Sahara POV:

I ended up getting home late and getting a beating for it. The skin on my stomach and legs was already purple from last week. There were a few new bruises and a few cuts to join them. My father had failed to notice or care that he had pushed me down on to the shards of the beer bottle that he had broken over my right shoulder. The cuts had stopped bleeding, but I still needed to clean them out. My best first aid kit was out here in the woods away from my father. If he found it, it would be gone, and I would be given a beating for wasting his money.

The woods were my safe haven. My mother had persuaded my father to buy the plot of land that they were on and then build us a home out here. This was before mom had gotten cancer and my father has sold his small computer chip manufacturer to Asus. Now all he did was drink, watch sports, and make my life hell. It was only after the death of my mother that my father became abusive. Now it was a constant struggle to keep my secret safe. I couldn’t leave him. I had seen firsthand how he had handed the death of my mother, and even though he said that I was a waste of space and didn’t deserve to live, if I left he would break down again. I could not let myself be responsible for setting that kind of a monster on the world.

                I walked down an unmarked path that led to the small creek. My first aid kit was hidden within a hollow tree. There was also a change of clothes and some food in there. When I reached the tree, I got a feeling that something was off. Still, I grabbed the bag and headed down to the creek. I got some of the water and put it in a canteen along with some iodine. While I waited for it to purify the water, I started to work on taking my shirt off pulling it away from the cuts, and after that cleaning the cuts with the water and alcohol. Let’s just say that it didn’t feel good.

                I heard a twig snap behind me. I quickly turned around. There standing next to my tree was a man.  He was at least six foot three, and salt and pepper hair and laugh lines gave away his age. He still looked as though he could beat up anyone who defied him.

                I quickly realized that I was still shirtless. I turned around and quickly tried to find my shirt. I slipped it on as fast as I could. When I turned back around he was still there.

                “What are you doing on my land?” I asked.

                All he did was take a step towards me. I took one back, and repeated my question, “Why are you on my land?”

                He took one step closer so that he was right in front of me. He grabbed my arm with a vice like grip.

                “What are you doing?” my voice now shaky.

                He looked deep into my eyes and sniffed my hair. “Good it is you. Ryker will be happy.” He said to me. His voice was rough and coarse, not pleasant. 

                “Please down hurt me.” I said suddenly scared.

                He didn’t respond. He just picked me up and began to run.  At first I was in shock of what was happening, but I quickly wrapped my head around what was going on. I was being kidnapped.

“Put me down!” I demanded.

He laughed, “Darlin’ there’s no way in hell that I am letting you go.”

I yelled at him again, “Put me down!”

He just laughed. I became frustrated and began to hit him on the chest. He seemed not to notice. He began to slow down as the trees started to thin. He kept walking until we came to a medium sized cabin. He went inside and sat me down on the counter top.

The man quickly turned his attention back to me. He looked at my cuts and bruises again and turned his attention back to whatever he was getting inside one of the cabinets. He pulled out a gray metal box and but it next to me.

“Take your shirt off.” He demanded.

I looked back at his suddenly realizing my fate. Fear gripped every thought in my mind. Rape, the one thing that I had managed to avoid with my father.

“Please,” I whispered, begging him not to do this.

He didn’t seem to care as he ripped it off over my head. I whimpered again as my arms were force upward. He grabbed a bowl and began to fill it with water. I sat there too scared to move. He dipped a cloth into the water, rung it out, and started to clean my cuts. Realization dawned on me. A wave of calm followed. He was beginning to have to scrub on one of the cuts that had scabbed over with dirt in it. I grimaced, the pain taking over.

“I’m sorry, Darlin’.” He said as he started on another cut.

“Why don’t we talk about something else? Like why you decided to kidnap me?” I suggested.

“Ryder will explain all of that after the full moon?”
                “Full moon what are y’all werewolves?” I laughed at him.

He stared at me for a second.  “I need more gauze. Don’t go anywhere,” he added as an afterthought. His voice was deep and menacing.

 With that he walked out of the room and down a hallway. I glanced at the door. There it was my escape, just a few feet away, easily with in my grasp. I could make it there before he got back, run back home or to the police station. I turned around scooting to the edge of the countertop, lowering myself as quickly and as quietly as I could manage. My hand was guiding me down when it sipped on some of the water that was left on the counter form when he had been cleaning my cuts. I reached out for something that I could anchor myself with. In all of the floundering my hand sent the glass bowl with the water over the edge of the counter. I soon joined it.

With a loud thump, I hit the floor at an odd angle. My wrist ended up underneath my ribs. When I landed on them a sickening crunch filled the air. Two sharp pains hit me nearly simultaneously, one in my ribs and one in my wrist. I let out a loud scream, and then quickly realized the error of my ways. If he hadn’t heard my fall, then he had defiantly heard my scream.  Shit, there goes any chance of escape.

He came into the kitchen area quickly, and upon seeing my condition his became extremely angry. He moved over to my side.

“Did I not tell you to stay there, not to move?” he asked in a harsh voice. I cringed back away from his, as though that would lessen the blow. “Ryker is going to kill me.” He mumbled to himself

 “What hurts worst?” he asked.

“My ribs.” I responded in a shaky voice.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I can’t treat you here. I’m going to have to move you.”

I nodded my head and readied myself for the pain. He reached underneath me and scooped my up like a small child. He walked through the hallway and down a stairway. We ended up in a huge modern garage. The walls were cement and there were close to fifteen cars sitting out, ready to be driven. Off to the left there was some kind of ultra-modern workshop. He walked over to a black BMW.  He sat me down in the passenger seat and walked around to the driver side. He revved the engine and sped out of the garage through one of the tunnels. We zoomed up the ramp and quickly made a sharp turn to the left. Then I could see it. There was a concrete wall in front of us. At the speed that the car was going there was no way that it could stop in time.

“Stop we’re going to crash!” I yelled out my voice still horse and raspy.

He didn’t say anything he just reached over and hit a button near the cup holder. There was a loud creak and the wall spilt apart revealing a lush forest. The car continued to gain speed as we moved along on dirt road. We moved on toward a huge mansion that sat in the mountain.

I started to fade out; the pain was too much. He quickly noticed. “Shit, come on darlin’. Stay with me.” He mumbled, “I am so dead.”

“Do you have a name?” I asked groggily.

He laughed then answering, “Andrew, what about you darlin’?”

“Sahara,” I answered.

“Tell me about yourself.”

“There isn’t much to tell; all that I really do is go to school and go to work.”

“Well tell me about your classes then.”

“I’m in AP Calc, AP Anatomy, AP English, and honors history.”

“So you’re a brainy?”

“Kinda.”

“So what are you, like 18?”

“No I turn 17 in January.”

“So you’re a sophomore?”

“No I’m finishing my senior classes this spring, but I should be a sophomore.” We had reached the mansion’s garage, and Andrew was pulling me out of the car.

“Oh my!” A woman cried out.

Andrew moved me inside of a room that looked extremely similar to a privet hospital room. The woman quickly ran over and led him over to the bed.

“Come on quickly now, put her on the bed.” She scolded Andrew, “Now what seems to be the problem dearest?”

“Her ribs and her wrist are broken.”

She turned on him, “Did I ask you? No, ok, let’s get you all fixed up dear.”

She moved over to my side and began to poke at my side. She pressed on one of the ribs and I cried out. She stopped for a second looking at my face and making sure that it was ok to continue. I nodded to her. It wasn’t the first time that I had had them treated. I was not enjoying the experience.  It was extremely painful. Next time I would be sucking it up and just saying that I was fine.

She finished up quickly and efficiently. For that I was grateful.  My hand was in a black brace and my ace bandages on my ribs. All of my cuts had been cleaned out and bandaged.  

“I’m giving you a pain killed that should make you drowsy. I’ll see you in the morning dear.” She explained to me.

“Thank you.” I said as the lights were turned off.

Ryder’s POV:

I had gotten Andrew to retrieve the Sahara for me. He was the best bounty hunter in our pack and was often hired by the government to retrieve escaped convicts and other dangers to society. I had expected her to be delivered to the pack house healthy and responsive, maybe a little banged up. I had been informed about her father, but I did not expect Andrew to carry her inside with three broken ribs and a broken wrist. All of which were cased because of his insolence.

 I was shaking the second that I was informed. My wolf was ready to pounce him. The mating ceremony hadn’t even occurred yet. He wasn’t supposed this possessive until afterwords, and on top of that she was human. I shouldn’t have even been mated with her. Her bloodline would do nothing to make mine stronger.

Mary, the nurse came down, “You can go up now, Ryker. She’s asleep, but be quiet. She needs her rest.”

“I will Mary don’t worry.” I told her running up the stairs.

I walked into the medical room. There she was on the bed. Her caramel hair was again in a ponytail and I couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like when it was down. Her she had bunches of small shallow cuts on her shoulder and her arms were banged up. Her left wrist was in a black brace and her ribs bandaged up. My wolf growled on the inside, furious at whoever did this to her.

I stroked her hair and leaned into kiss her forehead. When I moved a way she moaned an moved her head toward me.

“Rest well my little one. You’re going to need all of your strength in the next coming days.” I whispered to her as I left the room.

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