We were a few miles or so past the point where the lake’s overlook was. The woods were denser here, the trees thicker and heavier, their bark-covered trunks and branches nearly blotting out the entire sky. The smell of earth, of mud and dried leaves, filled the air. It wasn’t my favorite smell, but I liked it better than a few things.
Like wet dog. There was nothing worse than the smell of wet dogs.
Hah. Because I was surrounded by wolves, get it?
I wanted to talk, to have some kind of conversation, because trailing a pack of three wolves felt a little lonely, weirdly enough, but suddenly the air around them shifted. It changed from a sweet, slightly moldy earthy scent to something I couldn’t name. Though the guys probably wanted quiet, I had to ask, for they didn’t seem to notice it.
“Do you smell that?” I asked, causing Forest to halt in his tracks and sharply turn to face me. I met the wolf’s eyes, and he turned away, raising his head, his snout sniffing the air, probably to make a big show that he didn’t smell anything.
I wasn’t a wolf. My sense of smell wasn’t overly great or inhuman. What were the odds I noticed something they didn’t?
Still, when Forest lowered his head and picked up the pace again, something sharp stabbed me in the gut. Not literally, but a jab of pain coursed through me, making me stumble. A wave of nausea surged through me, and as I squeezed my eyes shut, I cried, “Stop!” My skin grew hot, beads of sweat forming above my brow. I fell to the ground, my knees weakening.
What the heck was this feeling? Why did I feel so sick so suddenly?
Just like I was able to differentiate between Maze and Dylan, I knew I could go no further. Something instinctual, something primal. An innate inability to carry on, one I could not fight.
The wolves didn’t have the same problem. As Forest studied me, Maze walked beside him, concern dotting his furry face. Dylan went on, nose to the ground, which was a mistake. A bright red light flashed below him, and in the next second, his right paw was on fire.
Pure, red fire. Not orange or yellow. An unnatural fire.
Dylan howled in pain, and Forest shifted, back in his human form to shout, “Shift, Dylan. It’s okay to shift!”
Maze moved between me and Dylan, trying to protect me from an unknown enemy. Dylan turned in mid-roll, moving toward Forest as he did his best to stop, drop, and roll. Forest pulled him in, patting him down, rubbing dirt on him. The red fire flickered out, leaving Dylan’s skin a red, tender mess.
I struggled to get to my feet, fighting the pain in my stomach as I stood, but I had no chance of fully reaching my feet, because in a swift instant, Forest was upon me, grabbing me by the collar of my jean jacket and swinging me around to where Dylan was.
Dylan grimaced in pain.
Maze didn’t stop Forest, for he couldn’t; Forest was the alpha.
“What did you do?” Forest was anything but calm, a complete switch from his previous demeanor. This was the dominant alpha. This was the leader of the pack, not the quiet, melancholic man I’d met on the overlook. His blue eyes flashed a sheen of anger, his wolf trying to break through. His teeth were sharper than they should’ve been, almost like he was half-turned.
“I…” I wanted to say I did nothing, because it was true, but the pain in my stomach grew tenfold. A thousand tiny needles, all jabbing at my inner organs. My blood ran hot in my veins, and it felt like I was on fire, even though I knew I wasn’t. Not like Dylan. This was a different kind of pain. Internal, something I couldn’t fight. No more words escaped my lips.
“Forest!” Maze called out to him, “Don’t scratch her!”
Were Forest’s hands part-shifted, too? I was too delirious to notice. My thoughts were incoherent, and all I could do was wince, sweat, and wish it was over. Everything. Dread encased me, made me crave the blackness of death. It was not a feeling I would’ve had on a good day.
This was something abnormal, unnatural.
This was hell.
“I’m not going to—” Whatever Forest said next, I didn’t hear. Whether my ears stopped working or I was too busy drowning in pure, undiluted agony, I couldn’t say.
My vision blurred, and for a moment, I saw nothing but red. My entire field of vision tinted like I was using rose-colored glasses, all pinks and reds and magentas. Every inch of my skin felt like it was burning, as if someone took a knife and slowly carved away at me, piece by piece, muscle by muscle.
Tears formed in my eyes, falling down my cheeks. The red in my vision intensified, and the last thing I saw was Forest’s face.
He was no longer a half-shifted alpha, no longer angry.
But it wasn’t much of a consolation, with all I felt. Was this what dying was like? Were these my final moments? Pretty crappy ones, considering everything. If this was it, I wanted a redo, a do-over, a restart. Another chance. Maybe next time I’d know what to do; maybe next time my mom wouldn’t hide my shifter side.
Maybe…maybe…maybe.
I didn’t want to die. I had so much still left to do in my life, so many choices still to make. I was unfulfilled, unfinished, and I was not the type of person who liked to leave things undone. If ever there was a finisher, it was me.
I couldn’t die. I couldn’t. This couldn’t be the end for me; my life had barely started. I’d just found out I was a shifter, a wolf, just met my inner wolf. I’d just found Maze and Dylan, Forest and his pack, an ass of a grandfather I hated. I didn’t want to lose any of it.
I heard mumbling voices, but nothing was clear. I wasn’t sure if my eyes were opened or closed, whether I was on the ground or not. The pain was unimaginable, unbearable. If this didn’t turn out to be death’s vicious embrace, what the heck was it? What could cause such ungodly misery and agony?
Something warm touched me, but it was hard to tell what it was, given the state of my mind and my body. More mumbling in the background, but it sounded miles away. In that moment, I would’ve done anything to make the pain stop.
And then, something of a miracle happened.
The pain started to recede. My vision returned and the sensation of touch came back. I was able to hear frantic, worried voices, though I still couldn’t speak. The pain lingered, receding further, a tide returning to the ocean.
“I’m fine,” Dylan spoke, his voice pained. “I’ll heal in a day or two. She needs to be our priority.”
I realized he was talking about me, and I blinked, the unshed tears in my eyes tumbling over my cheeks, trailing down my skin slowly. My body was no longer on the ground; I was in someone’s arms. Not Dylan’s, since he sounded far away. Maze?
“I agree. We must go back,” a voice above me spoke. No, not Maze. Forest. Forest held me, cradling me like a baby against his chest. His bare, naked chest. It did not make for a nice pillow. It was too hard, too muscular.
“I’m sorry,” I slurred my words, trying to talk to Dylan, worried he was mad at me or thought I was the one who set him on fire. Which was ridiculous, because… “I—” I lifted my head, moving to stare at the others, but when I lifted my head off Forest’s chest, I saw bloody smears. I reached for my face, wondering if I’d been hurt.
Did Forest scratch me? Was I going to turn? Was that why I felt like I was going to die?
As they started to move, heading back to town, Maze quickly said, “Don’t.”
Don’t what? Don’t touch my own face? Seemed an odd thing to command, and it only made me want to know what he was talking about. My stomach, no longer coiled in sheer pain, now twisted for a different reason. Would I not like what I touched? What—
My fingers touched my cheek, sliding along the wetness of my tears. Only it felt different, off. I’d cried before, and I knew what the salty liquid felt like. The liquid coating my cheeks was thicker, and when I pulled back, I saw it was the wrong color, too. Instead of clear and wet, it was dark and red.
Blood.
The blood on Forest’s chest, the blood on my fingers, came from my eyes? Did I cry tears of freaking
blood?
“I don’t…” I stumbled over my words, knowing it was the very opposite of good to bleed out of my eyeballs. Was I dying? Was my wolf dying? What in the world would cause me to bleed from my damned eyeballs?
Forest shushed me. “Just rest. We will get you safe and figure out what happened.” He was back to the calm and collected man, the opposite of what he’d been minutes ago. He’d almost frightened me.
Beside him, Maze and Dylan watched me warily, as if Dylan wasn’t injured himself. His entire left arm was beet red, some of the skin puckered and raw from the fire. His wound looked like it hurt, but he only had concern for me between the roots and branches he tripped on—because his glasses were back where they’d left their clothes.
They were right, I knew. I should rest, close my eyes—for they’d apparently been through a lot just now. All bleeding and aching. Not to mention the sudden headache pounding in the back of my skull. Rest sounded like sweet relief.
The forest thinned out, trees becoming sparser and smaller the closer we got to the lake. The treetops broke apart, revealing a dusk-filled sky. A rainbow of colors, each pretty in their own right, illuminating everything with a dull hue.
I closed my eyes with a sigh. While I wondered what happened, how the pain had taken me over completely and utterly, how Dylan’s arm had caught fire—that strange flash of red—my mind was slow to shut off. At least I wasn’t in so much pain it obliterated anything else I felt. I could hear again, I could feel.
Sarah would not be too happy with me being in Forest’s arms, nor with how Forest had acted, but I supposed I couldn’t blame him. I was a stranger, even if I was part shifter. I probably would’ve blamed myself too, if I’d been in his shoes.
Maybe not so roughly, but maybe his cool and stolid exterior only hid a tumultuous range of emotions inside.
I turned my face in towards the solid chest, trying to focus on the warmth seeping from his skin, doing my best to not overthink what just happened. Obviously the wolves had no idea what was going on, and I was even more clueless than…
Blackness overtook me, calling to me, pulling me into the depths of unconsciousness.
Chapter Fourteen – Addie
My eyes popped open, and as I sat up, I found I was on the floor of the forest, laying amongst the dried-up leaves and broken branches. The night air was crisp and cool, and luckily I still had my jacket on, so I wasn’t too chilly.
Beside me, I spotted my wolf, whimpering and whining. The creature’s bright green eyes were dull, blood soaking the brown fur around its face, almost like she’d bled tears, too. Her ears hung low, her body laying down. The wolf didn’t even try to get up. The poor thing looked too tired, too worn, too exhausted.
I felt the same way.
“I’m sorry, girl,” I told the wolf, feeling saddened at the sight.
A thick mist seeped around me, instantly chilling me to the bone. My jacket no longer kept me warm; I was cold down to my very core. I went to rub my hands on my arms to keep in my warmth, but my ears heard something strange.
A voice.
Far away, but it was definitely a voice.
It took me a few tries, mostly because my legs were cold and felt like unbendable iron, but I got to my feet, squinting in the darkness as I tried to see the origin of the sudden fog. Beside me, my wolf whined, a high-pitched sound that broke my heart. The wolf wanted me to stay, but I had to find the source.
That fog shouldn’t have been there.
My feet stumbled along as I went, leaving behind my wolf. I swiped at my face, hoping I didn’t look as awful as the beast, because I wasn’t sure what I’d find. Where would this creepy mist lead me? I had no freaking clue.
But I was going to find out.
After walking for a while, the voice spoke again. This time, I was able to discern what it said, able to hear what it said.
“There you are, girl.”
And, I realized, it was a man’s voice. Eerie and calm, more chilling than the fog itself. My legs stopped, a wave of anxiety sweeping through me, and I looked over my shoulder, back at my wolf. The beast’s green eyes glinted in the darkness, the fog nearly blocking her from my sight.
“I want you,” the strange voice said, practically echoing in my mind. “Not the creature. You are what interests me, girl.”
I was very tired of people calling me girl and pup. Still, I had the feeling I didn’t want this man, whoever he was, to know my name.
To know a name was to have power.
Where did that come from? I didn’t think that, did I? I wasn’t even certain what it meant. What did names have to do with any of this?
“Come closer. Come into the light. I won’t bite…” The voice drifted off, unsettling in its open-ended statement, as if the man speaking really did wish to bite me. “Let me see you, girl, for what you truly are.”
I knew I shouldn’t leave my wolf’s side, not with how bad she looked, but there was something about the eerie voice that called to me. Like I was on an invisible string, and each time he spoke, he pulled me closer, tugged me in. Reeled me toward him no matter how much I knew it was a bad idea.
I started walking again, towards the voice even though it echoed around me in the forest, bouncing off the trees and rising from the mist now covering everything below my knees. Farther and farther away from my whimpering wolf I went, until I could no longer hear the wolf’s whines. The forest surrounding me thinned out, which I found odd, for I would’ve sworn the forest was endless.
In fact, I would’ve put my life on it.
“Yes, come to me, let me see you,” the voice urged me, an excitement growing in his creepy, singsong voice. It flooded through me, and even if I wanted to, I could not deny it. Could not deny him, whoever he was.
The trees were now behind me, the forest where my wolf was completely out of my mind. A flat, fog-covered field sat before me, seemingly endless. The sky was pitch-black, save for the moon, its circle nearly full, its craters visible. The large rock in the sky looked closer than I remembered it being, almost triple the size. Its closeness and its size lent everything a silver hue, practically causing the mist to glow. Not a single star sat in the sky, an odd sight; there were no clouds covering them. They simply weren’t there.
“A little bit farther,” the voice tempted me, and I was nearly a slave to it.
I wasn’t being controlled, but it was like my will was not my own. I could not fight the voice; I didn’t want to. There was something about it I knew deep down was familiar. A sameness between him and I that I did not understand.
I moved further into the field, the forest now suddenly miles behind me, so far I could barely see the outline of the trees. Funny, I didn’t remember walking that far. When I heard the voice whisper a rasping “Yes,” I turned my head forward, forgetting all about the forest and my wolf.
This, I knew in my heart of hearts, was not a shifter matter. This was something far different…something worse.
I took another step, but something caught on my feet, freezing me in place. Nothing coiled around my legs except the mist, but mist didn’t have a tangible hold; something else must have—
The moon above flashed, its silver color morphing, changing into a deep red, a luscious, dark maroon. As a result, the glowing silver mist changed its color too, to the hue of dried blood. I felt colder, chills creeping up my arms and traveling down my back.
What was this?
“You are…” The voice spoke behind me, as if its owner stood only a few feet away. So close to me, and yet I could not turn around to look. I was frozen, immobile. “…a most welcome surprise, girl. I knew there was another, but I did not expect you quite like this.”
Another? What in all of God’s green earth was he talking about? I tried to open my mouth to ask him, to demand answers from him, but I could not say a word. I could barely move my lips at all. This man, whoever, whatever he was, he had me trapped in an invisible, red cage.
I felt a hand graze th
e back of my shoulders, fingers running through the lower lengths of my hair. I wanted to run, to pull myself away from him, but I couldn’t. Why? Who was this guy to have such control over me?
“My master will be pleased with me when I tell him of your presence,” he went on. He must’ve stepped closer, for I could suddenly feel his breath on the back of my neck. It was cold. Wrong. Almost like…
Well, almost like the man talking was already dead.
“You, my dear,” he whispered, “will be my ticket out of this place.”
That didn’t sound good.
“I…” I managed to say one word, through lips that would not move, but it was all I could formulate. To have such control over me, it was almost like magic.
Magic.
Was that what this was—magic? I was a witness to a floating book, and then there was the whole fire appearing and catching on Dylan, not to mention the violent pain that took over me and made me cry tears of blood. All of it had to be connected, somehow.
“You are a strong one, to speak even a word under my hex,” he spoke. “You have questions, as do I, but we will not converse here. When I am ready, I will call for you, and you will come. This time I will let you through my barrier.”
Barrier? What the heck was he talking about?
“Go, back to the world of the living. Enjoy your short time there, because my master will have you in his embrace soon.”
I felt my eyelids flutter and close, and I was lost. My mind gone. The eerie world of red mist disappeared, fading around me until there was nothing. No inner wolf. No creepy man behind me, touching my hair and breathing his cold, dead breath down my neck.
But, still, somehow his voice lingered, and though my consciousness was practically gone, I knew. With every fiber of my being, I knew.
The man’s master was death.
Chapter Fifteen – Addie
I struggled to open my eyes, praying I was not in the field, praying there was no red mist around me, no creepily and impossibly huge maroon moon above me. Something light and feathery sat beneath my head, my body lying on a mattress that was unfamiliar to me.
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