So not what she needed right now.
She needed more space.
Isa hadn’t exactly slept well. Whenever she closed her eyes for more than a minute, she had nightmares about Luke stalking her, telling her dad everything about her life. She felt angry down to her toes. It was such a betrayal of her trust, of her privacy. She didn’t know how to stop feeling sharp jabs of pain.
And that Valens had done something so similar didn’t help.
“Isa? You wanna join?”
“Umm. No. Thanks, but I’m not hungry. I’m gonna keep on lounging in bed. I might grab a bowl of cereal later. You two enjoy your lovely meal.”
“Okay. I’m here if you wanna talk, Isa.”
“You’re sweet, but I’m fine.”
Isa waited until she heard Tarrah’s footsteps retreat down the hall. In the kitchen, the couple gathered their food, and Isa knew this was her only opening. She opened the window and looked down at the ground. It was only a five-foot drop. She’d done much higher before. She could do it.
Why are you even scared right now? You’ve got this, Daredev-Isa. You can so totally do this.
She eyed the ground and begged it to not hurt her.
Great, because now I think the ground will respond to me. Nothing to see here, folks. Just a woman going out of her mind.
Isa knew it was risky to leave the house with the lions threatening action against the tigers, but she couldn’t stay in the house anymore. She needed space to move and shake out the bad vibes of the cabin after Luke’s admission.
Her own phone hadn’t stopped ringing for hours after. It was her father, trying to get in touch with her. She’d turned off the device and stuffed it into a bag in the very bottom of her closet. He could keep calling, but that didn’t mean she had to listen to what he had to say.
He had said enough over the years.
Not to mention the fact that he had actually hired someone to infiltrate her team to keep tabs on her. It wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t a father trying to reach out to her. It was his way of trying to keep her in his hold.
And Luke had fully and willingly participated, the jerk.
Isa threw herself out of the window and firmly landed on her feet. One of her ankles cracked in protest, but it was nothing more than an old injury acting up. She ran around the cabin just in time to avoid being seen by Tarrah and Elija.
As soon as she was free and clear from the back of the cabin, she began to run.
Her sneakers hit against the dirt road, but Isa didn’t head toward town. That would mean running into one of the tigers. She knew as soon as she was spotted in town, Valens would magically materialize by her side.
She was going to forgive him.
He wanted her to be safe, and she couldn’t fault him for that. But she had to make peace with the fact that her childhood, and the way her father raised her, had left scars on her. Sometimes, that meant being a little bit harsh when her very possessive mate did things that could seem like a good thing to others but made her feel like a prisoner.
It was her thing. One she needed to heal from, but one that Valens would also have to accept as part of who she was.
That meant if he was going to go full-mate-protector, she would need a few hours alone running or doing something physical to move past it.
Isa was so focused on her thoughts, letting her muscles take her through the run, that she barely noticed the man running toward her. He was maybe a few years older than her, decked out in runner’s gear. When she spotted him, she gave him a nod of acknowledgment. He smiled at her wildly, which only made her frown. Not at him, but at a memory.
She’d seen the man before.
Of course, you’ve seen him before. You’re staying in a tiny town where everyone knows everyone. You’re just being paranoid. You’re fine. Keep on running. Don’t be a weirdo, Isa.
“Morning,” the man greeted her. “Nice time for a jog, isn’t it?”
She nodded, offering a closed-mouth smile. She didn’t want to stop her run to make chitchat with a local.
“The forest is such a nice place to jog, don’t you think?”
He slowed his pace to a walk, clearly waiting for her to answer.
“It sure is,” she said, subtly increasing her speed and hoping the man didn’t notice.
Thankfully, they crossed paths, and the man didn’t say another word to her. Isa breathed a sigh of relief, continuing her run.
It was only a minute later that she heard shoes hitting the ground. A panting breath.
Neither hers.
Someone was behind her. Following her...
Isa didn’t need to turn around to know it was the overly chatty jogger.
It’s fine. He just turned around to get back to whatever cabin he rented. He isn’t following you. Stop being weird, Isa, seriously.
She was just about to turn around and kindly ask the man to not follow her when something hard rammed into her, sending her crashing to the ground. Isa tried to break her fall with her hands but failed. Her left wrist screamed in pain while her stitches split open at the base of her wrist. The coppery scent of blood filled her nostrils, and before she could scream for help, something heavy hit the back of her head.
22
VALENS
Elija was quick to action, thank fuck. He took Tarrah to Valens’s parents' place, promising to bring reinforcements with him as soon as possible.
For his part, Valens wouldn’t be sitting around waiting. He left Isa’s cabin, walking around the side of it until he reached the window where she’d left. Her scent still lingered in the air, meaning she hadn’t gone too far even if she was running. He followed her trail, sniffing at the air every now and again to make sure he was on the right path.
You should shift, his tiger insisted. I bet she’ll be happier to see me than to see you right now. She’s mad at you, but she won’t be mad at me. I didn’t betray her trust like you.
Valens mumbled under his breath, “Shut up, beast. If I shift into a tiger, I’ll scare the shit out of her when I find her. Besides, how am I supposed to apologize to her if I’m a tiger? She won’t understand me.”
Just pointing out that you’re the crazy man talking to himself right now.
Valens clamped his mouth shut and refused to say another word to his tiger, no matter how vocal the animal decided to be. He was surprised by the territory his mate had covered in such a short amount of time. He followed her scent around a bend just as the wind shifted, and another smell was added to it.
It was sweaty, male and full of something evil.
Valens picked up the pace, stopping short when the aroma of blood hit his nose. He looked down, spotting the smallest specks of blood on the ground.
His mate’s blood.
It was little comfort to him that whoever was around when the injury happened wasn’t a shifter.
It wasn’t the lions.
But as relieved as he was that the lion shifters hadn’t taken his mate, there was another very real possibility.
Isa’s stalker.
She had been taken by her stalker. He was sure of it.
Valens wasted no time, shifting into his tiger as he started running, following the two scents. He was confident that his brothers and Elija would soon be on his trail and join him.