Blood-Lines

Part 3

Zachary Burgess was in trouble and he knew it.

First the festered bullet wound from the bank robbery and then his wretchedly sore leg.

He'd jumped from his horse after he put a burr under the saddle to make the horse ride off without him.

A fairly stupid idea in hindsight, it had seemed as good as any when he'd considered it at the time.

It hadn't worked anywhere near as well as he'd planned.

Apparently, the g'dammed Indian had seen right through it from first blush. Red meat or not, he'd have more than his way with her once he healed proper and could defend himself adequately.

From his experience, it wouldn't take all that much to take down the Indian, once he found a spot without her knowing that he was there and waiting for her.

Something almost too easy to consider wasting time on, although he figured that with all the trouble that she'd caused him that she most certainly had it coming.

While it was extremely rare for him to have found intelligent Indians of any sort; even when he thought that he had, they'd never quite proven to be as smart as he was in any way shape or form.

He'd first caught sight of this particular whore from a great distance as she'd patiently followed his back trail while he'd moved as best he could to stay well ahead of her.

Slowed by his injuries as he was, it had become clear that shewould catch up to him far sooner than he cared to think about.

Burgess needed time to change and heal very soon or he'd be unable to defend himself; once he fully embraced his feral side, his body would heal quickly and all would be better.

But for that, he would need time and safety.

The wolven of his kind were subtle in animal form, while Burgess and those with his larger bear form were most certainly not.

As he pulled himself up with a ragged tree limb for a crutch, he climbed to the top of a ridge and found his salvation: a hunting cabin.

Filled with renewed hope, Burgess quick-walked as best he could while he searched for any sign of anyone in or around the old place; for once, his cursed luck appeared to have paid off and the cabin would be the perfect solution to his troubles.

But first he had to lose that damned Indian.

The shots that he'd heard earlier brought a glimmer of an idea as Burgess smiled for the first time in days.

Sudden hope brought with it renewed energy that he would need if here to successfully pull off his new plan.

Perhaps something not even the Indian whore would expect or discover.

One could only hope.