by D. D. Larsen
It’s only been a few days since the night we spent together at his house. I felt so wanted. But he betrayed me, fucked me, then left. Not to mention that he hasn’t spoken to me since that night. He’s not much better than Liam, and seems in it for the sex.
What feels like forever later, we arrive at the trailhead. There are multiple cars and about thirty people milling around.
As we get out of the car, I see Mark amidst the chaos and walk over to him. He asks, “What are you doing here?”
I give him a quick hug then explain. “Wren stopped by my house to tell my dad, and I volunteered to help. Any extra set of eyes is going to be helpful.”
Still looking concerned, he reaches into his cruiser and hands me a radio and a container of bear spray. “Keep these with you just in case. Jamie, don’t be a hero and stay safe.”
With those words, he walks away to help another group.
Wren appears at my side. I didn’t notice him until he was standing right next to me. He isn’t touching me, but I kind of wish he was.
Jamie, stop it! You are here to help the family. You can put your problems away until they are found.
Wren says his first words since we left my house. “We will be taking quadrant four. It runs along the creek so it will be a little rough, but I figure you can handle it. I already checked in, so we are good to get started. Don’t lose sight of me and tell me if my pace is too fast.”
I would rather chop my own foot off than admit I can’t keep up. Adjusting the radio and clutching the bear spray, I follow Wren as he sets off at a blistering pace.
As we enter the forest, a thought crosses my mind: I wonder if bear spray works on wolves.
I quickly find myself out of breath as I try to keep up with Wren. We aren’t on a path and the ground is rough. The headlamp I’m wearing adds some light, but it’s still difficult to see all of the obstacles.
By the third time I stumble, Wren turns around and looks at me. “Need me to slow down?”
“No, I’m fine. I can handle it.” I can handle you.
He slows his pace slightly. My legs are grateful, but I feel like he’s won by doing it.
The slower pace gives my mind a chance to wander. Wren hasn’t mentioned the other night once and has been keeping the conversation to an absolute minimum. I know he’s pissed about me and Liam, but does he forget? I was pissed first.
After another hour of silence, I can’t stand it any longer. I explode. “Why didn’t you tell me? That night plagued me for years, it still does, and you knew it was me the whole time!”
Wren flips around so fast I run into his chest. I try to move away but he puts his arms around me, holding me in place.
“I did tell you. You didn’t want to listen.”
Distracted by his body pressed against mine, it takes effort to get the next words out. “What gives you the right to treat me that way?”
“I have the right to do whatever I want. You belong to me. You always have.”
Belong to him? What the fuck is he talking about? I don’t belong to anyone. This isn’t the eighteen-hundreds!
Just as I am about to tell him to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine, his mouth comes crashing down on mine. His lips send sparks through my body, igniting the passion I have been shoving down.
I feel us moving until my back connects with a tree. The rough bark scrapes my back as Wren devours my mouth. Everything feels right when we are together.
I snake my hands under his shirt and feel his warm skin. My fingers tingle with pleasure as I run them over his chest. My mouth greedily takes as much as it is given. I tease at the hem of his pants.
Any rational thought is lost. I need him. Now.
He pulls away slightly and says, “I was so mad earlier when I saw that guy kiss you. You. Are. Mine.”
His? Do I want to be his? Would it be so bad to be his?
A growl comes from his throat as his mouth returns to mine. There is a new intensity and I feel his hand move under my shirt. Stroking, feeling, claiming every inch of me as his.
His hands are on my pants’ button, unhooking it and pulling the zipper down. As his hand finds its target, I moan into his mouth. My desire builds quickly as his hand claims me.
I feel myself explode, biting down on his lip until I taste blood. He leans back with a smile as he licks the blood away.
He moves to unbutton his pants as I reach to pull mine down.
A blood curdling scream pierces the air, making us both stop.
We quickly right ourselves and race in the direction the scream came from. Wren is quicker than me and I lose him. I continue to head in the direction I think the scream came from but quickly become disoriented. Everything is so dark. My brain flashes back to the night I was stumbling around the woods, alone.
I have never feared the dark, but, suddenly, terror coils in my stomach. Off to my left, a loud howl echoes through the air. I don’t want to yell for Wren and attract something else, so I quickly move away from the sound.
I use the headlamp to lighten the forest floor to keep from tripping. After a hundred feet, I come across a jacket laying on the ground. I lean down to pick it up and recoil quickly.
It is covered in blood.
My heart beats faster. I reach for the radio, but as I am pulling it out of my backpack, it slips out of my hand.
I stand up and scan the ground, trying to locate where it fell, and I’m stopped in my tracks by what I see. The family. Or what is left of them.
A mangled pile of flesh and clothing, lying no more than ten feet away. There is blood everywhere.
My stomach lurches at the sight. We are too late.
And now I am standing alone. At night. In the middle of the forest. Near a fresh kill. Even if the animal that did it isn’t still around, it will attract everything that smells it.
Chapter 20:
Miraculously, I fan my hands out and locate the radio. I pick it up and push the button. “Anyone there?”
There is a pause, not more than a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity before I receive a response. “Copy, can I ask who this is and your location?” The voice cuts through the silent night air and I cringe, hoping that it isn’t going to attract anything.
Jamie calm down, there is a lot of back up nearby and you just have to inform them where you are. “This is Jamie, Wren and I are in quadrant four. I have been temporarily separated from him, but I have found the family.”
“Okay, Jamie, I need you to take a deep breath and stay calm. Do you think you could give me a general idea of where you are? Wren has a GPS monitor on him, but you said you got separated?”
I answer quickly, trying to give the best directions I can to my location. He tells me to just sit tight and help will arrive soon.
Not something I like to admit often, but I’m scared. I hope they arrive before whatever attacked these people decides to come back.
Bear spray in one hand and the radio in the other, I lean with my back against a tree, about twenty feet away from the mangled family, and wait.
I don’t know where Wren is or who the scream came from. There is so much blood, it is hard to see if it’s the whole family or someone was able to get away. I hope they did.
A branch breaks and I look up. I stay quiet so whatever is near won’t see me.
Green eyes stare back at me. As my headlamp shines on them, they glow, and I realize what they belong to. A wolf.
Not the black wolf I’ve seen before. This one is different, smaller, with a reddish-grey coat. He studies me, not as prey, but with an almost human expression of confusion. Without a sound, the wolf lies down and continues to watch me.
For the first time, I’m not scared. I don’t know why, but I know he wasn’t the one to kill the family. He doesn’t seem to be interested in the dead bodies, only me. Something about him looks familiar. I study him as he begins to lick one of his paws. Why does he look familiar? I have only seen one other wolf in my life, the black wolf, but th
ey don’t look anything alike.
His eyes. I know those eyes. How do I know those eyes?
As I’m racking my brain, trying to make the connection, footsteps come pounding through the forest. Part of me panics. He needs to leave. If anyone else sees him, they might shoot him!
As I get to my feet, expecting the search party, Wren comes into sight, carrying a young girl in his arms.
I don’t know how to explain what happens next. He walks right up to the wolf. The wolf and Wren look at each other like they are communicating and then the wolf rubs his body along Wren’s and takes off.
As I watch him disappear into the forest, it hits me where I recognize those eyes from. They look like my father’s, like my brother’s.
Wren says, “Backup will be here soon. They were able to pinpoint my location after you talked with them.”
He sets the little girl down in my lap. She is wearing his coat, and her chest is moving. She is alive but unconscious. There is blood on her shirt, but I can’t tell if it is hers or one of her family members.
Wren leaves her with me and heads over to the other family members.
I am glad that he is here, but how did he know where I was? He just showed up out of nowhere. He must’ve been nearby and heard me talking on the radio.
Wren speaks into the radio, “We have one young girl here who has been scratched. Do you have an ETA?”
I drown out the rest of the conversation. This girl in my arms is an orphan. She has lost her whole family.
Wanting to help in some way, I look the girl over for injuries. I’m sure Wren has already done this, and I’m not a doctor, so I don’t really know what I am looking for.
I notice blood on the front of her shirt and locate a scratch on her lower abdomen. It’s not very deep but it looks irritated. The skin surrounding it is puffy and red, on the verge of being infected.
Wren walks back over to sit down next to me. He puts his hand on my shoulder and asks, “Are you okay? I should have gone slower and made sure you stayed with me.”
I can’t help but become defensive. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, but I was worried when you weren’t behind me. Whether you like it or not, I care about you.”
Before I can reply, someone shouts Wren’s name. Wren yells back, alerting the rest of the rescue party to our location.
As soon as they arrive, things happen quickly. Orders are given, areas taped off, and the mood turns from frantic to somber. This was almost the worst outcome that could have occurred. The only bright spot is the little girl, though it’s heartbreaking to know what she’s lost.
I am still holding her in my arms, far away from the crews who are inspecting the scene, when her temperature starts to spike. She still hasn’t woken up. I shine my headlight at the scratch and it looks even more inflamed than last time I checked.
Just as I am about to try to get someone’s attention, Wren walks over. “It’s been decided that I will take her to The Academy.”
What? The Academy? Why?
As he sweeps her up into his arms, I jump up and follow him. “Wren, I think she has an infection. We need to take her to the hospital.”
He doesn’t break his pace. “Jamie, the hospital won’t be able to help her.”
I lose step with him and wind up staring after him, confused. What’s that supposed to mean?
So many times, when Wren is talking, I feel like I am missing half the knowledge I need to understand him. This is part of his job, so he knows better than me what this girl needs.
I catch up with him. Fairly quickly, we find the trail and get back to the parking lot.
I follow Wren to his silver Jeep Wrangler, where he places the girl in the back seat.
She doesn’t look good and I don’t understand why he’s not more freaked out about her state. Shouldn’t we be rushing her to the hospital?
Wren motions for me to get in the Jeep, but I stand my ground. “Don’t you think we should—”
“God dammit, Jamie, just get in the Jeep.”
Crossing my arms over my chest I look him straight in the eye and say, “No.”
He steps closer to me and says, “Why are you fighting this so hard? You belong with me Jamie, don’t you feel it?”
Standing my ground, I say, “I belong to me, Wren, not anybody else.” As I turn to walk away, I say, “I hope you get home safely.”
He gets in his Jeep and slams the door. Then he peels out of the parking lot. Serves him right for acting that way. Who does he think he is, always trying to tell me what to do?
But I hope that girl is okay. The Academy? What is he expecting they’ll do?
After the anger dies down, I look around, realizing I am going to need to find another ride home. I spot Mark among a group of other officers.
When he sees me, he pulls me into a tight hug. “Are you okay? I heard you found the bodies.”
All the emotions of the night well up. Wren’s hot and cold attitude, how terrified I was in the forest when the wolf howled, finding the dismembered family. The tears come hot and heavy and I soon soak Mark’s shirt. He slowly rubs my back, telling me it is going to be okay.
Once I’ve calmed down, he holds me out in front of him and gives me a once-over. “Why don’t you get in the car and I will drive you home? There isn’t much else for me to do here.”
I only do it because he asked; he didn’t demand, like Wren. A few minutes later, I’m in his patrol car, heading home.
Mark puts his hand on my leg. I don’t think he’s trying to make a move, it’s just to comfort me. I drift off and wake up when Mark is opening the car door outside my house.
He helps me up to the door. “Please call me if you need anything. I remember the first time I was exposed to something like that. It’s heavy. I almost threw up.”
I hug him and say, “Thanks, Mark.”
Just as I am opening the door, he says, “We never got a chance to have that dinner you mentioned. Are you free Wednesday? My treat.”
Too tired to think, I nod at him and wave goodbye.
I fall into bed, entering sleep almost immediately.
I dream of a dark forest and green-eyed wolves.
Chapter 21:
I wake up to two text messages, but neither is the one I was hoping to get. As much as I want to stay away from Wren, I also want him to care. Our relationship has been so explosive. Sometimes he seems like he cares, yet other times I get the feeling he wishes he never met me.
I fall back into bed and pull the pillow over my eyes. I feel like I am in high school with this drama. The back and forth is killing me. We are adults, why can’t we just handle this situation as mature individuals?
Like Liam. He has been nothing but polite and open with me.
The first text is from him. He had an emergency and had to head back to the city. He said he would call when he gets the chance. I don’t know why he is acting so stable and together. Part of me thinks it’s all an act.
And then there is sweet and kind Mark. His text is to check in and make sure I’m all right after last night. It was a big night, but I feel surprisingly well, considering. I am worried about the little girl, though. She seemed so defenseless. She must be scared to death.
Knowing I need to get out of bed, I swing my feet over the side and head toward the bathroom.
Hopefully my dad is home so I can get some more information about the little girl.
As I enter the kitchen, my dad is sitting at the center island, drinking coffee. He looks tired. I wonder when he got home last night and if he has slept at all.
He stands up and pulls me into a hug. “When I heard you had gotten separated from Wren and found the remains of the family last night, I almost had a heart attack. I’m not sure I want you out on any more search and rescues. Something weird is going on. I think it best to stay out of the forest for the moment. That means no hiking.”
At least I wasn’t the only one to find the recent events st
range. I wonder again if it is related to the wolves. I’ve seen two of them, yet nobody else has mentioned them. I never felt any threat from either of them. If anything, I felt like they were protecting me. I don’t want anything to hurt them, which is what I tell myself when I again decide not to mention them to my father.
Still hugging my dad, I think back to last night. What would have done that to that poor family? They didn’t look like they had been eaten, just attacked. Animals don’t just do that without a reason.
Pulling back so that I can see my dad’s face, I ask, “Do you or any of the guys have any idea what did this? Do they think it’s related to the two girls that were killed a few weeks ago?”
I know Wren said he got the bear that killed those girls, but how would he know if it was the right bear?
My dad grabs me some coffee before returning to sit next to me at the breakfast bar. “Honestly Jamie, the only time I have ever seen anything like this was when your brother and his friends were attacked. I still think about it every day and how we never found out what attacked them.”
My heart hurts at the mention of my brother. It wasn’t like we never talked about him, but it wasn’t a common conversation topic. We all missed him and didn’t feel the need to bring up the horrible way he died.
Taking a much-needed drink of my coffee, I say, “I wasn’t very old when Jacob died, but I do remember the way everyone acted. It was like everyone was trying to figure out what happened, and then one day people just lost interest. It was strange. Maybe this time we will figure out what actually happened to this poor family. How is the little girl?”
He shakes his head. “She died. Last night.”
I gasp. “But— Wren said he was taking her to--”
“He knew someone who he thought could help. But she died before he could get her there.”
I clamp a hand over my heart. That poor little girl.
My dad looks sad as he responds, “For now, I need you to stay out of the forest. We have no idea what is causing this, and I need to know you are safe.”