Chosen

by Barbara Ellen Brink

Shadow leaned over Brianna and grabbed the wheel, bringing the car back between the lines with calm precision. “Calm down,” he said in a quiet voice. “Now slowly back off on the gas and turn down that road.” He pointed and fell back against the seat.

  Jael twisted around and glared at him. “What are you doing in Bree’s car? And how in the world did you fit behind the seat?” she asked, amazed she hadn’t seen him or sensed him. But maybe she had. The queasiness was still there, like early morning hunger.

  “Have you ever sat back here?” He put his arms out. “It’s as big as the living room in my trailer. Besides, Bree is really short. There’s enough room behind her seat to install a hot tub.”

  She couldn’t help smiling. The situation was so ridiculous.

  Brianna was still dealing poorly with the circumstances. She turned off the highway onto the road he’d indicated and drove slowly down the middle of the gravel lane. “Somebody tell me what I’m supposed to do now! I was not bred for danger. My parents are scientists for heaven sake!”

  “Stop the car,” Shadow said. He turned to look out the back. “Here they come.”

  “What exactly is your plan, Mr. Take Charge?” Jael unbuckled her seatbelt when Bree put the car into park. She turned and met Shad’s dark gaze. “Are you helping us, or helping them?”

  He raised his brows and gave her that wolfish grin that sent a tingle down her spine.

  “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

  The Mustang drew up behind them, headlights glaring. Lyle revved the engine a couple times as though to prove his manhood. Then he and the other two climbed out and approached on each side of the car.

  “Bree, take your hands off the wheel and relax.” Shad’s voice was low and soothing. “It’ll be fine.”

  She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Jael reached out and clasped her hand.

  Lyle stopped at the driver side window and bent to peer inside. “Can I see your driver’s license and proof of insurance please?” he said, and smirked. They could hear the other two guys laughing.

  “What do you want?” Brianna asked.

  He jerked up on the door handle, making Brianna pull away in fright. “I want you to unlock this door,” he said, through clenched teeth.

  “No! Go away or we’ll call the police.”

  He shook his head. “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in. Or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll smash your door in!” He stepped back and they saw the baseball bat he carried. He grasped the grip with both hands, choked up on it, and did a practice swing. Then he leaned back down, put his face near the window and steamed up the glass with his breath. With a finger he wrote, SLUTMOBILE.

  Bree wrinkled her nose. “What is eli bom tuls?”

  Shad mumbled softly from the backseat. “You’re reading it backwards, Bree. Are you sure you have a brother who’s a genius?”

  “Oh. Oohhh,” she said, drawing out the word with an upward turn. “How dare he?” she flipped the unlock button and thrust her door open, nearly knocking Lyle down in the process. “Who do you think you’re calling a slut?” she demanded, advancing on him so fast he actually fell back a step.

  “Bree! What are you doing?” Jael jumped out her side of the car to run to her friend’s defense. Obviously Shad wasn’t planning on helping out in a tangible way. He stayed hidden away in the backseat. Jack grabbed her from behind and tried to yank her back, but she bent and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed with a grunt, the breath knocked out of him, and lay there stunned. She stepped past him.

  Lyle pushed Bree against the car, and pinned her there with his body. He lowered his head to kiss her, but she turned her head away. “You little…”

  Jael reached him just as he raised his hand. She grasped it, yanked it behind his back, and pressed on the pressure point between his thumb and forefinger. He swore loudly.

  “Do you really want to keep having this conversation?” she whispered in his ear.

  Toby and Jack, standing but still breathing hard, approached her from either side, their arms out as though they were going to cast an invisible net over her. The back door of the car opened and Shad slowly stepped out, dark hair swinging. He pushed it back behind his ears and grinned. “You guys here for the party?”

  The look of shock on Toby’s face was laughable. “Shad? What are you doing here?”

  He shrugged and hooked a thumb at the car. “Getting a ride in the backseat.”

  Toby and Jack snickered. “I thought you didn’t want in.”

  “I don’t need no ecstasy to get a girl.”

  Jael went cold, and tightened her grip. Lyle screamed and fell to his knees.

  “Sorry,” she said in a hard voice. “You started this. Now I’m going to have to finish it.”

  Shad pushed Bree back inside the car and shut the door on her, then leaned against it, holding it closed. Bree banged on the window. “Let me out!”

  “Bree, stay there.” Jael glared in Shad’s direction. “So you knew they were going to drug me and you didn’t say anything?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, but I’m still not sure who you’re here for.”

  A dog howled in the distance and then three or four dogs were howling at the same time. Or was it wolves?

  The guys stared into the dark desert around them, suddenly alert.

  Shad spoke in a low voice, looking intently up at the moon. “I heard a pack of wolves attacked a herd of sheep the other night and ripped open six of them in a matter of minutes. They were completely gutted when the farmer found them in the morning, blood everywhere.”

  “Here’s what I’m going to do,” Jael said, ignoring Shad’s weird storytelling ramble. She kept her hold on Lyle but glanced between Toby and Jack. “I’m going to release your friend and let you all get back in the car. Then you’re going to turn around and go home.”

  Jack dared to take a step closer. “And what if we don’t?”

  She jerked back on Lyle’s little finger until it snapped. He yelled out and she released him. He fell to the ground, crying and curled up, holding his hand in the palm of his other hand like a baby bird. “Now Lyle broke his finger,” she said. “You better get him to the hospital.”

  Toby swore loudly, snatched up the bat at his feet and lunged at her, swinging. She sidestepped, throwing him against the wheel of the car. He hit the fender with his face, dropped the bat and fell backwards onto the hard dirt road, blood dripping from forehead and nose.

  Jack took the opportunity to grab a handful of the back of her shirt and yank her off balance. She stumbled and fell to one knee, but before he had time to do more than smirk, she’d twisted around and planted an elbow to his groin. He dropped like a rock.

  With all three boys on the ground groaning, Jael didn’t hear the low rumble of growls until she was on her feet heading for Shadow. He still stood against Brianna’s door watching everything with hooded eyes. She stopped and stood still, listening, then turned and scanned the field behind her. A pair of yellow eyes shone back…and then another…and another. She didn’t know how many were out there but she couldn’t handle them all.

  “We should go now,” Shad said. He opened the back door and started to climb in.

  “We can’t just leave them here,” Jael said, moving to help Jack to his feet. “The wolves smell blood. They’ll kill them.”

  “It’s what they deserve, isn’t it?”

  She blew out through her nose, her lips sealed in a tight line. So much for small town safety. If her parents got wind of this night they would never let her live it down. But she couldn’t just leave these boys here to be torn apart by a pack of wolves, even if they had planned to do horrible things to her tonight.

  “Help me or get in the car and shut up.”

  Shad shut the door and bent down to help Lyle to his feet. He led him over to the Mustang and opened the door for him. “Can you drive or do you want one of your buddies to get you home?” he asked in a gr
ating voice that stated clearly he couldn’t care less.

  Lyle stared out at the field, fear in his eyes, and slid behind the wheel, careful not to bang his hand against anything. He turned the key and the engine revved to life. Jael helped Toby to the car. He slid into the back seat while Jack climbed in the front. The wolves had crept closer, a semi circle of glowing eyes watching from the side of the road. Lyle put the car into reverse and backed away at a dangerous rate. The car spun around at the end of the road stirring up a cloud of dust. The engine roared as they shot down the highway toward Sunburn.

  Shad dusted his hands off. “That was fun.”

  The field was quiet now, the glowing eyes gone. Jael looked around in every direction. The wolves had disappeared like smoke in the wind. “Where’d they go?”

  “Home.”

  “The wolves – not those creeps,” she said, pushing her hair back from her face.

  “I was talking about the wolves.”

  She rolled her eyes and hurried to the car to check on Brianna. “Are you all right, Bree?” she asked, throwing open the door.

  Her friend had her arms folded over the steering wheel and her face planted in the center as though afraid to watch what was going on. She raised her head and tears streamed down her face. “Jael! I was so afraid… those wolves… and then you hit him …I can’t believe…” She was back to speaking in partial sentences again.

  Jael shrugged. “I know. I’m awesome,” she said in a teasing voice.

  Brianna jumped out of the car, eyes blazing. “No, you’re not! I thought you were going to get killed. What were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking – why in the world would Bree open the door and confront an angry guy with a baseball bat when she’s only five-foot two-inches tall and ninety-five pounds dripping wet?”

  Brianna stared at her for a moment completely speechless and then her face crumpled again. “I’m sorry, Jael. It was stupid. If anything happened to you it would be my fault.”

  Jael pulled her into a hug, patting her back as Brianna expressed regret for being an empty-headed blonde. “It’s okay. Nothing happened to me, so there’s nothing to take the blame for. But if my parents find out about tonight, I’ll be sure and throw you under the bus.”

  “I’ll take one of those hugs too if you’re giving them out for free,” Shadow said, leaning against the car with his arms crossed, watching. A slow smile turned up the corners of his mouth when she approached him.

  “What are you even doing here?” she asked, staring into his eyes as though those dark depths would reveal the truth. He stared back, unblinking and she suddenly felt a little dizzy and light-headed. She stumbled and nearly fell.

  Chapter 15

  Teen wolf or dog-faced boy