by Amy Richie
I wasn’t quiet as I made my way to the small oasis of sunlight in the dreary shadow-filled trees. The wolves already knew where I was and maybe now, Paris would be able to hear me.
Was it possible the wolves had killed him? There were four of them that attacked him. It was possible. A heavy weight formed in my throat and traveled quickly to my stomach. Paris wasn’t dead. I had to stop, though, so my heart could be convinced.
“Paris!” I called out. It wasn’t as loud as I intended, but hopefully it was loud enough. “Paris!” He didn’t answer.
My calls brought the wolves closer, though. Soon, I was running again.
“Lexi!” The call was faint, not close enough to get excited, but just the sound of it sent a jolt of relief through my senses. He wasn’t dead.
“Paris!” I called back. I couldn’t stop, though. If anything, the sound of his voice made me go faster.
Paris and I would both live through this. We would make it until his brothers came and then we would all save Miranda. It was the only thing that kept me going. If I thought of any other possibility, I would lie down and let them take me now.
My lungs were burning as I pushed myself forward. I was only human, how long could I keep running? Were the wolves counting on that? Did they know that sooner or later I would collapse from sheer exhaustion?
I had never before wished I was a vampire so badly. To be able to outrun the wolves, or maybe just to face them. Maybe I wouldn’t be like the sisters and just run away. I could face the wolves and stop them from taking the pets.
My anger gave me renewed strength and I raced past the place where the sun was brightest and into another part of the woods. A quiet part.
It was too quiet, actually. My brows knitted close together, confusion slowing me down. The wolves had been close, practically slobbering down the back of my shirt. Now they were just gone.
I listened as hard as I could over the sounds of my own panting, but I couldn’t hear any wolves now—was this some sort of trap? They couldn’t have all just decided to give up the chase.
Melody said they were territorial creatures. Had I finally broken free of their territories? I didn’t think so, though. Since Jewell, I didn’t think the territories meant much to them.
I slowed down until I was only walking and then stopped completely. I was completely alone. I didn’t even see any rabbits or birds. Shouldn’t there be a bunch of little animals around?
I peered nervously through the shadows. They weren’t as dark here, but the sun was still being elusive. As far as I could tell, there were no werewolves around me. No massive shadows. What did that mean?
I didn’t hear Paris anymore either. Where was this place? Had I stepped through some sort of invisible barrier into a different world where I was all alone? It was an eerie feeling.
I pulled my arms close to my chest where I could feel my heart thudding wildly. I was being crazy, but I couldn’t stop my thoughts from coming.
A branch broke nearby and my head snapped in that direction. I guess I wasn’t as alone as I feared. Someone—or something—was here with me.
Chapter 37
I swallowed hard past the scream that wanted to slip out of my throat. Every muscle was tense, waiting for something to jump out and attack me. Nothing did, though.
The trees stared back at me—innocent and still, just as they had been for hundreds of years. How many women before me had been hunted down in these same woods, their death witnessed only by these very same trees?
I ran my hand lightly over the bark, pausing when I heard a rustle. In a different life, I would have been tempted to blame it on the wind, but now I couldn’t.
It was strange that the wolves were all gone, though. I wasn’t running now, why weren’t they converging on me? What were they waiting for? Maybe they were all still after Paris. I still couldn’t hear him either.
I worked to control my breathing and counted my heartbeats—willing them to slow down. Fear wouldn’t help me now. I needed to stay clam if I was going to get away from the wolves. Gloria always told me that fear was what made humans act foolish. Keep a clear head, breathe deeply, make good choices. I repeated the mantra over and over in my head.
I puffed out my cheeks and let the air out slowly. I hadn’t realized it before, but being with the sisters made me feel brave. No matter what they said to the contrary, I knew they would always keep me safe. Or at least try. If they couldn’t keep me safe, nothing could—so there was still no reason to let fear paralyze me.
I felt too exposed now. The sisters had only been gone for a few hours, Miranda had been taken by the wolves, and I was all alone in the woods. Things weren’t looking good so far.
I took another breath and let it out just as slowly. Something was definitely wrong since the wolves disappeared, but I wouldn’t be able to work anything out if I passed out from fear. Was that even possible?
I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling the hard thumps of my overworked heart. The ache was starting to go away, though, so maybe that meant I was starting to calm down.
“You’re fine,” I whispered. It was mostly just to hear something other than the deafening silence rather than for actual comfort. My body began to listen to my head, though.
A faint noise caused a spike in my recently calmed heart. Paris was calling to me. He was too far away to do much good, but at least he was still trying. Should I call to him?
It had attracted more wolves last time I tried and if anything, pushed him further away. It was quiet here, for some reason, they were staying away. It I just stayed quiet myself, he would eventually find me.
I wrapped my arm lightly across my stomach and walked a few steps forward. Maybe I could find a place to sit and not be seen. I could wait for Paris there.
Now that I had slowed down enough to think, my leg was starting to throb again. The blood that had leaked out to stain my pants a dark red had dried and now scratched my skin. The blister on my foot, which seemed like a lifetime of injuries ago, was throbbing now, too.
If I could just find a safe place to sit down…
The wolves had taken Miranda.
The sisters were gone. I had watched them go and stayed with Paris. If I had left with them, we would be far away by now. I could be in some hotel right now.
The wolves took Miranda.
To my horror, my eyes welled up with unwelcome tears. I didn’t have time to cry like one of those weak human pets right now. I had to focus on staying alive, on finding Paris again—or at least letting him find me.
Focusing only on the steps in front of me, I walked forward in search of somewhere to hide. It didn’t need to be a really good place, just somewhere dark so they couldn’t see me right away.
A large tree stood a few feet away, casting a dark shadow darker than the others. I turned toward it, intending to try and melt into the base, but a sound behind me made me stop mid-step.
I turned my head first, not wanting to see anything standing there. Maybe if I ignored it, it would go away. Experience told me otherwise, but I still didn’t want to turn all the way around.
If I tried to run now, I would never even see what killed me. It would be better if I stood and faced the creature. My fingers were trembling, though. Maybe I always knew, deep inside, that I would never make it out of these woods alive.
I finally forced myself to turn all the way around and came face to face with something I hadn’t expected. A man stood barely three feet away from me.
The man was tall and had a wild look about him. His eyes darted all around in their sockets, as if they were having a hard time focusing on any one thing.
I couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t look completely human to me. He wasn’t like any human I had ever seen. Most had a worn out defeated look, or scared, but he was more than scared. He was jumpy.
He could be SH, I thought with heavy dread. Gloria had told me to kill any SH I saw because once I saw them, they were too close. I couldn’t just kill him, though
, could I?
An unwelcome image of blood-stained white fur came unbidden to my mind. That was different though.
The man watched me, not coming any closer.
I could probably outrun a human, I thought. I was pretty fast. What if he was more than human, though? Depending on what stage SH he was, he could easily outrun me.
Could you reason with an SH? I had never knowingly seen one, but there must be some human left in him. He wasn’t attacking me yet.
“There’s werewolves here,” I called out to him.
He stiffened at the sound of my voice. Just when I thought he wouldn’t say anything back, he answered in a deep gravelly voice. “I know.”
“Oh,” my voice came out just above a whisper. I nodded, trying to re-gather my wits. I was turning into one of those scared little pets. “We need to get out of here.” I took two steps forward, but then danced back when his expression didn’t change. “Right,” I nodded again. Not complete human.
“It’s no use running,” he almost smiled. “We’ll catch you in the end.”
“We?” I had thought his hard stare made me nervous, but his hard voice was so much worse. It made me want to run, but I held my ground anyways.
“The wolves,” he hissed. “You’ll be my mate. It’s already decided.”
“W…wolves?” I snapped my mouth shut quickly, stopping myself from mumbling anything else.
“And you’ll come with me.” One side of his mouth tilted upwards slightly.
“Can you just change to a man at will?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
“I don’t usually want to,” his voice remained low and deep, scratchy.
I jutted my chin out, determined not to be afraid of him. “Where’s Miranda?” I demanded. “Did you take her?”
“My brother did.” He nodded slowly, confirming that the pack acted as one so what his brother did was also his responsibility.
“Where is she?” He had only answered part of my question.
“You will be with her soon.”
That same plan had flittered through my head, too, but hearing if from him sounded more like a threat and less like a plan. “I don’t think so.”
One of his bushy eyebrows shot up to join his matted hair. “You aren’t like the others,” he commented with what could have been awe.
“I’m not. I killed one of you already and I’m not afraid to do it again.” I was glad that my voice didn’t give me away.
“He wasn’t one of ours.”
“He was a werewolf.” Did he think I was stupid and couldn’t tell he was a werewolf?
“He wasn’t one of my brothers,” he clarified.
What was that supposed to mean? So what if they weren’t in the same pack? Did that mean he didn’t care that I killed him?
“You showed courage and a knack for survival.” His voice cleared as he used it more until it was a rich dark sound that might have been pleasant if he wasn’t threatening me.
“The other pets were just afraid, it’s not their fault. You guys are monsters.” Maybe the last part was pushing my luck. He didn’t seem to take offense, though, since he only smiled.
“We are a species trying to survive,” he corrected softly.
I was too shocked by his smile to respond at first. “So are humans,” I told him without returning the smile.
“Humans are disgusting creatures.” At least his scowl was back in place—he was easier to talk to like that.
“You seem to want them pretty bad,” I pointed out.
“They are necessary for my kind to survive.” His scowl deepened.
I didn’t like listening to this wolf-turned-man speak. It was getting more difficult to draw the lines that separated them from the rest of us that were only trying to live after Jewell.
What hadn’t we done? What wouldn’t we do?
They just wanted the same thing we did. What did the white wolf look like as a man, standing on two legs? Did he have a child waiting for him back home? A home that he would never return to again because of me.
Once I let the thoughts start, they poured in at me, raining down with a weight that almost made my knees buckle. In their eyes, I was the monster.
I swallowed thickly, pushing back the crowded thoughts. I needed to keep a clear head. I had to figure a way away from him and back to Paris. Pretty soon, I was just going to buckle down and join his pack.
As if reading my thoughts, he smiled and said, “Are you ready to go?”
“Go where?”
“To the rest of the pack; they are all waiting for us.”
“Us?” My mouth fell open.
“Come. Make this easy.”
“You think it’s going to be that easy? That I’ll just go quietly with you?” My eyes widened too far, making me feel crazy.
“That would be desired,” he smiled. His teeth were sharp and discolored; not a pleasant smile.
“You and your pack,” I spit the alien word from my mouth, “have killed all my friends.” Another strange word, but easier to say than pack.
“Not all of them.” He raised one bushy brow.
Mates, they were taken as mates. “That’s not going to happen to me,” I said out loud. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You’re going to regret that decision,” he snarled.
He was still a man, but it was easy to see the wolf lurking in him, waiting to lunge out at me. I tried to take a step backwards, but I realized even as my foot searched for more ground that I wouldn’t get very far.
Now I understood where all the wolves had gone. They had herded me into the place their brother could talk to me and then went to make sure Paris stayed away. How many wolves were after him?
Too many if he hadn’t been able to find his way back to me yet.
“Maybe so,” I raised my chin in defiance, “but I would rather die and become your… mate.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Well, I guess that was the other option.”
He lunged forward so suddenly that I barely had time to register that he was a wolf again, let alone get out of his way. There was a heavy pressure as his weight crashed into me.
I heard my screams as if they were coming from someone else, but I felt the sound tearing from my throat. Over and over again.
Chapter 38
It was strange how fast everything moved. Except my heart. My heart slowed down until it was barely beating at all. I saw the wolf lunging towards me, his teeth bared in all their glory.
I knew I needed to move, needed to get out of the wolf’s way, but my feet refused to move. They wouldn’t listen to my screaming brain and I was stuck in a horrific nightmare.
Even though I saw every detail of the wolf jumping at me, it happened too fast for me to even have time to raise my hands to fight him off. Not that I would have done much good anyways.
The jaws snapped closed on my arm, trying to pull me away as I had seen the other wolf pull Miranda off into the woods. I put all the weight I could manage into my legs, planting myself firmly into the ground. The wolf abruptly let go and I fell to my knees.
All I saw was a flash of fur and a snap of teeth. I felt the skin on my side tearing and felt the warmth sliding over my stomach and back. My face smashed into the cold ground.
This is it, I thought blackly, I’m going to die now.
Then, another voice invaded my thoughts. Liza. “What are you doing? Don’t just lay there!”
“Get off me,’ I screeched. “Get off!”
I rolled over to my back, reaching my arms out as far as they would go on both sides. I might not be able to fight the wolf off—of course I wasn’t strong enough—but I wouldn’t just let it be easy for him. I would at least try to fight.
Maybe if I held him off long enough, Paris would come. He was out there somewhere, looking for me. My hand bumped into something hard. I grabbed blindly and brought the short stick up to swing at the wolf. I managed to make contact twice before he swatted it from my han
ds with more painful stings from his claws. I used the brief distraction to scramble a few feet away from the wolf. I felt his claws dig deep into my leg and I was being dragged roughly across the ground. Pain blinded me momentarily, but the next instant the wolf was back in my face.
“Paris!” I screamed as loud as I could manage. The sound was cut off by another swing from the wolf’s paw, but it was my last hope. Paris had to find me. “Paris!” I tried again.
This time there was an answer. “Lexi!”
Relief flooded through me so quickly, I almost felt faint. Or maybe that was just the blood loss. Another wave of relief hit me when I looked up and saw him standing there.
I saw the anger flash across his face for just an instant. It was like the world stood still with just that one look. It wasn’t directed at me, but it sent an eerie chill up my spine.
I was saved!
The weight of the wolf was gone so abruptly that I almost didn’t realize what had happened. By the time I got that Paris had moved, the wolf and vampire were circling each other—snarling and growling.
I scrambled to my hands and knees and crawled to safety. I didn’t want to be in the middle of that fight.
The fight was short and they both made a lot of noise. I tried to follow their movements to see who was winning, but all I saw was a blur of color fly past me.
The duo smashed against a tall tree, bringing it smashing to the ground just a few feet away from where I was cowering. Should I run while the wolf was distracted or wait for Paris?
My heart exploded behind my ribs, indecision making me nervous. The sisters always told me exactly what to do and then I did it. Run or stay?
Before I could decide one way or the other, the fight was over and Paris was standing over me while the wolf ran away.
He stood over me with his arms held out slightly even after the wolf was gone, just to be sure he wasn’t coming back. His shoulders were rising and falling almost as fast as mine, but he wasn’t making the rasping sound; or if he was, I could hear it over my own raspy breathing.
