Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic)

woods. With each step, her suspicion grew that her attacker could have caught her at any time. He was playing with her. Herding her in circles, still, Tessa ran. She had no intention of making her capture easier.
    A whimper from her arms reminded her of why she couldn’t be caught. Nico clung to her in a death grip as she ran. Tessa had a feeling he had no idea what was going on since she had woken him up to run, but he was afraid, and it was all because she was afraid herself. His wide eyes and whimpers proved that. Nico was feeding off her fear, and there was nothing she could do about it.
    An eerie howl pierced the air, and the woods became deathly silent. Even the animals knew there was danger lurking nearby, and they were hiding. The hair on Tessa’s arms and the back of her neck stood on end, and she knew the time had come for her to do what she had been dreading the most. She was going to have to hide her baby somewhere and pray she could lead the monster off. She could only hope she made it back to him before the night was over.
    She ran on ignoring the leaves and twigs stabbing the soles of her feet. Finally, Tessa came across a dead, hollowed-out tree. The hole in the bottom was just big enough for Nico to squeeze into and deep enough that he wouldn’t be seen by someone walking by. It took a minute for her to get her son to stop clinging to her to get him in the hole. Tessa was aware of every precious second, knowing it was one more second her stalker had to catch up with her.
    “Stay here and try not to make any noise,” she whispered to Nico. “Momma will be back, I promise.”
    Tessa started having second thoughts when she saw the silent tears streaming down her son’s face. They tore her heart up, and she hoped she wasn’t making a bad decision by leaving him there. If something happened to her and she couldn’t make it back to him, no one would know where Nico was hidden. She knew she had no choice though, there was no way she could fight off the monster with her son in her arms. Wiping away tears as she stood and took off running again, Tessa made a silent vow to herself to do whatever possible to keep her promise to Nico.
    The whole time she ran Tessa fought the need to constantly look over her shoulder. She was scared that if she looked, she would end up tripping and then he would be on her. She couldn’t let that happen, so she ran trying to lead him as far away from Nico as she could. Tessa kept half of her attention on her surroundings so she could know the way back to her son. The other half was looking for a weapon and a place to hide.
    “Oh thank God.” Tessa dove behind a tree. It wasn’t the perfect hiding place, but she was surrounded on all sides. She had her back to the tree, and in front of her were bushes. She frantically searched for a stick or rock or something and ended up with a short branch about as wide as a baseball bat with a nice, sharp tip. Tessa clutched the branch to her chest and tried to quiet her panting so she could listen. The woods were completely silent, and all she could hear was her own heartbeat.
    Tessa tried her best not to run again when she heard a growl. She knew she was being watched, but she still had no idea where the monster was. She had to force herself to sit still and let him come to her. There was no way she could continue to outrun him. If she wanted to have a chance, she knew that she had to stand her ground and fight.
    The sound of a twig snapping turned Tessa’s attention to the bushes in front of her. She squinted, trying to see if she could spot anything as she held her breath, waiting for the attack. When it came, it didn’t come from the direction that Tessa had been expecting. She saw the monster out of the corner of her eye before he slammed into her, but it was too late for her to do anything. She didn’t even have time to brace herself from the impact of him barreling into her side. The impact took her breath as pain radiated through her ribs. Tessa’s head hit the ground, and she saw spots. Rough hands turned her, and when her vision cleared, Tessa realized that her worst nightmare was straddling her chest.
    The monster’s eyes glowed yellow, and she could see drool glistening on his fangs. Tessa wanted to scream, but she barely had enough breath to even breathe. The monster growled and leaned down into her face, and she gagged at his rancid breath. She could still see rotted meat in between his teeth and wondered if she