by Melissa Haag
I scrambled to my feet. My eyes never left his as he slowly stood from where he’d been crouched on the balls of his feet next to me. How could something so cruel still make my stomach flip in such a toe-tingling way?
We stared at each other for several long moments. His eyes swept over me with a tender look. Concern clouded them when I involuntarily shivered.
He lifted the hoodie still held in his fingertips. “My name is...”
That’s as far as he got before I tried to deliver a swift kick to his balls. He dodged smoothly, but his easygoing expression changed to one of wary shock.
I didn’t wait for him to recover but turned and scrambled up the embankment to reach the road. It was pointless. I knew he was much faster. Still, I pushed on. Stones slid under my feet. He caught me from behind while I was still scrambling over the loose stones and pinned my arms to my side.
“Easy, luv. Unlike you, I mean no harm,” he spoke softly near my ear, sending tingles along my spine. His grip, though firm, wasn’t rough. He turned and walked back under the bridge, carrying me easily.
My heart freaked out, going into a very painful overdrive.
He surprised me by letting me go. I spun to face him again with my knees bent and weight on the balls of my feet, ready to move. His expression seemed more concerned than wary. Probably concerned that someone would hear. We were fairly close to town, no doubt the reason why he pulled me back under the bridge.
“As I was saying, my name is Luke Taylor. And you are?”
“Not yours,” I answered automatically. “Touch me again and I’ll sac tap you so hard you’ll be coughing semen for a week. And this time I won’t miss.”
I felt a moment of pride at my tough words, but that quickly passed as the details of the life I’d just dreamt continued to filter in. I’d survived the fight, but at only fourteen, I hadn’t survived long in the hands of my mate. He’d been rough and brutish but not completely uncaring. As his leader suggested, my fragility hadn’t withstood him.
I was older in this life and determined not to be as fragile. I wouldn’t be used that way again. They’d wanted to control me to influence a decision. I wasn’t sure what decision yet, but I knew it involved the others like me. The ones who had briefly shared the womb of the Taupe Lady with me, the ones I sometimes dreamed of.
In response to my eloquent threat, his lips twitched as if he wanted to smile.
That gave me pause. Something about this was wrong...
The wind rattled through the empty branches while I tried to pinpoint the problem. I risked looking away to scan the bank and trees behind him.
“What are you looking for?”
It wasn’t until I looked back at him that I realized what I’d looked for—what was wrong. “Your pack of murdering dogs.”
Surprise flashed in his eyes. “I’m alone.”
I snorted in disbelief. They were never alone. Always in a pack. I stayed tense, waiting for his next move. I knew better than to try running again. Who knew how long his humor would last.
He didn’t say anything, just continued to study me. After a time listening to the dry rattle of barren tree branches and dead weeds around us, he sighed and sat down on the patch of rocks where we’d started.
I flicked the briefest glance at the trees again, puzzled. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you to decide your next move. Keeping up with you is exhausting. I thought giving you money would keep you in one place long enough so you could get the sleep you obviously need.” He pulled his knees up and rested his forearms on them in a relaxed pose. “So what are your nightmares about?”
The reminder that he’d been in my room had me narrowing my eyes. “All of the ways I’d rather die than bite the neck of a disgusting werewolf who’d be willing to rape a fourteen year old girl just to have control over her when Judgement comes.” The lingering memories of my young past life still haunted me, and the words were out of my mouth without thinking.
He flinched as he looked down at the ground. I didn’t know what I meant by it all, but the ring of it sounded so right. Something in what I said struck a chord in him, too, because with a clenched jaw, he paled. Satisfaction coursed through me. About time one of them felt guilty about what they did. Just as I had that thought, an angry red flush flooded his face.
“Has someone hurt you?” His softly intense words sounded strained. The veins on the back of his hand stood out. This wasn’t a mystery to me. I’d witnessed this many times in my dreams. He struggled to contain the beast.
I recalled the word I’d used. Werewolf. So laughably impossible to me a few short months ago, I embraced the truth of it...him...and of the nightmare of my life.
“Tell me who,” he demanded. When he looked up, his eyes were larger in his skull. The pupils dilated as he struggled to maintain control.
I didn’t bother wondering why he cared. They were territorial creatures, possessive of their unclaimed women. Even more so of their mates.
“In this life? No one yet. But it looks like you’re about to fix that. In other lives, they’ve already died.” I thought about my dreams and wondered if that was true. Was this my first life in this cycle? I knew I could be born several times in the same cycle, making it possible to meet some of them in more than one life. I’d dreamt that very scenario.
My words seemed to turn off a switch in him. His change receded. “This life?” Confusion laced his voice.
He’s good, I thought. The rest had just bullied and beat me. No one had tried acting like they cared.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why are you toying with me? We both know what you want.”
He shook his head slowly and stood, pulling something from his pocket. Hand outstretched, he offered me the cell phone I’d tossed into the garbage at the last hotel. “Press call. I have a...friend, Gabby. She sent me to look for you. Thought you might be like her.”
His words burst a bubble of anger within me. For a moment, I just struggled to breath. One of my original sisters? This was different. New. Still, I couldn’t trust him. They’d talked about the others like me before, but we were never in their control at the same time. Not for very long, anyway. We kept dying on them. The thought made me smile briefly. It faded into a frown. I didn’t want to die again.
Looking up at the overcast sky, I decided something felt different this time. Some balance had been tipped. I just wished I knew in whose favor.
Declining to take the phone, I watched him as I gathered my things and put my hoodie back on. In the distance, I heard the rumble of a car starting up. Slowly, I turned away from him and climbed back up to the road. I reached the top. He didn’t stop me. I didn’t look back but remained focused forward.
Gravel crunched underfoot as I walked back into town. His steps echoed quietly behind me. I hoped it was well behind me. The car turned onto our road. I didn’t change my step, my breathing, nothing. No physical signs to give me away. The car increased its speed.
At the last moment, I stepped into the road waving the car down. My pulse jumped and my hands shook. Kill me or stop. Please stop. I didn’t want to die; I just wanted a ride. A fast getaway. It was a risk not just for me, but also for the driver of the car if Luke reached the car before I got in.
The two guys in the car didn’t hesitate. The car pulled to the side, and I quickly slid into the backseat slamming the door closed with a breathless, “Thanks.”
The car didn’t move. I glanced at the driver, but he wasn’t focused on me. I followed his gaze and met Luke’s eyes through the window. My stomach plunged to my toes. He stood on the shoulder of the road, less than a step away, looking down at the car—at me—through the glass. Though his stance was relaxed, he didn’t look very happy. I fought not to give into complete panic as his eyes narrowed on the boys in the front seat. Luke looked back at me, studied me for a moment, and arched a brow.
“Is your friend getting in, too?” the driver asked.
I held Luke’s gaze and
shook my head. Luke’s lips twitched again as if he fought not to smile.
“A’right.” The kid put the car in drive and slowly pulled away.
I kept my eyes on Luke. I’d seen his kind do incredible things and didn’t trust him for a moment. From the front, the driver asked where I was headed.
“Doesn’t matter. Next town if you’re going that far.”
Luke faded into the distance along with his last censoring gaze.
* * * *
Though I firmly believed there was nothing worse than facing a werewolf, the two boys in the front seat tested me. They suggestively asked about compensation for the ride they provided. Then, when I feigned ignorance of their innuendos, they flat out asked for head.
“Pull over,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Oh, come on,” the driver said with a laugh. “We’re just messing with you.”
The warmth of the car and the soft vibrations weren’t enough to keep me lucid, so I rolled down the window. With their current line of conversation, I couldn’t afford to fall asleep.
“I’ve been messed with enough. Just get me to the next town or as far as you can take me.”
The conversation silenced for almost a minute, and I let out a slow breath. As if it were a signal, the passenger turned in his seat to watch me.
“So do you have a boyfriend?”
Are you freaking kidding me? I’m on the run from sadistic beasts that actually wear fur and run on all fours, and he wanted to know if I had a boyfriend?
“No.” I met his gaze. After a few long moments, his smile faded, and he turned forward once more.
The respite from their inane conversation gave me a moment to consider my meeting with Luke. He was the first one ever to offer his name. Sure, I’d learned a few names over my lifetimes but always by listening to the conversation flowing around me. Not only had he offered his name, but he’d also let me go. I had no illusions. He could have stopped me easily by reaching through the glass and pulling me out forcibly. Why hadn’t he?
“Can you roll that window up?” The driver reached over and turned up the heat.
I needed the ride. Though it wasn’t a good idea, I rolled up the window. Within a minute, the temperature in the car jumped from cool to goodnight. My eyes blinked closed. In my dreams, I could no longer separate my past self from my present self. It was just me...
Several of them gathered where I lay broken at the bottom of a ravine. I’d tried jumping over the gap and misjudged the distance. For once, I had not purposely flung myself over the edge of something. My right leg throbbed painfully; and when I tried touching it, my fingers came away wet before I even got to the spot that really hurt. I shook all over. Definitely shock.
Lying on my back, looking up at the overcast sky and the scrub-dotted crumbling edge of the ravine, their faces danced in and out of my line of sight as each of them inspected me. Finally, the leader came close.
“We remember through stories passed down from each generation which of you is most likely to fight or run. Which has succumbed in the past. Who is born first. Who dies too easily. We remember.” He reached down and smoothed back a hank of hair that covered part of my face. “You, my wise little girl, have given us plenty of trouble because you remember, too. Let us create some new memories, shall we?”
Their hands tugged at my clothes and grasped my arms. Hurt and bleeding, I fought them as they...
...lifted me.
“Never again,” a voice said near my head. “She’s crazy!”
A hand fumbled for hold on my flailing arm. I stopped fighting and pried my eyes open. The driver had my legs while the passenger struggled with my feet.
“I’m awake,” I said. “Stop!”
The driver dropped me when I met his shocked gaze. The passenger was slower to catch on, and I had to yank my arms from his hold. They both stared at me for a second while I quickly looked around. We were still on a straight stretch of country road. I couldn’t have slept more than fifteen minutes. We hadn’t put enough distance between us and that thing, Luke.
“I have bad dreams,” I said as I brought my gaze back to the driver. “Night terrors. The car got too warm, and I fell asleep. It won’t happen again. Please, I just need a ride to the next town.”
Chapter Four
The banter suggesting favors changed to worried, darting glances as the driver sped up. I struggled to stay awake—despite my promise—as we drove another twenty minutes in silence. With a sudden jerk of the steering wheel, the driver pulled over to drop me off near a department store. The door had barely closed before the car pulled away. I watched the car shrink in the distance. They were idiots but idiots who may have saved my life. I should be harder to track in a town this size.
Walking a short distance to a sub shop, I ordered food and sat down to plan my next move. I hadn’t been eating much since running, so I wolfed the sub down in seconds. People paused in their own eating and stared. Focused on picking the pieces of lettuce off the paper, I stopped paying attention to everyone around me. So, I jumped a little when someone slid into the booth and nudged another sub toward me.
Looking up, I froze with a piece of lettuce still pinched between my fingers. My stomach flipped in a sickeningly pleasant way, and my heart gave an excited beat before I could suppress my reaction.
Luke sat across from me. His hair was windblown, and he had a thread of worry in his eyes.
“Did they take your money?” he asked with a slight growl.
I flicked my eyes around the small seating area. No other men. Well, a few men sat with their families, but they didn’t count. He’d come alone again.
“What are you talking about?” I asked quietly, narrowing my eyes. This cat and mouse game made me edgy. When would the others appear?
“The car pulled over halfway here, and you all stood on the side of the road. Why?” He paused and his jaw clenched briefly before he leaned forward slightly. In a quiet, low voice he asked, “Did they hurt you?”
Hurt me? I frowned at him. He was worried they’d pulled over to what? Have a good time with me? My temper flared.
“Why are you doing this?” I said as I tried to keep my voice down.
My dreams had taught me to stay quiet to save lives. Through self-sacrifice, I saved others. Life after life...death after death, I had learned the people who tried helping me always died. I realized I hated my life as much as I wanted to cling to it.
He leaned back and studied me. “Because I want to help you,” he said with a slightly confused smile. He lifted a hand as if to reach across the table and touch me.
I jerked back suppressing the urge to punch him in the face. How dare he mock me by feigning ignorance and sympathy.
“If you want to help me, die.” My gaze remained locked on him, ready for anything.
His eyes flared slightly, and he dropped his hand. “You are very hostile for someone your age.”
I snorted. “Just how many teenagers do you know?” He looked like he’d passed eighteen several years ago. I guessed he had to be in his mid-twenties.
He sighed and scratched his jawline. After a moment he said, “Perhaps we started off poorly. I’m Luke Taylor. My friend, Gabby, sent me to find you. She thinks you may have something in common with her.”
I felt a tug of sympathy for Gabby. “How is she?” I murmured before I could stop myself. If they had her, she would already be suffering; and I really didn’t want to know the extent of it. It would just hurt more.
“Last time I saw her, she was weak but recovering.” He nudged the sub toward me again. “Eat. You’re too thin, and you’ll need your strength.”
Weak? I remembered all the torture his kind had inflicted upon me. He wanted me to be strong enough to endure. “You son of a—”
He cut me off by reaching over the table and gently clapping a hand over my mouth. He looked annoyed for the first time. “Hush,” he warned when I would have moved away to keep talking. “The decisions you make and
the words you speak influence the people around you. Be aware of your influence.”
I scowled at him. What was he talking about?
He sighed and answered my question as if I’d spoken it aloud. “There is an adorable little girl just behind you. She can’t be more than two.”
When I turned, he dropped his hand. Two seats away, an admittedly cute little girl watched us with curiosity. Taking a calming breath, I turned back toward Luke.
He was gone. The cell phone rested on the table, a number already punched in. I stared at the phone for several heartbeats. What was with this guy? Appearing, disappearing. Letting me go. Giving me money and now food. As much as I wanted to know about Gabby, I wouldn’t...couldn’t call. They would use her to trap me just like they would use my mom. Besides, she might not even be one of the others I dreamed about.
I ignored the phone but took the sub, shoved it in my duffle, and left. Once outside, I carefully surveyed the light foot traffic around me. Luke seemed to have disappeared, but I didn’t believe he had gone far.
Keeping to the populated area, I walked slowly as I tried to figure him out. He had plenty of opportunity to force me to go with him, to hurt me, but he hadn’t done either. Instead, he’d found me in the hotels and snuck into the rooms without notice to what? To watch me sleep? To leave me a note and money? But he’d left me alone in the homeless shelter. Why? Probably too many people for whatever he had in mind. My eyes darted around counting as the thought “too many people” stuck in my head.
In all the past lives I’d remembered so far, never had humans gathered in such great numbers. Each time, the dogs had found us in small villages and decimated those around us. No. Not dogs. Werewolves. I needed to face the reality of their existence. The werewolves were vicious and strong, but I’d witnessed them receive injuries. They had weaknesses...and now we outnumbered them.
For the first time in days, a smile lit my face. Maybe there was hope after all.
* * * *