Page 78 of The Wild Man
By the time I’m done, she looks at me as though I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. Who in their right mind would fall in love with their captor? A man who’s hurt me in unimaginable ways.
If that makes me insane, I honestly don’t care.
“I love him, Rika,” I say simply.
“Ever—”
“And I don’t care if that sounds crazy. I love him.” I stress, imploring her to understand. “He’s hurt me in so many ways. In ways that are a woman’s worst nightmare. In spite of that, I still fell in love with him. It’s not Stockholm syndrome,” I add before she can say it. “What I feel for him isn’t fake or imaginary or a coping mechanism. It’s pure and real and deep. It consumes my mind and body.” I press a hand to the center of my chest. “He makes my heart beat stronger.”
“Wow,” she says, shock and awe in her tone. “I honestly don’t know what to say. What my mind is telling me to say is you really need to go see a psychiatrist, but I’m not going to suggest that because I don’t think it would do any good.” She pauses a moment, her expression turning thoughtful. “No matter what details you give, I can’t truly imagine what you went through because I wasn’t there. I know you believe you love this man, but how can you be so certain?”
Tears come to my eyes, and I let them course down my cheeks. “Because I feel like I’m barely alive right now. Like a huge part of me is missing. There’s a hole in my heart and that piece is with Wild Man. I never got to tell him that I love him.”
“Oh, Ever,” she says softly. When she scoots forward, I fall into her arms.
“I don’t even know if he’s alive or not.” I pull back from her. “I need to know.”
“You know the Horde isn’t going to let you go back out there. And quite frankly, I don’t blame them.”
I sniff and bring the cover up to wipe my nose. “Oh, I know they won’t. Did they tell you Dad drugged me to knock me out?”
“They said you were given a sedative when you became hysterical.”
I grit my teeth. “I only became that way because they refused to let me go. They have no right to keep me from him. I told them I wanted to go find Wild Man. They weren’t onboard with the idea.”
“Can you blame them? You were missing for six weeks, and then when they find you, you want to go back to the same place you were held captive. Try to see things from their point of view.”
“I do, and I understand.” I take a deep breath. “Believe me, I know how all of this sounds, but can you try to understand where I’m coming from? Whether it’s logical or not, the man I fell in love with could be hurting or even dying. He could already be dead.” I swallow thickly, refusing to let more tears loose. I’ve cried enough already. “I don’t care if Dad and my brothers like it or not, I need to go back.”
“Even if they did give in, you know they won’t let you go by yourself.”
I nod. “Yeah, I figured that, and I’m okay if they come with me.”
If Wild Man is still alive—and I refuse to believe he isn’t—the meeting between him and my family won’t be a pleasant one. Actually, it’ll probably be downright ugly, like it was the last time. But if taking one or all of them with me is the only way they’ll allow me to go, then so be it. I’ll stop any altercation before it starts.
“So, how are you going to talk them into it?” she asks skeptically. “I don’t see them giving in.”
“By giving them no choice. They can’t keep drugging me and they can’t always keep watch. They’ll either agree to go with me, or I’ll somehow go by myself.”
* * *
“How did you find me?” I ask Dad, running my tense fingers through Mr. Bones’ fur where he’s lying in my lap.
I’m still angry with him and the others, but I’ve calmed down enough to realize acting frantic will get me nowhere, except maybe another shot in my arm. I need him to see I’m completely rational, of sound mind, and can make sensible decisions. Like going after Wild Man because I actually love him and not because he believes I’ve attached myself to him because of a sick bond.
Rika is still with me, sitting crossed legged at the end of my bed. Dad barged in when he heard us talking and knew I was awake. Of course, with him came Mad and Ethan. I don’t know where my other brothers are, and quite frankly, I don’t care. I’m pissed at them too, because they let Mad and Spencer hold me down while Dad injected that fucking sedative.
“Ethan and Spencer were out scouting the area, looking for clues, when they came across boot tracks. He called in the rest of us from where we were tracking twenty miles away.”
It had to be Ben. He’s the only person that could have led tracks back to the tree hut.
“How in the hell did you end up in that part of Black Forest?” he asks. “The last we talked, you were in the northern part.”
I fiddle with the bracelet on my wrist. “That next morning, at the last minute, I decided to change my location. The section I was in wasn’t producing any results, so I moved south. I had planned to call you that night and tell you of the new location.”
As expected, Dad’s eyes flash with anger. “Goddamn it, Everlee!” he spits between clenched teeth. Mr. Bones jumps from my lap at the tension in the room and scurries from the room. “This is why you should have taken one of us with you.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t.” I glare at him. “And you know what? I’m glad I didn’t. I’m glad I ended up where I was and who I was with.”