She tried to assess her injuries at the same time. Her jaw hurt just under her chin but she wasn’t sure why. Maybe her head had flopped around when he’d been running. Her ribs and lower back ached from being crushed between his hairy body and the thick binding but the fact that she could feel her legs made her think her spine hadn’t really snapped.

She watched Craig’s head, ready to freeze her motions at the mere sign that he might look at her again. He didn’t. A little chunk of metal on the side of the girdle jabbed her thumb. She tested it, feeling it out. It might be some kind of release.

She ignored the pain and dug her thumb against it, trying to force it to move.

It did—the tight pull around her back eased when the two sides of the belt came apart.

Craig didn’t seem to notice what she’d done. She assumed he must have fallen asleep. Dusti frantically glanced around to study her surroundings. She held still, knowing the second she tried to climb off his back that he’d awaken. She needed a plan before she tried it.

A dirt path, if it could be called such, sat a little to her left. It probably led to Decker Filmore. She turned her head, quickly spotting a very tight cluster of trees with a few large boulders behind it. The spaces between the trunks were so narrow they might not even allow her to ease through, but Craig was bigger than her. It meant he definitely wouldn’t fit. Two gigantic boulders resting next to each at an angle had created a slight curved space, where trees had grown in close proximity. The limbs had tangled in a lot of places, probably from being confined in such a shallow area. Each of the massive rocks were over thirty feet in height. She looked for a gap between them that she might be able to escape through but the trees blocked her view.

Maybe I can climb it, if there’s not enough space to get between the boulders. It seemed a daunting undertaking but her only other choice was to run along the path. Craig would be on her in seconds flat if she tried to make a run for it. The trees and rocks might keep him away from her long enough to give her a chance of escape. It was the only option.

She slowly lifted up with care. Craig didn’t stir. She took a breath and tried to ease her leg out from under him but it was pinned. She closed her eyes and silently cursed. She tested her other leg and it slid out easily from under his belly. It was just her right foot that was the problem. She leaned back down, resting against his hairy back. She pulled her left leg out more, away from her.

She wiggled those trapped toes, trying to pull her foot free. He rolled a tiny bit, to her surprise. She must have tickled him a little with that slight movement. Whatever the reason, her foot wasn’t trapped any longer.

Dusti pushed up fast and lurched to her feet. She sprinted toward the trees and the huge boulders. A loud snarl assured her that Craig was wake and not happy. The ground bit into her tender feet but she ignored the pain as she ran. She twisted sideways, tossing her body between a gap in the trunks.

Her skin scraped across rough bark in a few places but she managed to squeeze through. She tripped on something just a few feet past the trunks and a sharp jab of pain stabbed at her lower leg. It sent her sprawling on her side in a bed of dirt and dry leaves. Her shoulder hurt too from the impact with the ground. A second later, she didn’t have time worry about any of that.

Craig was attempting to push between the trees to reach her but his broad shoulders hung him up. He reached in with one clawed arm to swipe at her but only caught air since she was already using her legs to put more space between them. She sat up when she felt safe, instantly spotting blood on the ground.

A snarl jerked her attention up. Craig twisted, trying to fit his chest through the gaps in the trunks. Wood creaked a little but he still couldn’t get through. He was too broad. He glared at her, snarling. There was a promise of pain and punishment in the malevolent look he gave.

She glanced around, seeing her new predicament. The two boulders turned out to be one massive one. There wasn’t a gap to be found, and the wall of rock was too sheer. It looked impossible to climb without gear. At least the trees would shield her from Craig until he either broke through or found a way to get over the boulder, maybe by climbing the trees to reach her.

Dusti got to her feet, prepared to use that time to her advantage. She’d make a run for it if he did start climbing. She put weight on her leg and cried out in pain, almost falling over. She looked down and twisted her leg a little, finally spotting the source of the blood she’d seen. Her calf was torn up, with blood all down the back of her leg and covering her heel. She stared at the wounds. It took her a second to understand.

He’d nailed her with his claws before she’d totally been out of his reach. He’d probably tried to grab her leg to haul her back but gravity and momentum had torn her out of his grasp. She glared at him.

“You asshole. You ripped open my leg.”

He snarled back and tried a new place to try to squeeze through. The trunks creaked a little, making soft popping sounds. It scared her enough to limp backward, putting more space between them. She pressed against the rock wall and glanced around, not seeing anywhere that he could fit through without a lot of effort and muscle.

The space wasn’t large, where she was enclosed by rock and trees, and her new predicament sank in. Shit! I trapped myself.

Craig disappeared from her sight and that made things worse. Where is he? It was possible he was circling the boulder to find a way to climb it. She jerked her head up, frantically searching for any sign that he might drop down on top of her.

A loud roar tore through the woods. The sound sent her heart into a frenzied beat. She didn’t need a translator. The sound of Craig’s rage told her plenty. She doubted he’d kill her since her grandfather needed “Bat”, but she wasn’t sure how sane or in control his men were in shifted form. For all she knew, the shift could totally turn them animalistic inside, incapable of having human thoughts. And she couldn’t even make a run for it with her leg so injured.

A sob tore through her chest when she saw movement through the trees to her left. The man in hell-beast form was back, pacing now. He still hadn’t found a way to reach her through the little alcove nature had made, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before he breached the space.

He couldn’t fit between the trees with his immense body unless he used his claws to hack at the tree trunks. That would take time. He might even have to shift into a man again to catch her. It would make his body slightly less bulky. Her gaze lowered to search for a weapon. It would be easier to hurt his bare skin than fur.