by Emma Wolfe
He didn’t believe me, but he must have sensed my stubbornness because he didn’t let go.
I’m not sure how long it took, but I almost whooped when I saw the red brick high school through the trees. We were almost to civilization, which meant we were almost to a doctor.
I helped him over to a tree on the outskirts of the sports fields. Thankfully, practice was over, and the school was empty.
“Go get my truck,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys.
I stared at him. He wanted me to drive his truck? I’d never driven a vehicle that big before.
He gave me one of his signature smiles. “You’ll do fine.”
I swallowed, my throat going dry. It was nice that he had confidence in me when I had none in myself, but still, I could barely drive Mom’s Bug. How was I going to handle a huge pickup truck?
“Drive it here to get me,” he said. His voice grew softer with each word, and his eyes drooped shut.
Worried he’d lost too much blood, I ran through the fields to the parking lot. I located his truck and pulled open the door.
A very loud screaming noise sounded from inside the truck, and for a moment, I thought I’d set off an alarm. But one glance into the cab and I realized our baby had turned on and was not happy. Trying to ignore its screaming, I shoved the key into the ignition, and the truck’s engine roared to life.
“Hang on, baby,” I called as I threw the truck into reverse and peeled out of the spot.
Once I got to the edge of the field, I floored the gas to push the truck up over the curb. The truck bounced around before settling back down as I drove across the grass.
I located the tree I’d left him next to and sped over there. I threw the truck into park, grabbed the baby, and threw its car seat into the bed of the truck. It would have to wait.
It felt a little wrong to treat the fake baby like that, but I needed to focus on Liam. The home ec assignment wasn’t that important.
I found Liam hunched to one side, his head resting on his shoulder with his eyes closed. I shook his shoulder, and it took a second before he looked at me. His gaze was cloudy, and it seemed like he was having a hard time focusing.
I wrapped his arm around my shoulder as I struggled to pull him up. Thankfully, the movement seemed to wake him up, and suddenly he was bearing most of his weight.
I guided him to the passenger door and half-pushed him into the seat. Just as I climbed up to buckle him in, his hands wrapped around my arm.
“You can’t take me to my house,” he mumbled.
I swallowed, not sure what that meant. “But, Liam—”
He straightened and met my gaze. “No. Please don’t.” And then he flopped back in the seat.
I stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to say or do. I had half a mind to take him home. After all, I had a feeling Mr. Bronson wasn’t in the dark about his son’s wolf-shifting capabilities.
Sure, I’d thought about taking him to Mom, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t want to involve her. Plus, I figured that Mr. Bronson just might have more information about the wolf that attacked Liam, and I wanted to know what was going on.
But then I stared at Liam’s features and realized that I couldn’t let him down. He wanted me to keep him from his dad, so that’s what I would do.
I swallowed as I clicked the buckle and climbed down, slamming the passenger door behind me.
That meant there was only one place to go.
Mom.
17
Cora
My heart was pounding as I drove down the road. I laughed at myself, thinking what Liam would say if he could hear it. He would know how panicked I was about all of this. And how terrified I was to try to explain this to Mom.
How does one tell their mother they are bringing a wolf shifter home?
So instead of going crazy thinking about what I was going to say to Mom, I just focused my gaze on the road and clung to the steering wheel until my hands cramped.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I rolled up behind the vet’s office and slid the truck into park. I took a few deep breaths as I pulled the keys from the ignition and set them on the seat next to me.
I needed a second to prepare myself.
But, when Liam let out a weak moan and shifted in his seat, I realized I didn’t have time. He needed help. I pulled open the driver’s door, grabbed the screaming baby from the back, and stormed into the building.
Mom startled as I barreled into her tiny office. Her eyeglasses were perched on her nose, and her computer was on. She’d swirled around in her chair to study me.
“Cora, what in the Sam Hill…?” she asked as she ran her gaze over me.
I must have looked like a mess. It wasn’t until then that I realized I was still in my workout clothes and had splotches of blood all over me. Add the screaming doll on top of that, and I must have looked like I’d escaped from the insane asylum.
“I need your help,” I said, setting the baby down on the floor.
Mom’s original smile morphed into one of concern. “Cora, you’re scaring me,” she said as she stood. “Does this have to do with the blood on your clothes?”
I nodded. “But you can’t tell anyone,” I said, raising my hands to stop her from moving toward the door.
Mom stared down at me. “Cora,” she said again. She drew out my name like she did when I was a kid and had “painted” her car using rocks.
“Please, Mom.” I swallowed as I stared up at her. “It’s not my secret to tell.”
She stared at me for a moment before she slowly started to nod. “Show me, then we’ll talk.”
I nodded as tears pricked my eyes. I just hoped Liam could forgive me for roping my mom into this. But what other choice did I have? He didn’t want his dad to find out. Who else did I have to turn to?
Fear and worry felt as if they were suffocating me as I followed Mom out of the back door and over to Liam’s truck. She waited as I pulled open the passenger door and stepped back. Mom’s gaze roamed over Liam, and I could hear the tiny gasp in her throat.
“Cora, he needs a doctor.” She started to move, but I held up my hand.
“No. Mom, please. You have to help him. He doesn’t want his dad to know.” I kept my gaze on the ground.
She studied me for a moment before she shifted her attention to Liam. I could see the thoughts rushing through her mind as she stared at him.
Then she sighed. “Fine. But I don’t want you around this boy after tonight, do you understand me? If I do this, that’s it. I don’t know what happened to him, and I have a feeling you won’t tell me, but the fact that he wants to keep it from his father tells me you shouldn’t be friends with him.”
My heart felt as if it were breaking as I nodded. My whole being was crying out in frustration that Mom was making me chose between fulfilling Liam’s wish, which meant I’d have to promise never to see him again, and breaking his trust, which meant he’d never want to see me again.
At least with this bargain, he would live. So I sucked in my breath and whispered, “I promise.”
That seemed to satisfy Mom. She nodded toward his arm and commanded that I help Liam down. It was a struggle, but Mom and I were able to get him out of the truck and into the surgical room to the right of her office.
He looked ridiculous, lying there on the operating table. We had to get some chairs and pull over another table so he could lie flat.
Mom nodded toward the apartment and told me to take a shower and take care of the screaming doll. She had work to do.
I nodded and stumbled up the stairs to our apartment.
My whole body felt numb as I stood under the hot water, watching Liam’s blood wash down the drain. I scrubbed my skin until it hurt. Once I was out, I dried off and dressed in yoga pants and a baggy T-shirt.
Then I headed back down the stairs to Mom’s office, where I tried to rock the doll to sleep. Once I changed it, fed it, and s
hushed it, it finally stopped screaming.
Thankfully, tonight was the night where it turned off at nine. I only had one more hour before this assignment was over.
As I was setting the doll into the car seat, Mom walked in. She looked tired as she rubbed hand sanitizer on her hands. I tried to gauge Liam’s condition through her expression, but she kept her gaze on the floor as she made her way over to her chair and collapsed on it.
“Mom?” I finally asked.
She glanced up at me. “He’s fine. I stitched him up, and he’s resting on the couch in there.” She sighed as she rubbed her temples. “Now, do you want to tell me what happened? Why there were deep lacerations all over him?”
It felt as if all the blood in my body cooled as I stared at Mom. I wanted to tell her about Liam, I did. But I wasn’t sure what would happen to him if I revealed his secret, so I did the only thing I could, I lied.
“We were out walking in the woods, and out of nowhere, a wolf attacked us.” The words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them.
Mom studied me. “Cora,” she said, her voice was low and threatening as if she knew I was lying.
I raised my right hand. “I promise, Mom.”
Her brows furrowed. “Really?” she asked. “And why can’t his dad know that?”
I swallowed, probably a bit too forcefully. So I took a deep breath and shrugged, this time more relaxed. “They don’t have that kind of relationship, I guess? I’m just doing what he asked, and that’s it.”
Mom didn’t look like she believed me, and she definitely looked unhappy that there was a chance I was lying. I wanted to walk it back, to be honest. But this was Liam’s secret. It wasn’t my place to tell anyone else.
And I doubted people would take kindly to his secret. Even if that person was Mom.
She sighed and rubbed her temples. “I’m going to head upstairs to take a shower.” She stood and then paused as she walked by me. “Leave Liam alone, okay?”
I swallowed as my throat closed up. It was like my body was physically rejecting the lies rolling around in my head. Desperate to respond, I nodded and then leaned back in my chair, hugging my chest.
I doubted that I could stay away, even though Mom had asked me to. Too much had happened between Liam and me. I honestly wasn’t sure that staying away from him was even physically possible for me.
The sound of Mom’s footsteps on the stairs faded as she disappeared. When I was sure she was gone, I stared at the door to the surgical office—maybe a bit too hard—like I was willing it to open. I wanted so desperately to go inside. To see Liam again. To make sure he was okay.
Before I could stop myself, I was standing and making my way over to the door. My fingers found the door handle and twisted. I opened the door a few inches and peered into the room.
There was a lumpy form covered with a gray blanket on the table. I stared at it, trying to assess how he was doing from the shape of him, but I couldn’t tell anything.
I slipped farther into the room, peering over my shoulder just to make sure Mom hadn’t reappeared on the stairs, and then shut the door slowly behind me.
The room was dark. The last bits of sunlight illuminated the drapes that Mom had pulled closed. It was just enough light for me to keep from tripping over everything.
I glanced at Liam’s stilled features. I knelt down next to him and watched to make sure he was still breathing. Relief flooded my body as I saw his chest rise and fall.
Thank goodness. He was still alive.
Satisfied, I scooted back to the wall and sat crisscross on the nearby couch. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, exhaustion taking over my body. So much had happened in such a short amount of time.
What was I going to do?
Liam had completely and wholly changed my life.
“Are you okay?” Liam’s deep voice startled me.
I opened my eyes to find him crouching down in front of me. Gauze was wrapped around his chest and his hair was tousled, but other than that, he looked normal. I scrambled to sit up, my hands instinctively reaching out to touch his shoulders.
“What are you doing? Lie back down,” I said, pressing him back toward the table.
Liam chuckled. “I’m okay.”
I shook my head and stood. “No, you’re not. You need to lie back down.”
He rose with me, and I couldn’t help but feel completely dwarfed in his presence. He leaned in closer and my whole body responded.
“Look,” he said as he began to unwrap the gauze.
I gasped as I reached out to feel the stitches that were threaded through the raised pink scars where his wounds had been. “You’re healed,” I said, marveling in the feeling of his skin under my fingertips.
He growled and pulled my hands away. “That lights a fire in my stomach,” he said, dipping down to kiss my fingertips. “I can heal on my own, but it’s quicker when the skin is stitched together for me.”
I glanced back up at him. The feeling of his skin and lips caused my soul to respond. Seeing him there in front of me, completely healed, made all my emotions bubble to the surface. I reached out and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling my body closer to him.
He was alive. He was okay.
He wrapped his arms around me and crushed me to his chest. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. His face was buried in my hair, and his breath was warm on my ear.
I shook my head and pulled back. “I’m just happy you’re alive.” The memory of the wolf attacking him slammed into my mind. I had so many questions, and I wasn’t sure where to start.
And then, Liam’s expression dropped, and he pulled his arms away. “That was stupid of me,” he said as he reached up and pushed his hands through his hair. He glanced around, letting his breath out in one big whoosh.
“What?” I asked, fearing what I was pretty sure he was going to say.
He glanced over at me and then back to the ground. “I should have never brought you into our world. I put you in danger.” He winced.
I reached out to touch him. To bring him back to me. But he just pulled back, raising his hands as if to stop me. “Please, Cora. Don’t.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “I’m fine. See?” I waved at myself. “I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”
Liam raked his gaze over my body. I couldn’t deny the look of pain on his face as he studied me.
“This time, maybe,” he said as he began to unwrap the gauze. Once it was off, he balled it up and threw it into the garbage can. “I have to go,” he said, stepping closer to the door.
“What? Why? Where?” My brain seemed to be short-circuiting. I was desperate to say something—anything—to get him to stay, but I couldn’t manage the words. Instead, I ended up sounding like a bumbling idiot.
“Home. To find my dad.” His gaze landed on me, and my breath hitched in my throat. I could see the pain he was experiencing.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” I asked, stepping forward. Even though I was pretty sure he was going to reject me, I still tried. I needed him to stay. He couldn’t leave me like this.
A sinking feeling inside me grew stronger by the second. If I let him walk out of that door, things were going be different between us. I would lose him before I truly had him.
“Liam, please,” I begged, my voice cracking.
His jaw flinched, and I could see he was hurting as well. But then a resolute expression settled on his face, and he turned to meet me head-on. “Cora, I can’t. We can’t. I was foolish to think things could happen between us.” He pushed his hands through his hair again. “Please don’t follow me. Just forget about me.”
I stared at him.
Anger. Frustration. Fear. All of those were coursing through my body with the rapid beating of my heart. “Liam—” I started. But he’d already opened the door and was disappearing into the evening’s gloom.
I ran over to the door and scanned the woods, hoping to catch one last glimpse of him. But there was nothing.
He
was gone.
I sobbed as I closed the door and collapsed against it. I wrapped my arms around my chest, hoping to hold together my breaking heart.
“Cora?” Mom’s voice sounded through my muffled mind.
I glanced up to see her walking over to me. Her hair was wrapped up in towel. Her eyebrows were drawn together as she studied me. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head. No. I wasn’t. There was nothing about this that was okay.
She must have deduced that I wasn’t physically hurt, because she dropped her gaze to the table and then back at me. “Where’s Liam?”
My shoulders were shaking as my sobs grew louder. Mom reached out and wrapped me into a hesitant hug. Like she still wasn’t sure why her daughter was freaking out.
“He’s gone,” I mumbled into her shoulder.
Mom pulled back to study me. “What do you mean he’s gone?”
Not wanting to have this conversation, I pulled away and headed for the stairs. I wanted to bury myself under my covers. “He’s never coming back. You got your wish.” I flung the words over my shoulder as I rushed upstairs.
Mom said something, but I didn’t hear it. I raced up to my room and shut the door behind me.
I tried to stop myself, but my body wouldn’t listen. I rushed over to the window and glanced out, desperate to see Liam. Was he still out there? Had he stayed?
I combed the darkness but found nothing. My heart broke as I staggered over to my bed and collapsed.
I buried my head into my pillow as my shoulders shook.
I’m not sure how long I cried, but at some point, sleep took over and I slipped into the darkness.
There was a moment in the night that I thought I heard someone in my room, but I figured it was Mom checking on me like she always did. And really, what did it matter? Liam was gone. He wasn’t coming back. He’d left me with a gaping wound and a broken heart. And I was pretty sure my life was never going to be the same.
I’d cry tonight, but tomorrow, I’d be strong.
After all, I’d survived seventeen years of my life without him. I’d be just fine.
I hoped.