1
Ipulled up to Badger’s cabin several hours later than planned. I was supposed to arrive earlier in the day, but club business held me up. Luckily, it wasn’t anything my VP, and brother by blood, couldn’t handle, so I took off as soon as I had the chance.
It didn’t happen often, but every once in a while, I needed to get away and spend a few days by myself. Luckily, the VP of the Croftridge Blackwings, Badger, had a remote cabin close by and was willing to let me use it whenever I wanted, as long as it wasn’t being used by him or one of the other brothers.
The cabin itself was more extravagant than necessary for me, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and all. The two-story monstrosity sat in a clearing near the top of Meadow Ridge Mountain, and it was as remote as you could get and still have some of modern society’s conveniences, like power and spotty cell phone service. The views were breathtaking, and the quiet was priceless. I could already feel the tension leaving my body as soon as I climbed off my bike.
After putting my things away and showering to wash the road from my body, I managed to round up something to eat. I planned on stopping at the grocery store at the bottom of the mountain, but I didn’t have enough time before it got dark. The road to the cabin wasn’t paved, and it was dangerously narrow in a few spots. The single headlight on my bike didn’t provide enough illumination for me to risk it.
After dinner, I went out to the back deck to have a beer. As I sat gazing at the horizon watching the sun descend behind the trees, I wondered where my life was going. From the outside looking in, most would think I was on top of the world. I wasn’t overly wealthy, but I lived comfortably. I was the president of a local chapter of a well-known motorcycle club. And there were plenty of women around who were willing to keep my bed warm. So, why did it feel like something was missing?
Sighing, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. The answers to my problems wouldn’t come when I was actively searching for them; they never did. My moments of clarity arrived at the least expected—and usually the most inconvenient—times. As my stress melted away, I started to drift off into a light sleep.
A shrill scream piercing the night air had me jumping to my feet and grabbing my gun before my conscious mind was fully awake. I knew better than to fall asleep outside at dusk. There were plenty of predatory animals in the area, including cougars and bears. And it sounded like a cougar was close by. I never understood why they didn’t roar like the other big cats. Instead, they sounded more like a woman screaming.
I quickly turned on the tactical light mounted on my gun and scanned the surrounding trees, hoping like hell I didn’t see any glowing eyes. I had no desire to kill the animal, but I would if it came down to it or me. Typically, they would run away from humans, but wild animals were just that, wild, and I wasn’t taking any chances.
Slowly backing up toward the cabin, I continued to sweep the landscape with my light. I was almost to the door when I heard another scream. And it was clearly human.
Flinging the back door open, I grabbed the rifle Badger kept in the coat closet and holstered my gun. I was already walking in the direction I thought the scream came from when I heard it again. This time it sounded more like a woman crying. As I got closer, I could hear snarling and growling from more than one animal. I raised the rifle and placed my finger on the trigger as I moved deeper into the forest until I came upon one of the last things I ever expected to see.
A visibly terrified woman was precariously perched on top of a large boulder while two wild boars were on the ground snarling and desperately trying to get to her. Without hesitation, I aimed and fired twice, in quick succession, striking each boar in the head and permanently silencing them. However, I could still hear the woman screaming, even with my ears ringing from the two shots.
I held my hands up in front of me as I slowly started to approach her. Her eyes widened in fear before darting wildly around the area. I knew what she was doing— looking for an escape.
As predicted, seconds later, she leaped from the boulder and took off in a full sprint deeper into the trees. What the hell? Did she not realize the boars came from the forest and likely had friends in the area? Not to mention the more ferocious predators she could encounter.
My extensive training kicked in, and I reacted on pure instinct. I dropped the rifle and went after her. The woman was fast, I’d give her that, but she wasn’t as fast as me. I quickly caught up with her and realized the only way to catch her was to take her down. My hand snagged her shirt, and I pulled her to me. With my arms wrapped around her torso, I turned so that my body would hit the ground first instead of hers. As soon as we landed, I quickly reversed our positions and hovered over her.
Her eyes were filled with fear and, unexpectedly, anger. What did she have to be angry about? I just saved her from a pair of wild beasts. She struggled against me, and I started to lose my patience. “Calm down, woman. I’m not going to hurt you,” I barked, harsher than I intended, but whatever.
She froze at my words but remained silent. “Care to tell me just what in the hell you’re doing out here?”
She didn’t answer me; just continued to stare at me with a stunned look on her face.
“Answer me. This is private property, and you’re trespassing.”
She remained silent for a few more beats before she started to struggle again.
Fuck that!
I rose to my feet, pulling her up with me. Before she could move, I bent and hoisted her over my shoulder. If she didn’t want to talk outside, maybe she would inside. We didn’t need to be out in the open anyway. It wouldn’t be long before other animals in the area smelled the boars’ blood and came for a snack.
She wiggled and squirmed, trying to free herself, while I walked back to retrieve the rifle before continuing on to the cabin. I had one arm clamped tightly over her thighs, but the feisty little woman was beating the hell out of my back with her fists.
When we reached the cabin’s back deck, enough was enough. With my free hand, I gave her a nice hard slap on her ass, hoping to startle her out of her actions.
She froze for half a second before she started wailing on my back again. If she was going to hit me, I would return the favor. The stubborn woman wouldn’t quit. So, I smacked her ass two more times before I stepped inside and propped the rifle against the wall by the back door.
That’s when she chose to sink her teeth into the flesh right beneath my shoulder blade, and that was the equivalent of declaring war in my book. I grabbed a roll of duct tape from Badger’s junk drawer and tossed her onto the couch. Within seconds, I had her arms and legs secured. I knew she wouldn’t stay put willingly, but she had some questions to answer before I let her leave and restraining her seemed like the easiest way to go about it. First and foremost, she was going to tell me who she was and what she was doing on Badger’s property.
I considered carrying her upstairs to one of the bedrooms but thought better of it. She was likely scared out of her mind as it was. I heaved in a breath and tried to gather some patience and understanding. I knew I came off harsher than I usually intended, and I was trying to tamp that down before I started questioning her, if she would only stop screaming.
“Enough!” I roared. “If you don’t stop that screaming right this fucking second, I’ll cover your mouth with tape and lock you in one of the bedrooms until I feel like trying to deal with you again, which will likely damn well be tomorrow.”
Silence. Blessed, wonderful silence. And tears. Fuck me. I hated it when women cried. It was a weakness I had yet to overcome.
I exhaled slowly and softened my voice. “Like I said, I’m not going to hurt you. You don’t need to be scared of me.”