She hesitated then sprinted away. The wolf was terrifying. Its eyes were yellow and wild, and its snarl, inhuman. I gulped with apprehension as it approached me. It sniffed the air eagerly. I knew it could sense my fear.
I stepped backward slowly as the wolf leaned low, ready to spring. Tripping, I fell awkwardly. The wolf lurched forward, its lips curled back to reveal huge sharp teeth. I squeezed my eyes shut, too scared to watch. I tensed up, but nothing happened. I opened one eye cautiously, only to see the wolf feint another attack. He was taunting me. I gulped, too frozen with fear to move or even scream. I was sure I was about to die as I looked into those wild amber eyes. I recognised them and knew for sure it was the red-haired man; werewolves had been following us all along. They knew the truth about us way before I did. But how?
“You,” I gasped, unable to help myself. “Why are you doing this?”
He cocked his head to the side. An intense shudder ran through his entire body.
For a second I thought he was going to let me live, but then he crouched, about to launch himself at me, and the world slowed down. A huge black blur flung itself at the red wolf. He rolled over, shaking himself free, and leapt to his feet. He looked from me to the black wolf, hesitating before running away.
The black blur looked around at me with the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen. His black coat shone with health. There was nothing scary in his expression, and I felt a pang of something inside.
“Nathan?” I whispered, in complete awe of him. I moved slowly toward him with my hand out. “You’re beautiful.”
I managed to lightly touch his coat with my fingers before he ran off. Being near him worked. We were going to be okay. Snapping out of the trance I had fallen into, I scrambled to my feet and hurried in the direction Amelia had headed toward, calling her name as loud as I dared. She scared the life out of me by grabbing my hand from behind a tree.
“Oh, my God! You’re okay.”
“Yeah, Nathan’s here.”
Her eyes darted about wildly. Her face was slick with sweat; her hair stuck to her cheeks. She grabbed my arm, her fingertips pinching me in her urgency. She gulped repeatedly, unable to fully catch her breath. I had to stop her hyperventilating. I had to get us out of the woods.
I held her face still and forced her to look at me. “Listen to me. Just listen. We’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m here. I’ll take care of you. But I need you to calm down for me.”
I held her close to me and shushed her until her breathing became almost regular again.
“No talking now, Amelia,” I warned when I finally stopped her sobbing. “Listen to me. We have to get out of here as quietly as possible. We’re going to head to my house. We’ll be safe there. Do you understand? There are lots of people; it’s public. They won’t come after us.” I had no idea if we’d be safe there. I knew she was in danger—I was too—but we had to keep moving no matter what.
Her entire body shook visibly. If she could only ground herself, then she might keep it together long enough to make it to safety. I was determined not to let my own doubts show.
“Concentrate on getting out of here. Don’t think about werewolves. Just watch your step.” She gulped a couple of times and nodded, focusing.
She was terrified. I had never seen her look so young. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew we had to get ourselves out of the middle of it. I held her arm tightly and led her slowly onward. I had a rough idea of where we were, and I knew the area better than Amelia, but it was easy to get turned around when you were being chased by a mythical creature. Amelia had turned into a blubbering mess, so I had to take control and not think about the red wolf—or anything else that might be in the woods.
I concentrated on moving, one step at a time, keeping Amelia with me. I felt stronger for looking after her, but rivulets of sweat ran down my back nonetheless. I couldn’t let myself lose it when I had to make sure she was safe. One thought in my mind kept me going. Nathan. Before he came along, I would have probably lost the plot—just like Amelia—but now he was my strength. I pushed on because of him, for him.
We ran as fast as we could, but exposed tree roots, growing darkness, and complete panic slowed us down. After what seemed like an eternity, I realised we had to be close to the edge of the woods. Just when I thought we would be okay, a nasty snarl from behind us proved we clearly weren’t. We were in a much less dense area of the woods, so it was easy to see that two growling wolves were behind us, closing in.
One was almost blonde in colour with ice blue eyes that were as cold as they were ferocious. I guessed it was the angry blonde woman. But it was the bigger wolf who really scared me. I could see him more clearly this time. Mostly grey with dark streaks of black, he looked completely feral. His mouth curled back in an aggressive snarl, saliva and foam dripping down his chin. I knew he was a werewolf, but he didn’t seem like he could be human at all.
Nathan’s eyes had remained soft when he changed, but this wolf had manic eyes. He moved toward us, inching ahead of the other wolf. I could see his focus was on Amelia, so I pushed her behind me hoping to distract him. She clung to the back of my jacket, terrified.
The wolf paused and looked at me, sniffing the air. He lifted his head and barked harshly, still heading straight for us. The blonde wolf lined up beside him, soon joined by the third wolf. I backed up, not sure what to do next. I knew they would kill us just as surely as I knew they were all werewolves.
I was wondering how far we could run before being caught when two black wolves burst through the trees, snarling in anger. Amelia gave a little shriek of alarm. I grabbed her arm and forced her backward. I recognised Nathan and assumed the larger, shaggier one was Byron. I hadn’t gotten a good look at him before. Now I saw he was fierce and magnificent, but not as beautiful as Nathan in wolf form.
The blonde and red wolves both turned to face Nathan and Byron automatically, but the grey one ignored them and continued to focus on us—more specifically, Amelia. He barely looked around when two more wolves and some wolfhounds joined the scene. It wasn’t until they surrounded him, snapping and snarling that he turned his body away from us. I swallowed a scream. He still seemed reluctant to lose sight of Amelia.
I wasn’t sure if there were more werewolves around, so I was afraid to run. I’d heard that running entices an animal’s hunting instinct, but I had no idea if that still applied. I didn’t have a clue what to do. Life hadn’t exactly prepared me for killer werewolves.
I already knew the large white wolf was Jakob Evans, and I guessed the smaller silvery grey wolf was Lia. They weren’t as intimidating as Byron, but they stood their ground. The wolfhounds backed off as one, as if they had been commanded. They surrounded Amelia and myself. Amelia clung to Cúchulainn, sobbing loudly. I was afraid she was drawing attention to herself. The wild looking grey wolf was obviously distracted by the sounds she made; his body shuddered every time she let out a sob. I gripped her shoulder tightly, silently urging her to calm down.
All of the werewolves faced each other for a few tense moments. I was terrified for Nathan. He was the least experienced wolf being so young. As far as I could tell, an immature werewolf had no chance against a full grown, experienced werewolf.
My blood ran cold at the thoughts of him fighting against an adult wolf. For the first time, it truly dawned on me how much danger we were all in. Although his family outnumbered the others, they weren’t used to these kinds of confrontations. The other werewolves gave me the impression they had done this before. Particularly when they snarled and snapped threateningly.
For one tense moment, nobody made a move. The grey wolf’s body trembled constantly, as if he was trying to restrain himself. He seemed more than eager to fight. As if one, all three of the wolves unknown to me attacked.
The large grey one went straight for Lia. He had her throat before Jakob could respond. She fought back fiercely, squirming to get away, her nostrils flaring. Jakob jumpe
d onto the wolf’s back, forcing him to let go. The three of them rolled around together. It was immediately obvious the elderly couple were no match for the younger, stronger, wilder wolf.
Byron seemed to be getting the upper hand on the red wolf, but I was distracted by something else. The blonde wolf had thrown herself at Nathan who rolled backward and struck his head off a tree stump. For a moment he lay there, stunned and motionless. Those few seconds felt like an eternity to me. The wolf took advantage and attacked him, sinking her teeth into his neck, to my horror. I glanced back at the others and saw the grey wolf had gripped Lia in a similar way. Blood spurted onto his face. I had to make a choice.
Something inside me unleashed itself. As though a switch flipped, I thought of Nathan as my mate; I couldn’t let anything happen to him. I didn’t think about what to do next. I simply reacted.
I ran straight over to the blonde wolf, half climbing onto her back. I reached around and sank my fingers into her eyes with one hand, using the other to tear at her coat relentlessly, desperate to pull her away. One lone focus in my mind—to help Nathan. She yelped loudly in pain as I pulled at her, letting go of Nathan abruptly. I fell backward, pulling her after me with a burst of adrenalin that gave me strength I never had before.
She landed heavily on top of me, almost crushing me with her weight. I was sure I heard one of my ribs crack, but I didn’t let go of her fur. She growled in my ear and struggled to twist her body around. I moaned in pain from her weight as she shifted herself in preparation to destroy me. I flinched in anticipation, but Nathan recovered in time. He sank his jaws around her flank and pulled her from me, apparently unable to control his fury. She snapped at empty air instead of my throat.
Seeing her hurt me had changed something inside of Nathan too, I could tell. He was freeing his mind of all human thought. I could sense his rage and felt a strange sort of pride as he snarled even more ferociously than her. I knew with certainty he wouldn’t let her near me again. He was fierce and wild, and I realised I had to get out of the way, because he was letting his animal instincts take over.
I scrambled to my feet, side-stepping out of the way as they both tumbled toward me again. Gasping with pain, I ran back to the wolfhounds who were howling with disapproval. They had been commanded to stay with Amelia, but they wanted to protect me, too.
Amelia’s face was stained from a mixture of black eyeliner and steady tears. I ignored her, irrationally angry at her weakness. I touched Cúchulainn on the head reassuringly; he was the one most agitated by the fight. He licked my hand and tried to nudge me back toward Amelia, but I was too busy looking for a large stick I could pick up.
A sharp pain in my side almost doubled me over when I lifted a branch, but I ignored it as best I could. Both Nathan and Byron were covered in blood, but I was pretty sure most of it wasn’t theirs. The blonde wolf in particular was panting heavily, her coat matted dark red in places.
It was Lia and Jakob whom I worried about the most. The big grey wolf was strong, stronger than any of the others, and he had done something bad to Lia Evans while I had been trying to help Nathan. She lay on the ground, curled up in a ball, taking shallow breaths that somehow sounded wet. A sickening amount of blood flowed freely from an open wound at the base of her throat.
The grey werewolf crouched over Jakob Evans. His jaws wrapped around Jakob’s neck in a death grip as he shook him violently. I could almost see the life leave Jakob. He was growing weaker by the second, his struggles lessening too quickly. I realised it was probably too late for Lia, but I was determined to help Jakob.
The grey werewolf was so busy savaging Jakob that he didn’t notice me approach him from behind. I lifted the branch as high as I could, almost passing out with the pain. I slammed it down hard on the grey wolf’s head. He grunted, but held on, unable to take himself away from a kill. I struggled to lift the branch again, gasping from the intense pain in my ribs. This time I pounded it down harder, the impact making a sickening thud.
He released Jakob immediately and let out a horrible cry. He turned and looked right at me, blood dripping from his snout. I dropped the branch, unable to look away. A shadow darkened his eyes, and he fell to the ground. Lifeless. I froze, waiting for him to get back up.
He didn’t.
Both of his companions immediately raised their heads in our direction at the sounds. The blonde one whimpered, but the other barked, and they both fled in unison, Nathan snapping at the blonde’s tail.
Jakob limped up with difficulty and nosed Lia on the ground. I held my breath, but she didn’t stir. I shook my head in disbelief. Not Lia. It couldn’t be possible. Tears rolled down my eyes at the heart-breaking sound of Jakob’s mournful howl. He leapt up and chased after the two escaping wolves, followed by Byron and some of the wolfhounds. A snarl from Byron forced Nathan back toward us.
In the back of my head, I could hear Amelia screaming, but it was dull, as if there was something muffling my ears. Nathan sniffed his grandmother’s face and let out an awful howl that made me choke back a sob. I couldn’t just stand there, or I’d fall apart completely. I had to do something. I hated the thoughts of Lia being so close to the monster that killed her, so I struggled to pull him away by his back legs. It took me ages, and it hurt like hell, but I had to do something.
Nathan lay next to Lia. I wondered if her body would return to its normal shape. I was still struggling with the grey wolf’s body when Byron and Jakob returned to us in their human forms, barefooted and bare-chested, along with the other wolfhounds. I vaguely wondered where their trousers had come from. When Byron saw what I was trying to do, he helped, lifting the dead werewolf easily and carelessly throwing him as far away from his mother as he could manage.
Byron and Jakob knelt beside Nathan. Amelia crawled over to join them. Nathan shook almost as much as Amelia. I hung back, not wanting to intrude on their grief. Jakob was in bad shape; he had deep wounds on his body, and Byron was covered in cuts and scratches. It was too hard to tell how badly hurt Nathan was, but I prayed he would be okay.
Lia would never be okay, and neither would Jakob; he lost his soul mate. He had to be heartbroken. I couldn’t begin to imagine what that felt like. Even I would miss Lia’s warm, comforting presence. I hadn’t known her for long, but she helped me. She had believed me. Even wanted to protect me. I owed her. It wasn’t fair she was gone. She didn’t deserve to die. If I had only helped her. If I hadn’t needed help. No matter how I looked at it, the blame fell on my shoulders.
I sat down beside Cúchulainn because I didn’t know what else to do. I looked down at myself and saw my clothes were now covered in dark red blood. None of it mine. The realisation of what happened hit me abruptly. I had just killed someone. As the thought connected in my brain, my body began to shudder violently. He died, right in front of me. The animal who would turn back into a man.
Even though he was shaped like a wolf, he was human. I killed a man. Me. A murderer. Only sixteen years old, and I had the deaths of two people on my conscience. Lia, and the werewolf who killed her. Cúchulainn licked my face, but I was too freaked out to respond. I had watched the light go out in the werewolf’s eyes, and I had been glad of it. What kind of a monster did that make me?
“She’s gone into shock.”
I didn’t know who was talking until Byron lifted me to my feet. I was too out of it to feel surprised when he hugged me tightly.
“I saw what you did. It’s going to be okay. You had no choice.”
I tried to speak, but my throat closed up completely. Not that I could say anything that would make any of it better. I wanted to lie down and not get up again. I didn’t understand why everything had gone so wrong.
Byron lifted his mother carefully and respectfully, his father close by his side. Seeing her body in his arms made it sink in, and I wasn’t able to stop the tears from falling. I choked back a loud sob, telling myself I didn’t have a right to cry. I felt incredibly out of place and alone.
I was suddenly aware of Amelia’s hand squeezing mine, and Nathan’s animal form pushing against my other hand. I gripped his fur tightly and felt stronger for it. Amelia leaned against me, but I took comfort from the touch. We all left the woods together, covered in blood and united in grief. I followed Byron, sandwiched between my best friend and my boyfriend. Linked to each other in a brand new way.
Chapter Sixteen
We made it to their house without seeing anybody. I was grateful because it would have been too much to explain. Despite the risk of being seen, neither Jakob nor Byron appeard to worry. Keeping secrets just didn’t seem important anymore.
Our procession moved slowly. Even Nathan didn’t seem to care about being seen in his wolf form.
At the house, I waited in the sitting room alone while the others took Lia’s body up to her bedroom. I felt like an intruder in their home. I sat there, covered in blood that wasn’t my own, and wept. So many regrets spun around in my mind. I didn’t know where to start processing what had actually happened. I wasn’t even close to wondering how I could explain it all to my father. Byron joined me, throwing a jumper over his head. He ignored my tears.
“Let me see your ribs,” he commanded. He pressed gently against them until I winced, then he wrapped a bandage around my torso. “This will have to do for now. I’m going to get rid of… the body in the woods. Stay here until I get back. We need to talk. My father is performing a death ritual upstairs, so sit here quietly, all right?”
I nodded glumly, not bothering to ask how he was getting rid of the body or what a death ritual entailed. I couldn’t take any more information. He left me alone again. All I could think about was poor Lia Evans, and how I hadn’t helped her in time.
Nathan came to find me after he had showered the grime and blood from his body. I lifted his top and checked him carefully, more relieved than I could say when I saw how little he had been hurt. He let me, as if knowing I would break down completely unless I saw for myself.