She wasn’t on the ground for more than a few seconds before the gray wolf was on top of her, a powerful paw pinning her in place. Jaws mere inches from her face as slather dripped on to her cheek.
“No,” she screamed, grabbing hold of the werewolf’s neck to hold him at bay. Although she was not naïve enough to think she could actually stop him if he was really determined to kill her.
Just then, Demi caught a glimpse of light to her left. She turned her head to see a car approaching—the light from the headlights all that was visible. But that was all she needed to see.
Her eyes widened, not sure if the car saw them or if Hugo even noticed it. She struggled to try and get out from underneath him, but she had no hope against the sheer strength of the wolf.
“Move,” she shouted at him. “If you don’t get off of me, we’re both going to die.”
But Hugo either couldn’t understand her or didn’t care. He remained standing over her, paw pinning her to the blacktop.
Demi looked away from him towards the car again. It was coming around a sharp corner—the headlights still all that were visible. There was no way it would see them in time to stop, and it was going to reach them any moment now.
Her heart pounding in her chest, she was sure that she was about to end up smeared all over the road.
But it didn’t happen.
Instead, just when it looked to be all over, Tobias appeared behind Hugo and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck—like a mother cat picking up a mischievous kitten—pulling him off of Demi.
The moment she was free, she scrambled to her feet and rushed off to the side of the road, turning around to see Tobias struggling with the wolf. He held him by the throat and tried to keep him from biting. All the while, the car was fast approaching.
“Get off the road,” Demi warned him.
Tobias turned just in time to see the car come around the corner. The driver must have seen them as well because he or she slammed on the brakes, trying to stop in time, but it wasn’t going to happen.
Tobias acted quicker than any human could have and pushed Hugo away from him while jumping backwards at the same time. A split second later, the car smashed into Hugo and the wolf was sent flying.
Demi’s eyes followed the wolf and settled on him as he lay about twenty feet from the now parked car. He wasn’t moving. She couldn’t take her eyes off him until Tobias grabbed her by the hand and dragged her away, back down the ramp towards the rest stop.
They returned to the corvette. Demi frowned. Her beloved birthday present was now a wreck. But in the grand scheme of everything that had happened in her life recently, it really didn’t feel all that important.
She would have happily given up her corvette to get her old life back—when her aunt and uncle were still alive.
Tobias went to the driver’s side door and popped open the truck, causing everything inside to fall out.
Since she didn’t put anything in there, Demi didn’t think there would be anything inside, but she was wrong. There were two backpacks—the kind that a hiker or camper would carry.
“When did those get in there?” she asked.
“Since the night we left Seattle. I knew we would need them eventually. I put them in your trunk while you were at the mall with your friends. Before I followed you home.”
“You followed me?”
“Yes,” he said as if that were no big deal. He picked up both the heavy backpacks with ease. He was remarkably strong for someone so lanky. “I was hoping to get to you and explain the situation before Korver . . . but it didn’t happen that way.”
“You mean before my aunt and uncle were murdered.”
His face fell and he looked down at his feet. “I would have stopped that if I could. I just—”
“Forget about it.” Demi crossed her arms and looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Alright . . . well, here.” He handed the smaller of the two backpacks to her.
“Why do I even need this?” Demi asked, holding the backpack as if it were a poisonous snake waiting to bite her.
“Because we’re going on foot from here.”
“On foot? Are you insane? Isn’t that going to take forever?”
“It will take longer, yes. But I know how to navigate in the wilderness. We’ll be safer out in the woods than we will be staying on the road.”
“But you killed Hugo. . . .”
“Whether he’s dead or not is irrelevant. The rest of the pack will not be far behind. We have to get moving now and throw them off our trail. The best way to do that is in the wilderness where Korver and the others will be at a disadvantage.”
“Why’s that?”
“None of them grew up in the wild like I did.” He slung his backpack over his shoulders. “Trust me, we’ll be safer this way.”
Demi glanced over her shoulder at the highway, wondering if the person who stopped after hitting Hugo would help her if she ran to them.
Did she even want that, though?
Tobias had not been lying to her about werewolves. She knew that now. And that meant he was probably not lying about her father being the only one who could protect her. She would have to trust Tobias if she wanted to avoid Korver.
So she slung her own heavy backpack over her shoulder. “Ugh, what do you have in this thing anyway? It weighs a ton.”
“Only what we’ll need to survive. Now follow me and don’t look back. It won’t be long before the police arrive, and we don’t want to be around when that happens.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’ll just take you back to Seattle. And most likely assume that I kidnapped you. If anyone separates you from me, there will be nothing to stop Korver from taking you.”
“The cops can’t protect me?”
“All they would do is get themselves killed if they tried. Now let’s move. Try to keep up as best you can.”
Demi nodded and then followed Tobias into the woods, now feeling a little more confident that she made the right decision by putting her fate in his hands.
Chapter Seven
THE SOUNDS OF THE FOREST awoke Demi from her slumber. She blinked her eyes open and rolled over so that she was on her back, staring up at the inside of the tent that Tobias had set up for them in a small clearing. It was small and not particularly comfortable, but she supposed she couldn’t complain.
It was a lot better than being out in the cold and rain.
Her protector had been lying beside her the night before, but he was nowhere to be seen now. It surprised her that she actually found herself feeling on edge without him around.
When exactly did I become so comfortable around him?
Crawling out of the tent, Demi got to her feet and then stretched. Hands linked behind her head and back arched, which was sore from sleeping on the hard ground.
She slept about as well as expected under the circumstances. Getting a good night’s sleep in a tent in the woods was hard enough. Throw in the fact that she was terrified of being found by Korver and a whole pack of werewolves and it was practically impossible.
At least Hugo wouldn’t bother her anymore. And since he had been the most immediate threat to her safety, maybe it was alright to let herself relax a little.
She scanned her surroundings. Ten yards or so in any direction and the trees became too dense for her to see much of anything.
Hands on her hips, she heaved a sigh. Tobias, where did you go?
Smoothing out the folds in her button-down shirt, Demi noticed a less-than-pleasant smell. Not giving it much thought, she freed her hair from the confinements of a ponytail. That was when she caught a whiff of her own hair and made a face. Reminding her that she hadn’t bathed or even changed her clothes since the morning of her birthday.
A shower—or better yet, a bubble bath—would be wonderful at the moment. And a change of clothes would be great too. Just thinking about it made her miss her huge bathtub back home with scented bath oils and
steaming hot water.
Oh what I wouldn’t give to be back there right now . . .
Just then, she was interrupted from her reminiscing when she heard someone approaching. She spun around just in time to see Tobias emerge from the brush with a pile of sticks in his arms.
“Morning,” he greeted her. “Sleep alright?”
“Yeah,” she lied. “What’s all that for?”
“A fire. I caught some fish from a stream not far from here. We’ll need to eat if we want to keep up our strength.”
Now that he mentioned it, she noticed the two fish lying out on a rock not far from the tent. She had to be hungry when even freshly-caught fish made her mouth water.
Oh wait, a stream. An idea formed in her mind.
“Where exactly is this stream?” she asked him.
“Not far.” He dropped the sticks in a pile and then pointed out into the woods to his right. “Just straight in that direction. Why do you ask?”
“Because I really need a bath.” She saw no reason to sugarcoat it. It was nothing that he wouldn’t have noticed already anyway.
“You’re in the wild now. You should probably get used to being a little dirty.”
“Yeah . . . not going to happen. Anyway, I want to wash these clothes too.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Does he have a problem with everything I do? Demi sighed and crossed her arms. “And why’s that?”
“You walk around in this forest wearing wet clothes and you’re just inviting hypothermia.”
“So what am I supposed to do then? Just walk around in my dirty school uniform?”
“Look in your backpack.”
“What?”
“Your backpack. Have a look inside.”
She went back to the tent to fetch her backpack. Then opened it to take a peek inside. In addition to some nonperishable food, bottled water, and other survival necessities, there was clothes.
It was nothing special—just a few plain t-shirts, some jeans, and underclothes—but Demi couldn’t remember the last time she was so genuinely excited to see clothes. Especially clothes that were so obviously . . . cheap.
“Where did you get these?”
“I . . . found them.”
“You stole them?”
“Not important. Anyway, I knew we would be out here awhile, so I wanted to make sure that we were both prepared. I hope the sizes are alright. I kind of had to guess.”
“I’m sure they’re fine.” She gathered up a change of clothes and started to head towards the stream. Then she stopped, realizing that she forgot something. She looked over her shoulder at Tobias, who was getting the sticks prepared so he could start a fire.
“Hey, Tobias.”
He looked over at her. “Yes?”
“Um, thanks.”
He nodded quickly before turning back to his work. That was probably the best she was going to get out of him.
She then headed into the woods. It wasn’t long before her ears picked up on the sound of running water. She quickened her pace, really looking forward to that bath.
***
Stepping out from the surprisingly clear waters of the stream, Demi shivered against the cold, goosebumps sprouting up all over her pale skin. Washing off quickly in a forest stream was certainly a step down from the large bathtub back home with perfectly heated water that she was accustomed to.
But desperation had a way of lowering your standards in a hurry. She felt much better now, but she had to get some clothes on fast before she froze.
Her change of clothing was on top of a stump a little ways up on the shore. She hurried towards the stump with her arms wrapped tightly around her shivering body.
Just as she was putting on her underclothes, she heard a twig snap somewhere in the trees nearby. She froze and scanned her surroundings in search of what had made the sound.
But she didn’t see anything.
“Tobias,” she called. “Please tell me you’re not hiding in the bushes like a total perv.”
No response.
Nothing but silence.
You’re just being paranoid, Demi, she told herself. She fastened the necklace that Mike gave her around her neck. Then she slipped on her shirt. And she was about to grab her pants when she heard a low growl-like groan that sent a shiver down her spine.
Coming from just behind her.
She turned around. Her heart leapt to her throat at the sight of a large black bear just on the other side of the stream.
Demi remained completely still. Her legs felt like they were made from concrete. She couldn’t move. She could only wait and see what the bear would do.
Sniffing and pawing at the ground, the bear wandered around on the opposite side of the bank for what felt like an eternity.
Maybe it will just go away, Demi thought with probably just a little too much optimism. Her eyes never left the enormous animal. She didn’t even blink.
Her hopes were dashed when the bear entered the water, bringing her level of uneasiness up a notch. The closer the bear got, the more tempted she was to change tactics and just turn tail and run.
Even as that thought was crossing her mind, the bear suddenly seemed to notice her for the first time.
A guttural growl was expelled from its mouth as it stood up on its hind legs to reach a height of nearly seven feet—towering over her. The massive animal bellowed a roar as droplets of water dripped off of its shaggy body.
Mouth agape and pounding heart reverberating in her ears, Demi desperately hoped that the bear was more afraid of her than she was of it.
Someone had told her that once, but it sounded ridiculous then, and even more so now that she was actually face to face with a bear.
The bear returned to all fours before advancing towards her again, this time faster than before, not showing any signs of being afraid.
Apparently, it was ridiculous.
Demi backed away in a hurry. That was a mistake. In her panicked state, she forgot all about the stump and tripped right over it, landing hard on her back and getting the wind knocked out of her.
And there was no time to recover.
The bear planted its forepaws on the stump and bellowed at her, slaver dripping from its jaws. It was only a few feet away now. It could easily reach out and slash her with its claws.
“Please . . . stay away.” Demi’s words came out as a pitiful squeak. The bear couldn’t understand her anyway.
Then—when the situation looked most dire—Demi heard the sound of someone, or something, approaching behind her just seconds before a large cinnamon-colored wolf leapt right over her and atop of the black bear, biting down on the larger animal’s neck.
The bear roared in what sounded like equal parts pain and rage. It grabbed hold of the wolf with both claws and lifted it off before tossing it into a nearby tree.
The wolf whimpered but wasn’t down for long. It struggled back to its feet before quickly moving to place itself between Demi and the bear, haunches raised and teeth bared.
But the bear was not intimidated. Not that Demi knew what an intimidated bear looked like. It roared defiantly before charging forward. Teeth and claws clashed again.
Demi fled to the safety of the tree line. She hugged the trunk of a tall cedar while she watched the two animals fight. As her eyes tracked the wolf’s movements, it dawned on her who her rescuer was.
“Tobias . . .” she mouthed in a whisper.
The werewolf ducked beneath one of the bear’s massive paws before leaping off of strong hide legs to sink his teeth into the bear’s shoulder—holding on tightly as claws gripped on to the bear’s furry body. It looked like Tobias had the upper hand.
But the bear was far from beaten. It leaned forward and used its own jaws to bite down on the left leg of Tobias, forcing the werewolf to relinquish his own clamping jaws. The bear then swung Tobias around in its jaws before smashing him down on the muddy banks of the stream. Releasing him, the bear raised a paw over its
head, preparing for what looked to be a finishing blow.
“No,” Demi cried as she picked up a rock and stepped out from behind the tree. She tossed the stone at the bear and found her mark as the projectile made contact with the beast’s skull.
The bear was deterred from harming Tobias as she hoped, but an unexpected repercussion followed—the bear shifted its attention right back to her.
Not good . . . Demi returned to her shelter behind the cedar tree in a hurry, pressing her back against the thick trunk. She could hear the massive animal approaching. Her breath caught in her throat and her chest tightened.
Don’t come near. Don’t come near. Don’t come near.
Demi repeated the same three words in her head over and over again as if that mantra would actually keep the bear at bay.
Suddenly, a paw wrapped around the trunk and knife-like black claws dug into the bark mere inches from her face.
Screaming, Demi abandoned the tree and took off running towards the stream. One quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that the bear was in hot pursuit. But in that same moment, she caught a glimpse of something else.
Tobias.
He sprang into the air and landed right on top of the bear’s back before again biting down on its neck.
Demi skidded to a stop to again watch the fight.
The bear tried to throw Tobias off, but he managed to find just the right place on the bear’s back where it couldn’t reach him. He bit and clawed at the massive hairy beast until the animal began a hasty retreat into the woods. Only then did Tobias leap off the bear and land so that he was right between Demi and his fleeing opponent.
The bear then stopped and looked back at Tobias. For a moment, Demi thought it might decide to continue the fight, but then it turned around and lumbered off into the woods, bleeding from numerous injuries.
Once the bear was out of sight, Tobias turned around to face Demi. He shifted from a cinnamon wolf back to a dark-haired young man and slowly rose to his feet.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Still a little shook up, Demi just nodded.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Half-Wolf (The Alpha's Daughter Book 1) Page 6