Read Abbey's Protectors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 4] (Siren Publishing Menage & More) for Free Online

At one point, she lost her footing and fell a good twenty feet, tumbling repeatedly despite her attempts to grab for something to stop her rapid, uncontrolled descent. She landed hard at the bottom of the cliff, hitting her left side with a hard impact that knocked the breath from her. She froze all movement as she fought to control her urge to cry out from the pain. Taking slow, deep breaths, she fought to get herself back under control, pulled herself to her feet, and continued her trek to safety.
    There was barely any light from the quarter moon to help her see her way to navigate safely. It was both a blessing and a curse. She knew that the darkness helped her to escape him, yet the darkness prevented her from moving as swiftly as she wished she could. It was a trade-off, she knew, but it was necessary. She would take the darkness gladly.
    It took her nearly two hours to reach the bottom of the ravine. Stopping a few minutes to catch her breath, she listened once again for some sign that she was being followed. She heard only the rushing of the water off to her left. She straightened her packs on her back, stood tall, and walked directly into the middle of the ankle high stream. The coldness of it sent shock waves through her body. Her thermal boots would help a little, but she knew that it wouldn’t be long before she would experience damage to her body in the cold water. She had to get as far as she could within the next few hours.
    It would be dawn soon, and she was determined to be five miles away. She began walking, quickly at first, then settling down into a slower, more even pace. She walked almost as if she were a robot—ignoring the cold and ignoring her tiredness. She couldn’t let anything stop her.
    The minutes melded into hours. She wasn’t sure just how far she had walked, but she knew she was going to have to stop soon. She was exhausted and it was best not to travel during the day until she was able to get some type of transportation. Damn Peter! His sabotage of her car was one more solid proof of his attempt at controlling her. Well, she was determined that he wouldn’t get away with it.
    The sky was beginning to lighten with streaks of gray. It would only be a matter of minutes before it was dawn. She had miscalculated somehow. She hadn’t reached the destination she had hoped to reach by this time. She was becoming disoriented. She was freezing. There was no choice. She had to stop. She had to find a spot that would have to serve as a temporary hiding place. She had to change out of her wet clothes. She had to get warm, eat something, and rest.
    The sky was beginning to streak with subtle shades of purple and pink. It was now or never. She made her way out of the stream and walked into the woods that bordered the stream. She could see houses in the distance but couldn’t worry about that right now. She pulled her packs off her back then reached down to unlace her boots. Her fingers fumbled from cold and fatigue. After several attempts, she finally unlaced them and pulled them from her feet. Peeling off her socks, she nearly cried out in pain. Her feet were so cold they were numb. She rubbed them briefly then reached into her backpack and pulled out two pairs of heavy socks, a new pair of sweatpants, a black T-shirt, and a bulky, black sweater.
    She quickly removed her sweat-soaked clothing, stuffing them into the duffle bag to save for later. She pulled out a dry pair of underwear and a bra, quickly donning them and tugging on the sweatpants and the T-shirt, covering it quickly with the bulky sweater and the black, hooded sweatshirt, flipping the hood up and tying it securely. She pulled the socks onto her feet, one layer at a time, wincing in pain as her feet protested the movement. She prayed that she would be able to walk when the time came for her to continue her journey. Taking her sneakers from the bag, she pulled them on and tied them quickly, tugging on her thermal gloves as soon as she