Page 26 of Brutal Mate

Maybe all the hits to the head she had received from her parents over the years were finally catching up to her.

“You're right,” Lauren said, spreading out the bloody towel on the counter under Miley’s arm. “I'm sorry, but this is going to sting like a bitch.”

Before Miley could question her, Lauren yanked the lid off a bottle of alcohol solution and started to pour it over Miley's arm.

“Ahh! Fuck!” Miley exclaimed, biting her lip hard. She grabbed her arm just below the elbow and squeezed in the hopes it would stop the pain from lancing up her arm.

She had no such luck.

By the time Lauren started to dab at it with clean gauze pads, Miley was relieved her arm had started to go numb with shock.

“There, I think that's all cleaned out,” Lauren said, grabbing some more fresh gauze to place on Miley's wound before she started to wrap it in self-stick bandaging. She glanced up from her work only once to ask again, “So, how did you do it?”

Miley gulped and blurted the very first thing that came to mind. “Something spooked me, so like an idiot I started to run. I must have caught my arm on a tree branch or something, but the adrenaline stopped me from feeling it. I'm not quite sure exactly how I did it.”

Finished with her wrapping, Lauren looked at Miley with a suspicious expression. It was clear that she wasn't at all convinced.

“Are you sure? Because if I didn't know any better, I'd say this looks like a dog bite,” Lauren said, pulling off her bloodied gloves before she wrapped her arms over her chest again.

Miley gulped. In her mind's eye, huge green wolf eyes flashed. Bile rose in her throat, and she shook her head.

“I definitely didn't see any dog,” she said. It wasn't a lie, and it was the best Miley could give without making herself sound totally insane.

There aren't any wolves in these parts, she remembered Kane saying, and though she hadn't believed him when he said it, she desperately wanted to believe it now. She wanted to forget all about what had just happened to her.

“Lauren, can I stay the night again?” she asked, looking pleadingly at her friend.

“There's no need to look at me like that,” Lauren scowled back at her. “You know you are welcome any time. I just…what if your parents come looking for you again?”

Miley shook her head. “I'll set my alarm on my phone well before dawn and grab the first bus to Pine Valley before those lazy assholes even know I'm gone.”

“Oh, Miley!” Lauren gasped, throwing herself at Miley. She wrapped her arms around Miley's neck and squeezed so tightly that it hurt.

“Ouch, careful, injured here,” Miley pointed out, and Lauren pulled back sharply.

“Shit, sorry.”

“It's fine. I'll miss you, too,” Miley said, knowing exactly what her friend had been thinking.

Lauren's face fell a little and she stepped back. Holding Miley's hand, she asked, “Where will you go?”

Though it had been Lauren's idea to run away, and though she had given her the perfect idea of where to go, she didn't answer.

Instead, she shook her head and said, “I think it's best you don't know.”

“But how will I visit you if you don't tell me?” Lauren protested.

Miley lowered her gaze. She couldn't bring herself to see the pain in her friend's eyes.

“I'll call you. We can talk on the phone. But if I tell you where I'm going, they might—”

“I understand,” Lauren said, cutting Miley off with a squeeze of her hand. “I wish things were different.”

Miley's chest tightened. “Me too.”

Chapter 11 - Kane

After a night spent tossing and turning with very little sleep, the last thing Kane needed in the morning was raised voices. Yet he was awakened from a shallow slumber by distinct yelling that immediately set his teeth on edge.

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