Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan 1) by Harmony Raines

Chapter Two - Abbi
    Hugging her knees up to her chin, she tried to ignore the jolting cold that infused her body. She knew she should get up and move around, sitting here would kill her. However, she couldn’t summon the courage to leave this place. It had become her temporary sanctuary from the outside world. She knew only too well, what was out there, what hunted her.
    In the distance, she heard a car. Few people had passed this way while she had been here. It was too out of the way for passers by. She held her breath and listened, but it kept on going. She tried to relax, but she was tired and hungry, her legs cramped. This was ridiculous; she would die if she stayed here. Yet still she didn’t move. Worse things than death waited outside of this ramshackle house.
    A sound. Footsteps. She couldn't tell. Holding her breath, she listened. The dark night surrounded her, suffocating her as she tried to make out what was out there. Surely, they hadn’t tracked her here. She had carefully chosen this place. The scent of other beasts would conceal her. That’s what she had hoped anyway.
    Nothing. She breathed again, her teeth chattering.
    Suddenly, the door burst in and he was there. She fought hard, kicking and scratching at him. Her screams lost in her throat as she tried to catch her breath. All she could think of, was the need to get up and run. Yet the more she struggled the firmer his hold became.
    “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” A hand gripped each of her wrists, pinning them above her head. She struggled, aiming a kick at him. But he managed to put his well toned body between her thighs and use his weight to pin her down.
    With a strangled sob, she begged him, “Please let me go. Please.”
    With the last of her strength, she strained against him. They both knew it was useless, they had found her, and she was lost. Slowly consciousness slipped away from her. She was too cold and tired, and the welcome envelope of darkness consumed her.
    ***
    For a long time she was conscious, but didn’t open her eyes. She didn’t want her captor to know she was aware of her surrounds, not yet. First, she allowed the warmth of the vehicle she was travelling in to thaw out her cold flesh. While the sound of the country music soothed her. How could a man who liked listening to country be a threat?
    Inside she berated herself for her own stupidity. Trust no one; she had learned that the hard way. Until two months ago, she saw the best in every person she met. Every person she passed on the street, every man who asked her on a date.
    Then had come the night when the date became a horrendous game of cat and mouse. And she was most definitely the smallest of mice, and the cat was a tiger. Big, brutish and in want of a mate.
    Trying not to move, or change her breathing, she opened her eyes a little, hoping not to give herself away. At first, he was hidden in shadow. Then, as they passed under a street light, she caught a glimpse of the ruggedly handsome man who had found her. He was dark haired, and dark natured. His face creased into a frown. His large hands gripping the steering wheel. Everything about him screamed of a wild primal power. There was no doubt. He was one of them, and she had to get away.
    Slowly sliding her hand out, she felt for the handle to release the door. Her body weight was propped against it, when the door flew open she was going to disappear into the dark. It was going to hurt, but she knew she had no choice but to get herself up on to her feet and run.
    Closing her eyes, she steeled herself against the shock of falling, and pulled the lever.
    “Don’t take me for a fool. Do you think I hadn’t figured out you’d try to escape?”
    So now he knew she was awake. And she knew she was trapped.
    “Please,” she begged. “Let me go.”
    “Go where? You’ve been holed up in that house for a couple of days or more. If you wanted to go, you should have gone. Not stayed there. You’re just lucky it was