric’s gaze on me, no doubt thinking I was nothing but a spoiled little princess. The thought made my stomach churn.

W
hen I woke
up the next day and stretched my arms, I made contact with something soft and warm. My entire life I’d woken up alone; to have this woman sharing my bed was strange, uncomfortable, and amazing.

I rolled onto my side and watched Chloe sleep, traced every elegant line on her cheeks and nose with my eyes. This morning her face was relaxed, free of worry. Unlike last night.

I’d forgotten she was a big city girl, someone used to lobster and duck. Of course elk meat seasoned with nothing but salt would not be appetizing to someone like her. I should have known better. I shouldn’t have put her in the position of pretending. It was a mistake I intended to fix.

I climbed off the bed as gently as possible, got dressed, and hurried outside.

T
he sun was starting
to peek over the horizon by the time I made it back to the cave. I retrieved my sharpest knife and faced my rock table.

“Where did you go? I woke up and you were gone.” Chloe approached me with the blanket wrapped around her. When she saw the mess I had made on the table, she looked up at me with a question on her face.

“I went to the river. I caught you a fish.” I went back to work, slicing open the belly of a rainbow trout.

“You caught me a fish?” she asked, genuine surprise on her face. “Why?”

I set down the knife and faced her. “Because you’re hungry.”

Her shoulders sagged and her eyes watered. “I’m sorry. I’m trying not to be so picky. I’m trying, really.”

I held out my dirtied hands, wishing I could touch her. “You don’t have to try so hard. Not with me.” I’d known a man once who failed his wife and son. They had left him as a result. I’d always vowed that would never happen to me. “I will do whatever it takes to make you happy here, Chloe.”

She smiled through the tears. “I am happy. Happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”

How?
I wanted to ask the question but couldn’t get it out. Maybe it was better left unsaid.

A
fter breakfast
we ventured out of the caves again. It was later in the day and there was a higher chance of being spotted, so we wore clothes that made us look like ordinary hikers.

I took her to a place about a mile southeast, to an abandoned cottage in the middle of nowhere. It was a tiny dwelling made of roughly hewn logs with a single door, two windows, and a crumbling stone fireplace on the side. The vegetation had claimed it a long time ago; weeds grew tall around the structure and moss covered the collapsing roof. But before nature’s takeover, it had once been a home.

“Did you live here?” Chloe asked.

“No, I just found it. I don’t think anybody knows about this place.”

Chloe broke away from me and walked around the house, wading through the weeds to look in the windows. “There’s a tree growing right through the center of the floorboards,” she said, her voice bright with excitement. “I see a chair and a bed, I think.”

Her eyes were sparkling when she rejoined me. “People lived here once. Out here in the middle of nowhere,” she said as if it was an impossible task. “It must have been such a hard life.”

“Challenging, yes. Hard, no.”

She smiled up at me, understanding my meaning.

We stood side by side for a long time and contemplated the house. With Chloe beside me, I allowed myself to imagine a life where I didn’t live alone. Here, in the heart of the forest, we could build a home together and live in peace.

“What if the house starts to lift up as the tree grows?” I asked, pointing up.

“And becomes a tree house,” she added.

“I would fix it, make it bigger, more stable.”

She understood the game and played along. “Maybe add a few more rooms attached to other trees, with wooden walkways to connect them. I would insist on running water, of course. And proper heating.”

“Of course.”

“And an outdoor bathtub overlooking the forest.”

The ideas came alive, taking form before our eyes. “I will build you whatever you want, Chloe. Just say the word.”

She looked up at me, realizing I was no longer playing. “Alaric…” she began. After a long, painful moment, she finally smiled. “Maybe one day.”

O
n the way back
, Chloe threw quick little glances my way before looking away.

I tugged on her hair. “What?”

“Just trying to picture you as a lumberjack.”

“And?”

She bit her lip and looked me up and down in a way that made my cock stir. “I don’t know. You might have to strip off your shirt and start hacking at a log so I can get a better idea.”

I bent down and threw her over my shoulder. “You like that, huh?”

She laughed, the beautiful sound echoing around us. “Put me down, you savage caveman.” She pounded on my back halfheartedly. “You brute!”

I growled and nipped at her thigh. “You’re mine!”

Suddenly, I felt her entire body stiffen. “Alaric,” she whispered. “There’s something stalking us. An animal.”

I kept walking, still holding her on one shoulder. “Yes. She’s been following us for a while.”

“She?”

I set Chloe down and faced her towards the brush. We waited, Chloe gripping the sleeve of my shirt. Finally the great red wolf stepped out and revealed herself.

Chloe gasped and took a step behind me.

“It’s okay.” As the wolf approached I went down to one knee and held out my hand. The wolf sniffed and nuzzled it, licking my palm. She didn’t linger long. She pulled back, looking behind her.

“I think she wants me to follow her,” I said, getting back to my feet.

Chloe grabbed the back of my shirt. “No…”

I twisted around and flashed her a reassuring smile. “I know this wolf. She won’t hurt me.”

Chloe’s eyes were wide with fear. “You do?”

“She needs something.”

Chloe nodded, glancing around.

“Do you want to come with me?”

She looked around me, at the wolf. She shook her head. “No. I’ll wait here.”

“Okay. I won’t be far.” I turned and followed the wolf, glancing over at Chloe one last time before diving into the thick brush. The wolf led the way for a few minutes until I began to hear a high-pitched whining noise. A few seconds later we came upon another wolf that was larger than the female, whose hind paw was trapped inside a metal clamp.

The wolf snarled and snapped at me, but the presence of the female eased his worries and I was able to approach. I studied the trap—illegal in the Smoky Mountains—and took hold of the sides to pull the metal claws apart. The wolf immediately reared back and yelped when he was free.

“Good to see you again,” I said, rubbing the fur behind his ears. He let me lift up his paw and examine it. “You’re lucky it didn’t snap right through. You have to be more careful.”

The wolf nuzzled under my chin, his own way of thanking an old friend.

“Alaric!”

I spun around at the sound of Chloe’s alarmed voice and, before I could think, I was on my feet and running back at full speed. The shoes weighed me down, branches reached out to scratch me, but I didn’t slow.

No, no, no.

I slid to a halt when I saw two men surrounding a frightened Chloe. Everyone’s heads snapped around to me.

“Who are you?” one man asked, a tall, reedy local I’d seen walking around this part of the woods with his golden retriever.

The other looked between Chloe and me. His mouth fell open. “It’s her!”

The tall man cocked his head in my direction. “You think this guy’s the Smoky Mountain Savage? He don’t look so savage to me.”

I could only imagine what these men were thinking as they looked me over—an angry, unkempt creature huffing in outrage. I’d never agreed before with the nickname the locals had given me, but right then I felt very much on the verge of living up to it.

The shorter man walked closer to Chloe and grabbed her. “She’s coming with us,” he told me.

Chloe shook her head and tried to twist away but the man’s grip was strong, his fingers digging into her arm. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said.

“No. You have to come with us.”

“Let go of her!” I rushed forward and punched the man in the jaw before he could blink. He reared back, grabbing his face. The taller man attacked from behind, holding me in place while the other threw punches into my stomach.

Before he could hit me again, I kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Then I bent down and hurled the other guy over my back. He landed with a thud in front of me, arching his back in pain. “Merle, grab the girl and get out of here!” he cried out as he writhed on the ground.

The other man scrambled to his feet and lunged for Chloe. With an enraged shout I charged, colliding with him and sending us both tumbling to the ground. We scrambled around, but I was far stronger and got the upper hand quickly. I sat astride him and pummeled his face, my vision red, my veins throbbing with pent up anger. The feelings I’d tried to keep suppressed all these years, all the rage and fear, came careening through my veins and bursting onto my fists.

Images flashed through my head like sharp little knives jabbing at my brain, the present bleeding out until only the past remained.

“Barry, please.” She held out her arms, backing up until she hit the counter.

He lunged and grabbed her arm. “Don’t Barry please me,” he said, his face almost touching hers. Spit flew as he spoke, his breath reeking of alcohol and drugs. “You’re planning on leaving with our son, aren’t you?” He shook her around like a rag doll. “Aren’t you?”

“You’re hurting me.” Her voice cracked. She knew he would hurt her anyway, no matter how much she pleaded. The fight was already gone in her eyes.

And hurt her he did.

The little boy hid, peeking under the tablecloth. His mom had told him not to move or make a sound. It was safer for him that way.

He watched the whole time, memorizing every punch and slap, vowing to pay it all back when he was big enough. One day he would be able fight back.

“Alaric, stop. Please.”

I came back to the present, to the sight of Chloe’s small hand on my arm. When I finally focused on her face, I saw something different in the way she looked at me, a mixture of shock and disgust. My eyes traveled down to the groaning pulp of a man under me, then over to my bloody knuckles.

“Chloe…” I said, reaching out for her. The step she took backward hit me right in the gut.

My words echoed around in my head as I stared down at my calloused palms, stained red in places. My body shook from the rage and the fear. I had left my home for this very reason but, somehow, the violence had found me anyway. Maybe there was no way to escape what was inside me all along.

I stood, trying to reel in the raging thoughts in my head. But out of everything, only one thing was clear: I needed to protect Chloe, no matter what. So even though I knew it would make her mad, I bent down and threw her over my shoulder.

“God, Alaric, put me down,” she cried as I loped off.

The tightness in my chest eased with each step that took us away from those men. Still, I looked back every now and then, making sure we weren’t being followed.

With adrenaline still pumping through my veins, I climbed up the steep metal stairs to the cave’s entrance. When I finally set her down inside, the first thing she did was push at me.

“You didn’t have to carry me like that. I could have walked,” she said, her face flushed with anger. Her eyes darted back to my hands. “Are you okay?”

I spit on my hands and tried to wipe away the blood that stained them, but it didn’t work. “I’m fine.”

“I see that.” She gulped, her long, smooth neck undulating. I could see the fear in her eyes, making the breath stick in my throat. Instead of running away, she took a step closer and said, “You saved me.”

I kissed her in relief, mashed my mouth to hers and forced her lips open. I was desperate and needy. That little pebble of control had loosened and was setting off a full-blown rockslide I couldn’t stop. After all these years, it was inevitable. The violence I’d run away from was in my blood.

“I saved what’s mine,” I growled against her lips, but she only lunged forward and kissed me again. I pulled back and ripped the shirt over her head, pushed her pants down her legs. I spun her around to face the wall and bent her over, the gentle man who needed permission and approval gone. Now, well and truly, the wild animal I’d been trying to suppress was released. And he was starving.

Chloe tried to turn her head to look at me, but I held onto her hair and kept her gaze away from this version of me. Instead I reached into my pants and pulled out my cock. I could hear her heavy breathing as I pulled her legs apart, nudging at her entrance to find her already wet and ready. She let out a loud gasp when I pushed in to the root. She didn’t fight back; instead she lifted her ass higher and clenched tight around me.

I thrust over and over, long, powerful strokes that had me teetering on the edge. “Nobody’s taking you away from me,” I said, tugging on her hair until her back arched.

I climaxed before I meant to. I stilled, grinding my teeth as I spurted inside her. When I was spent, I slumped on her shoulder, my lips making contact with her soft skin. “You’re all I have, Chloe,” I whispered. “Don’t go.”

She slipped out from under me and turned around. Her eyes were full of heartache as she took my face in her hands and kissed me tenderly, a soft contrast to the hardness in my heart. “Alaric,” she said gently. “I’m here. I’m with you.”

I closed my eyes and nodded, even if I knew that there were many forces in the universe that could and would take her from me. Those men in the forest were the first and definitely not the last.

I stepped away and pulled up my pants. “Go back inside the cave.”

“Where are you going?” she asked, covering herself.

“I just have to do something,” I said, still unable to meet her eye.

She grabbed my arm when I tried to walk by. “Just stay with me here.”