Keeper - Forever #4 (Sample of Published Book)

Chapter 5 - Part 1

Bay

I pushed up against a tree to keep myself hidden. My heart was racing. It felt like it was going to break free from my chest. I don't know how, but I had found him.

I had walked for an hour before I had heard the faintest noise. At first I wondered if it was a bird or a small animal in the forest. But my instinct told me it wasn't. It was Flynn.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, I crept closer. When I took my first glimpse of the back of my mate, I felt like every pore of my being had sprung to life at the sight of him.

It was getting dark. The sun was starting to set. I was a few feet away, trying to keep from being seen.

The intention had just been to seek him out to see him. Letting him see me wasn't part of the plan. Our relationship was complicated enough. I couldn't explain why I was here looking for him.

I moved slightly and allowed my eyes to feast on the sight of him.

He bent down and studied something. Was he tracking a rogue? His hair hung down, covering his features as he continued to look at something in the path. Then there was a sound. It came from somewhere past him.

He rose up to his tall, intimidating height. I expected him to leave but he remained still, his back still to me. I couldn't move my eyes away from him to keep myself hidden. Feeling the pull to him, I resisted not of my own will but that of my alpha's. Kyle's order for me to stay away from him kept me from moving closer. It was like an invisible wall I couldn't penetrate.

Flynn made a slight move to look back but stopped before fixing his concentration back in front of him. Had he noticed me? There was no way to know for sure.

His hands fisted for the briefest moment before he released them and began to walk toward the direction of the noise.

Feeling relieved that he hadn't looked back, I moved back behind the trunk of the tree. My heart was still pumping wildly and I was struggling to catch my breath. What the hell was I doing? I was playing with fire and if I weren't careful I would get burned.

I looked back only once to see that Flynn had disappeared into the dark forest before I began to retrace my footsteps, chastising myself the whole way.

You have to stay away from him. I reiterated the warning that Kyle had already given me. Logically I knew that was the right thing to do but it didn't diminish the draw to be closer to him.

I stopped briefly, remembering the need to run my hands through his hair. Shaking myself mentally, I tried to concentrate on finding my way back to the compound before it got any later. I had to stop thinking about him.

It was getting later and I hurried, not wanting my brother to get worried. He kept a close eye on me and always kept track of my movements.

The sound of movement made me stop. I strained to concentrate on the sound. The soft thud of something running closer to me kept me still. It sounded like a wolf but I wasn't sure. I wasn't far from the compound so I didn't believe it was a threat. But I still had to be careful.

My eyes looked in the direction of the approaching animal. The sight of my brother's wolf made me sigh with relief even though I knew I was in for a lecture.

A few feet in front of me my brother shifted to his human form. The familiar thunderous look in his eyes confirmed I was in trouble.

"Where have you been?" he asked, grabbing my arm.

"I just went for a walk."

"Have you no self-preservation?" he said, his fingers digging into my arm. He was beyond angry. I don't think I had ever seen him like this. His eyes swept the area around us.

"Stop it," I said and winced, trying to pull out of his vice-like grip. "You're hurting me."

Then out of the darkness behind us a dark form stepped out. "Remove your hand or I will."

My brother swung his eyes to Flynn, who was glaring at him with a murderous glint in his eyes. Then he realized he was holding me too hard and let go.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he mumbled to me with his eyes still on the Keeper watching him.

"I know." I rubbed my arms slightly.

The pain was forgotten by the shock that Flynn was standing in front of us.

How was he here? I had watched him walk off in the opposite direction. It didn't make any sense.

"I was worried," my brother explained, putting his hands on his hips. "It was getting dark and you'd been gone for a while."

"I wouldn't have let anything happen to her." The velvety sound of Flynn's voice swept through me.

For a few moments there was silence.

"Give me a minute," I told my brother. There were questions I wanted to ask Flynn and I wanted to do it without an audience.

He looked from the Keeper to me before retreating.

Once we were alone, Flynn stepped closer but I moved back. He stopped when he realized I was keeping my distance from him. He had followed me. The only way that could have happened was if he had known I had been watching him.

"How?" I asked him.

"I knew you were there."

I swallowed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

I was pretty stupid to think I'd be able to sneak up on him without him knowing. He studied me for a moment. The anger that had been fixed in his features softened slightly. "I didn't think any good could come from it."

That hurt. I understood why but hearing him say it out loud created an ache in my chest.

"We had already decided how to handle this thing between us," he reminded me.

His features closed off and I felt like I was talking to the Keeper instead of Flynn, my mate.

"You followed me?" I asked. I needed to know I wasn't the only one struggling with keeping my distance.

"Walking around a forest at night with rogues in the area is not a good idea." My eyes held his. "I had to protect you."

His last sentence came out in a soft whisper and I saw it for a fleeting few seconds in his eyes before the shutter came down. He cared. Something inflated inside my chest.

"And tell your brother if he lays one more hand on you, I won't be responsible for my actions," he warned.

"He didn't mean to hurt me," I countered defensively. "He was just worried."

"But he did." There was no gray area. For him it was either black or white. "And stop putting yourself in danger. I won't always be here to protect you."

And there was the reality slap that left me reeling. I couldn't speak, the tightness in my throat making it impossible to say anything.

No matter how this played out, in the end he would leave and I would have to pick up the pieces to my life. It had to be that way.

"I never asked you to," I shot back, crossing my arms.

His jaw tensed while he held my gaze and then it was like he just turned it all off. Gone was the emotion that had been there just seconds before.

"Go back to the compound and stay there," he instructed. "There are dangerous rogues around and you know what they're capable of."

Didn't he know how difficult it was to stay away from him? I hated the fact that I had sought him. And the fact that he knew made it so much worse.

"I don't take orders from anyone," I stated defiantly, refusing to allow him to think he could dictate what I could and couldn't do. I had enough men in my life telling me what to do.

His gaze swept over me. I felt my skin heat beneath his eyes, and then he turned on his heel, stepping back into the darkness of the forest. He was gone and I was left staring into the darkness.