The North Star | COMPLETED ✔️

Chapter 61 ~ The Wild man

^^ Wasn't gonna do that, but WTH lmao. Yep. There it is.
Double upload! Hope you enjoy! Next upload tomorrow A.M.

Chapter 61

Sleep never came, and as the night drew on, each new sound shattered my nerves a little more than the last. I huddled up against the incapacitated man to my right, hands shaking. My eyes burned– a combination of exhaustion and being left so wide open.

My thoughts ran wild. I saw the future in that dark, wooden treehouse. I saw every possible and likely thing that would happen if Drake came back, if he found me, with another man. A defenseless man. I was useless against their numbers. I wouldn't be able to save him. I couldn't even save myself.

Owls hooted, leaves rustled every time the wind blew...sometimes when it didn't. Those were the worst, but I couldn't tell if it was a person or an animal or my imagination playing tricks on me. Something screeched, high pitch and shrill, and I didn't even want to think about what kind of creature would make a fucking sound like that.

When the first rays of sunlight drifted through the opening, I immediately shook Bard, more than ready to have someone to distract me from my own warring thoughts.

He grumbled and pulled me tighter.

I shook him again and leaned close to his face. "Bard! Wake up!"

He jerked to attention, grabbed me in a protective hold and searched our surroundings with wide, bloodshot eyes. His hair was a tangled mess around his shoulders, his mouth a straight line. "What happened?" His brow furrowed as he looked at me, around the space, then back again. "How the hell did you get here?"

"You don't remember?"

His gaze dropped to the bed and unfocused in thought. He scratched the back of his neck, looked almost guilty. If we weren't so close to being captured, it would have been funny. "I uh..." He looked at me. "What did I do?" he asked, tone slow and reluctant.

"You came to the cabin, drunk as shit..."

"I'm sorry-"

I threw a hand over his mouth. "They're here, Bard."

His eyes sharpened. "They?"

I swallowed hard and nodded.

Before I could blink, he jumped up and scrambled to the doorway. "When?" he asked, words harsh. He scanned the ground below, hyper alert.

"Last night. You brought us here. They're out there..." I paused to take a breath, "looking for me."

His eyes met mine before he scooted across the floor and jerked the floorboards loose. A hidden cubby. It had to have been what he'd tried to find the night before. He pulled out a large pack, complete with a bedroll attached to the top of it. "Where are they now?"

"How the fuck should I know? They left. They're out there." I threw an arm out.

"How many?" he continued, an edge to his voice.

"I think six. That's what it sounded like when Drake was talking last night."

Bard's head whipped over so fast his neck crick. "Drake's with them?" The murder I'd seen in his eyes the night before returned with a new intensity.

He'll fight them. He'll go after him. I didn't want that. I wanted us to run. To get away and find some bridge to hide under. But Bard wouldn't do that. This was why we were here. We'd wanted this. He'd wanted this.

"Yes."

Bard reached back into the hole and pulled out a shotgun, then a crossbow. "Do you know how to use either of these?" he asked, all business once again.