by Laura Hysell
I settled down beside a large bolder, resting my head on my paws and closing my eyes. Logan took the first watch, scouting around to make sure no one stumbled upon us while we slept. Hours passed, and I could hear the others breathing softly with sleep. Logan settled down to rest, and Lucas took his place. It felt like I had barely closed my eyes, when Hugo was nuzzling me awake to take my turn on watch.
I stood up and stretched, feeling more tired than I had before closing my eyes. The packet around my leg was a heavy weight, and I wanted nothing more than to pull it off, grab the cell phone, and call Izzy again. But I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. The cell phone was for emergencies, not for my personal use. Although perhaps I should shift into human form and turn the phone on anyway, just to check on her. I sighed and continued my route, circling the others.
The sun was setting, and I knew it was time to move on. By the time I finished my next circle around camp, it was dark enough to wake the others. I had taken Vanessa’s watch as well, and she probably wouldn’t be happy about it. She didn’t like others doing things for her, but I hadn’t done it for her. I’d done it because I couldn’t sleep, and I’d simply lost track of time.
I nudged Vanessa with my nose, and she jerked awake. She immediately noted the time, and turned angrily toward me. Couldn’t sleep, I said quickly, trying to avoid a fight. Sorry.
She stared at me, and I resisted the urge to either cower down under that look, or growl in defiance. Sometimes the wolf took over a little too much. I held her stare until she finally turned her head and stretched out, ignoring me. Hugo was already awake and watching the exchange silently. As soon as everything seemed calm, he turned and roused the twins.
We travelled through the thinning forest for several hours, cutting our way back and forth to stay in the deeper sections of the woods. Human smells began to grow stronger, and we needed to figure out exactly where we were headed. That meant interacting with humans. All we knew at that point was that we were in Canada, but we had no idea where the lake we were looking for was, or where we were in relationship to it.
Following the scents, we headed toward the smells of civilization until we reached a road. We kept in sight of the road, but far enough back so we wouldn’t immediately be spotted by anyone driving by. We continued northward beside the road, looking for signs. The road was sparsely travelled, so we were able to travel unseen fairly easily, but we also didn’t see any signs.
We travelled slowly northward, skirting the road, until we neared a small community. The houses were closer together, and there was a well-lit store. We pulled back further from the road to regroup and strategize.
Let me go, I said to the others. I had been thinking about it for some time, and it was really the only plan. If I was able to move around in human form, I could gather the info we needed.
Clothes, Logan said, always the logical one.
Of course I’d need clothes. House? I said. Maybe if I got close enough, I could grab clothes from a nearby house. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than running down the road naked. That wouldn’t get me the sort of help I wanted.
Go, Hugo said, stopping all arguments.
I raced off in wolf form, searching for a suitable looking house. The houses were spaced out, but I found what I was looking for in short order. It was an older farm house, with a large dog door in the back. I stopped and studied it. I was pretty sure I could fit through the opening, but I was taking great care to avoid confrontations. If there was a large dog door, it likely meant there was a large dog to go with it.
I moved closer, sniffing out the smells of dog. If I could have grinned in wolf form, I would have. The dog in question began barking in earnest when she caught my scent, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. The dog was a large husky, barking from behind a fenced enclosure. I moved up to the edge of the fence, and she growled low in her throat at me. She could bark and growl all she wanted, but she wasn’t going anywhere. She was noisy though, so I needed to hurry.
I rushed off to the dog door and gently nudged it open with my nose, sneaking into the quiet house. Smells assaulted me, and I struggled not to breathe them all in as I focused on my one goal. Find clothes. I moved quickly, until I found a laundry room. There was a basket full or dirty clothes, but I hoped there were clean ones in the dryer.
Shifting was painful, but I needed hands to open the dryer and find something suitable to wear. As soon as I was in human form, I opened the dryer and peered inside. Smiling, I pulled out a pair of pants and held them up. Close enough. I pulled the pants on and reached back into the dryer, grabbing a flannel out and pulling it on. The clothes were too big, but better too big than too small.
Sneaking out of the house was trickier. I walked quietly to the back door, grabbing a pair of rubber boots on my way. I carefully unlocked and opened the door, sneaking out as quietly as possible. The dog was barking louder than ever as I ran across the back yard and into the cover of trees behind the house. Vanessa was waiting for me, pacing back and forth anxiously. I grinned and pulled on the rubber boots, then I unhooked the strap attached to my wrist and shoved everything into the deep pocket of the jeans.
I moved back toward the road, with Vanessa following me as far as she dared. My destination was the general store, which was still brightly lit. I walked toward it casually, acting as though I had no care in the world. I imagined I could feel Vanessa watching me still, far in the distance, making sure I didn’t screw up or get eaten by a vampire. The store was basic on the outside and inside, with one young bored-looking man working inside.
“Hello,” I said, greeting the young man behind the counter. “Do you happen to have a map around?”
“Sure,” he replied, pointing to a rack in the far corner without bothering to look up.
I grabbed a map and opened it, moving back toward the counter. “Can you show me where Cultus Lake is from here?” I asked as I spread the map out on the counter in front of him.
The man laughed, and I looked up at him in surprise. “You don’t need a map. Just follow the road to the lake.”
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“The lake is just north of here, maybe 10 to 15 minutes away. If you’re looking for the water park, you follow the lake around to the north side until you hit the town. Nothing open right now though, of course,” he added, frowning at me.
I folded the map back up and scratched at the extra facial hair that had grown in with my frequent werewolf shifts. I probably looked like a bum in my oversized flannel and what looked like a month’s worth of beard. “Do you have one of those portable cell phone chargers?” I asked. He pointed to the shelf, and I grabbed the best one that claimed it was ready to go right away with a full charge. Then I grabbed a few snacks and a drink before heading back to the counter to pay.
Vanessa was the first to greet me again, and I followed her back to the others, munching on beef jerky as I walked. I’d turned on the cell phone and plugged it into the power bank to charge, but it had no messages. As soon as I reached the others, I sat down and pulled off the rubber boots. They were far from comfortable, and two sizes too big.
“Well, we’re 10 to 15 minutes by car from Cultus Lake. It’s just north of here. There’s a water park on the north side, so we should probably avoid that,” I said, finishing off the bag of beef jerky and grabbing the cell phone out of my pocket. The phone was almost fully charged, and I was anxious to know where Isabella was. I pulled out the map and spread it on the ground before opening the cell phone.
The others moved away, likely in search of food, as I dialed the number Izzy had called me from. It rang twice before she picked up. My heart was pounding in my chest as her voice came on the line. She sounded tired, as though I had just woken her from sleep.
“Izzy, sweetheart, how are you?” I asked by way of greeting.
“Is everything alright?” she asked immediately, talking over me in a rush. “I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you.”
�
��We’re good here, and almost to Cultus Lake. I just wanted to let you know, since I was in human form. And, I have a map,” I added.
She chuckled and I could hear her moving around. “We’re about an hour from Prince George,” she said, and I traced my finger along the map, trying to calculate how far it was.
“If you drive all night, I’ll probably see you by breakfast,” I replied. “How do you like your rabbit?”
“Rabbit? Yuck!” she said, laughing. “How about bacon and eggs?”
“Bacon and eggs it is,” I said, chuckling in response. I looked back down at the map and felt a trickle of worry run down my spine. “You should probably avoid Prince George. It looks like a pretty big city.”
She sighed into the phone. “Yeah, I know. We were talking about that earlier, but I think it’ll be okay. By the time we reach Prince George, it’ll be the middle of the night. No one will be awake.”
“No one except vampires, Izzy. Henri will be looking for you.”
She didn’t answer right away, and I could hear someone in the background speaking to her. “We’re going through Prince George,” she said when she finally spoke. “We’ve changed our minds a hundred times, and honestly we can’t predict what direction Henri is going to think we’ll take. Plus, there’s no easy way to go around Prince George. We’ve been over this map repeatedly. We can take backroads, but it’ll slow us down too much.”
“Damn it, Izzy, I don’t like it.”
“No one likes it, Jared.”
“Be careful, sweetheart,” I said, giving up the fight. I was too far away to do anything to help her anyway. “How’s Mark doing?”
She didn’t answer right away, and the silence stretched until I grew uncomfortable. I was about to say something again when she finally spoke. “He’s not himself, Jared. He goes in and out. I thought I had him back earlier, but something happened about the time the sun was setting. I think Henri was messing with him, because he won’t respond to me at all. He just sits there.”
“Is he safe?” I asked, suddenly worried. If Henri had control of Mark that could prove extremely dangerous for everyone in the car with him.
“He’s sleeping right now, I think. It’s hard to tell, honestly. Oh, Jared, this might just be the longest drive ever.”
“You’re telling me,” I laughed. Hugo suddenly ran into view, and I sat up in surprise. Even though I couldn’t speak to him, I knew something was wrong. “Izzy, I gotta go!”
“Jared, is everything alright?” Izzy asked, her voice raised in concern.
I didn’t respond as I threw the phone down and began pulling off my clothes. Logan raced into view just after Hugo, and I could feel the hair on my arms rise. Something was definitely wrong, and the only thing I could think of that would alarm the others was vampires. I pulled off my clothes and began the transformation, willing my body to shift into wolf form as fast as possible. The pain was excruciating as I changed quickly, but I didn’t have time to dwell on the pain.
Run! The voice was Vanessa’s, but she was nowhere to be seen. I could feel her though, with Lucas, running toward us. Transformation complete, I turned with the others and ran, following behind the large form of Hugo. Vanessa’s voice came to us again, confirming my fears. Vampires!
Chapter 18- Isabella
“Jared? Jared!” I yelled into the phone, but the line had gone dead. “Damn it!” I redialed, but the phone just rang and rang.
“Izzy, what’s wrong?” Raoul asked from the driver’s seat.
“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling,” I responded, reluctantly setting the phone down. My heart was pounding in my chest and my hands were shaking with fear. “Jared wouldn’t hang up like that.”
Killian sat in the passenger seat, and he turned around to look at me. “You think it’s vampires?”
I nodded and closed my eyes. “Yes,” I replied. “There’s nothing I can do about it though. He’s a werewolf, so I have to trust that he can take care of himself.”
“Like Mark?” Killian asked. I ground my teeth in frustration at the remark, but he continued. “There are a lot of werewolves back at Henri’s place. I’m sure they all thought they could take care of themselves too.”
I looked over at Mark, who was staring at me and sitting up in alarm. My screaming must have woken him, if he’d ever actually been asleep. “Mark, can you reach Jared?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if Jared would be in wolf form, but it was worth a shot.
Mark stared at me blankly, and I repeated my request. He did nothing, and I screamed in frustration. He is fighting the vampire off, Aidan said into my mind.
Are you sure?
Yes, I can feel it. Can’t you?
I reached out and touched Mark’s hand, pursing my lips in concentration. The knife pulsed against my thigh, and I reached out with my mind, feeling the power of the knife. Past that, I felt Aidan, and sensed his smug satisfaction. I pushed on until I felt Mark’s tentative connection to the knife. It wasn’t like my connection, and it wasn’t like Aidan, but it was there nonetheless.
Mark was there, deep inside, as was his wolf. I closed my eyes, and the connection turned to pictures in my mind. The wolf stood over Mark, protecting him from attack. I couldn’t see what was attacking them, but I could feel it. It felt cold and lifeless, making my flesh crawl, and I knew deep down that it was a vampire. The wolf looked at me, acknowledging my presence. The next attack visibly injured the wolf, and he stepped back, still protecting the human form of Mark who was lying on the ground, unmoving.
I tried moving toward them, to help them, but each step went nowhere. Faster I moved, but the distance never closed. You’re not really moving. Stop, Aidan said. I stopped moving and looked at them in frustration. Something hit the wolf again, and he howled in response.
I need to help him! I screamed. Aidan, help me.
You can’t; I can’t. This isn’t real, not the way you think of it. This is just the way your mind is processing the information. The vampire seeks to control Mark, and the wolf part of him is keeping him at bay. If you interfere, the vampire will sense you again. There is magic at work here, and it is not something we should interfere with.
I stood staring at the human form of Mark, lying on the bare ground. I reached out my hand, wanting nothing more than to touch him. Suddenly, I was beside Mark. Kneeling on the ground, I reached out and touched his face. Mark’s eyes were closed, and he appeared to be sleeping. The wolf growled, and I turned toward him.
The wolf stood over Mark, with his back to me, growling at something beyond him. There was nothing substantial to be seen, but I could feel it. The air swirled beyond the wolf, raising the hair on the back of my neck. Isabella, you need to stop. He can sense you.
Aidan was trying to protect me, I knew that, but at the same time I needed to protect Mark. If I could just get him back normal, things would be a lot easier. I reached down and shook Mark gently, trying to wake him. His eyes fluttered, but he didn’t wake up.
“Please, Mark, wake up,” I whispered in his ear. The wolf growled again, and I shot him a look. “How do I get him back?”
The wolf turned toward me and bared his teeth, snapping at me before turning back toward the eerie shape in the distance. I shook Mark again, harder this time, but nothing happened. My fingers grew numb with cold, and I looked to see the shape attacking the wolf had drawn closer. I could just make out the outline of a man with golden blond hair. Henri. I turned back toward Mark, frantically trying to wake him.
Isabella, you need to leave! This is magic outside of our realm! Aidan urged, and I could sense the fear in his voice.
“Mark, please,” I implored, leaning over Mark’s still form. I reached out my hand and slapped him as hard as possible across the face. The wolf growled behind me, but Mark didn’t move. Damn it! Tears coursed down my face and turned to ice. My breath blew out puffs of cold air, and each second I stayed there I grew colder. My teeth began to chatter, and I knew I had to flee or die. I leaned over Mark
one last time and took his face in my frozen hands. My lips touched his, and I felt the warmth from his body warm me to the core.
Arms embraced me, pulling me down. Mark’s lips moved with mine, kissing me back fervently. The wolf howled, and we both sat up in surprise. The figure of Henri stood over the wolf, his hand crushing the wolf’s throat. I screamed, and Mark leapt forward, into the wolf. Both forms, wolf and man, combined and merged into one. They fought the vampire, pushing him backward. Henri backed away from the fight, but his eyes turned toward me. I stood and fled, but the vampire pursued me.
My eyes opened and I let out a scream. I could feel Henri in my mind, pushing his power against me. Mark sat before me, his eyes the golden color of the wolf, and his arms wrapped around me. The knife burned against my thigh, and I struggled to touch the hilt, but pain exploded in my mind. I screamed again, clutching my head as pain lanced my brain. The feel of ice surrounded me once more, and I shivered between the screams. My fingers froze until I could no longer move them, and I closed my eyes as the pain hit me again and again. Tears coursed down my cheeks unchecked, and darkness descended around me. I could hear familiar voices calling to me, but the pain was too much. Closing my eyes, I left myself drift away from the pain.
“You have been very bad, Isabella,” Henri said.
My eyes popped open and I looked around. I was lying in an enormous bed with deep red blankets. And I was naked. Of course. Why was I always naked around Henri? “Where am I?” I asked, looking around the room as I pulled the blankets over my body.
“Back at my home, where you will stay,” Henri responded.
The fuck I will! I glared up at Henri, who stood at the foot of the bed, wearing nothing but a pair of black satin sleep pants. How did I get back at Henri’s? Where were the others? My heart pounded loudly in my chest in a panic. I tried to take a deep, slow breath to calm down. Henri walked toward me, and I was reminded of a cat stalking prey. Unfortunately, I was the prey.
