Ransom (The Unchained Omegaverse #1) - Callie Rhodes Page 0,55

as she scrambled the last few hundred feet to the cave, Gretchen felt unsettled.

Almost…disappointed.

Chapter Fifteen

Gretchen was more than a little surprised to find Ransom waiting for her in the same spot where she’d left him. Maybe he’d listened to her, and had actually rested the whole time. She doubted it, but…maybe.

One thing she knew for certain was that he hadn’t taken his eyes off her the entire time she’d been hiking up the hill. It wasn’t just that the rock he was sitting on had a clear view of the cave. Somehow she’d been able to actually feel his gaze watching over her as she’d made the trip.

She knew he was worried about her. She didn’t need alpha senses to pick up on that. It was obvious from the hard lines digging into the corners of his eyes and bracketing his mouth. Gretchen didn’t know if she should be annoyed or pleased—though a pleasant little rush suggested the latter.

It was a new sensation—being looked after.

You’d think that America’s return to so-called traditional values would have caused a rise in old-fashioned manners. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Instead, across the country there was burgeoning resentment of women, and not just the ones like her who insisted on remaining in the workplace. Gretchen had plenty of friends who had become the good little wives they were expected to be, but far from being treated like queens in their own homes, they were more often ignored, belittled, and taken for granted.

Ransom, on the other hand, had looked after her every need and literally carried her when she’d been too tired to make the climb.

And yet alphas were the ones called savages.

“You got your stuff?” Ransom called out when she got close.

Gretchen nodded, holding up her notebook to show him. Her phone was tucked safely in the pocket of her now-dingy skirt. “Did you rest?”

“Close enough,” he said with a shrug.

She scowled at him. “Let me check your bandage.”

Amazingly, he did as she asked, standing up and raising his arm so she could inspect his side. She didn’t spot any fresh blood seeping into the bandage.

He couldn’t really be healing that fast, could he?

“Maybe I should take a peek underneath,” she suggested.

“Later. We need to get moving.”

Neither of them spoke on the walk back to the jeep—Ransom tightlipped with concentration, no doubt, and her because of the shortness of breath caused by trying to keep up with his unnaturally quick pace. Eventually, he must have tired of her huffing and puffing because he picked her up without warning and set her on his shoulders.

Gretchen almost argued, but decided against it. Her alpha might be injured, but someone who could keep up that pace was obviously doing all right.

They found the car concealed under the graceful branches of a huge black walnut tree. Even from a distance Gretchen could see that when Ransom had ripped off the bumper, he’d also torn the cover of the cargo hold.

“If highway patrol sees that, they’ll probably pull us over,” she fretted.

“You honestly think I’ll be driving this thing anywhere close to an official road?”

She was about to ask where he was planning on taking them when she noticed that the cargo area wasn’t empty. In addition to an ax, shovel, and several black plastic containers, a canvas bag marked with a red cross was strapped to the rack.

“A first aid kit? Why on earth didn’t you tell me? There’s probably antibiotic ointment and bandages and—”

“—and a tool kit and tent and emergency blankets and eight gallons of fuel. Yeah, I checked. None of which will be worth shit if we don’t get out of here.”

“Ransom.” Gretchen bit back her frustration. He could have internal bleeding for all they knew. “I’m trying to make sure you don’t drop dead before we make it a mile away.”

“I told you before, I’m fine, woman. Now get in the damn car.”

“Look, I appreciate the, uh, role playing thing where you act all dominant and tell me what to do and—”

“Role playing?” Ransom demanded, his eyes narrowing. “Is that what you think we’re doing?”

Gretchen tried to ignore her traitorous insides, which started to purr the minute he got all dark and scowly. “Just let me take a peek. It won’t take more than a—”

Ransom’s chest rumbled, cutting her off. “You can look all you want once we’re somewhere safe. Right now we need to get back on the road.”

Suddenly Gretchen found herself swept up in his arms again. Ransom opened the