Darkness Sheds into Light {Watty 2012}

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Outside the warehouse they didn’t have much of a choice but to shift and haul ass. The sun was already up and gave the rogues and hunters all the light in the sky to track them. Shit. Jax didn’t like any of this, there was danger breathing close down to their necks and he knew deep in his heart it was Ariana they wanted back. He had spotted two hunters in the mist of their escape and he knew she saw them too. What the hell was Clive involved with?

They leaped over the fence and into the surrounding miles of forest. North of the main road that would lead them home. As Jax ran and followed Ariana’s impressive panther he knew she was leading the hunters and rogues on a wild goose case away from the pack cabin on purpose. She might not remember her previous life but the fighter in her still cared about them greatly. She was in there, his Ariana was in there waiting to come back home. It was moments like these he was reminded he was fooling himself into thinking he could walk away from her.

They stopped when the running sets of boots were no longer in earshot. They shifted back into human form and took a moment to breathe.

Ariana was kneeling down and scoping out the layout not seeming to mind she was naked or didn’t care enough to make a big deal. It wasn’t as if there was anything she or Jax could really do about it until they got back to a car or their clothes anyway. They had hidden their clothing and some important files she took beneath a boulder not far from the warehouse. They had also sent out a text to Marc saying they were ok and laying low, not to come looking for them, just before they broke Jax’s cellphone into several pieces the hunters wouldn’t find.

She didn’t seem to mind she was stark naked but he on the other hand was very mindful of it. There were smudges of dirt across her body from running; the most were on her claves and hands. Her long hair was all over her shoulders and back wildly sticking up. How could it be he thought she looked beautiful all wild jungle woman?

He was sitting against the tree trunk unaware of what he should be doing but staring at her. There were hunters close, too close, they should be evading and escaping she had said earlier but again his eyes were stuck on her. Her body was in shape like the soldier she was, everywhere he looked was hard and smooth with taut muscle beneath the buttery smoothness of her skin. In that aspect the most the soft innocent girl he knew was gone, she was all hard now. But that didn’t change how he knew her, he knew every curve of her like a map imprinted forever in his head.

She looked over her shoulder and met his eyes nowhere else. “How far do you think we’ve gone from the main rode?”

“At least two miles. We can’t make a run for it with them searching from the tower.” He wasn’t saying anything she didn’t know.

“We need to lay low until nightfall where their eyesight falls short of ours.” She started to look around again. “We need to hide and this tree won’t be enough until then. Let’s shift and run north deeper into the woods.”

With no better idea and unable to think correctly he nodded and followed whatever she said. He was relieved if she had to be stuck on hunter territory again at least they were together and she didn’t have to fight alone.

They ran for what felt like an eternity before they came upon jagged rocks and several hidden passages along an upstream lake. Jax shifted back first and watched Ariana. Her animal was breathtaking, all black and sleek with the most amazing yellow eyes he had ever seen as they pulsated with the bright color.

It took her longer to shift back and he suspected she had less experience with it than he did. “Do you take her shape often?” his voice was a whisper as they washed off their hands in the lake.