Return to Kadenburg by T. E. Ridener

smile. “I promise if I hear anything I’ll wake you up.”
    “Oh,” he exhaled loudly as he pushed himself up from
the couch and raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah….that’s probably not a
bad idea,” he admitted.
    As Arnold Goult disappeared down the hallway, Mrs.
Bamey turned to gaze at her husband again. She frowned as she shook her head.
“Richard, what are we going to do? This is going to eat him up alive. It’s
already making me lose my mind.”
    She blinked back her tears, swallowing the painful lump
forming in her throat as a shaky breath escaped her lips. “I want my baby
back.”
    “I know,” Richard Bamey whispered as he enveloped her
in his strong arms. “I want him back, too, Baby. We’ll get them all back.
Just wait and see, okay? We’ll catch a scent tomorrow and there won’t be any
stopping us. I’ll get Lorcan back home, safe and sound.”
    “And Presley?” She asked, lifting her head to peer at
him.
    “And Presley. And Greg,” he smiled. “And even that
wolf you seem to be so fond of.”
    Mrs. Bamey stared at him pointedly, lifting a brow
slightly. “He was Liam’s mate. He is a part of our family now.”
    “Yeah,” Mr. Bamey sighed. “I know he is. That’s why
I’m gonna save his ass, too.”
    “Good,” she whispered, burying her face against his
chest once more. “I just want things to go back to how they were.”
    “Me, too,” Mr. Bamey agreed, though he knew deep down
that things would never be the same again.
    –––––––-
    Rutley wasn’t by any means weak, but damn , this
guy was heavy. Perspiration glistened on his temples as he took each careful
step forward, trying desperately not to drop him on the ground.
    “I reckon you’ve been knocked around enough tonight,”
he grunted, hoisting the injured fellow back into a more secure position on his
shoulder. “But hell, I am not enjoying this.”
    He received no response, which he expected; the guy had
been unconscious for the last half mile of Rutley’s trek out of the woods. He
knew it wasn’t because the kid was losing blood-no, it had to be something
else. He was awfully weak, and his speech was slurred when he was actually
capable of speaking. Maybe he was drugged or something…..
    Almost there, he thought as he felt the familiar
burn in his thighs. Getting up the incline to make it out into the clearing
would be the hardest part of this journey. It would literally be all downhill
from there. Pacing his breathing, Rutley took each step with great
determination, keeping his arm locked around Dimitri’s waist as they finally
made it out of the woods.
    “Shit,” he muttered, easing the male onto the ground
before wiping at his brow. He released a low breath, shaking his head. “What
the hell do you eat?” He wondered aloud.
    With the bright moonlight overhead, Rutley managed to
steal his first good look at the bruised man lying at his feet. He wasn’t terrible looking.
    Jesus H. Christ, Rutley, he rolled his eyes. Are
you really going to ogle at the man you just saved?
    He pulled his gaze away from Dimitri’s face, despite
the fact he really needed to get a better look at the claw marks on his
cheeks. Instead, he settled for gazing at his broad, chiseled chest.
    Yes, that’s the more reasonable thing to
do, he chastised mentally. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth,
bending down to pick him up again.
    “All right,” he sighed. “I need to get you out of
here. I’m sure my dad’s going to have a few questions for you whenever you
wake up.”
    The other male mumbled incoherently as Rutley slowly
made his way towards his car. This was going to be a fun night.
    “You better not get blood on the seats,” he added
quietly. “That car’s almost paid off.”
    –––––––—
    She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on when she
heard muffled laughter sounding in the distance. Was it overhead? Was it
beneath her? Was it just in the room across the hall? She