Page 44 of Wild Wolf

I could see boats on the dock too but as I looked their way I could make out teeth and angry grins on their prows.

No. I needed the water to wash me away. It was my only choice.

Something leapt onto my leg, that first critter digging its claws into me and scurrying up the inside of my pants.

I howled as I kicked out, trying to dislodge it but it moved beneath my clothes, biting and scratching.

I couldn’t stop, so on I ran, a huge beast like a fanged gorilla at my back, almost upon me.

Salvation called my name in a sultry purr as I set eyes on the prettiest looking barrel I’d ever seen and I raced for it with wild abandon, opening my arms wide in greeting.

She beckoned me closer and I sprinted for her, throwing myself onto her back just as the sand met with the waves.

The beast which pursued me hollered in rage, swiping at me with razor claws, splashing out into the tide at my heels. I waved my arms at it wildly, spraying water from my palms, shooting my vessel out to sea where I collapsed in a heap of exhaustion and sighed in utter relief.

My trusty barrel sighed my name as I bobbed out into the ocean on her back and I turned to look at the beach behind me. The compound was burning and the animals which had run with me so peacefully were feasting on the bad men. It was a truly horrifying spectacle to behold but as I bobbed away, I lifted a hand and waved.

I was forgetting something important. But Bobby bobbed on so I clung to her, riding her to a sanctuary of the unknown while the world changed colour with every blink I took and euphoria tingled through my limbs.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Icould barely feel the movement of the boat as Ethan propelled us along with water magic while Sin cast air at the sails up on deck. In this cabin, it was quiet, so quiet that my thoughts were all too loud. Rosalie had gone to check on our progress across the sea, and with her absent, I could feel the demons of my mind rearing up.

Flashes of waking on that cold, metal operating table kept flickering through my head. I pressed my fingers into my eyes, trying to banish them and when I dropped my hand, I stood abruptly in alarm.

Cain had entered the room, silent as the wind and imperceptible even to my heightened hearing. I guessed Vampires couldn’t detect other Vampires so easily. He observed me curiously, frowning as he looked me over and my fangs extended, a primal kind of rivalry building inside me.

“So your instincts are in line with mine then,” he muttered. “Seems you are one of my kind through and through.”

“I’m not your kind,” I gritted out.

He cocked a brow. “Denial won’t do you any good here.”

I pressed my lips together, seeing the truth in his words and wanting to refute them still, but my shoulders dropped in defeat. “I’m aware of that. I just…don’t know who I am anymore.”

“I’m not sure I’ve ever figured that out myself, so your situation isn’t so unique,” he said.

I released a breath. “If you’ve come here to goad me, Cain, you can-”

“I’m not here to goad you,” he cut in. “It’s fucked up what happened to you.”

“I’m well aware of that,” I clipped.

A long pause passed between us and I had the feeling he was going to leave, but instead he stepped closer. “I don’t care for much in this world. But I’ve seen a lot of twisted things, and this tops the list.”

I frowned at him. “Why are you here?”

“I’m a Vampire.”

“And?”

“Now you are too,” he grunted.

“Still not seeing your point,” I said.

“Our kind don’t mix all that well together, but there’s mutual respect between most of us. So…if there’s anything you want to know, I suppose I might be willing to advise you on it.”

“Did Rosa send you in here to say that?” I asked suspiciously.

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