Finding Ella

Chapter 2

The walk back to the compound was long, but Ella barely felt it. She was cradled gently in Hunter's arms and his steady gate combined with her own exhaustion had her drifting in and out of sleep. Her terror and pain were a dull ache in the back of her mind, but she was so tired that she didn't have the strength to really be afraid, let alone try to escape. And to be honest she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to.

These five men had done nothing to hurt her, at least not so far. She wasn't naïve enough to think that she was safe, regardless of what they told her, but she didn't feel like she was in imminent danger. What she really needed was rest, food and a chance to rebuild her strength before she moved on in her never ending game of cat and mouse.

God she was tired.

"How you doing, sweetheart?" asked Storm. He was walking beside them now that the trail had widened as they travelled closer to the entrance to the forest.

"Ok," she murmured. She hated being the focus of their attention. She'd learned long ago that men noticing her was never a good thing.

"Can you tell me how long you were out there?" Storm didn't want to push but he needed to get an idea of what her condition was.

"I don't know, a day maybe?" came her soft reply.

"Are you hurt anywhere other than your leg? Did you hit your head or anything like that?"

"No." The soles of her feet were cut and bruised from running barefoot through the forest and her body ached all over, but she didn't want to give them any more information than she had to.

"Ok, well I'll take care of your ankle back at the compound," Storm assured her.

"You keep saying that, compound. What is the compound exactly?" Ella wasn't so sure it sounded friendly.

Ryder grinned at her over his shoulder as he walked ahead of them.

"The compound is what we call our home. We run a fairly successful security business and were able to buy quite a large estate that included a big house. Because of our line of work, we needed to ensure it was secure so we enclosed the house and immediate grounds surrounding it with a security wall. It looks a lot like the old English estates. We own a large amount of the land around it as well."

"Oh," said Ella. It wasn't terribly eloquent but she couldn't really think of what else to say at that moment.

"Don't you worry darlin', you're safe with us. And whoever it is that you're running from isn't getting through our defence system unless we want them to, the compound is completely secure. No-one in, no-one out," Ryder stated proudly.

Ella wasn't quite so sure that she wanted to go with them anymore; in fact her apprehension was growing. She felt her muscles tensing up the more she thought about where they were taking her. It sounded like a fortress and whilst it was good to know that the men chasing her couldn't get in, it also meant that she wouldn't be able to get out either. She wouldn't go back to being a prisoner, no matter how kind they might seem.

As if reading her mind, Hunter leaned down to murmur softly to her, "Easy, little one. No-one's going to force you to do anything you don't want to; you're free to go whenever you like. All we want to do is help."

The anxiety that had her body tensing and her lungs constricting eased off a little, and she took a deep breath before giving a small nod. She was so sick of running, so sick of fighting to be free of her nightmare. Hunter's soft words and the gentle way he carried her was playing havoc with her emotions. They had all been so nice to her so far that she wished her ability to trust people hadn't been taken from her.