Ella's bare feet pounded over the grass as she dashed down the hill towards the side gate that the guys had brought her through when she first arrived. Her blood was thundering in her ears, the terrifying possibility of being chased and caught once again was nearly enough to bring her to her knees. Having tasted a moment of kindness and freedom, however brief and false, seemed to only make the fear worse now. She'd almost made it and suddenly she was back to running for her life again.

The moon was high in the sky and almost full, giving everything an eerie silver glow and mercifully allowing her to see where she was going. Thank the stars for small blessings because she never would've made it in the dark. As it was she could make out almost everything around her, the moonlight helping to guide her way.

The gate loomed ahead as Ella raced past the majestic elm trees that dotted the beautiful property. Her ankle was screaming in pain, making her footsteps unsteady but she couldn't afford to slow down. Running so hard that she almost didn't stop in time to keep from slamming into the closed gate, Ella came to a stumbling halt at the keypad that was the only obstacle between her and freedom. The only problem now was trying to figure out what the code was that would let her escape.

Ella forced herself to slow down for a moment and take a deep breath. She couldn't just put in any old code; no doubt the guys would be alerted the moment a wrong code was entered and they would be after her before she even made it out of the compound. They'd probably come after her anyway, but she could at least give herself a head start. That meant no putting in a code; she had no idea what it could be and the odds of getting it right on the first try were like a billion to one.

Plan B then, find another way out.

Another way out was easier said than done, the compound was built for security after all and was a veritable fortress. Ella turned around and slowly scanned the property; taking note of the walls, the cameras, the trees and everything else she could see in the pale moonlight.

Think, Ella! There had to be another way out, there was always another option.

She retraced the property again with her eyes, carefully taking in every detail. There! One of the huge elm trees along the boundary of the property had a branch that reached just over the flat surface of the top of the wall.

Making sure to stay as close as possible to the huge concrete barrier, she sprinted to the base of the tree. Heart hammering in her chest, Ella looked up into the branches. It was going to be tough and would no doubt hurt like hell with her feet cut up and her injured ankle, but she could do it. Without wasting any more time, she reached up, grabbed hold of the first branch and started to climb.

The rough bark against her tortured feet made tears spring to her eyes, but she kept going, pulling herself up onto each thick limb of the tree before reaching for the next. Finally, she made it to the branch that stretched out over the wall. Swinging one leg over so she was straddling it, she cautiously leaned forward and inched along until she was directly over the ledge. Keeping a strong hold, she carefully swung one leg over and lowered herself down until she was dangling just a foot above the wall.

Taking a deep breath she let go, dropping to land on the top of the wall. She wobbled for one heart stopping moment before regaining her balance. Looking around from her vantage point, she realised the forest was only a short distance from the wall meaning she could disappear quickly. She just had to get down first.

Ella lowered herself to her hands and knees before shuffling around and slowly easing her legs over the side until she was resting on her stomach, her legs hanging in mid-air. Being careful not to lose her balance, she gradually lowered the rest of her body until she was holding on to the edge with just her fingers. Squeezing her eyes closed and sending up a quick prayer, she took a deep breath and let go. She landed with a thud as she toppled over backwards as her feet hit the ground. She'd made it.

She lay there for a moment, blinking up at the stars. What now? She had no idea where to go. With no money, no ID and no shoes, she knew she wasn't going to make it very far. Her body was so weak she could hardly make herself stand up, the adrenaline having sustained her so far. The thought of heading back into the dark forest was terrifying, those long lonely hours she'd spent caught in the trap coming back in a rush. She could run around the outside of the estate to the road that led to the main gates and follow it back towards town, but she couldn't run the risk of being seen and captured again. That left only the forest.

Blinking away the tears that were gathering at the horrible realisation of just how desperate her situation was, Ella slowly climbed to feet and headed into the trees.

******

"What's taking her so long?"

Blaize was seated at the dining table, his arms crossed over his muscled chest as they waited for Ella to come down from taking her shower. All five of the brothers were gathered in the open plan kitchen and dining area as they took a moment to recap what they had discovered so far.

Each one of them had been digging around online and speaking to contacts in an effort to gather as much information as they could about Ella and what had happened to her. What they had come up with was frustratingly little.

"Be patient, she probably hasn't had a decent wash in at least a few days and she no doubt needs some time to herself," Storm said to Blaize. "She'll come down when she's ready."

"In the meantime let's hurry up and go over what we know before she gets here," Hunter ordered, taking charge of the conversation. "What did you find out?"

Hunter turned to look at Ryder who was leaning against the kitchen counter watching them. His blonde locks were brushing his jaw and his eyes were intense as he crossed his heavily muscled arms across his broad chest.

"Cade's FBI and he was able to dig around the national Missing Persons Database and came up with a match. Her name is Ella Quinn, she's 24 years old and doesn't appear to have any immediate family," Ryder replied. "A guy named Jake Simmons reported her missing, says she's his girlfriend and has been missing for almost four days."

Blaize made a frustrated sound as Storm replied, "Well it's a start, although it doesn't tell us where she's been for the last four days or what happened to her."

Wolf frowned, four days to end up in the middle of the forest caught in a metal hunting trap and barely conscious. Something didn't feel right, and Wolf had learned a long time ago to trust his instincts as they had saved his life and the lives of his brothers more than once. He shot a look at his twin, seeing the same unease written in Hunter's eyes. There was no need for words between them, they always knew what the other was thinking and feeling.

It had been like that between them since they were children, some people even going so far as to accuse them of being able to speak to each other with their minds. It was ridiculous of course, there was no such thing as telepathy, but the bond between them was so strong that one felt like an extension of the other. It was what made them so effective and deadly.

Wolf's deep voice broke the momentary silence, "We need more information. Hopefully Ella can and will tell us but in the meantime see what else you can dig up. Keep this to yourselves for now; we can't risk her running again."

The others nodded in agreement. Ella was too fragile and scared to risk overwhelming her and sending her running. She didn't trust them and confronting her with the information that they'd already gathered about her would only succeed in driving her away. They needed to bide their time, continue trying to gain her trust and hope that she would eventually confide in them.

"So, who's watching the game with me tonight?" Ryder grinned at the others, "Y'all know my Patriots are gonna come out on top!"

"In your dreams!" Blaize immediately countered.

The good natured ribbing continued with each brother arguing that their team was better than the others, and who would take home the prize at the end of the season.

Storm had just wrestled Ryder into a headlock as they tussled on the floor of the dining room while the others looked on in amusement, when an alarm started blaring from somewhere further back in the house. They all jumped to their feet and ran for the control room that was located in a secure area at the back of the house. Owning and running a security firm meant that not all their work was conducted in their corporate offices in town; instead they quite often worked out of their state of the art control room at home.

Hunter reached the door first and punched in the access code before pushing the door open and striding inside. The others followed close on his heels, immediately moving to the various screens and consoles that were flashing.

"One of the motion sensors on the top of the East wall has been triggered," Wolf reported, typing quickly as he scanned the mass of data on the screen in front of him.

"I'm pulling up the video feeds for that area now," was Storm's immediate reply. He was seated at another computer, quickly flicking through the video feeds until he found the right one.

They looked up at the huge bank of screens above the consoles and waited for the video Storm had sent across to open. The moment it did they immediately recognised Ella's face disappearing over the edge of the wall.

Hunter swore viciously.

"Get out there and bring her back, now!" he commanded, his hands clenching and his eyes burning. "If she gets lots in those woods again it could take days to find her."

Wolf, Storm and Blaize immediately turned and ran for the door, heading towards the front of the house and out onto the porch.

"The bottom gate," Wolf directed as they raced towards the lower end of the property.

"How the hell did she get up and over the wall?" Blaize yelled as they ran.

Storm swore, echoing his brother's earlier sentiment before replying, "What the fuck does it matter? The fact is she did and now she's running again!"

They pounded down the slope to the bottom of the enclosed property and skidded to a stop at the gate. Wolf punched in the access code and they slammed open the gate before racing through and back down the side of the wall towards where Ella had slipped away.

"Ella!" yelled Blaize as they ran. "Ella!"

They reached the point where she had dropped to the ground and turned to scan their surroundings, desperately searching for her.

"Ella, please don't go! You don't need to run anymore!" Storm called into the dimness of the forest. He strode forward into the trees, searching the ground for signs to see which way she had gone. The moment he stepped into the cover of the forest though, the light disappeared and he was enveloped in darkness. It was impossible to see more than a couple of feet in front of him. A hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him from going any further.

"We can't follow her right now, we have no idea which way she's gone and yelling out for her isn't going to make her come back," Wolf murmured. "We need to wait until daylight otherwise we could be standing right next to her and not even know it. It's too dark."

"Are you serious?! You want to leave her out here all night on her own?" Storm was furious. "She hasn't eaten, has barely slept and she's injured, and you want to leave her here?" He threw off Wolf's restraining hand, taking a step back and glaring at his brother.

"What's your plan then?" asked Blaize, looking at Storm with concerned eyes. "What do you think we should do?"

Storm threw up his hands in frustration, "We pull out the night gear and we go find her!"

"Ok, so you want to gear up in military equipment and track her through the forest like an animal?" Blaize asked. "Five huge guys dressed up like commandos with night vision goggles chasing her isn't exactly going to make her trust us is it? Wolf's right, we need to come back when it's daylight. She won't be as terrified if she can see what's around her and we might be able to talk her down."

They watched Storm as the emotions flickered across his face, frustration chief among them. He knew his brothers were right, logically, but the healer in him wanted her with him where he could look after her. The thought of leaving her out there in the dark alone gave him chills, but she had run for a reason and chasing her through the shadowy forest would only make things worse. They couldn't force her to come to them and they still didn't know what had set her off.

Storm clenched his jaw and nodded grudgingly, "Fine, but we're back out here at first light."

"Absolutely," was Blaize's quick response.

Taking one last reluctant look back into the blackness of the forest, he turned and followed Wolf and Blaize back towards the gate.

Wolf clapped a hand on his shoulder, "We'll find her, she'll be ok."