I smiled. “No, no. I’m just, um, thinking about that first day.”
“You mean last week.”
I tried to focus on him without losing myself in his amber eyes, which were, at the moment, blazing with all the sky colors. “It seems like forever ago, doesn’t it?”
He nodded, and somehow there we were, staring into each other’s eyes. I got a funny sinking feeling in my belly. Not the kind that happens when you’re all disappointed or something, but that kind of falling feeling like when you’re going down fast in an elevator.
Austin cleared his throat all nervouslike and then said, “It does seem like forever.” His eyelashes fluttered for a moment, and my mind flashed to what he’d said at the fence about me—that I was beautiful. I almost believed it, the way he was looking at me.
“So…right. Off you go,” he said. “You’ve got my candles and matches if you need them. I’m sorry I haven’t a torch for you. As long as you can, keep walking with the sunset on your left side.”
“Duh, you mean north,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t worry. I’m excellent in the woods,” I told him.
“I haven’t a doubt.”
“And you’re sure you’re not going to chase me down and feast on my bloodied corpse?” I said with a weak smile.
“Trust me.” Ooh, those words echoed in my brain for a minute. Trust me, the root of all boy evil.
“That didn’t really work for Little Red Riding Hood,” I said.
“Do I look like the Big Bad Wolf?” said Austin with a slow smile.
“Not yet, but there’s not exactly a woodcutter to save me, anyway.”
He paused. “You’re not about letting other people save you, Shelby. Even I can see that.”
Hmm. He had me there. Did that mean he thought I was, like, brave? Both he and Mr. Winters had said stuff about that. I’d always thought of myself as kinda fearless, but in a reckless way, you know? Brave and fearless are totally not the same thing. Brave is like being fearless for an actual reason.
“I don’t want to leave you,” I said, sticking my hands in the pockets of my sweatshirt.
“Shelby, be realistic. Here’s where we separate. Head up that path there, the rocky one that cuts through those skinny trees at the top of the hill. Like you said, I’ll be fine.”
I shrugged like it was no big deal, but I was worried about him. I’d been worried about him from the start.
Austin wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly. All the sparks inside me collided, and I felt a scared but secure feeling. How could I feel so safe with someone who was so dangerous? What was wrong with me?
He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be in touch again, I promise. I won’t forget you.” He loosened his grip on me and used a hand to lift my chin so we were looking eye to eye. “Straightaway to camp, now. Don’t look back.”
And there it was. The moment I’d been dreading and hoping for all in one. Our first and probably last ever kiss.
A sad look took over his eyes. “I know you’re afraid, so I’ll just…” he said, lowering his lips. And then moving to my cheek. His lips were hot like a brand, and for a moment I felt my knees weaken. But then I felt something scratch my cheek. One of Austin’s sharp teeth.
I broke away from him, knowing it was time to leave.
FOURTEEN
I had only walked up the hill a little ways when I had the irresistible urge to glance back. Just to make sure Austin was there by that tree while I could still make him out in the distance. The moon, so pale it was almost translucent, hung over the top of the trees near where we’d stood. It was full and huge. I shivered at the sight.
Then I saw Austin in the middle of the clearing to the side of the trees, spotlighted by the embers of sunset. He was turned sideways, his face lifted toward the rising moon. It was like he was caught between day and night—between wolf and regular guy.
I didn’t think he could see me, but I crouched down behind a big rock anyway, watching him. Call it stupid curiosity or whatever, but I wanted to see him change.
Ah-oooooooohh! A howl shook the little valley, echoing so much that I wasn’t sure at first where it came from.
Ah-oooooooohh! This cry I could tell came from Austin because his back arched with effort and then his body crumpled to a heap in the tall grass.
I gasped, worried about what was happening to him, yet I wasn’t motivated in the least to run down and check. In fact, I wasn’t motivated to move an inch from behind that rock. As if agreeing with the whole staying-put idea, my feet felt as heavy as weights.
Ah-oooooooohh! Another howl sounded, this one higher pitched and eerie. The tall grass rippled where Austin had fallen. There was a flash of skin, his arm maybe. Then the blue of his jeans streaked by, as if being tossed away. Another howl rose, followed by some yipping.
Uh-oh. I forced myself to release the breath I’d been holding. This whole thing was real. He was totally changing into something. It was time to start hiking—like, really really fast—but it was so hard to tear myself away from the amazing scene below me.
Just then something dark brown rose in the grass.
“Holy crap,” I muttered, rubbing at my eyes.
Ears, wolf ears. Then a whole head. A canine head pointed in the direction of the hill. My direction.
My heart hammered in my chest, and not in a good way. Austin saw me. I mean, the wolf saw me, because that’s what he was now, stalking through the tall grass. A beautiful dark brown and black wolf as big as a Great Dane.
I scrambled up and then, in an attempt to combine running for my life and hiking, totally tripped over my own feet. I dusted myself off and ran, glancing back one more time.
The wolf was gone. Gone from my sight, anyway. But I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t on his way up the hill right now. I started blazing through the trees, not caring that night was smothering the forest like a dark blue blanket.
I really hoped Austin had been right about the hill leading to Camp Crescent. Otherwise…man, I didn’t even want to think about otherwise.
A candle makes a super crappy flashlight. I was already on my third one and had at least ten wax burns on my hands to show for it. Near the summit of the hill that supposedly led to camp, I held the stub of the current candle out in front of me and kept pushing through the dense evergreens. So far, I’d remained pretty calm, considering, but when a breeze ruffled some trees off to the side of me I about had a heart attack.
Chill, I told myself. You can totally do this. With my free hand, I pulled my sweatshirt a little tighter around me and walked, focusing on the trail ahead. At last, there was a break in the trees and I stood at the top of a long, winding trail that led downhill. Moonlight shone on the path, which looked like hard-packed dirt, a welcome change from the rocky mess that’d led up the hill. See, I knew you could do it, my brain gloated. You’re almost there. Feeling a little more confident, I charged ahead on the path.
Grrrrrrr-rrrr! A low growl sounded, followed by a kind of screeching noise.
All the hairs on my body stood up. Oh, crap. Austin was coming after me.
I turned slowly, almost afraid to look. The bushes behind me swayed ever so slightly. But not enough to make me think there was anything there. I exhaled and turned back around, taking a step.
Ah-oooooooohh!
My hair did the standing-on-end thing again. Austin? I froze, listening as the echo of the howl died away. Then, reluctantly, I looked over my shoulder. The bushes swayed again, then stopped.
I felt a breeze against my cheek. Just a breeze. I pulled the hood of my red sweatshirt up. Then, telling myself again to chill, I started down the path.
Probably a half hour later, reaching the base of the hill, I expected to find the magical gate to Camp Crescent. From what Austin had described, it was supposed to be right there. Instead, I found another stupid ravine.
As best I could make out with my puny candle and the streams of moonlight, below me was a gorge cut into the freaking for
est, complete with another creek bubbling by all happy. I started lowering myself down the steep side of the ravine, clinging onto roots and big rocks. I was maybe twenty feet down when I heard it.
Grrrrrr-rrrr!
My hair follicles, of course, did their creeped-out thing. And my feet slipped a little in the loose dirt of the bank. I dropped a few feet lower.
A screech ripped through the darkness. I scrambled down the bank, knowing there wasn’t time to lift myself up to the ledge where I’d been standing a moment before. As stickery vines tore at my legs on the way down, I cursed the short-shorts I was wearing. Finally, I landed on the ground, my feet splashing into the creek.
The screech sounded again, giving me serious goose bumps. Werewolves really weren’t just wolves, I thought, glancing up at the ledge. They were a whole new kind of scary beast. Very scary-sounding beasts.
The rocks were slippery and hard to see, since my candle was barely going anymore and the moonlight hardly reached this ravine. My Nikes were sopping wet when I reached the other side of the creek.
Glancing back over my shoulder, I didn’t see anything coming, but I heard yipping again, like coyotes barking or something. I shuddered, kicking my way through grass and low bushes until I came to the opposite bank of the ravine. It was as steep as the other side had been, so I reached out with my free hand for the nearest exposed root and hauled myself upward. I dug my toes into the dirt, trying to make little holds, but mostly just loosened soil and rocks.
Grrrrrrr-rrrr!
Holy crap. That sounded like it came from right behind me. I scrabbled at the dirt with my free hand till I had a good grip and forced my body up a few feet. Then my toes finally found a good spot. When I hoisted myself up again, I was farther up the bank, about halfway.
Grrrrrrr-rrrr!
I glanced over my shoulder and saw something dark prowling through the bushes like it was stalking me. I suddenly thought about what I must look like, me in my red hooded sweatshirt. Being followed by a Big Bad Wolf. Nice.
“I knew it! I totally knew it!” I couldn’t help shouting out because it pissed me off that I was about to be werewolf chow. “You suck!”
The thing in the bushes stopped.
I crammed my hands into the dirt again and hauled myself up a few more feet. Man, either my arms were weak or my skinny butt was heavy. The heck with the elliptical machine in the family room at home, I was so getting a personal trainer if I ever made it out alive.
The slope started to get less slanted, which was a great thing, because when I looked down, the four-legged beast had reached the creek. It was shadowy down there—well, it was shadowy everywhere. My little candle had totally gone out on the way up the cliff, and anyway, it wasn’t like you could project a stupid candle flicker to light up a creek bed. But I could soon tell that the thing below me was definitely a wolf because little slivers of moonlight cut through the canopy of tree branches, highlighting him.
“Austin?” I paused for a moment to fully scope out what he’d become.
His head was enormous and beautiful in kind of a terrifying way. His tongue hung out of one edge of his wide mouth as he panted. Gleaming golden in the faint light, Austin’s eyes seemed the only recognizable part of him. He was way bigger than he’d seemed from a distance during the change. He made a low guttural sound, staring me down.
My blood turned to ice in my veins. “Nice doggie,” I said. Not like I thought that was going to work or anything, but I was on the verge of puking or peeing myself, so I had to do something.
The wolf stepped into the creek, his gaze still on me.
Oh, crap. I groped for some kind of heavy stick or something but only felt more of the vines I’d been using to help me climb. Turning around so I could keep him in my sight, I gripped the vines the best I could and then started climbing the ravine cliff backward like a frightened crab.
He splashed easily through the creek, issuing that warning sound again. I made it to the top of the cliff as he reached the base of the slope. Panicking, I scrambled through the bushes, my heart pumping like crazy. Any second, I was toast, and not in the romantic, moonlight way.
Ah-oooooooohh! A howl reverberated from the ravine.
Was this the last shred of his humanity telling me to run? I gladly took his advice. The branches cut into my already scraped-up arms and legs, but I kept pushing through the thick trees to get as far away from him as I could. Up here on the ridge, a clear shot to the moon, the whole forest was lit up electric blue, making it easier to see. Still, breathing raggedly, I crashed through a patch of stinging nettles, yelping as I made contact.
Then the screech sounded again. From what direction, I couldn’t say. It was almost like it was in front of me, or beside me. I didn’t stop to check it out. I kept running.
As I rounded a bend in the trail, I heard movement behind me. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Austin bounding through the trees. A dark blur, he was gaining on me.
“Ahhhhhh!” I screamed as he caught up.
But then he rocketed past me. With a growl that about curled my wavy hair, he dove into the tall bushes in front of me. The screech sounded again. The bush shook, crashing sounds and growling rumbling out of it.
A second later, Austin tumbled out of the bush with another four-legged creature. I couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t look like another wolf. I dropped to the ground, totally freaked.
The other creature let out a screech. A screech I recognized as the sound from the hill when we’d first separated. Austin hadn’t been following me—he’d been stalking that thing—which had been stalking me!
With a snarl, Austin went for his opponent’s throat. It was a large cat—maybe a cougar. Whatever the heck it was, it was vicious. It swiped at Austin with its huge paws, making contact with Austin’s shoulder.
Austin yelped and jumped backward. Then, teeth gnashing, he lunged at the cat. This time he had the cat by the neck and he swung it around. The cat’s cry made my teeth hurt, like nails on a chalkboard.
The thing clawed at Austin’s neck, hitting the shoulder wound again, but Austin kept fighting. He snapped at the cat, his jaws foaming. The cat reared back and then, with one last screech, jetted off into the bushes.
Austin wobbled upright for a moment, then slumped to the ground.
“No!” I screamed, rushing toward him. He couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be. But Austin wasn’t moving.
Shaking because I didn’t know what he might do while still in his wolf form, I knelt down a few yards from Austin. Bathed in a pool of moonlight, he was still breathing, his chest rising and falling in an irregular pattern. The gash on his shoulder looked deep, though—dark beads of blood welled beside it.
The forest seemed to close in around us—acres and acres of trees and bushes and God knows what else was out there hiding. Maybe the cat would come back to finish off both of us. He probably had a bunch of hungry friends, too. And all Austin had to fend away more attackers was me. Tears of frustration rolled down my cheeks. I forced myself to move closer to the wolf.
I could see he was bleeding like crazy—and I was scared to reach out and touch him. I was scared of the wolf. And I was scared because he was going to bleed to death and then I really would never see Austin again.
The wolf whimpered as his furry body shook with some kind of convulsion. My heart lurched in my chest. If I didn’t do anything, then he really might die. Come on, Shelby—suck it up, be brave, I told myself. Be brave when it counts.
I didn’t know anything about wolves, but I did know from basic first aid I had to stop the bleeding from his shoulder wound. I knelt beside him and bit the hem of my baby T, tearing the bottom of the shirt off into a long strip. With trembling hands I reached out with the fabric, knowing I had to touch him. I had to trust him—and myself.
His wolf ears pricked up like he knew I was there, but he didn’t move his head.
I pressed the material to his bloody shoulder.
Snap! His head
jerked toward me. I felt a stinging on my forearm. He’d grazed me with his teeth.
“It’s me, Austin,” I said, pulling back to rub the spot on my arm. It smarted, but it wasn’t bleeding. “It’s okay. I’m going to help you.” I wadded the T-shirt material in my hand again and held it to the wound.
This time, Austin’s wolf body seemed to relax. He made another whimpering noise, like the pressure hurt, but I didn’t move my hand. I had to stop the bleeding. I just hoped that would be enough.
FIFTEEN
Shelby?”
I opened my eyes. The sky above was faint gold with sunrise. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was.
The voice came again. “Shelby? Are you all right?”
I jolted into a sitting position. Austin sat beside me, my red sweatshirt zipped around his middle. He was bare-chested, his left shoulder wrapped with a dirty dressing.
“I was hoping it was all a bad dream,” I said, sliding my arms around my bare legs for warmth. The morning was cool, and my ripped T and shorts felt damp from the grass beneath me. But more than that, I was sitting next to a nearly naked guy. A guy who’d been a wolf a few hours ago. Confused and embarrassed were only the basics of what I felt.
“Sorry about your jumper. I needed something to, ah, cover myself,” Austin said in a weak voice.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, realizing he meant my sweatshirt. I stopped rubbing at my skin to warm myself and focused on tending Austin. I kept my eyes trained on his face and shoulder. He’d lost a lot of blood. This morning he had a pale look about him. His eyes, last night as bright as topaz, today appeared dull and dark.
“How do you feel?”
“My shoulder hurts like the blazes.” He smiled, barely hiding a wince as he touched the wound.
“The fight last night? Big scary cat?”
He rubbed his head like it hurt. “Yes. I remember. All I could think was that he was going to hurt you. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Never Cry Werewolf Page 14
