Claire nodded. “Zahlia hurt her pretty badly when she attacked us. She’ll be okay, I think. Are you—do you hate me?”
“No. Why would I? That thing”—he pointed at Zahlia—“that monster, I hate. But you defended your mom. And me.” His voice was shaking, but when he looked at Claire, confidence glowed in his eyes.
“Matthew—I’m no different than she was.” Claire stuffed her hands into the sweatshirt’s deep pockets. “I’m not a human girl, you know that. If you think she was a monster, then you must think I am too.”
Matthew put a hand on her arm. “Of course not. You just proved everything I’ve suspected about werewolves. A monster wouldn’t save a human. You could have pushed me out there as a distraction. You could have let your mother fend for herself and run away. Instead, you saved us both. You couldn’t bring yourself to kill her, could you?” he asked seriously.
Claire shook her head. “No. I couldn’t. Maybe it would have been kinder if I had. I don’t know.” Overwhelmed, Claire wavered on her feet. Matthew’s arms slid around her, steadying her.
Claire slid out of his grip. “This is all my fault. You were only out here tonight because of me. If I weren’t a werewolf, you wouldn’t have had to see that—you wouldn’t have been out here at all. I’m sorry I dragged you into all this. I’m so, so sorry. I should have stayed away from you.”
“I know you’re not human.” He pulled her in again and wrapped his arms around her more tightly. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not a person. I was scared. I can admit that. But I’m not sorry I was here. I’m not sorry that I know who you really are. You shouldn’t be, either.”
Claire leaned into him, hoping that he couldn’t feel her shake. “Will you keep the secret for us?” she whispered.
“I promise. And not to save my own skin—I’ll do it for you. I’m no monster, either.”
“Thank you. Really and truly, thank you.” Claire eased herself out of his arms and looked at Zahlia, lying on the forest floor.
“What are we going to do about her, um, body?” Matthew asked. Claire could smell the sour, green smell of his nausea as he looked at Zahlia.
Claire ran a hand across her forehead. “I think I have an idea. Hang on.”
She walked over to her mother, kneeling by the enormous wolf. “Can you get home on your own?”
Marie huffed and thumped her tail against the ground twice. Even while in her human form, Claire could tell that her mother was saying yes.
“Good. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Zahlia.” She turned to face Matthew. “Okay, so here’s what I’m thinking …”
The picnic blanket was still wadded up in the trunk of Matthew’s car. The cheerful red plaid looked inappropriately festive wrapped around Zahlia’s body, but it was better than getting blood all over the car. While her mother limped her way home through the forest, Claire covered up the gore on the forest floor as well as she could and picked up the shreds of fabric from the clothes she’d been wearing. She wished her mother had been well enough to help them, but it was obvious that walking home was going to drain whatever strength Marie had left.
The memory of Beatrice, hiding in the woods like a coward, distracted Claire. As the Alpha, she was the one who should have killed Zahlia. She was the one who should have dealt with the evidence. Claire blinked away the anger that clouded her vision. There would be time to think about that later. She hitched up the too-big soccer shorts that Matthew had found for her in his car and took one last look around the clearing. It was good enough.
She and Matthew put the dead werewolf in the trunk and crawled into the car. They drove in silence. Matthew had snapped off the stereo when he started the car. It didn’t seem right to listen to music with Zahlia dead in the trunk. When he turned onto the road that led to his father’s lab, Matthew reached over and squeezed Claire’s hand.
“This is the right thing to do.”
“Yeah,” said Claire, “but it’s still hard, you know?”
“Yes. I do know.” His voice was serious, and Claire was pretty sure he was talking about something more than just what they were about to do with Zahlia. Matthew parked the car in the shadows at the end of the facility and popped the trunk. He walked around to the back of the car. After a deep breath, Matthew reached in to grab the blanket, but Claire stopped him.
“I can carry her faster on my own,” she said gently. “I’d let you help, but if we get caught …” She trailed off.
“It would be really bad,” Matthew finished. “Okay. Go ahead.” He turned away, but not before Claire saw the relief that crossed his face when he realized he wouldn’t have to touch Zahlia.
Claire wrapped her arms around the body and gagged as the smell of death filled her nostrils. She craned her head as far away from Zahlia as she could and lifted her out of the trunk.