Unrequited

Chapter 1

HUMMINGBIRD WINGS. That's what my heart felt like as I jogged into the clearing on the trail I've never jogged before. Most of my adult life had been spent jogging the more common trails. It was familiar to a point, the point at which I knew I was halfway but normally turned around. Trees were so thick on either side of the small clearing that it made it impossible to see the rest of the park down below the trail. While it eventually looped back, this part of the trail climbed up hill after hill away from the more commonly ran areas and went for miles more than the other trails. Novice runners would all be at the regular trail tonight for an event, and I didn't want to be clumped up with others when I was trying to clear my head.

Another patient had died today, and pain still jabbed at my heart. It never gets any easier. A gunshot wound to the abdomen had sealed her fate. The part of me that warns me to turn back, that this trail is unfamiliar is roaring inside my head but I don't listen. I jog in place for a moment as if my body needs a second to catch up to what my brain has already decided, and I start to run toward the other side of the clearing and past the part of the trail marked for access only to park rangers.

I wouldn't get lost. I had an excellent sense of direction and about two hours until the sun would start falling, making way for the night sky. It would take about an hour to get around the rest of the trail if my calculations were right. No one should be out this far, and the fresh air smelled of pine trees that were thick in the area as I kicked a leg up over the yellow chain that marked it as off limits. Fuck off limits. Fuck everything.

The girl's blue eyes, looking up at me as one of the doctor's tried to extract the bullet. Agony and pain torched my heart in that moment as her gaze faded from pain to bliss and then extinguished like someone snuffed out her fire. "She's gone," the doctor in the emergency rotation Dr. Emberle had stated matter of factly. "Time of death, 3:16 pm, cause of death bullet wound in the lower abdomen causing hemorrhaging."

The woods close in around me as I continue to run blocking out every instinct that I have and pushing my body until my ankles scream to put a stop to the pain. My lungs curse me to stop, every breath I draw hurting my esophagus and burning all the way into my chest. Tears start to stream white hot down my face as I relive the moment over and over, my heart's ache ebbing and flowing with each breath that I force into my lungs, with each step that I run.

I try to stop but the memory pushes me on further and faster. The trail dips and turns back down toward the park, forking to the left and the right. I choose the right, and keep running as fast as my legs can be pushed to carry me.

The light. The way the light left her eyes. The way her irises pulsed and then stopped moving entirely. She was a human, there one moment and gone the next over something as stupid as a territory war.

I wanted to scream, and somehow I became painfully aware that even if I did, I'd run miles off the beaten path on this trail, and no one would be able to hear me. As if on que, I slam into someone who'd been standing on the trail. A park ranger? I do a double take as I fall to the ground on my ass.

Shit. If I've been caught out here, I could be banned from the park. "I was just..." my voice trails off as I notice the man standing in front of me. He's tall, easily 6' 6", and bulky, like he trains action movie stars. I can see the ripples in his arm muscles and his chest is bare, showing off a chiseled abdomen. His face is beautiful, like something someone would etch in stone on some sort of ancient Greek statue. A shock of dark hair with a silver streak by his ear that curls around to the front of his hair shakes lightly as he chuckles darkly. His eyes are a pale blue, almost ice blue, but not quite as cold. Tattoos peak out from under his light blue work out shirt, but his legs are bare beyond his athletic shorts. Curiosity plays on his dark expression for a moment before he speaks.

"Just what?" His voice sounds soft like velvet with an edge of danger.

"I have a pass," I blurt out the obvious lie and as it stands between us he smiles a heart-stopping grin at me.

"I think we both know you don't." The man cocks his head to the side, folding his arms over his enormous chest. "Want to try that again?" As he does, he offers me his hand and pulls me up from the ground. Dirt is caked on my leggings, and in a futile motion, I try to dust if off.

"I just needed to clear my head," I said, shaking my head back and forth and touching a palm to my forehead before making eye contact with him again.

"Well you shouldn't be out this far," he starts, but just as he does a scream tears its way out of my throat. It sounds like someone else has screamed. Distant. I realize it's the echo through the woods. How far had I come? It takes me pushing down every fucking instinct to stay still. Don't. Run.

Behind the man, there are not one but three large wolves. One has gray fur with black around it's eyes and down the spine of its back, another with lighter gray fur and white around its snout, and the last is brown with darker brown markings. "Behind you," I breathe, but the sound barely escapes my mouth. "Don't. Move." I repeat the words that just played in my head, staring up at his eyes in desperation. I will not watch another person die today.

I step out from behind the man, who looks nearly capable of taking on a bear much less a wolf. Still, I move in front of him, trying my best to puff out my chest. "Go on," I say, making a shooting motion with both of my hands. "Go!" I all but shout at the animals, and while they look at me with cocked heads and knowing eyes, the three of them seemingly understand and turn on their heels to leave. The three wolves saunter away from the trail. I inhale slowly, trying to steady my crashing heartbeat.

"Did you just..." the man trails off with questions littering his tone.

"Yeah, I'm tired of watching people die," I spat, starting to jog in place to displace some of the intense adrenaline now coursing through my veins.

"Right," he started to say, but I was pushing past him, running down along the trail back toward the park.

The man catches up to me, his curiosity obviously peaked. "What do you mean watching people die?" His voice is low and dark. The tension in the air is nearly palpable as I turn the question over in my head.

"I work at the hospital. People die. All. The. Time." I said the words, each one getting its own sentence. I shrug, knowing that it's not as nonchalant as I'm making it out to be. "Lately, it's mostly from gang violence. Stupid fucking gang members." The tone of my voice comes out ice cold when talking about that bunch of murderers.

"You should watch who you say that to," his tone was dark and sharp.

I stopped jogging for a moment, shooting him a look that no doubt showed the spark of fear that I felt in my gut. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you should watch who you say that to," he half growls the words.

Something inside my stomach clenches. Desire pulses between my legs as I stare at his lips and then into his pale blue eyes. This man is a god among men. Oh shit. As he moves closer to me the feeling only coils in on itself, creating a quick and lustful need. All I want for a split second are his lips smashing into mine. He stares back, something dark playing in his expression.

"Why? As if I just stumbled upon a mafia boss out here in the middle of no where?" I scoff at him, jogging in place again.

"Well, you did just watch three wolves go that way. I'm sure they're still out there waiting for a snack?" A grin cuts across his face, like he's playing a game with me.

I look down the trail a ways, and nod, jogging past him the other direction. I don't stop until I'm safe inside my car despite my sputtering breath and rapidly beating heart. It was bizarre feeling to drive away, leaving the man up in the woods in a restricted area. I realize as I turn the car out of the parking lot of the park that I didn't even catch his name.