Lakota Honor by Kat Flannery Read Free Book Online

going to kill her?
    He slid the knife into the leather sheath strapped to his pant leg, and she saw more scars around his wrists. Nora's hands heated and before she knew what was happening, she took a step toward him.
    His head shot up and he glared at her.
    "I'm Nora." What the hell was she thinking? The man almost killed her. But he didn't and he'd been hurt badly one time in his life.
    He continued to glare at her. "Go home."
    His voice reminded her of sand paper run along a block of wood and the low baritone key on the church organ.
    "Are…are you passing through Willow Creek?" Do as he says. Go home. What am I thinking?
    "Are you deaf? I said leave." He pointed behind her. "Go home."
    He spoke English well. She assessed his face, his clothes, his skin tone. He wasn't only native, he was white, too.
    He hadn't moved his arm from the stiff position.
    She glanced in the direction he'd pointed with no intentions of leaving. Something about him fascinated her. At first she was scared to death and now she wanted to know something—anything—about him.
    "I'm quite capable of finding my way home, mister."
    He spoke in his language, and she knew by the way his face twisted with fury he was angry. He pulled the wide blade from its sheath, and sinister eyes glared into hers. His full lips lifted up at the corners, but not in a kind way and he ran the tip of the knife along his cheek.
    She retreated. He advanced until they stood so close she could smell campfire on his skin.
    He grabbed her braid and weaved the knife through it. "What a nice trophy this would make."
    He is going to scalp me! She closed her eyes and enlisted any courage she had left deep inside her. She wasn't going down without a fight. She stood taller and lifted her chin. Inside she was panicking, but she'd rather die than allow him to take her beautiful hair.
    He laughed, but there was nothing merry about it. He pulled a clump of hair from her braid and sliced it from her head.
    She gasped and felt her head where he'd cut the hair.
    He pointed the blade, the tip pricking her throat. "Go. Before I change my mind and take it all."
    Without so much as a second thought, she rushed through the forest she loved, leaving behind the birds and the eerie stranger who scared and excited her at the same time.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    Nora ran as fast as she could over the uneven ground. Branches slapped her face and pulled at her hair as she went by. She didn't look back until she stepped onto the path behind the hotel. Her heart thumped, and she wheezed low moans from her throat. She slumped against a tall spruce, put her hand on her chest and shivered as she glanced behind her into the dense forest. The dark trees were no longer welcoming. But she was more concerned with the stranger that lurked among them.
    She turned and almost collided with Elwood's dog, Savage. The black half-wolf was wild and mean. Savage's fur was matted and dirty. An ugly looking scar that pulled the skin sat above his left eye and deformed the face. The hair on top of his head stood up, and his ears lay back and pointed. He hunched low as a deep threatening growl rumbled toward her. She glanced up at the street beyond the buildings. Where had he come from?
    "Savage," she said in a commanding voice.
    The dog's lip curled, large fangs dripped with saliva. The dog had chewed through the rope that tied him to the fancy wagon, and she doubted Elwood even knew he was missing.
    Savage growled.
    If she weren't in danger of losing a limb, she would've thought his growl sounded more like a giant cat's purr, a roll of the tongue making the sound rippled. Her toes scrunched, and she realized while running for her life in the forest, she had forgotten her boots. Great.
    Savage crouched lower. The hair on his neck stood and his tongue dashed out to lick his fangs.
    Oh, this isn't going to be good. All animals could smell fear and she stunk of it. Sweat trickled down her neck. She didn't dare move her hands from