Run (Caged Trilogy Book 1)

by H G Lynch

  At the back of the room, next to the kitchen, there was a narrow hallway, and Dominic led me down it, his footsteps stirring the dust on the floor. I realised what he meant by the comment about bird portraits. The hallway was hung with several of them, photos and paintings of ducks in flight and sparrows perched on branches, one of an owl scowling at the camera from its hole in the trunk of a tree, and a cute one of a red-breasted robin hunkering on a frosted twig. I kind of liked the pictures, even if birds weren’t my favourite creatures on the planet. There was something pleasant about the framed birds, like little watchful friends there to keep me company.

  Three doors lined the narrow hallway, and Dominic paused at the first one, twisted the handle, and pushed open the door. “This is the first bedroom. It’s the bigger one of the two,” he explained, showing me into the room with a sweep of his arm.

  The room was painted in a neutral beige colour. The bed was a double, stripped bare and covered with a ragged sheet to protect it from the dust. Next to it, there was a small nightstand with a lamp that looked as if it had been carved from a hunk of wood, the bulb hidden by a plain brown, square shade. Opposite the bed, there was a sturdy wooden bookcase with a handful of books leaning in one of the shelves. I went over and ran my fingers over the spines, brushing away the dust. I picked up one of the books and flipped it open, curious. The first page was a table of contents, so I kept flicking until I came to a page with a photo of a wolf on it.

  “Hey, Tilly, come look at this!” Dominic said.

  I turned, closing the book, but he wasn’t in the room. Putting the book back on its shelf, I frowned before spotting the open doorway in the wall, not the one we’d come in through. I peered around it, and found Dominic standing in the middle of a small, walk-in wardrobe. Poles set in the walls ran from one end of the room to the other, hung with dozens of empty coat hangers. There were a few pairs of jeans, a couple of skirts, a handful of t-shirts, and a hoodie hanging up.

  “Clothes Sarah has outgrown”, Dominic said.

  The walls were bare wooden paneling, and the floor was covered in thick, dusty-pink carpeting. A single naked bulb swung from the ceiling, illuminating the small space.

  I grinned. Dominic walked back up to my end of the room and closed the door, trapping us inside. Suddenly the small cosy space seemed dim and intimate. I swallowed, nervously wondering what Dom’s intentions were, but he wasn’t looking at me.

  There was a door opposite the one I’d come in by, and Dominic flipped open the sliding lock on the inside of the door and pushed it open. The door led into the other bedroom, which was painted a pale, powder blue with the window in the west wall right above the bed. There was a dressing table against the east wall, next to the door that, presumably, led out onto the hallway.

  “The bathroom is across the hall, and you can take your pick of whichever bedroom you feel like sleeping in. Hell, you can take turns sleeping in either one if you feel like it. The bedding and pillows are in the walk-in wardrobe, and I think there are some old board games somewhere in there, too.” Dominic hovered with his hands in his pockets while I examined the room.

  I decided I wanted to sleep in the room with the wood paneling, so Dominic helped me root out the clean bedding and tossed the pillows to me while I straightened the duvet and blankets. Then he found a sweeping brush and attempted to sweep the dust off the floors. He was useless at it and kept putting his feet in the piles of dust he’d gathered, so I took over and handed him a ragged yellow duster and a can of polish I’d found under the sink in the bathroom. He was much better at dusting, though I told him he didn’t have to help me if he didn’t want to.

  He insisted, and I got the impression he would use any excuse to hang around a little longer, as if he didn’t want to leave me alone in the new place. So we cleaned the little cabin as best as we could, both getting quite a bit of dust on our clothes in the process, and then sat down at the dining table with a game of Snakes and Ladders from the walk-in.

  “Bugger, another snake!” Dom muttered glumly as he slid his coloured plastic piece back to the bottom of the board again. His luck with the dice sucked.

  I laughed, picked up the dice, shook it, and threw it. It skittered across the table and landed on five. Grinning, I shifted my plastic piece five spaces to the little yellow square marked 100. I smirked, wriggling gleefully at my victory.

  Dominic put his head down on the table, groaning. “Damn that snake! You hear me snake? Damn you!”

  I giggled. “I won.”

  He lifted his head, glaring at me. “I know. I got that.”

  I grinned wider. “I beat you.”

  “Remind me why I wanted you to stay?”

  I paused, batting my lashes and looking as sweet and innocent as I could. “Because I’m just a lost little girl who needs a fwend?”

  He pulled a sarcastic face, his curls falling into his eyes. “Ha, ha. You’re lucky you’re pretty, or I’d toss you out on your ass.” His glare changed to something warmer, and he hitched one eyebrow up a few millimeters.

  My mouth had suddenly gone dry. I leaned back in my chair, pressing my lips together anxiously, and Dominic dissolved into laughter, shaking his head.

  “Relax, Tilly. I’m kidding,” he said, misunderstanding my expression.

  I slumped, glaring at him. “You’re mean,” I stated sulkily.

  “Really? Normally, I’m told I’m quite charming.” He gave a cute little smile that made his dimple stand out.

  I snorted, and he scowled. Then, he sighed, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced around the room, looking for something, and his eyes fell on the clock over the sink in the kitchen. It was after eleven at night. I hadn’t realised it was so late; no wonder my eyes were starting to get itchy.

  “I guess I should get going,” Dominic said, sounding none too thrilled about it. Then again, maybe he was just tired.

  “Yeah,” I muttered, just before I was overtaken by a yawn.

  Dominic got up from the table, and I hauled myself out of my chair, stumbling over my feet. He tried not to laugh and failed, chuckling tiredly. Somehow, we both made it to the front door, and Dominic stepped out onto the porch, paused, and turned to say goodnight. He opened his arms wide, and it took my exhaustion addled brain a whole three seconds to work out what he was doing. I smiled and stepped forward, hugging him weakly, and he patted me on the head.

  “Goodnight, Tilly.”

  “Goodnight Dom,” I mumbled. I waited until he was at the bottom of the steps, fading away into the darkness, before closing the door and fumbling to lock it. Then I fell into my new bed, made up with soft clean sheets that smelled like mildew and lilacs, and fell asleep fully dressed.

  That night—for the first time in days, weeks, maybe months—I slept soundly, without a single nightmare.

  ** Spencer **

  Lying in bed, with his hands folded behind his head on the pillow, Spencer stared at the dull grey ceiling of his bedroom, his mind elsewhere. Actually, his mind was on the cabin he could just barely see through the trees if he looked out the window. He was thinking about Tilly, though he knew he shouldn’t have been, but he couldn’t help himself.

  He’d seen her lights go out a little over an hour ago, and he’d spotted Dominic leaving, and the sight had made something hot and nasty crawl up his throat. It had taken him almost half an hour to identify the feeling as, absurdly, jealously. He was jealous of the time Dominic spent with Tilly, and the realisation of how late it had been before he’d bade Tilly goodnight, left a slightly sick feeling in Spencer’s stomach. The idea that maybe Dominic had gotten closer to Tilly than he’d realised, that he and Tilly had been up to something in that cabin, gnawed at him.

  Of course, it was natural that he should be jealous. It was in the nature of the wolf inside him to want to fight for the girls of the pack. The problem was that Tilly wasn’t in the pack. She wasn’t a wolf, wasn’t even a remote possibility for a mate, not to men
tion that relationships with outsiders were strictly prohibited. So he shouldn’t have been jealous. If Dominic was getting it on with the new girl, he was risking his own neck. It was no skin off Spencer’s nose if Minnie got himself in trouble with daddy alpha. Yet…he was still jealous.

  With a growl, Spencer shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts from his mind, but other thoughts popped up that weren’t any better for him. The way Tilly had stared him down that first night at dinner, her grey eyes steady and unafraid. The paleness of her hair under the moonlight as she’d sat on the bank of the stream with him. The way she’d thrown herself in front of him to save him from being shot by that hunter—so brave and selfless, ready to put herself in the firing line just for a dumb animal that could have eaten her for her attempt at heroism.

  Of course, he was that dumb animal, and he had enough presence of mind as a wolf to know not to eat people, but she didn’t know that. In her mind, she’d saved a wolf. In actual fact, she’d saved Spencer’s life, and he couldn’t let that slide. Maybe it was time Tilly found out who he was—what he was—so she wouldn’t do something so stupid again.

  No, he thought, shaking his head again in agitation. He sat up, running a hand through his inky hair. I can’t tell her. Frank would kill me. His lips twitched at the idea. Frank would try to kill me, he corrected. Normally, when a kid said something like that, they didn’t mean it literally.

  In Spencer’s case, it was literal. If he told Tilly about the werewolves, as the alpha, Frank would be duty bound to kill him for it. He doubted Frank would have any issues with that. Spencer had been a thorn in the alpha’s side since he’d been dumped on his front step when he was a toddler, but secretly Spencer doubted Frank was capable of killing him, physically. His father was a big man, extremely strong, but he was getting old. Years of Changing and living in the woods were taking their toll on him.

  Spencer, while not as big or as strong, was smarter and faster than most of the others. If it hadn’t been for Frank’s loathing of him, Spencer ought to have been third, maybe even second in command of the pack. Instead, Dominic was the second, and Des was the third. Not that Spencer minded. He liked his position at the bottom of the pack just fine, but it was the principle that annoyed him.

  Status doesn’t matter to Tilly, and she’d still never choose you over Dominic. She’s probably already drawing hearts around his name and daydreaming about his stupid dimpled grin. Spencer frowned. He didn’t usually dislike his half-brothers as much as he disdained everyone else, but at the moment, he kind of hated Dominic for being so bloody likeable. The irony of that didn’t escape him.

  Heaving a sigh of frustration, Spencer rolled out of bed and went to push up his window, letting in the cool night air. The fragrance of something purely night time, like moonlight and shadows made tangible, wafted into the room. He took a deep breath of it, letting it work through his body to soothe his claustrophobic wolf. The animal inside him rumbled appreciatively, stretching languorously as it woke up. His wolf wanted to run, to be out in that night air, hunting badgers and deer through the bushes

  Spencer pushed it down, feeling his skin prickle with the phantom feeling of fur, his muscles rolling pleasurably. He grinned, feeling his teeth grow sharp and long. That was the feeling he loved best, just before a Change, when his body trembled with the desire to be on four legs, and the wolf inside him panted to be released.

  Pushing the window open further, he couldn’t hold onto the feeling any longer, couldn’t hold himself back from the edge of the Change. He grabbed the windowsill and swung himself easily through the open window and out into the cool, dark night. He landed in an easy crouch, sprang up, and started running without even missing a beat. He ran as fast as he could on two legs, hurling himself over roots, vines and logs—laughing wildly as the wolf inside him howled in delight.

  The wolf pushed to the surface, and he stumbled, falling to his knees as spasms wracked his body, half-pain and half-pleasure as he turned his mind to Tilly to ignore the sounds of his bones breaking. The adrenaline of the Change was blissful and reckless, and burning through his veins like a drug. The thought of Tilly, a female who was to be fought for and won, coveted and prized, made his wolf purr. His wolf liked her, despite the fact she wasn’t one of them, despite the way she always tried to stare him down without knowing she was staring down the wolf and not the boy.

  Fur spread over his skin like black oil, soft and warm, his jaw stretched into a muzzle, his nails elongating into claws, and a long brushy tail sprouting from his coccyx. His shorts tore off him, scattered bits of fabric fluttering to the ground like fallen leaves, but he was already running again—kicking up dirt from his hind paws and panting with his tongue lolling out from his jaws.

  His furry ears twitched and swivelled, following the sounds of squirrels darting up trees and foxes retreating to their dens to avoid the bigger predator. The moon was a half-coin shining in the black sky, smiling down at him. With a chuffing laugh, Spencer put his head down and ran faster. He moved further and further from his cabin, further from his dad who didn’t want him, the pack who didn’t accept him, his happy half-brother, and the strange girl with the mysterious magic power to knock a full grown man on his ass. He ran without looking back, and hoped that, someday, he could just keep running and never go back.

  Chapter Seven

  ** Tilly **

  It was after noon before I finally hauled my lazy, sleepy butt out of the cosy, cosy bed. The bright sunlight speared into my eyes the second I opened them, because I’d forgotten to close the curtains in the bedroom before I’d tumbled into bed. I rolled out from under the soft blankets, groaning, and somehow found my way to the bathroom, the smooth floorboards cool under my bare feet. At least I’d taken off my shoes and socks at some point.

  The bathroom was a small, wooden paneled, white tiled room with cold tile flooring and a maroon bathtub. There was also, much to my disgust, a mirror over the sink. I happened to catch sight of myself in the silvery glass when I looked up from splashing cold water on my face, and nearly scared myself stupid with my own reflection. Not a pretty picture.

  “Ugh,” I muttered, gazing despairingly at the mirror. For the first time, I saw what a mess I really was. My fair hair was greasy, there were blue smudges under my hazy grey eyes, a small brown-red scar marked the place just at my hairline where I’d hit my head when I rolled down that hill, and there was a fading greenish bruise across my jaw.

  Dominic had been flirting with me last night? Was he blind, or just unbelievably kind?

  Feeling disgusting and itchy, I stripped and stepped under the showerhead protruding from the wall above the taps. I breathed a sigh of bliss as the hot water washed away the griminess on my skin. A shower had never felt so good in my life. I lathered my hair with shampoo I’d rooted out from the cupboard under the sink, where I’d also found some razors, a toothbrush, and guys’ shower gel. I popped the lid on the shower gel, sniffed it, and decided I could live with smelling like a guy. It was better than smelling like dirt and sweat.

  I spent far longer in the shower than necessary, reveling in the hot soapy water, and after shaving my legs carefully, I sat down in the bathtub under the spray of the water and meditated, letting the energy of the woods beyond the walls pulse in and clear the foggy hunger headache from my skull.

  Once I was dried and dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the walk-in wardrobe, I wandered into the living room just as someone knocked on the door. With my damp hair dripping over one shoulder, I took the key from the dining table where I’d left it and unlocked the door. I was unsurprised to see it was Dominic behind the door, grinning at me, his own curly hair looking frayed and damp, as if he too had just stepped out of the shower.

  However, I was surprised to see him holding a white plastic bag in his hand. He lifted it up to show me, his grin widening.

  “Special delivery. Thought you might want breakfast, or lunch, considering it’s now nearly one in the afte
rnoon. You’re not exactly an early bird,” he commented, nudging past me into the cabin.

  I laughed, closing the door behind him, and he dumped the plastic bag on the counter in the kitchen. He turned and flashed a charming smile at me.

  “By the way, you smell like a guy. Is it weird that I like it?”

  I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not, so I ignored his comment and stalked over to see what he’d brought in the plastic bag. I leaned my elbows on the breakfast bar as Dominic pulled things out of the bag and spread them on the countertop. A carton of eggs, tomatoes, a bottle of milk, a tub of butter, a bottle of orange juice, a box of Choco Pops, and of course, a pack of salty bacon rashers. Always with the meat. My mouth started watering just looking at the food lined up in front of me. Dominic, noticing my awed expression and laughed.

  “Oh my God…Dominic, I love you,” I said dramatically, hoping he didn’t take it the wrong way.

  Predictably, he didn’t. He just beamed wider and flipped open the egg box, pulling out two eggs. “Baby, you only think you love me. You will love me once you’ve tasted my scrambled eggs.”

  With a flick of his wrist, he tossed one of the eggs into the air, and I gasped as it soared back down, but he caught it lightly and held both eggs in one hand while he rooted around for a frying pan. I took a seat on one of the tall chairs behind the breakfast bar and watched in fascination as he moved around the kitchen, finding various pieces of kitchenware and preparing food with half-absent motions, all while chatting to me about his disastrous trip to the store with Kat.