Locke Down

Chapter 12

Locke's POV

My breathing stops, all thoughts in my head cease, and my heart threatens to explode with the way she's looking at me. Her fingers are still wrapped around my arm, sending a warmth through my body like I've never felt. I want to close my eyes and bask in the feeling or pull her in so I can feel more of her.

"Locke..." she whispers and I fixate on her lips.

Just the way she says my name...

"We were attacked."

Wait. What.

I immediately sober up and look her dead in the eyes.

"By who?"

She drops her hold and I have to force myself not to grab her to me just to ensure she's safe. Whoever attacked her was a dead man.

"Rouges. There was dozens of them. I've never seen anything like it." She says while searching my face.

I can tell she's trying to gauge my reaction. To see if whether I'm mad or want to turn back. And it's true that I'm angry, but not for the reason she thinks.

I turn and start marching into the woods at a much faster pace, determined to get to our destination and investigate. Her light footsteps fall quickly beside me and after a while I realize she's having to jog to keep up. I slow down, allowing her to ease up, and I glance over to make sure she's okay.

"You're mad." She says, already facing me.

"Yes and no."

She doesn't say anything but the worry lines on her face make me want to end her doubts.

"I'm mad someone would attack you. Not mad that you told me." I clarify.

"They didn't really attack me. Actually I was the only one they didn't seem to want to attack. It was weird."

Thinking about her in that situation makes my blood boil. Wolves are known for being ruthless sometimes and she just proved that fact. I have to focus on my breathing so I don't lose control of my emotions again and I begin to count backwards from 10 in my head.

10... 9... 8...

"One had practically ran me over."

7... 6... 5...

"But Kline was there, and between him and then other guys, we managed to get out of there."

That name.

10... 9.. 8...

"Are you okay?"

7... 6... 5...

I finished counting before finally answering through a long exhale.

"I'm fine."

Silence settles between us and soon we stop for a break.

"Do you want to set up camp and start again in the morning or continue through?" I ask her.

I'm not sure she's use to this type of work and I don't want push her limits.

"Let's keep going, if that's okay with you?" She says and I smirk.

She might be small but she's surprisingly strong.

We continue the rest of the way until the sun has begun to dip below the trees and shadows dance across the forest floor. I'm tempted to call it a night, but the determination I see in her face makes me hold out a bit longer.

Not much more time goes by before it starts to become quite dark and I'm wondering how she can see so well. Her steps have yet to falter and she hasn't shown signs of slowing down.