Beyond(36)

“I did what I needed to do to get us out of there without anyone hurt. Or raped,” I tell him. He’s sitting on a log, with his head buried in his hands.

“He f*cking touched you. No one touches you Olivia. He saw you f*cking naked! I’m telling you right now, the next time I see him, the man is dead.”

“Dane--”

“Dead!” he snaps.

I run my hand through his long, tangled hair. “It’s over.”

“I can’t f*cking deal right now Olivia,” he says through clenched teeth, standing up. “I need to be alone for a little while. I need to calm down.”

“Dane--”

“If I stay here I’m going to do something I will regret.”

I watch him storm through the bushes. He punches a tree as he passes one. Sitting down in the spot he just vacated, I expel a heavy sigh.

At least no one was killed.





A loud growling sound wakes me up.

Lifting my head and looking around, I realize I fell asleep by the log.

Shit.

I bolt up, grab my knife and slip behind the tree. Slowly tilting my head to the right, I instantly see the source of the growling—another one of those bear-rexes. All I see is sharp teeth, dark fur and yellow eyes. This one seems even bigger than the last. I shift on my feet. How the hell was I going to get out of this one? I didn’t even have my bow and arrow on me. I could throw my knife at his heart but who knows how deep the knife would puncture. It wasn’t that big.

“Olivia!” I hear Dane call out from somewhere behind the beast. “Run!”

I don’t run.

Instead I grip my knife tighter.

I watch in horror as Dane jumps on the beast’s back and stabs his knife in its chest. The beast grips Dane, pulling him to its front and tears into Dane’s neck. I run towards them, but it’s too late.

There is blood everywhere.

Dane is lying on the floor, unresponsive, his throat torn out.

Is he dead?

The pain in my chest constricts my breathing.

I stand there, panting, trying to get some air, not even concerned with the beast. If I died right now, I don’t think I’d care. Finally able to get my feet to move, I run to Dane and crouch by his body. I grab his wrist. There is no life in his body. Pushing his hair from his face with trembling fingers, I start to cry.

I shake him.

He doesn’t wake.

“Wake up Dane,” I whisper hoarsely. “You need to wake up.”

He’s indestructible. He can’t die.

He just can’t.

I won’t let him.

I look up to find the beast gone.

And I’ve just lost… everything.





“Olivia, wake up.”

Someone shakes me gently. Opening my eyes, I stare into familiar hazel ones. I can only see half of his face properly in the moonlight.

“You were crying in your sleep,” he says, brows furrowing. “What’s wrong baby?”

I sit up and look around. We were sleeping underneath a tree, and everyone was close by. A few men sat by a fire not too far away.

“It was a dream?” I whisper, looking to Dane. I sit up and wrap my arms around him, pulling him as close against me as he could possibly go. “I thought I lost you.”

“I’m right here Olivia,” he says gently, kissing the top of my head. “It was just a bad dream.”

I remember Dane storming off in anger, but returning only ten minutes later. Then, we ate, cleaned up and went to bed. I must have been dreaming the whole thing.

Thank God for that.

Dane tugs me onto his lap, so I’m straddling him. Wrapping his arms around me tight, he murmurs, “Sleep. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

And I do.





Chapter Nineteen





I kill my first zombie on the way home.

I took his head off with a long sword that Dane had given me. Three of them had surrounded us, and luckily no one had gotten bitten.

“You handled yourself well,” Sam says, pride in his tone.

Even Jordan gave me a begrudging nod of respect, not that I needed it.

I look to Wyatt, who was carrying some of the supplies in a cart. “You okay?”

He nods, cheeks reddening.

Dane smirks. “Don’t embarrass the man.”

“He’s been pushing that heavy cart all day. Can’t someone else take a turn?”

“I will,” Lars offers, swapping places with Wyatt. I grin at Wyatt, who wipes the sweat of his brow and avoids my gaze.

“Wyatt needs a girlfriend,” I whisper to Dane.

He looks down at me like I’m crazy. “What, are you a matchmaker now?”

I grin, wiggling my eyebrows. “Regan’s mum is single, and she’s a babe.”

Dane just shakes his head at me. “Let’s get home in one piece first.”

I wave my hand in front of me, scoffing. “What do you mean those few measly zombies? We killed them in like three seconds.”

Amused hazel eyes regard me. “Don’t get cocky Olivia.”

Gina stops at my side, gripping my arm. “Lars says about two hours until we’re home.”

I exhale slowly.