by Holly Hook
Teeth rip the flesh of my back and I growl, releasing the sandy wolf and bucking off the gray one. Fear pumps into my veins, making my heart race. I might die here. The air smells of iron, of blood—all our blood. The world is rotten and full of pain.
I rake the gray wolf the snout, drawing a line of blood. Droplets fly as I turn my aggression on him, closing teeth around an ear. I rip. It detaches. The light gray wolf backs away, vanishing into the woods and whimpering with his tail between his legs. Submission.
Bloodied, the sandy wolf leaps at me. I roll out of the way, spitting out the ear and drawing new, raw pain from my back leg. Dizziness overtakes me and weakness shakes my limbs. I'm losing blood. My senses dull. I no longer have the energy. The sandy wolf lands beside me, two rows of sharp, jagged teeth ready to gore my stomach.
A black wolf rams into the light gray one.
The two tumble and become a ball of flying fur, growling, and snapping. I rise and back away. Cayden. He's out here, but I can't smell him. Maybe I'm close to death.
Brie, get home.
His voice explodes in my mind as I watch the fight, but every instinct tells me to leap in and finish this wolf. Cayden's hazel eyes lock on the monster's throat, the monster who helped kill his parents. This might be the wolf who murdered Wyatt. Who plunged Cayden into this state.
I can't let him live.
Leaping into the fight, I claw at the gray wolf as my blood flows, puncturing another eye. Cayden rolls him onto his stomach. The gray wolf struggles, claws flying and hitting Cayden on the stomach. His throat's exposed. I dive at the Savage Wolf, closing my jaws around the soft flesh of his throat.
And with one bite, a final crunch follows.
The wolf whimpers one last time and goes still.
Cayden and I back away. I sway on my legs as a sticky sensation covers my back leg. Cayden sniffs, and his hazel eyes open in shock.
Get back to my house, he orders. On four legs. As fast as you can.
But he's not angry. Instead, terror fills his voice.
I'm hurt.
Perhaps very hurt.
And despite feeling my flesh tingle as it tries to pull back together, the dizziness and fatigue remains.
Move, Brie. Now. Or you might die. Cayden nudges me, urging me to hurry.
And together, we bound back into our territory, crossing the scent border and leaving the dead Savage Wolf behind.
Chapter Fifteen
Cayden leads the way.
I'm so glad he's back—and alive—that all thoughts of Matt and my injuries fade into the background as we run under the light of the waxing moon. The burning in my leg first intensifies as flesh swells to block off the blood flow, then throbs. Instinct tells me it's part of the healing process, and I no longer feel the flow of blood down my hind leg, but my back also throbs and screams. The dizziness remains. I've lost blood. My stomach roars in hunger and I think of those rabbits, or maybe even a deer, but it takes all my effort to follow Cayden over tree roots and through drying underbrush.
I stumble.
This is bad.
Cayden nudges me. Keep going.
Animal instinct tells me to stop and close my eyes. But I force myself up and continue to walk alongside Cayden. He's the alpha. His influence sweeps over me in this state and I don't question it.
At last, after a stumble again, the back of the Lowes' cabin comes into view. As I stagger into the backyard and into the weeds, a curtain of darkness lowers, pulling me into the ground as if it's made of lead. I land, limbs shaking as convulsions seize my body. I growl in pain as my form shifts from wolf to human. Darkness remains. It must mean I'm dying. Unable to keep this form.
But I can't scream.
I open my mouth, but my strength fails me.
So I fall into a void in pained silence. Soon, even my cracking limbs and muscle spasms die.
* * * * *
"Brie. Brie!"
Cayden's words stab into the void. The pit is so deep I hadn't realized I've been floating in it.
"Huh?"
"You're still with us. You lost a lot of blood. How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm just now coming back online?" I ask. I feel nothing at first, but then I realize a blanket rests under me, and a hard floor under that. The air smells of pine, old logs, blood, and Cayden.
"We need to get her food," Remo says. "Anything with plenty of iron is a plus."
"Red meat," Everly says. I can't read her tone.
"Well, the hospital's out," Cayden says. "We can't let them see our fast healing."
I force my eyelids open. They ache and the room still spins, but I take a breath and stay awake. My back still burns and my thigh does the same, but the pain has dropped to a bearable level. And yes, I'm in human form, bare, with a second blanket over me.
"Don't move," Cayden says, holding my shoulder. "You're healing well, but I bet you're dizzy and weak."
"Two points for you," I say, a question on my lips.
He rests his head on my shoulder. His body comes into view, and he's wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. Right after I collapsed, Cayden must have changed back, picked me up, and brought me into the house. Remo must have gotten back before we did, or Everly found him herself. Then they rested me here and prayed I'd recover.
"Brie, why did you do that?"
His tone breaks my heart. Not only does he sound exasperated, like I'm a lost cause, but his words carry anger. At himself, most of all.
I lift my head, making the room tilt and nausea sweep over me. Everly's gone into the kitchen. The gas stove ticks as she fires up a burner. I catch a whiff of the fumes and hear the hissing of the flames. Remo's left, too, and gone into another room.
"I had to save that guy," I say.
"I was chasing those wolves," Cayden says. He sounds froggy and full of emotion. "I would have done it."
"Why didn't I smell you out there?"
He swallows.
I sniff.
"You smell like pine needles," I say. "And that's not your normal scent. You've been masking yourself."
"The Savage Wolves didn't smell me coming," Cayden says. He lets the sentence hang.
"But you've been leaving your real scent everywhere else."
"True."
"You're not saying a lot. I know how you get, Cayden. Something's bothering you."
"Well, what's new?" he asks, forcing a smile.
"And it's more than just responsibility." That's big, coming from me. I'm only making things harder. "Everly sent me out to look for you. I wasn't trying to find Savage Wolves. But that guy would have been attacked. I had to help him."
Cayden lifts his head and looks at the kitchen.
"I heard," Everly says.
"You did, sis," Cayden says.
"That's because you never listen," Everly says. "We need you, brother. There are three days before the full moon and you're leaving us in the dark."
Cayden puts his hand on my back. "You're right. But I have a plan for stopping Olivia at the dance. It might work." Then he faces me. "The guy on the bike would have made it through the border of our territory before the Savage Wolves reached him. And I would have stopped them. Please don't risk yourself again."
"But there were two, and it didn't look that way. The Savages are trying to attack people just outside the border. They'll kill someone." I keep lying there, not daring to lift my head until Remo walks into the room with a glass of water.
I'm thirsty. My mind spins and it's hard to keep my thoughts straight. But Cayden helps me to sit up a little as I drink. Darkness waits in the corners of the room as I focus on a grandfather clock, trying not to pass out again. The faintness loosens its grip as I drink, but the weakness and hunger remain.
"Yes," Cayden says. "I've been watching for them. We all have. I shouldn't be mad at you. You were just trying to protect that man. That's what Noble Wolves do. Sometimes, I forget that." He gulps.
And the park roars back, complete with Matthew.
>
And my urge to tear out his throat.
He tried to attack me.
But I still tried to kill a human.
I can't tell Cayden. But I can ask. "Do all Noble Wolves have an urge to protect humans like that? Was it normal for me to do what I did?"
"Normal," Cayden reassures me. He wraps his hand under my back, but he's shaking.
"Just trying to make sense of all the rules and the pack order," I say.
"It's a lot to get used to," Remo adds. He sits on the couch, a beat-up leather one that smells of beaches, forests, and rolling fields. It betrays how much the Lowes have moved.
"Did you hear that, Cayden?" Everly asks.
Cayden sighs. "Yes, sis."
"What happens if a human tries to attack us?" I ask. "Just curious. That guy could have been a hunter who tried to shoot me."
"Then we might have to defend ourselves," Cayden says.
My racing heart calms.
Until he says, "But it wouldn't be pleasant. My mother came across a hunter once who tried to shoot her. She ran away. And my father had to chase off a drunk guy trying to fire shots at him when he was younger. No, don't worry. You won't go crazy and attack normal people."
He holds the glass up and I drink the last of the water, struggling not to choke. "So, what's your plan from keeping Olivia from hurting people?" I'm running from the subject and into another.
"I will keep a close eye on her."
"That's it?"
"That's it. I know the pack's upset with me and I understand, but I think this job should be mine alone."
"Cayden!" Everly marches into the room. "We're a team. And now you won't even let your mate help you. Packs form for a reason. You took alpha when you killed Travon."
Cayden sets the glass down and rises to face his twin. "I know I did. But I killed him because of what he did to our family."
"You know how the tradition works," Everly says. "You lead the pack."
"All tradition has done is get countless Noble Wolves killed," Cayden says. He still holds me up as he faces her.
Everly kneels and grabs his arms. "I don't want you to get killed."
Tears fill her eyes. She glances at me. Everly might see me as the invader, but we're allies in this moment.
Keeping the blanket around me, I rise, grabbing the wall for support. My injuries still burn, but they improve by the minute. "Listen to her, Cayden! Let us in on this because we're all worried about you. I went out there to find you and make sure you hadn't gotten yourself killed!"
Cayden rises and whirls on me. He shrinks back like a trapped animal for a second and then catches himself, straightening.
"I can't keep you safe," he mutters.
"That's not your job," I say. "Your job is to get us all to work together. And you got me back to the house just fine."
"You always downplay how dangerous this all is."
"We're all in this together," I insist. "One wolf will not keep the Savage Wolves out. We all know there might be over one new Savage Wolf in the area on Sunday night. The pack needs to be on the same program so we can deal with it and stop people from getting hurt."
Without him, I might have died out there, even with my fighting ability.
Everly nods. "Listen to her, Cayden."
"I want to!" He shouts in her face.
"Then why can't you?" I ask. He wants to kill Olivia and the thought's paining him. It's the only explanation.
Cayden moves his lips like he's trying to say something. Then he turns away. "You're right. We need to work together. So here's what I want us to do. Every, Remo and May will patrol the woods around town to check for any new Savage Wolves that turn on Sunday night. Brie and I are working at the dance where we'll be able to see if Olivia has problems. If there's anywhere the Savage Wolves will want new members of their kind to turn, it will be at a high-impact place like that. Maybe they don't care about staying undetected anymore. They're wild and act without thinking."
Like me.
Everly nods. "That sounds like a plan. Cayden, no more running off tonight."
"I thought I was alpha?"
"You know what I mean. You've marked the border. Both of you will sit down and eat. I'm no alpha, but that's an order."
Cayden forces a smile at me. "Maybe she's subbing for me tonight? I wish she'd stop contradicting herself."
Everly rolls her eyes.
My stomach roars as Everly rushes back into the kitchen to deal with burning sausage.
Cayden goes into another room, shuffles through clothes, and hands me a temporary shirt and jeans. I realize I have nothing but bare skin under the blanket, but the thought doesn't alarm me. Nakedness no longer carries the shame it did before turning, and besides, it's only right that Cayden's here.
I get changed in front of Cayden, heart racing as he places his hand on my back, rubbing his fingers over the teeth marks left by the now-dead light gray wolf.
"You're healing," Cayden says, his palm over swollen scabs. His touch burns, but
"Will it get infected?" I ask. "With regular bacteria?"
"No. Werewolves don't get bacterial infections. Most deaths are from violence, not sickness." He lowers his voice as he speaks in my ear.
Once I have my shirt on, I eye my thigh. It's scabbed, too, with redness around the puncture marks where I took the first bite. But as I scratch, a scab falls off, revealing new, pink skin. I'll heal by the end of the night.
"See?" Cayden asks. "Please, Brie. Try not to wander outside our territory. If you do, the wolves we drove out are free to attack us. They're breaking no rules."
"I'll try not to," I say. Cayden has enough to face. "But stick with us. Or we will look for you. I think it's the best way."
"Deal. Thank you, Brie." He kisses me on the cheek from behind.
But it's rushed. Different.
No one speaks as we eat. My wounds close all the way and stop burning as I take in calories, and the rest of the weakness and dizziness goes by the time I eat a second helping. Cayden remains silent. I know what he's planning, and I don't know whether to feel worse about that or about what I did earlier.
"I always wondered," I say. "What do I smell like? My scent? I know we're all a little different."
Do I smell like rotten wood or dirt at all?
Cayden grins as if relieved about changing the conversation. "Like the woods but with a trace of dry leaves and bark. Kind of like autumn. Or Halloween, just without the candy."
"That's not too bad," I say. But maybe when I got bit, the half of me that filled with Savage Wolf wasn't the part that gives off a smell. I shouldn't have gone ballistic on Matthew. Chased him off, yes, but not leapt at his window and tried to kill him.
But at least Cayden doesn't ask what's wrong.
And the more I think about it, the more I realize Olivia isn't facing a happy fate. But maybe if Matthew stays out of school, Noah will go with her and Cayden and I will watch them both. She'll wear her pendant, the dance will be fun, and no Savage Wolves will crash the party.
Chapter Sixteen
Matthew shows up at school the next day.
I hang by the doors and watch as Matt's father drops him off in his Hummer. I can only imagine the trouble Matt got into by getting home with a busted window of his new BMW and what excuse he came up with to get his father off his back.
I watch his large, hulking form get out of the Hummer.
"Responsibility," his father yells as Matt closes the door. The man doesn't sound pleasant.
As the Hummer leaves the parking lot, Matt scans the area.
His gaze lands on me and he freezes. I smell the adrenaline. He fears me. And he should.
But I don't dare approach. Already, the instinct to shift tugs at me, and I breathe out, forcing it to the side. I can control myself. I must. My father was a Noble Wolf and so am I. I'm almost relieved that Cayden hasn't showed up to school yet, or he'd sense my urge to attack.
But I'm not relieved that he didn't off
er to walk me home last night. Aunt May picked me up instead after she got home from work and found me gone. Cayden's still keeping a distance. I don't understand it.
Matt crosses the lot, heading to the Science Wing doors way on the other side of the school instead of the usual entrance. He won't like this power shift at all, and I get an urge to follow him to make sure he doesn't take it out on Ellie or Sarah.
But he knows if I find out, I'll kill him. He might behave.
Matt enters the school and leaves my sight. I share a class with him—the first one—but no others, so I might be okay with a bunch of others around. The fear of blowing my cover to everyone will help me hold back, right?
Cayden, Everly, and Remo arrive in the SUV shortly after Matt vanishes, and they join me at the front doors. "Class?" Cayden asks.
"Are you nervous?" I ask.
"No," Cayden says.
"Understand if you are," Remo says. "Three days to the dance. I ...I might go with someone, just so you know."
"You're supposed to patrol the woods," Cayden says.
"I know," Remo says. "But someone asked me to go, so I can't back out. Besides, the dance will be where most people in Breck are Sunday night. Having one more wolf there will help."
Cayden squares his shoulders at his adopted brother. "You were telling me not to date."
Remo swallows. I know who Remo's taking to the dance. Will Leonora be any help?
"Maybe he's right about us being at the dance," I blurt. "If the Savages want to attack anywhere in town, the dance would do the most damage. They'll probably want to infect young, fit people."
"If I were the Savage Wolves, I'd think like that," Remo says.
"Well, the Savages aren't the brightest," Cayden says. "They might want new Savages around town to get revenge on us, but that amount of planning would take a lot of mental effort I'm not sure they have."
Remo clears his throat. "The young are easier to corrupt than the old. Older people who get turned into Savages take longer for their human sides to twist since they've had a lifetime of human experiences and compassion. Well, sometimes."