A Pack of Blood and Lies

by Olivia Wildenstein

  Fresh blood.

  I stopped and sniffed my paws. It wasn’t my blood I smelled.

  I sniffed again.

  Then I followed the tinny trail through the trees, through a shrub of wild roses that layered their sultry perfume over that of the blood. I pushed past them, their thorns snagging in my flesh, and almost tripped on a mound of blond fur.

  Matt whipped his head toward me, leveling his green eyes on my face and letting out a low growl. I backed up, but then my gaze snagged on the metal snare jammed around his forepaw.

  The jagged trap had bitten into his flesh, revealing bits of white bone and pink sinew. He snapped his teeth at me. I gnashed my own teeth and barked, I didn’t come to gloat. I mean, look at me.

  He looked me over. Grasping I wasn’t a threat, he lowered his muzzle to the metal, trying to pry it open with his fangs, but all it did was steep the fur of his face in blood.

  I stood motionless for a moment.

  I could still win.

  The realization fluttered through me as delicately as butterfly wings.

  I could leave him behind.

  Even if he managed to break free, he wouldn’t be able to beat me with a mangled leg. I turned southward and stared at the green hollow covered in deciduous trees. The race would end somewhere in those woods. I could reach them in minutes—fifteen, twenty at most—and once I found Eric, I could inform him of Matt’s whereabouts.

  Low whines lanced through the air.

  I closed my eyes.

  Matt was crying.

  This bear of a man was crying.

  There goes winning.

  I twisted back to find the brute gnawing on his forearm. Was he planning on chewing off his paw to get out of the trap? It wouldn’t regenerate. We were wolves, not lizards.

  I moved back toward him. Stop.

  A pitiful snarl rose from his reddened muzzle. Go away.

  I shook my head then dipped it toward the snare. I’d get no pleasure in winning if I left him behind. The smell of Matt’s blood, of his agony, overwhelmed my senses. I almost retched.

  Matt snapped at me with blood-soaked teeth. Growling, I rammed my head into his chest to get him to back off. Stop your yapping, Hulk. I’m trying to help you.

  He froze. I placed my paws on either side of the snare and drove my weight down hard on the levers. Besides sending explosive bolts of pain into my bones, it created a thin opening, but failed to release Matt’s paw. I tried again, wincing. Matt must’ve shifted his paw, because when the metal jaw clamped back shut, he let out a low, mournful keening, and fresh blood gushed down his fur.

  Don’t move, I grumbled.

  He snarled at me. I shot him a look that must’ve translated well because he shut his muzzle. I heaved on my paws again, and again the trap opened, but not wide enough for him to shimmy out. Why the hell did he have to have giant paws anyway?

  Ugh.

  I tried again.

  Nothing.

  Again.

  My attempts were paltry and clumsy. If I had hands instead of paws—

  I sucked in a breath just as Matt’s eyes took on a glassy sheen like the marbles I used to roll on the hardwood floors of my childhood home.

  Whoomph.

  Matt went down so hard I jumped.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Matt!

  His flattened ears didn’t flick.

  I howled, hoping someone would come, but they hadn’t come for me, so they most probably wouldn’t come for him. Still, I waited. Wasn’t Frank worried? When no voice answered mine, I loosed a rough breath, shut my eyes, and willed my body to change.

  I would be disqualified, but at least I’d be able to live with myself, wherever it was I would be living.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I’d been half-right about what my body would look like. Where I wasn’t entirely mottled with bruises, my palms and soles were in bloody tatters. For the first time since Matt had become unconscious, I was glad for it. After all, I was standing over him in my birthday suit.

  Even though I felt and looked like roadkill, I was still prudish roadkill. I kneeled next to his massive, inert form, and worked my blood-soaked fingers nimbly around the levers, prodding them. In one swift jerk, I jammed my palms against them and the trap’s jaws opened like a night-blooming flower.

  Sweat trickled down my neck, down my smarting spine, as I delicately lifted Matt’s ravaged paw and set it on the grass next to his head. I tossed the trap aside, and it clinked shut.

  “Piece of crap mousetrap,” I grumbled.

  Matt stirred, and I jumped behind the wild rose bush. They weren’t dense enough to shield me, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. The thorns felt like piranha teeth against my skin. I plucked them out, letting out a slew of choice words. Compared to the pain radiating inside my bones, being a human pincushion was peanuts, but still. A twig breaking had me snapping my gaze up, straight into a set of no longer glassy eyes.

  I blinked dumbly at Matt. His paw dragged, yet he was already up! How?

  Remembering I was naked, I spun around, willing fur to cloak my curves. I squinted so hard that anyone passing by would think me constipated. Thankfully, besides Matt, no one was even around.

  When I felt a wet muzzle on the knobs of my hunched spine, I almost jumped out of my skin. “Go away!”

  Matt made a noise my human ears couldn’t decipher. And then he released a soft wail that made my skin pebble.

  Not pebble.

  Change.

  His howl made me change back.

  Once cloaked in fur, I turned and nodded to the paw. Can you walk?

  Not well.

  Want to stay here while I go get help?

  And let you win?

  My shoulders locked up. Hulk’s competitive streak had apparently not suffered from the snare. You’re going to win anyway. I broke the rules, remember.

  To help me.

  Still, I changed.

  I swear he rolled his eyes at me. Come on, Little Wolf.

  I snorted, which earned me an amused sideways glance. We began to limp down the hill. Where Matt no longer whimpered, I did, and I felt absolutely no shame. I feel like I crawled through a garbage compacter.

  Your back is one solid bruise.

  There goes wearing most of my wardrobe in public.

  Wolves didn’t laugh, and yet Matt made a sound that sounded almost like a chuckle. And then he asked how I’d gotten the bruise, and I told him about the rockslide.

  Even though we moved at a slow pace, we moved nonetheless. Soon we’d reached the trees. I caught the scent of cigar and cedar. It was strong.

  Almost there, Matt said, limping beside me.

  A slash of red broke through the greenery. It flapped around Eric’s wrist.

  I can’t believe we made it, I whispered.

  Figures shifted through the trees like ghosts. I recognized Liam and Lucas and Cole and countless others.

  Matt faltered beside me, then landed with a hard thump.

  I stopped walking. Come on, Hulk, get up.

  He whined.

  I shoved my muzzle against his furry shoulder. Get up.

  Slowly, like a mountain rising from two tectonic plates, Matt got up. And even slower, he limped beside me.

  Don’t tell anyone you saw me naked or I’ll stick a snare in your bed.

  He let out a small grunt.

  Metal blinded me as I focused on the scrap of red fabric. There were cars. Lots of them.

  Good, because I was done with walking.

  Probably for the rest of my life.

  I thought of my driver’s license then. At least now that I was out of the stupid running, I’d have plenty of time to get it.

  Matt slowed. I waited.

  Just go, Little Wolf.

  I shook my head. Stop growling and move your furry ass. I’m out; I changed.

  But they don’t know that.

  I took the blood oath same as you. Frank knows.

  Matt gave me a
lingering look, then finally set forth toward Eric. We reached him at the same time. I was finishing this race for myself. I’d cheated, but at least I hadn’t quit.

  A shiver of pride pulsated through me as I collapsed at the man’s feet. Sunlight and loud voices danced around me like dandelion florets. I made a feeble attempt at getting back up, but I…just…couldn’t.

  A paltry thought inserted itself inside my mind. If I changed while unconscious, everyone would see my naked ass. I almost laughed.

  Almost, because I was still a wolf, and wolves didn’t laugh.

  But then, my muscles slid and slotted back. Unable to fight off the change, I let it sweep through me.

  What a pitiful sight I must’ve been. Thankfully, darkness enveloped me before I could hear anyone laugh.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I woke up to Evelyn glowering at me. If I’d thought her eyes were black before, they were a whole new shade of black now—sewer-hole-at-night-black.

  “Thank God!” She lobbed the book she was reading on the table next to the armchair and stalked over to me on slippered feet. “Ness Clark, I am so mad at you! If you were my daughter, I would ground you until your thirtieth birthday! Rock-climbing alone! Sola!” Even through her layers of foundation, her cheeks were the same dark pink as the sky behind her. “When that chico carried you into the inn—”

  “What boy?”

  She blinked a great many times, seemingly startled I’d interrupted her rant for something as silly as the identity of the person who’d handled my naked body.

  “Liam Kolane.”

  “Liam?” My neck felt hot; my jaw too. Fucking crap. I groaned from embarrassment.

  “Sí, and you were unconscious and covered in blood. Mi corazón stopped beating. My heart stopped!” Her Spanish always bled through her English when she was agitated. “I thought…I thought your spine was rota!” Her brash voice was trembling. Her hands, too. All of her was quivering.

  Even though I was still dying a little from the fact that Liam had carried me back, I reached out and enclosed her cold fingers in mine. The contact wasn’t enough for her, and she sandwiched her other hand over mine.

  Tears cascaded down her cheeks, dragging tiny clumps of mascara off her wet lashes. And then a sob racked her body. I sat up, and the momentum had her stumble and plop down on the bed next to me. The momentum also had me gritting my teeth. I don’t know how long I’d been out, but apparently not long enough. My flesh felt like someone had clobbered it with a meat mallet before rubbing it against a cheese grater.

  “I’m sorry, Evelyn. Sorry I put you through this.” I let go of her hands so I could hug her. My arms felt like they were attached to fifty-pound dumbbells, but I fought through the pain to pull her in close.

  She crushed me against her, and I yelped from all the bruises her grip awakened. She didn’t loosen her arms—probably hadn’t heard me yelping over her sobbing. “Never again. Never again. You promise? Two days of being by your side. Of watching you—”

  I pressed her away. “It’s been two days?”

  “Sí, two days!”

  “I’ve been sleeping for two days?”

  “Yes!”

  Whoa.

  “Your bruises, they’ve been going away…quickly…but—”

  Abruptly, I stood. My legs felt wooden, but at least they held me up as I shuffled toward my closet. I pulled open the door to get a full view of myself in the built-in mirror. I lifted the hem of my tank and pivoted. The backs of my thighs and spine were tinged a yellowish-green. Could’ve been worse. Could’ve been black. The worst part of me was actually my hair, which was crusty and tangled and matted in God only knew what. My nails were in pretty dire shape, too—ragged like pinecones.

  Evelyn appeared in the mirror behind me, her face ghostly-pale compared to my tanned one. At least rock-climbing and slumbering for forty-eight hours had given me a healthy complexion. Mom was always on my case about finding silver linings. She used to say that was how she’d made it through life. Here’s to you, Mom.

  I turned away from the mirror and closed the door.

  “I soaped your body, but I did not dare wash your hair. You had a big gash here.” Evelyn pressed lightly on a spot on the back of my head that felt incredibly tender. I half expected her fingers to come away wet with blood. They didn’t.

  “Even though it is still hard for me—what you are”—she gave a small shrug—“I think that if you were not…I think you would not have lived.” She wiped her red-rimmed eyes.

  I gathered both her hands in mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  No more death expeditions on my agenda in the near or far future. But there would be an expedition. I was going to have to leave town now. Jeb would have to release me back into the world—minor and all. I didn’t broach the subject with Evelyn. She’d had her fair share of stress for the day.

  Instead, I said, “I love you.”

  Her crying started again, and even though it felt like I was being quartered, I hugged her.

  After she left, which took much prodding on my part—Evelyn needed rest—I took a blisteringly hot bath. As I steeped, I thought. Which made me anxious because most of my thoughts revolved around how many people had seen me naked after the run.

  I slid beneath the bathwater, wishing soap could cleanse my brain of its petty anxiety. After all, I’d almost died. Died! And here I was worried about nudity. My priorities were massively skewed.

  After washing my hair, a task that felt tougher than racing down a hill chased by boulders, I stepped out of the bath, towel-dried my body, and patted lotion over every inch of skin, as though moisturizing my sore muscles could somehow soften them. It didn’t, but at least I smelled good—like toasted coconut.

  I was about to pull on PJs when there was a knock on my door. In my bathrobe, I pattered toward the door. I imagined it was Everest. Evelyn must’ve told him I was conscious again.

  Note to self: stop assuming things.

  It was not my cousin.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Amanda?” I yelped.

  “You’re alive.” She tucked a long curl behind her ear and shot me a cheery smile.

  Why was she smiling at me? Was she playing a trick on me? I checked the hallway for a raised phone but found only a couple leaving their bedroom hand in hand.

  “Why are you here?” I finally asked.

  “One, to check if you were doing better. When I stopped by yesterday, your grandma said you were still recovering. And two, to thank you.”

  “Thank me?”

  “For helping Matt.”

  I frowned.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a concussion or something?”

  “No.”

  “Well, then, you must remember you saved my baby’s hand.”

  “Oh.” I nibbled on my bottom lip. “Is it still…functional?”

  “Uh-huh. They’ve stapled his skin. The nerves and tendons are regenerating.”

  My stomach flipped at the mention of stapling flesh.

  “Anyway, we’re all going out to play some pool and grab a couple beers.”

  I released my lip. “And you’re inviting me?”

  “No. I came to give you a play-by-play of my evening to make you jealous.” She rolled her brown eyes. “Of course I’m inviting you! Scratch that. I’m here to take you.”

  “I don’t really feel like going out.”

  “You’re alive. And clean. You’re going out, so get dressed.”

  I furrowed my forehead. My hair was still wet, and I hadn’t had time to file my nails down—that last part felt superficially important.

  “We’ll wait for you in the car.”

  “Amanda—”

  She tsked. “Would you rather we all come to you?” She snuck a look behind me at my bedroom. “Might get a tad crowded in here.”

  I blanched. “You’re joking.”

  “I never joke.” Even though one side of her mouth was pulled up in a smile, her e
yes were deathly serious.

  I sighed. “Fine.”

  “You got ten minutes.”

  “What happens in ten minutes?”

  “I send Matt to lug you out of your bedroom.”

  The girl was not only crazy bossy but also mercurial. A week ago, she wanted me to stay away from her boys, and now she was forcing me to spend time with them. Since I was a little worried she’d throw a party in my bedroom, I finally accepted. “Fine. I’ll get ready.”

  After I shut the door, I tried pulling on a pair of jeans, but the simple act of tugging them on felt like rubbing my legs with sandpaper, so I settled on leggings and a t-shirt. Wearing a bra was out of the question, but my nipples weren’t too visible—I hoped. Okay, they were a little noticeable, but one really had to look.

  Hopefully no one would. They’d all surely gotten enough eyefuls on Saturday.

  Oh God…

  And Liam had carried me back…

  Oh great freaking God.

  Trying to stifle my embarrassment, I swiped mascara over my eyelashes and red gloss over my lips, ran a brush through my damp hair, then filed my finger and toenails to the quick. I grabbed my bag, my phone—which Evelyn must’ve plugged in for me—and my room key. As I made my way down the corridor, I checked my messages. Found five from August.

  Ness?

  Call me back?

  I heard what happened.

  Ness? Send me some fucking news.

  NESS CALL ME.

  I smiled at my screen. He was roasting on some desert base or ambushing enemies, and yet he was thinking of me. August was as sweet as they came.

  I feel like a freight train just rolled over me, but I’m alive. Thanks for checking on me.

  I hesitated to send a heart emoji. August was my friend. Did girls send heart emojis to boy-friends? I’d never even sent one to Everest, and he was family.

  “You gave us all a fright.”

  I looked up from my phone and locked eyes with my uncle who was manning the bell desk. He rubbed the back of his neck. Was he expecting me to apologize?