Page 93 of Her Wolf

The vehicle rattled alarmingly as the road grew rougher.

Gravel?

The air became scented with dry dust, and she coughed.

Dirt.

After what could have been anything from a few minutes to an hour of driving, she was now headed down a dirt road.

Panic consumed her mind, but she forced it down with iron will. This wasn’t the time for screaming or passing out like a stupid girl. Even though that’s exactly what she was; a stupid fucking girl.

She’d been so convinced of this fool-proof plan. Finn had tried to warn her, and she’d ignored him.

Wriggling furiously, Cora tried to slide her bound hands out from behind her back, a surprisingly difficult task in the trunk’s confined space. She kept bumping heads with Miguel—not that he complained—until she eventually got her arms out. Her shoulders burned how she’d pulled her muscles, but at least her hands were free.

She used the knuckle of her thumb to feel down the front of her dress, and let out a relieved huff through her nose when she touched the handle of the cheese knife.

It took a few minutes to get it out; what with her hands being bound. She used it to saw away awkwardly at the rope around her wrists.

She had to get out. Had to get free.

She might be alive for the moment, but she had no doubt that she’d be dead in the next few hours. Miguel’s corpse, the remoteness of whatever location she was being taken too…

It could mean nothing else.

The car slowed, and then stopped. Cora paused, straining for a sound. Footsteps headed for the trunk.

Cora sawed frantically at the ropes with her tiny knife, hopeless tears pricking at her eyes.

. . .

When the trunk opened, Cora was ready. She lunged out with her knife, slashing wildly. The tiny blade snagged on something, but then a hard blow knocked it from her hand. There was only time to see a moonlit silhouette before a fist crashed into her face.

A confusing mix of sensations tore through her. The smell of charring wood was strong in her nose. Cool night air stroked her skin like a jealous lover. The sticky blood gluing the crook of her arm came apart. And a jolt of pain speared into her head from her jaw, rattling her teeth.

Then, darkness bled into her vision. Her body went limp as a high-pitched whine tore through her ears. Hands clutched her, dragged her from the trunk, and left her laying in the dirt.

Something stabbed into the side of her neck, a pinprick of pain that bled icy fire into her veins.

Noah.

She was at the farmhouse again.

But…it wasn’t day time, it was night. And this wasn’t Noah—not unless that abomination of a man had come back from the dead.

Suffocating clouds embraced her, warm and absolute. She was on her feet, and then on her back. Strong arms supported her. The world bobbed and swayed as the person walked with her in their arms, seemingly forever.

She cracked open her eyes. A full moon swayed above her. Stars left tracers of light in the sky with each bouncing step.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Thump.

Boots sounded on wooden floorboards, and a dark ceiling blocked out the moon.

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