I snorted in disbelief. They were never alone. Always in a pack. I stayed tense, waiting for his next move. I knew better than to try running again. Who knew how long his humor would last.
He didn’t say anything, just continued to study me. After a time listening to the dry rattle of barren tree branches and dead weeds around us, he sighed and sat down on the patch of rocks where we’d started.
I flicked the briefest glance at the trees again, puzzled. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you to decide your next move. Keeping up with you is exhausting. I thought giving you money would keep you in one place long enough so you could get the sleep you obviously need.” He pulled his knees up and rested his forearms on them in a relaxed pose. “So what are your nightmares about?”
The reminder that he’d been in my room had me narrowing my eyes. “All of the ways I’d rather die than bite the neck of a disgusting werewolf who’d be willing to rape a fourteen year old girl just to have control over her when Judgement comes.” The lingering memories of my young past life still haunted me, and the words were out of my mouth without thinking.
He flinched as he looked down at the ground. I didn’t know what I meant by it all, but the ring of it sounded so right. Something in what I said struck a chord in him, too, because with a clenched jaw, he paled. Satisfaction coursed through me. About time one of them felt guilty about what they did. Just as I had that thought, an angry red flush flooded his face.
“Has someone hurt you?” His softly intense words sounded strained. The veins on the back of his hand stood out. This wasn’t a mystery to me. I’d witnessed this many times in my dreams. He struggled to contain the beast.
I recalled the word I’d used. Werewolf. So laughably impossible to me a few short months ago, I embraced the truth of it...him...and of the nightmare of my life.
“Tell me who,” he demanded. When he looked up, his eyes were larger in his skull. The pupils dilated as he struggled to maintain control.
I didn’t bother wondering why he cared. They were territorial creatures, possessive of their unclaimed women. Even more so of their mates.
“In this life? No one yet. But it looks like you’re about to fix that. In other lives, they’ve already died.” I thought about my dreams and wondered if that was true. Was this my first life in this cycle? I knew I could be born several times in the same cycle, making it possible to meet some of them in more than one life. I’d dreamt that very scenario.
My words seemed to turn off a switch in him. His change receded. “This life?” Confusion laced his voice.
He’s good, I thought. The rest had just bullied and beat me. No one had tried acting like they cared.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why are you toying with me? We both know what you want.”
He shook his head slowly and stood, pulling something from his pocket. Hand outstretched, he offered me the cell phone I’d tossed into the garbage at the last hotel. “Press call. I have a...friend, Gabby. She sent me to look for you. Thought you might be like her.”
His words burst a bubble of anger within me. For a moment, I just struggled to breath. One of my original sisters? This was different. New. Still, I couldn’t trust him. They’d talked about the others like me before, but we were never in their control at the same time. Not for very long, anyway. We kept dying on them. The thought made me smile briefly. It faded into a frown. I didn’t want to die again.
Looking up at the overcast sky, I decided something felt different this time. Some balance had been tipped. I just wished I knew in whose favor.
Declining to take the phone, I watched him as I gathered my things and put my hoodie back on. In the distance, I heard the rumble of a car starting up. Slowly, I turned away from him and climbed back up to the road. I reached the top. He didn’t stop me. I didn’t look back but remained focused forward.
Gravel crunched underfoot as I walked back into town. His steps echoed quietly behind me. I hoped it was well behind me. The car turned onto our road. I didn’t change my step, my breathing, nothing. No physical signs to give me away. The car increased its speed.
At the last moment, I stepped into the road waving the car down. My pulse jumped and my hands shook. Kill me or stop. Please stop. I didn’t want to die; I just wanted a ride. A fast getaway. It was a risk not just for me, but also for the driver of the car if Luke reached the car before I got in.