Chapter 4: Dreaming of Wolves

CLARA

Elias placed his massive hand on my shoulder.

“That’s just the local pack. They’re always particularly active as the full moon approaches.”

He opened the door and followed me out into the biting darkness, staying less than a step behind.

The cold hit first, then the terrain. My heels wobbled on the uneven ground, and not just from poor shoe choice—my legs felt a little unsteady on their own.

I cursed my stupid heels once again.

Halfway across the yard, Elias froze, and another howl echoed through the trees.

“Should we be worried?” I asked, intending it to come off as flippant, but only managing to sound halfway terrified.

He shook his head and stepped even closer, practically touching my back until I was securely in my rolling metal safe zone.

A strange tension had come over us, and I couldn’t help feeling like Elias was hiding something.

“Get out of the woods as soon as you can,” he ordered, thumping the top of my car with a fist while he scanned the area. “Don’t stop, and don’t get out of the car until you’re home.”

I needed no second demand.

I threw the car in reverse until I was far enough down the driveway to do a three-point turn and make my escape.

Elias’s form, black against the cabin, remained still until I turned the first corner and lost sight of the clearing.

My mind was a jumble of unanswered questions and unexpected attraction. Elias was so many things I hadn’t anticipated.

“Full of secrets being his top trait,” I mumbled as my car bounced through the darkness.

Even on high, my headlights felt like a pathetic guard against the encroaching night, and Elias’s insistence that I get out fast gave me goosebumps.

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I almost didn’t hit my brakes in time.

A dark shape suddenly filled the road ahead of me.

My heart accelerated as my headlights hit black fur for a split second.

The moment it jumped out of the road, I smashed the accelerator to the floor.

Suspension and shocks be damned—if this road destroyed my car, I’d just take it up with the boss as a work expense.

Even over the sound of the engine, I could hear howls drifting through the darkness. They caused my skin to prickle and my foot to grow heavier with each new sound.

Faster and faster I drove, but I kept seeing dark forms streaking through the trees alongside my car, occasionally looking at me with glowing eyes.

They attempted to leap at my car, only for another figure to knock them back into the woods.

My engine sputtered, and I patted the dashboard.

“Don’t you even start. I have enough problems as it is, without you threatening to die on me.”

In response, the piece of crap backfired, causing me to scream.

When I realized I hadn’t been shot, I took a deep breath. I was being stupid. All I had to do was keep driving, and everything would be fine.

I did my best to keep my eyes on the road and away from the trees. My knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel.

Another black form darted out in front of the car, only to be knocked into the trees on the other side by a silver one.

I was left with no plausible deniability: I was being chased by wolves.

Again and again, black wolves lunged at my car, their forms sharp against the snowdrifts—until white wolves grabbed them and pulled them away just inches from my window.

My hands shook, and I alternated slamming on the brakes and punching the gas over and over in my attempts to not wreck my car smashing into one of them.

And then the car stalled.

I turned the key, and the engine halfway turned over before making a whining sound.

“Shit, no, not now!”

I threw the car in park just as a massive black wolf slammed into my car door.

An embarrassingly shrill scream filled my little safety bubble.

The wolf took a step back and slammed the door again, this time causing the whole car to shake. I could see its fangs glistening in the moonlight and met its black eyes with my own.

A shiver ripped through my body.

I didn’t know if a wolf’s eyes could look insane, but this one’s did. The wolf let out an angry roar and raked the window with its claws.

“Come on, come on,” I begged as I turned the key again. “You can do this. Just start!”

The black wolf was preparing for another assault when a white wolf, just as large, slammed into it.

The two melded into a yin and yang of teeth and claws. The growls turned to yips of pain.

As they rolled around on the road beside me, I turned the key one more time, and the engine roared to life.

I floored the gas pedal, rocks spinning from my back tires just as the white wolf was flung against my window, leaving a bloody smear on the glass.

Glory hallelujah, I began flying back up the road.

By the time I reached the pavement, I was pretty sure I was going to have a heart attack before I got out of the woods.

But the wolves stopped at the end of the dirt road. What looked like a dozen sets of eyes glowed from the darkness.

One of the white wolves stepped into the center of the road, standing easily as tall as my car at the shoulder. It stared at me; I met its gaze in my rearview mirror.

Its fur was covered in dark splotches I could only imagine were blood. And I couldn’t help thinking…those golden eyes sure looked familiar.

My heart pounded without relief until I pulled out of those terrible trees and onto God-given smooth pavement and city lights.

I clicked the radio on and allowed the music to ease my troubles.

Not that I was able to breathe freely for very long. I hadn’t even been out of the woods for thirty seconds when the flash-and-whoop of a cop car appeared behind me.

“What the hell is it now?” I shouted at my steering wheel.

~Did I have a damn taillight out or something?~

I gritted my teeth and pulled over to the side of the road, fishing around in the glove box for the brand-new registration papers.

A bobbing flashlight reached my window, attached to a gruff-looking officer with suspicion dripping from his face.

I turned the crank and lowered the window as fast as it would go, much to its screaming protest. The cold air made me shiver. When it was open, I put on my most nonchalant voice.

“Hello, officer?”

“Good evening, ma’am. What are you doing out here by the woods so late at night?”

I lifted the press badge around my neck and placed it in the beam of his flashlight. “I was doing an interview for the paper, sir. We’re running a spotlight on Elias Franke.”

He stared at the badge, stared at me, and his frown refused to ease. “I see. Are you new around here?”

I nodded, he nodded, and an awkward silence fell for a moment.

“Well, I have some advice for you, then. There’ve been multiple murders in this area, so I’d steer clear of it. And if you see anything suspicious around town, call 911 immediately.”

“Yessir,” I answered, and he patted my door once with a nod before returning to his cruiser.

I waited for him to drive away, giving myself a moment to calm down.

Of course there would be police stopping people here! Ezra’s murder had only been twelve hours ago. And this was a small town. This police force had probably never dealt with this many murders in such a short amount of time.

I bet they were panicking.

***

My apartment had seen more than its fair share of abuse—and neglect too, based on the cobwebs hanging from the ceiling fan and the layer of dust on every surface that I hadn’t had time to clean up yet.

I still worried the place was haunted—which would explain why it was so cheap.

However, a thump followed by two men screaming about drugs changed my mind.

“You’re five thousand behind! You’re not getting one more gram until I get my money. If I have to send my men to collect it, you’ll never light up again!”

Thin walls and possible drug-dealer neighbors would ~definitely~ tank the property value.

I made a mental note never to say anything private in this place louder than a whisper and closed my bedroom door.

It still felt strange not to smell alcohol in the air. A good kind of strange, though. I’d rather have an empty apartment than one full of fear any day.

Yet, a pang of sadness ran through me at the pathetic sight of a pile of dirty clothing and a sleeping bag on the floor.

“You just have to make it to payday, Clara, and you’ll have a mattress at least. It’s already bookmarked on Amazon and everything.”

As I ate, I couldn’t help replaying my mad dash through the woods.

There was no way I’d been seeing things, right? Especially the large silver wolf illuminated by the nearly full moon.

My heart began pounding again.

To get my mind off the ordeal, I started on my article.

But I couldn’t shake the image of those glowing, golden eyes.