by Amy Richie
The wolf clawed at the opening. Miranda and I moved back as far as the cave would allow. Which wasn’t very far. We may have been safe form the wolf’s jaw, but we were cramped. It was impossible to stand up, but we had a little room to back away.
Hopefully the others hurried. “What if no one comes?” her fears echoed my own thoughts. “How long will we have to stay in here?”
“This is better than sitting at the camp,” I hissed. “At least here we have a chance.”
“A chance?” she scoffed. “What chance? There is no other way out.”
We weren’t going out, though. We were staying here until someone else came. “At least we made it to the cave.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to run much longer,” she panted.
Me either, I silently agreed. My leg was throbbing painfully, but there wasn’t much I could do. I repositioned myself so I could stretch it out, sending tiny shoots of pain up to my hip. I clenched my teeth tight together to stop myself from crying out. I didn’t want to freak Miranda out anymore. She wasn’t fooled by my nonchalance, though.
“How’s your leg?”
“It’s…” I stopped myself from saying fine. “I’ll be alright. It hurts right now.”
“You probably ripped the stitches out.”
I pulled my leg back quickly when the wolf snapped inside the cave. Only its muzzle fit in, but the feel of his hot breath on my skin was intimidating. My eyes bulged, if I didn’t pull the stitches out during the run—I did now.
“Once we get out of here, you can sew me back up.”
“Deal,” she sniffed quietly.
A light shower of dust fell off the ceiling when the wolf pounded his body against the side of the rocks. Maybe he was going to try and cave in the entrance. They could still dig us out, as long as it didn’t suffocate us.
It wasn’t like we had any choices now. The second we left the cave, that wolf would get us. I was half laying on Miranda so I heard the way her heart raced beneath her ribs.
Suddenly, everything went quiet. The wolf disappeared, but he didn’t give up. I stretched my leg back out. He was gone for a minute, so we might as well take advantage of it. I pulled the leg of my pants up so I could get a look at how bad the bite was now. Blood seeped through the bandaid, spreading into a large red stain.
I closed my eyes briefly and pushed the material back in place before Miranda could see anything. “The wolf is gone,” she said softly, “we should make a run for it.”
“The wolf isn’t gone and we have nowhere to go.”
As if to illustrate my words, scratching sounds from outside. It wasn’t right outside the entrance, though. What was it doing? Was there another way into the cave?
“We’ll make a stand here.” Which was kind of ironic since there wasn’t enough room to stand up. The wolf came back to the entrance and dug around for a few minutes before disappearing again. It was definitely up to something.
I swallowed hard past the knot in my throat. With a surprisingly steady hand, I reached into my boot and retrieved the knife that Gloria had given me. It was only one wolf. Maybe it would be better if it did get into the cave. I was ready.
“What is that?” Miranda demanded.
“A knife.”
“Where did you get that?”
“Gloria gave it to me.”
“Gloria isn’t here.”
My eyebrows furrowed low on my forehead. “She gave it to me before they left.”
“Why would she give you that?”
I felt her jump when the wolf thudded against the wall outside. “In case I needed it to kill a werewolf.”
“That… That’s impossible.”
“No it isn’t.” Melody had told me about werewolves. They weren’t as hard to kill as a vamp. A vamp could be put back together even if you cut its head off, but a wolf could be stopped by a lot less than that.
They must have lost a lot when Jewell hit. That’s why they were so desperate for mates. That’s why this wolf wasn’t going to give up until he had one of us. I gripped the knife tighter in my hand. That wasn’t going to happen.
“You’re going to kill a werewolf?” she sputtered. “Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
I squirmed up to a sitting position. “Only if I have to.”
The cave around us shook again with the wolf’s fury. A spider web of cracks appeared on the wall. It wouldn’t be long. Either the wolf would get in or the cave would come down and crush us. If it was suicidal, I would have went out to meet him and not take the chance of getting crushed.
I had to stay put, though. In this close space, I had more of a chance than if the wolf had room to use his full power. I rose up to my knees when the wolf’s head appeared in the opening. I took a deep breath and raised the knife, but it pulled back out when his shoulders wouldn’t fit through.
The knife fell back to my side. My eyes were open wide, but determination flowed through me. I barely heard Miranda whimpering and groaning behind me. I was watching the entrance, waiting for my chance.
“This is it,” she muttered. “He’s going to get in here. We’ve trapped ourselves.”
The wolf’s claws snapped against the rock as it paced in front of the cave. There was a low rumbling of growls and snarls. The light from outside started to creep into the cave, casting shadows all around us. Another day was coming. We had survived the night, but would this be our last?
No!
“Lexi,” Miranda shook my arm, her nails biting into my skin in her fear.
“Just stay back,” I grunted when Miranda tried to inch forward.
She nodded, but I turned quickly back to the wolf in front of us before she could say anything. Its huge face was already almost completely inside the cave, it wouldn’t be long now. All my hopes of being able to hide in here until the sisters came were starting to rush away.
It twisted and turned violently, causing the web-like cracks to widen. My hand tensed again, but once again, the wolf pulled back out. I chanced a quick look at Miranda.
She was staring straight ahead, her lips pulled into a think line of worry. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her face, but at least she wasn’t screaming. She was braver than I gave her credit for. But I guess most humans were; especially these days. You just never knew what you were capable of, until you had to.
Impulsively, I squeezed her hand. “We’re going to be ok.” She smiled a little, not with hope exactly, but with understanding.
“I know… I have you here with me.”
Our brief moment of calm was interrupted by a loud bang and an explosion. The wolf had broken the entrance enough to get inside to us. Most of the larger rocks fell outside of the cave and the few that came towards us were quickly pulled away by huge white paws.
He glared at us; cowering against the far wall. There still wasn’t much room. If he decided to come all the way in, he would collapse us all in here for sure. The knife felt sure and strong in my hand, making me feel brave. I raised my chin towards the beast.
The wolf threw his head against the rock wall, showering us all with dust and loose stones. Miranda squirmed behind me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the creature in front of us. He just stood in the entrance, staring us down.
He was blocking the only way out and we weren’t’ going to be able to get past him. We were stuck. The cave wasn’t such a good idea after all. The wolf took a step forward.
“I know what you want.” It tilted its huge head. “I know you need a mate, but we wouldn’t make good ones. My leg,” I pointed uselessly at my injury, “it’s hurt pretty bad.” He would know that though, considering he had been the one to take a chunk out of it.
I leaned forward slightly. “I saw that town, the one with all the reject mates.” His lips curled up in a snarl. “We stayed there.” His head lowered at my words. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say. The sisters had done a lot of damage before we left.
“We’re not going with you. You’ll have to kill us.�
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He took another step forward, growling furiously. His intentions were clear even without words. He would kill us if it came to that. One thing was perfectly clear—he wasn’t going to let us go.
I held my own though, refusing to cower back in fear. Fear would get me nowhere now. I stared—unblinking—back at the wolf. Miranda pulled at my shoulder, trying to get me away. Where did she think we could go?
My breath was coming even, not raspy like it had been before. Determination made me brave. I couldn’t let myself think about everything that could go wrong. I couldn’t think about what would happen to Miranda if I got killed. I just had to focus on one thing. The wolf.
Its teeth were the main thing I had to avoid. It could do some damage with the weight of his body, but the teeth would be deadly and bloody. He stood with his mouth slightly open, showing off the sharp points, daring me to try anything foolish.
I gripped the knife, my muscles tense. The wolf’s eyes darted down to the weapon and then narrowed with more intelligence than I gave him credit for. It started to take a step back, but then lunged forward. I jerked my arm back before the teeth could do any damage.
One of the rocks that had come free form the walls suddenly flew over my head, striking the wolf solidly in the head. It flinched back slightly, but didn’t leave the cave. “Get out!” Miranda yelled, sending another rock flying. This one hit his shoulder.
My mouth fell open. What was she doing? Was she trying to make the wolf mad? It was blocking our only exit and had the power to bring the entire cave down on us, pissing him off wasn’t the greatest idea.
“Don’t,” I hissed back at her.
“We have to scare him away.”
“I don’t think a few rocks are going to work.”
Despite my warnings and glare, she managed to hit him with another rock before giving up. She pushed against my back, breathing heavy. Her breath tickled the back of my neck, rustling the hair that had escaped my braids.
The wolf swatted us with one of his paws. The claw just grazed my shirt, but nothing tore. Good thing; I didn’t have another change of clothes. I swung the knife forward, just grazing the paw that had tried to tear into me. I didn’t do any damage either, though. He barely even pulled back.
“Come on,” I muttered. I wasn’t meaning for him to hear me, but he reacted anyways.
He lunged forward, his mouth coming so close to my arm that it left a smear of saliva, his teeth clamping shut of the empty air. I jerked to the side. Before the wolf had a chance to correct himself, I brought my knife up into his throat.
Dark red blood rained down on me, splattering my face and arms in sticky gore. I didn’t let go, though, not until the wolf fell to the ground and stopped moving. Only then did I pull the knife back from his throat. I stared down at the lifeless body, my heart hammering in my ears. What had I just done?
Chapter 28
“Lexi, Lexi.” I eventually became aware of Miranda pulling on my arm. She was still alive. I was still alive. I did what I had to do, what anyone would have done.
“Yeah?” I tore my eyes from the wolf’s body in front of me and looked back at her.
“Are you ok?” Her wide eyes searched my face for any sign of breaking. “Did it bite you?” Panic flickered in her eyes.
I looked automatically to my arms and was shocked to see that they were covered in blood. It wasn’t my blood, though. “No, it didn’t bite me. I’m ok.”
I looked back at the wolf, half expecting it to turn back to a man. It stayed a wolf, though, and it stayed dead. I still clutched the knife in my hand, tight enough to turn my knuckles white. I felt a strong urge to throw the knife away from me, but I held on.
There might be more wolves out there.
“Should we go back to the camp now?” Miranda’s grip tightened on my arm.
My nose crinkled instantly, causing my brows to furrow on my forehead. “Why would we go back?” My voice came out too flat, but that couldn’t be helped.
“Maybe the others…”
“The others are gone.”
How could she still want to go back to the camp? There was nothing back there but more wolves. The only thing we could do now was hope there were no other wolves coming and we would be able to wait for the sisters to come for us.
“We… We can’t just stay here,” she stammered.
“Why not?”
She gestured helplessly to the dead wolf at my feet. “We… We just…”
I pushed the wolf’s paw with the toe of my boot. “I don’t think he’s going to be giving us any more problems.” I tried to smile but my lips wouldn’t form the proper expression.
Miranda glanced quickly from the wolf to my face, her expression horrified. “Let’s find somewhere else we can hide,” she pleaded.
My eyes narrowed briefly, but maybe she was right. If any of his brothers came to look for him, they would find us, too. “Let me just make sure he was alone.”
Fear flashed in her eyes before she nodded. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No.” She flinched back from my abrupt refusal. “You stay here where it’s safer.”
“I don’t want to stay here with…that.” She scrunched her nose in distaste.
“You have to.” I wasn’t dragging the thing away for her; I hope she didn’t expect me to. “Stay here,” I called over my shoulder, already turning towards the only exit.
I stepped awkwardly over the white wolf and almost lost my footing in a slimy mess that I didn’t want to look at. I licked my lips nervously and took a deep breath through my nose. I was immediately assaulted by a sharp scent on the air. I quickly pressed my lips tight together. I wasn’t going to throw up and make things worse.
Once I was free of the wolf’s body, I breathed a sigh of relief and glanced back at Miranda. I couldn’t see her face, but she held her arms tight around her stomach. I avoided looking back at the wolf.
Everything in the woods looked exactly the same to me. Every shadow held danger and behind every tree I saw some huge shape lurking. My grip tightened on the handle of the knife. Something moved to my right, but when I looked, there was nothing there.
“Keep it together, Lex,” I whispered. “Are there any wolves out here?”
I knew I wouldn’t be able to see any of them if they didn’t want me to, so instead, I focused on the sounds around me. The wind was light, but it still made the branches above me creak and groan. A crow or some other bird crowed from somewhere, but I didn’t see it. There were no wolves around unless they were hiding.
Just as I was turning to go tell Miranda, there was a loud crashing sound. I whirled quickly, my knife already raised and ready. I don’t know what I was hoping to accomplish against one angry werewolf out here in the open woods, but I was prepared to try anyways.
Nothing flew out at me, but I heard more crashing. Definitely not hiding. I took a step back. My hand was shaking so bad that I had to use the other one to try and keep the knife steady.
Killing the white wolf had left a tight knot in my stomach, but I would do whatever I had to. What was the saying Liza had told me? Kill or be killed? I had thought then that it was just her violent nature, but now I understood.
“Lexi!”
I jumped at the sound of my name, nearly dropping the knife in the process. Had I really heard someone call me or was it just wishful thinking making my imagination kick in? Should I call back? I waited, tense, and listened for the voice again.
“Lexi,” a deep voice called. There was no mistaking it this time. “Lexi!”
My heart did a strange little flip when I recognized his voice. “Paris!” I croaked. “Paris, we’re over here!” I stopped myself from jumping up and down.
He had found us. My relief nearly brought me to my knees. I knew he would come and find me. A slow smile crept along my face and warmed my chest. We would be ok now.
“Miranda,” I called weakly. My voice didn’t carry very far. “Miranda, he’s here.” I s
crambled back to the cave. “Miranda!”
“Are there more?” She peered anxiously out at me.
“He found us.”
Her face paled with misunderstanding. “Get in here.” She reached out to me.
“Not the wolves,” I grinned.
“Owen?” she whispered hopefully. “Is Owen here?”
“Paris!” I exclaimed. “Paris found us.”
“Owen and Addison must be with him.” She smiled out at me. Neither of us seemed to notice the dead wolf between us for a moment.
“Probably. Come on.”
She had to crawl the first part of the way on her own, fearful and disgusted the whole time she was forced to touch the dead wolf. I impatiently waved my hand in her direction, eager to find Paris and see where the sisters were.
As soon as I felt her hand in mine, I pulled her the rest of the way out of the cave. She slipped in the same goo that I had and went down to one knee before she was able to regain her balance. “Ugh!” she groaned, but was back on her feet quickly.
“Lexi?” Paris called again, much closer this time.
“I’m here.” I didn’t need to answer, though. When I turned back around, he was there.
His sharp brown eyes scanned my body quickly and then came back up to search my face. Something strange fluttered in my stomach and raced up my throat, making me gasp. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his long enough to tell if he was alone.
“We went back to the camp,” he explained softly. “There was no one there.”
“The wolves came,” I needlessly replied.
“We kind of figured that,” a familiar voice came from behind Paris.
“Gloria!” The strange creature that was clawing its way through my insides was forgotten at the sight of the sisters standing there.
“We knew you weren’t dead,” Melody exclaimed happily. Her usual wide grin was plastered to her face.
“You took long enough to get here,” I raised one eyebrow in a high arc.
“We were trailing the white wolf,” Paris’s deep voice boomed out into the forest around us.
“How did he slip past you?” Several pairs of eyes darted away from my question.