“Hello? Is anyone there?”
But no one answered this time either.
Demi frowned. Her eyes scanned the bedroom. Was she going crazy? Hearing voices in her head?
Something in the back of her mind told her to get out of bed, but weariness still plagued her. She laid back down instead, pulling her covers snug around her and closing her eyes.
But her head had hardly hit the pillow when she once again heard something moving in the room.
She sat up again, but still saw no one. A tingling sensation crept down her spine.
Something just didn’t feel right.
She glanced at her bedroom door. It was shut tight. That was strange. She was positive that she heard it open. Could she have imagined it?
Demi was about to lie back down when she noticed a pair of dark spots on the edge of the bed. She slowly slid out of the covers and crawled towards the edge of the bed to get a closer look.
The spots weren’t spots at all. They were actually footprints left behind by a dog or . . .
A wolf appeared out of nowhere. It sprang up from the floor and pinned Demi back on the bed before she even had a chance to scream.
She fought against the animal. Hands grasping its thick gray fur as she tried to hold it at bay. But it was no good. She was helpless against it.
In no time at all, the wolf’s powerful jaws were biting down on her neck, puncturing the soft flesh and suffocating her at the same time.
No air could reach her lungs and no sound could escape her lips. She was held firmly in the wolf’s unforgiving grasp, struggling uselessly until at last all her strength was sapped away.
I’m about to die. . . .
She had barely even had the sickening realization when she suddenly found herself no longer in her bedroom.
She was staring up at an overcast sky as tiny droplets of rain spattered her face. All the warmth she experienced when swathed in her blankets was gone. Replaced by a bone-chilling cold instead.
But she still couldn’t breathe.
It was as if she were still being suffocated by the wolf, only when she opened her mouth to scream, murky water came pouring out. Then two strong hands helped her sit up and the rest of the water was emptied from her lungs while she coughed and gagged.
“Relax.” She heard Tobias’s voice. “Relax, you’re alright now.”
“W-what happened?” she asked once she had finally quit coughing.
“You fell into the river. Don’t you remember?”
Now that he mentioned it, the memory of trying—and failing—to cross the fallen log was slowly coming back to her.
“Kind of . . . I mean, everything is still fuzzy. How did I get out?”
“You were lucky. I barely managed to get to you before you were swept further down river into even rougher waters.”
Demi didn’t remember that at all. She remembered falling into the river, feeling like she was freezing to death, and then . . . nothing.
“I guess I must have blacked out.”
Demi tried to stand but found her legs wobbly beneath her. She would have fallen right back down had Tobias not been there to catch her—one of his strong arms wrapped around her waist.
“Take it easy,” he said. “You’ve been through a lot.”
In spite of the cold, her cheeks were warm all of a sudden. In fact, every inch of her felt warm.
It’s just because of his body heat, she told herself, not really believing it. But the other possibility was not something she was willing to even consider at the moment.
“At least we’re on the other side of the river now I guess,” Tobias said. “But we really need to get out of this rain and find somewhere to make camp. There’s no telling exactly when it will let up.”
She nodded, starting to feel a little steadier on her feet. She looked down at his hand. Placed just above her hip. “Um, you can let me go now.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” He released her and took a step back. Only then did Demi get a good look at him. His face was pale and his wounded leg was bleeding again—thin trails of deep red blood sliding down his ankle.
She pointed it out. “Your leg.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t even look, either already knowing or just not caring. “That’s the least of our worries. We have to find somewhere dry soon or we’re both going to die from hypothermia.”
Chapter Eleven
DAWN CAME TOO EARLY FOR Demi. It felt like she had barely closed her eyes and already a new day had come to tear her away from a less than satisfactory slumber. Very little light could reach her within the tent, but it didn’t matter. It was more than enough to tell her that morning had arrived.
Rolling over on her back, Demi stared up at the ceiling of the tent, rubbing the weariness out of her eyes. Her thoughts drifted to her future as they often did since her old life was taken away from her.
And whenever the future crossed her mind, it meant thinking about the looming meeting with her father. There was so much about her past that she wanted to learn from him. And of course she also wanted to know what to expect in her future.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Tobias sat up beside her. He too rubbed sleep from his eyes, although he did not appear to be as weary as she was, or he was just better at hiding it.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning.” She offered him a warm smile, feeling an unexpected fluttering sensation in her stomach when he smiled back at her.
“Sounds like the rain has finally stopped,” he said.
“Oh, um, yeah. I guess so.”
“We should be able to travel much farther today.” He linked his hands and then stretched his arms out over his head. “Are you ready to head out?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“You sure? You still look pretty tired.”
“I still feel pretty tired.”
“Didn’t sleep well?”
“Barely slept at all. Just a few hours between tossing and turning all night.”
“I guess this tent isn’t very comfortable, especially for someone like you.” He started to unzip the flap so that they could get out but she reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Hang on. What do you mean by that?”
“Mean by what?”
“Someone like me. What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Really?” She crossed her arms and made a face. “You think I’m spoiled, don’t you?”
“No. That’s not it at all.”
Demi just couldn’t figure him out, and that really bothered her. It was like one moment he was a sweet guy who literally risked his life to keep her alive, and the next he was like a robot—no feelings whatsoever. Did he actually care what happened to her or not?
“Did I say something to offend you?” Tobias asked.
“No. Not at all.” Demi shook her head and gave him a smile that she hoped didn’t come off as fake as it really was.
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Of course.” She squeezed past him and left the tent. “Anyway, let’s get moving. We’re wasting daylight.”
***
Demi walked a few paces behind Tobias—who was now moving without the help of his crutch—as the werewolf led her through the tall evergreens and dense undergrowth with such navigational skill that it was almost as if there was a path that only he could see. As long as Demi walked directly in his footsteps, she might as well be walking in a straight path without any change in elevation.
That was how easy he made it.
She thought about telling him that, but she still felt awkward around him. Ever since he pulled her out of the river, things had been . . . different.
Her stomach did a backflip every time their eyes met. She tried to ignore it, but that was getting increasingly hard to do.
Since they weren’t talking, the only sounds that met Demi’s ears during their hike through the forest were the singing of birds th
at she rarely saw and the gently rushing of water. Several streams had swelled through the heavy rains from the day before.
With those tranquil sounds filling her ears and the warm rays of the sun just peeking through the gaps in the evergreens like a gentle reminder of its existence, Demi wished that she were in a mood to actually appreciate the beauty of the forest.
But all she could think about was Tobias and these new feelings—constantly growing despite how hard she tried to bury them deep inside. She felt like she had no control at all.
Crossing a narrow stream, they were making their way up the gentle incline on the other side—winding through all kinds of bushes and brambles growing together in patches so thick that it was hard to tell where one ended and the next began—when Tobias came to an abrupt stop. He placed his hand on the nearest tree trunk and swayed on his feet.
Demi stopped herself from going to his side. She held her ground and swallowed back the words that her heart wished to expel and instead threw out something less impulsive.
“Are we stopping for a reason?”
“No,” Tobias replied without looking back at her. “Just catching my breath. That’s all.”
He started walking again, all signs of his brief display of vulnerability a thing of the past. If anything, his strides seemed longer and more deliberate than before, almost as if he were trying too hard.
Demi followed him until she passed the spot where he had stopped to rest momentarily and noticed blood on the ground. Her eyes widened when she discovered a trail of tiny red droplets in the wake of her werewolf protector.
“Tobias,” she called after him.
The words barely left her lips when suddenly Tobias collapsed into the brambles.
This time, there was no stifling her gut reaction. Demi rushed to him. Her heart racing. He was just lying there in the thorny and gnarled brambles, and he wasn’t moving.
Oh my God . . .
Knowing she had to get him out of there, she took two steps into the brambles and then wrapped her arms around his torso before making her best attempt to lift him out—not an easy thing to do when he outweighed her considerably.
But through sheer determination, Demi finally dragged him out of the brambles and laid him down as gently as possible on the muddy ground.
Her eyes were drawn to the deep red stains on the cuff of his jeans around his ankle and calf. She didn’t even need to look underneath the pant leg to know that his wound had reopened.
But by far the more pressing question was whether Tobias’s heart was even still beating. She fell to her knees and slowly reached out a trembling hand towards his wrist.
Please be alive. Please be alive. Please be alive. She repeated the same three words in her head in such rapid succession that she probably said them each close to twenty times in a span of half that number of seconds.
Demi was afraid a lot since werewolves came into her life. She was afraid when she was attacked by Hugo at the rest stop, afraid during the encounter with the bear, and afraid when she fell into that raging river.
But none of that compared to how afraid she was right now—faced with the possibility of Tobias being lost forever.
The moment of truth came as her fingers touched Tobias’s wrist to search for a pulse.
Please be alive. . . .
Chapter Twelve
FLAMES DANCED AROUND THE FEW remaining embers like the hands of a beggar held out towards passersby, desperately calling out for a log or two to fuel its insatiable desire to continue burning. Tiny crackling sounds punctuated the fires need for replenishing.
But all of its pleading went unanswered as Demi focused on the more crucial and imminent task of patching up the wounded leg of someone whose very life depended on it.
Demi was not a surgeon or a doctor. She didn’t even know anything about first aide. But with nobody else available, it fell entirely on her to help Tobias.
To save him.
“Are you ready, Demi?” Tobias asked in a shaky voice. He was clearly in a lot of pain despite trying not to show it.
“I, um, yeah I think so.” This all felt like it was happening so fast. She ran his instructions over in her head for probably the tenth time, hoping that she wasn’t missing anything.
She looked at the pocket knife that he gave her, clutched tightly in a trembling hand. “A-are you sure about this?”
“Yes. Just heat the blade in the embers.” Tobias sat with his back against a tree and his wounded leg propped up on a mossy stone. His pant leg pulled up, blood was still trickling from the deep wounds left behind by the bear’s savage bite. “Once it’s hot enough, I’ll walk you through the next step.”
“Okay . . .” Demi stabbed the blade into the embers and left it there, really hoping this would work. “W-what now?”
“We wait.”
“For how long?”
“Just be patient, Demi. I can tell you’re nervous, and there’s no reason to be.”
“That seems like an odd thing to say when you’re leg is still bleeding all over the place.”
“It’s not my leg that I’m worried about.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, Demi.”
“For what?”
“For failing you.”
“Failing me?” His statement caught her off-guard. “I don’t understand. How did you fail me?”
“I was supposed to protect you and bring you to your father as quickly as possible. How am I supposed to protect you now? I never should have allowed myself to get hurt. That was my mistake.”
“No.” Demi shook her head. “It’s not your fault. You were trying to save me. You did save me.”
Tobias said nothing.
Demi moved closer, sitting on the ground a few feet from him. “I’m the one who should be apologizing to you.”
“For what?”
“The way I acted. If I hadn’t been so immature . . . you never would have had to jump in that river to save me. And you probably wouldn’t still be hurt right now. I should have listened to you. I was acting like a frightened little girl pretending to be brave.”
“I don’t blame you. Besides, if I was in your situation I’m sure I would be just as afraid. After everything that you’ve been through, I can only—”
“No,” she cut him off. “That’s not it. I’m not afraid. Not when I’m with you.”
Her cheeks flushed. The words came out of her mouth before she even knew what she was saying.
Tobias’s cold, stoic shell was pierced for just the briefest of moments before being restored. “Y-you shouldn’t think that way. You are still in danger, especially with me unable to protect you.”
“But you would still try, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course.”
“And that’s why I feel safe.” Demi scooted a few inches closer. “You’re willing to risk your life for me. Not only that, but you’re the first person I’ve ever met who doesn’t treat me like I’m not just a . . .” She trailed off, struggling to find the right word.
Tobias found it for her. “Like a trophy. Something to be displayed when you have it. Envied when you don’t. And hated when you can’t. To feel like you’re only worth is what you represent to others.”
Demi gaped. Eyes locked with his. It was if he were putting her inner most hidden feelings into words.
“Am I right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied breathlessly. “Yes, that’s exactly right. “No one cares who I am. All they care about is what I am, and what that can mean for them.”
“Even your aunt and uncle?”
Demi paused to consider his question, recalling all of the time that she spent with them.
“Yes,” she finally said. “I mean, they did care. But it was never about me. Every gift they gave me, everything they did for me, they did it because of my mother. I was a charity case to them.”
“And what about your boyfriend? Doesn’t he care about you?”
“Well, h
e . . .” Demi trailed off, thinking back to all the “misunderstandings” as Mike would call them. “He cheated on me. Not just once, but over and over again. I tried to lie to myself and say that it wasn’t true, but I knew. I always knew.”
“Why did you stay with him then?”
“Because I liked feeling loved.” Demi gazed into the smoldering embers. “I knew it wasn’t real, but it was better than nothing. Mike never loved me, he loved the popularity that dating someone like me gave him. He loved my money and my body . . . I was only a trophy to him, and I was too stupid to do anything about it.”
“It wasn’t stupidity,” Tobias said. His voice filled with conviction.
“Oh?” Demi crossed her arms. Lips curled into a half-smile. “What would you call it then?”
“Why did you stay with him?” Tobias met her question with a question of his own.
“I already told you.”
“Tell me again.”
Demi wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but decided to play along. “Okay, fine. I stayed with him because I wanted to feel like I was loved, even if it wasn’t real.”
“Exactly. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to be loved. You should never feel ashamed of that.”
“I never really thought about it that way.” There was that fluttering feeling again. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you have anyone out there who loves you?”
“No. Not really.” The self-assurance that Tobias had on full display before was suddenly replaced with his usual stoic demeanor. “Anyway, I think maybe we should get back to getting this wound patched up. Can you fetch that knife? I’m sure it’s ready now.”
“Oh, right.” Demi got up and went over to the fire to retrieve the knife. But found the handle hotter than expected and pulled her hand back. “Ouch.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Here. Use this.” Tobias reached into his backpack. He pulled out a rag and tossed it to her.
Demi snatched it out of midday. She used the rag to grasp the handle of the knife and pull it from the embers. The blade was glowing red from the heat, which made Demi very uncomfortable when she thought about what she was about to do with it.
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