A Place to Run (Trials of the Blood Book 1)

by Becca Lynn Mathis

  “But what if I,” I wiggled my fingers at the snapping wolf.

  Sheppard looked at the snarling mass of brown and white fur and back at me. “Then it’s no worse off than it already is. Odds are good they’re too far gone anyway, Lynn, like I told you before. Grab a corner and help me keep it stable.”

  I didn’t want to. I knew I would heal just as quickly as the others did when that thing ripped into my arms, it was just the matter that it was absolutely going to rip into my arms that I was distinctly unenthused about.

  The wolf’s pale gold eyes met my own as I bent to pick up the bottom of the cage. I tried to ignore the rumbling snarl coming from its chest as I lifted in sync with Jamie, Ian, and Sheppard. I just wanted this to be done. I wished the wolf would just stop being crazed and calm down. I wanted it to be okay. As we took the first step, the thing lunged at my corner, tearing into my arm. I yelped as my blood flowed hot over my skin. Dammit that hurt. The wound was already knitting closed, but the heat remained, tingling as it traced up my arm and into my chest as the creature struck again with the next step.

  Only it was weaker this time.

  The scratches didn’t even bleed. And the cage was becoming lighter as I watched the fur melt away to reveal a young woman.

  A naked young woman.

  She was maybe college-aged, curvy and tall, with tanned skin and long, raven-black hair. As her form shifted, she lost balance and fell onto her side. Her eyes fluttered closed, though her breathing was steady.

  The broken howl sounded again from the wolf in the bed of the Ram.

  Jonathan’s words echoed in my head: crazed wolves don’t go back to their human form.

  Holy shit.

  Whatever it was I could do, whatever it was that I had done to Frederick, some part of it worked on werewolves too.

  Holy fucking shit.

  THIRTY

  SHE DIDN’T EVEN SMELL like a wolf anymore. The same hint of wild that was the underpinning of every wolf’s scent—or at least, every wolf I had ever met so far, including Langley—was simply gone from her. She just smelled like sweat and blood.

  My vision lost focus and I dropped my corner of the cage. It was a good thing Sheppard, Ian, and Jamie had lowered their corners as soon as she started to shift. Their eyes were wide and staring.

  Oh God. It works on werewolves too.

  She wasn’t dead and rotting and turning to ash—thank God—but I was certain that what had just happened to her happened because of me.

  I looked at my hands. They were just normal hands. Okay, normal werewolf hands, but still, just hands. I turned them over and traced the faint scars from the attack that turned me into a werewolf. There weren’t even scars from where she had scratched me just a moment ago.

  The snarling and growling resumed its violence from the cage in the bed of Sheppard’s truck.

  I looked back at the naked woman curled at the bottom of the cage. She smelled human, but she used to be a wolf. She used to be a werewolf. She was crazed, sure, but now...now she was just a person. Just a woman. I stumbled over my own two feet. She was never going to be able to turn into a wolf again. Oh God.

  Matt and Chastity were staring at me too from the truck bed.

  Holy goddamn shit, it works on werewolves too.

  Run.

  I balled my hands into fists and steeled myself against the instinct, squeezing my eyes shut again.

  I was still part of this pack. My alpha was here. I didn’t hurt him this time. If anyone could help me understand what the holy hell had just happened, it would be him. I stepped closer to him, keeping just enough distance that he didn’t accidentally touch me as he moved.

  But I couldn’t stop staring at her.

  “Jamie,” Sheppard said, his voice all business. “Grab some clothes from behind the seat in the truck.” He turned his head to the truck. “Matt, help me pry open this cage.”

  Matt hopped off the truck bed. He came between me and the cage, and—together—he and Sheppard managed to pry a side of the cage open, popping the welds of the corner seams by counter pressure.

  Jamie appeared with a black t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants in his hands. They were like mine. It was no wonder Kaylah had picked up so many of them when we had gone shopping before. The pack really did seem to keep them stashed everywhere.

  Chasity appeared then, taking the clothes from Jamie and shouldering him away. “If she wakes up naked in a cage surrounded by men, she’ll scream bloody murder. Back off guys.” Her hazel eyes met mine. “Get over here, Lynn. You did this to her, you help her.”

  I put my hands up in a placating gesture and shook my head. “Unh-uh. Her scratching me turned her human again.”

  Yea, that was a sentence I just said. God help me.

  “If I touch her myself,” I swallowed around something in my throat, “on purpose, she might turn to ash like Frederick did. I have no idea what just happened.”

  Panic was rising in my chest again, followed quickly by a pulse of calm from Sheppard.

  “She’s got a point, Chas,” Sheppard said, reaching into the open cage and lifting the girl out of it. “I’ll hold her. You get the clothes on her. I’ve already got a phone call in to Kristos, to see if I can’t get some answers.”

  Chastity bent to roll the sweatpants onto the girl’s ankles.

  “Yea,” Matt said, rolling his eyes. “Because that asshole is so accommodating.”

  Sheppard speared him with a look and Matt looked down and away, scratching at the back of his head.

  “Lynn,” Sheppard said, turning his gaze to me. “Go grab the drop cloths.” He jutted his chin toward the truck. “We need to get the other cage covered so we can get that one back to the house.”

  I nodded and headed toward the truck.

  Once the pants were on, Chastity pulled the shirt over the girl’s head, shoving her arms through the sleeves like a rag doll.

  “Why not have Lynn just change that one too?” Ian asked, hooking a thumb at the other cage.

  I shook my head, trying to clear it as I pulled the drop cloths from the floor of the cab and brought them alongside the bed. I didn’t want to try to change the other one, I wasn’t even actually sure how I changed the first one.

  I began unfolding the canvas material, shaking each drop cloth to their full size. Dust fluttered in the air, tickling my nose. I tried to focus on what I was doing. I couldn’t freak out right now. I had to hold it together. The pack needed my help.

  “Because this one is unconscious right now,” Sheppard replied, glancing at the girl in his arms. “Assuming she wakes up, she may not be sane.” He took a breath and blew it out slow. “We have time. I want to understand what happened to this one before we do anything with the other.” He stepped over to the nearest tree and set the unconscious girl on the ground next to it, propping her weight against the trunk so she sat upright.

  The wolf in the other cage hadn’t ceased snarling and biting. I tossed an end of the drop cloth over the bars, and Ian pulled it down on the other side. Sheppard hopped into the truck bed and started tying down the drop cloth with heavy strapping.

  Red spots speckled the cloth near where the creature’s head was. They spread into wider, wet red stains. Blood. From where it was tearing itself open to get out of these cages. It was like a train wreck that I couldn’t look away from.

  Daniel’s white Mercedes pulled up, crunching along the dead leaves and pine needles as we finished tying the first drop cloth to the anchors of the truck bed. I barely noticed the arrival as I tossed the second drop cloth over the snarling cage. As we secured it under strapping, I was almost mesmerized by the movement of the violent creature underneath.

  “Oh good,” Sheppard said. “Daniel, I need you and Kaylah to take this one to Blood of the Cross too.”

  “How on Earth’d we miss one?” Kaylah hurried over to the woman.

  “You didn’t,” Matt said. “Lynn changed her.”

  Kaylah’s crystal blue eye
s met mine as she knelt beside the tree.

  I nodded at her, trying to shrink as I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. God, would the pack ever forgive me for doing that to another werewolf?!

  “See if you can pull on some of your connections while you’re there to get updates on her status,” Sheppard said. “I want to know when she wakes up, and how stable she is when she does.” He turned back to the caged wolf.

  Kaylah nodded and looked back at the girl. She pinched her wrist between her fingers for a few moments before picking her up and walking her over to Daniel’s car. Daniel opened the door to the backseat and Kaylah placed the girl gently down in the car.

  “Chas,” Kaylah drawled. “Why don’tcha join us so she dun’t wake up screamin’?”

  “Sure.” Chastity opened the door to the truck cab, gathering the laptop, cord, and journal she had placed in there. She then got into the backseat of the Mercedes as Daniel started the car. Kaylah sat in the front seat, and they rolled away.

  It was almost like they had never been there.

  Sheppard’s focus was still on the snarling cage under the drop cloths. He sat on the raised section of bed over the passenger side wheel. The power radiating from him was like a warm, comfortable blanket.

  “I wish I hadn’t left my bike back at the shop,” Jamie said.

  “We can get all cozy,” Ian said, stepping toward the cab of the Ram.

  “You guys ride up front,” I said, not taking my attention away from Sheppard and the roiling mound of drop cloth. “I’ll ride in back with Sheppard.”

  “Plenty of space for you two beanpoles,” Matt said as I closed the tailgate and climbed into the truck bed.

  Sheppard glanced my way as I sat with my back to the tailgate, my legs crossed under me.

  The snarling and biting and clawing didn’t stop the entire drive back to the glass house. I don’t know why I expected that it would have. I guess the power I could feel radiating off of Sheppard gave me hope for the poor creature. But I could still hear its broken howl. Even that sound had held a promise of violence to any that heard it. I shuddered. Sheppard was right. If this wolf couldn’t be calmed, there was nothing to be done for it. Whoever it was may have once been human, but violence was all they knew now, and violence was all they wanted. Killing them would be a mercy.

  I wiped tears from my face as we pulled up to the glass house. It was late afternoon already—the day had practically flown by, and it wasn’t even over yet. Matt opened the garage door with a button press and backed up to the garage. I helped Sheppard to loosen the straps that held the drop cloths down, and it wasn’t long before Sheppard, Matt, Jamie, and Ian had the cage down.

  Jonathan came outside as Matt pulled the truck away from the garage door enough to let the door close. He looked around at us and then looked outside before turning back to Sheppard. “Are Kaylah, Chastity, and Daniel tracking the other one? Did it manage to get loose?”

  “It didn’t get away,” Sheppard said. “It’s just not a wolf anymore.”

  “You got it to change back?” Jonathan’s tone was incredulous.

  “Lynn can apparently change them back to human,” Ian said.

  I met Jonathan’s eyes. “It works on werewolves too, just not the same.”

  His mouth fell open, and his eyes went wide. There was shock on his face, or fear? Oh God. He was afraid of me now. I had to look away. And why shouldn’t he be? I don’t know how I had managed not to do anything to him before now, but I hadn’t. Thank God. I wasn’t about to chance hurting him like that. He belonged with pack. But as much as I wanted to belong with pack too, I wasn’t sure the pack wanted me with them anymore. And who could blame them?

  “The others are taking that wol— that human to Blood of the Cross,” Sheppard said.

  He and the others maneuvered the cage and its snarling inhabitant through the garage and down into the basement. I followed them, noticing that the wolf avoided Sheppard the whole time. Maybe there was something to be saved there after all.

  All of the furniture in the basement had been shoved against the far walls. Not that there was much to push really. Just a couch, a desk with chair, a couple of armchairs, and a TV stand with a large TV on it. The stand now had the TV facing the wall. Jonathan had even had the forethought to roll up the area rug and push it against a far wall, exposing the tile floor.

  Once the cage full of violence was placed in the center of the room, Sheppard pulled the desk chair over to it and sat, placing his back to the basement stairs as he concentrated on the wolf. His power rushed over me, and I was sure the rest of the pack felt it too. I closed my eyes and could see shimmering waves emanating from the strands of my packmates. The shimmer flowed toward Sheppard’s strand. He was calling on the pack as a whole to help this poor creature. The snarls died down, but the wolf’s ears were still pinned to its head, and the hackles were at full attention along its spine.

  Matt’s phone buzzed from his pocket. He pulled it out and tapped on the screen. “Chas says they’re on their way back here now.”

  “Well then, dibs on the shower!” Jamie darted up the stairs.

  Matt nodded. “Me too.” He followed.

  I watched Sheppard and the now pacing wolf. Its head was held low, and it watched Sheppard with wary yellow eyes. Drool dangled from its mouth. It may be quiet, but it radiated just as much violence as it did before, and I was certain that it would attack again as soon as anyone came close.

  Still facing the wolf, Ian made a face—something approaching disappointment—before he turned and tromped up the stairs.

  Yea, I didn’t like this situation at all either.

  A moment later, the front door opened, and keys jangled as they hit one of the coffee tables in the living room.

  “Go,” Sheppard said.

  The wolf twitched an ear at his voice, but then pinned it back again, a snarl erupting from its muzzle.

  “I’ll have to stay here and see if I can make any progress.”

  I nodded as I backed away from Sheppard and the cage. At the stairs, I turned and darted up them.

  Jonathan hadn’t even followed us down into the basement.

  “Lynn,” Kaylah called as she caught sight of me from the kitchen. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and her hands were under running water in the sink. I was pretty sure she was washing potatoes, based on the smell. She nodded toward the living room. “Yer clothes ‘n’ phone are on th’ coffee table there.”

  “Thanks, Kaylah.” I balled the clothes into my arms. “Did she wake up?”

  Kaylah shook her head. “Nah. She might though, ‘n’ I managed t’ git one a the ord’lies to call me if she does.”

  “That’s good.” I looked at the phone in my hand. I had a missed call from Sheppard. Probably from when I ran, judging by the timestamp.

  “Oh, fer th’ love of...Chastity McAllister!” Kaylah had full southern momma bear in her voice, but she was smiling. “Go take that research elsewhere if ya can’t focus on cookin’!”

  Chastity smiled at Kaylah and closed the laptop she had in front of her on the counter, pulling the cord from the wall as she did. She grabbed the leather-bound notebook that she had laid out next to it as well.

  “Thanks Kaylah,” she said, placing a kiss on the other woman’s cheek as she moved to the dining room table.

  “What is all that, Chastity?” I stepped to the table as she plugged the laptop into the outlet behind her. She sat at the end of the table.

  The spot farthest from me.

  “That bloodsucker had some kind of research he was working on,” she replied, flipping open the notebook again. “I found his notes. And this.” She held up a thumb drive, wiggling it between her thumb and forefinger. “If I can break the encryption on this thing, I’ll be able to see what he was really up to. His notes are otherwise incomplete.” She gestured to the leather-bound book. “Many of the pages were ripped out, and—judging by the ash in his trashcan—he burned whatever was torn out
of here.”

  Jonathan whistled from behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

  “He must’ve really wanted to keep whatever he was working on a secret,” he said.

  I took a step away from him. I didn’t want to accidentally brush his arm.

  Chastity nodded. “The spreadsheets on here are just numbers, so they’re not terribly helpful just yet. Once I get into the encrypted files, I think I’ll have a better handle on what he was doing.

  “Shower’s free,” Jamie called from upstairs.

  “Same here,” Matt called from down the hall.

  I looked to Jonathan.

  “You take the upstairs one,” he said. “I’ll shower down here.”

  He stepped away from me as I passed him. He had to. Of course he had to. But it hurt just as bad as watching Sheppard stop himself from touching me.

  I couldn’t get upstairs fast enough. I pulled fresh clothes from my bag in the grey room, and just managed not to slam the bathroom door in my rush to be away. With an almost inaudible click, I locked the door.

  Elsewhere in the house, the water turned on and off twice in the time it took me to shower. I let water hot enough to nearly scald me pour into my mouth over and over as I tried to get the taste of ashen bone off my tongue. But I was certain I would never forget that dusty taste and the gritty feel, even if I lived to be as old as Sheppard, or older. I scrubbed at my skin over and over with the washcloth, trying to be sure there was no ash left on me. I even lathered and rinsed my hair three times.

  Eventually, I had to face the facts. The real reason I was taking so long was so I didn’t have to spend so much time trying to make small talk with a pack that may not even want me around anymore.

  THIRTY-ONE

  BY THE TIME I GOT DOWNSTAIRS, the pack was seated around the dining table, a platter of baked chicken breasts in the center along with two large bowls of cubed and baked potatoes. Well, what was left of the chicken and potatoes, anyway. I had smelled the food once I emerged from the steamy bathroom, but when I caught sight of it, my mouth watered. Sheppard smiled wearily at me as I approached, but the pack was oddly quiet, aside from the movement of dinnerware.