Page 3 of Dawn Unearthed

I would be alone. After so much time wondering who I could be as someone standing on their own two feet, I would die alone.

Finally, my car stopped, and I tried to breathe, my heart beating so fast I could practically hear it beating a staccato rhythm in my skull.

I quickly looked around and then looked down at myself.

There wasn’t a scratch on me. I was fine. My car, on the other hand…I didn’t know.

I couldn’t see anything in front of me, not even the front of the car. Was I supposed to turn off my engine? I should call someone. I needed to do something. I looked down at my phone and cursed.

No signal.

Did Ravenwood have no cell service?

Someone had to come along soon. Though I needed to do something other than sit here. Someone would come and help me. Or maybe I could walk through the storm and find my way to help. No, I should stay in my warm car and then move towards the town once the storm let up.

That was the smart thing, right?

I looked through the window at the fallen tree in front of me and let out a relieved breath. If I had skidded a foot more, I would have hit it, and I could have died. The branches were sharp. It would have likely punctured the window and me.

Somehow, I hadn’t hit that directly. I had to count that as a win.

I looked up the path once more and froze. A man lay under the tree. I couldn’t be seeing this right. Butsomebodywas there.

I pulled out my phone, even though it was a brick at this point, and scrambled for the door. It might be raining, and it could be a serial killer for all I knew, but I couldn’t sit there and watch him practically drown in the mud. What if he was alive? What if he was hurt? I needed to find a way to help him.

My boots slid in the mud as I made my way towards the fallen man under the tree.

“Excuse me?” I asked over the rain, my voice shaking. “Hello?”

No answer. I knew that was stupid. It wasn’t like he would answer if he was passed out or worse. I swallowed hard and moved forward before I knelt beside the man. His back rose and fell with his breaths, and I saw blood on his head from a small gash.

He was alive, though I knew I shouldn’t move him. What if he had hurt his back? I didn’t knowwhatI was supposed to do.

I leaned forward and slowly brushed my fingertips across his forehead toward his temple.

He had a big beard, strong cheekbones, and a furrowed brow. His dark hair was slicked back, wet from the rain, and splattered with mud. He looked so strong, a little intimidating, but was passed out and clearly hurt.

I didn’t know how to help. Yet something screamed inside of me to at least try. To pull him back and attempt to save him. I’d never felt this way before, and I wasn’t sure I liked it. I could barely breathe. I needed to help this man. I needed to do something.

“Excuse me?” I whispered again and brushed his skin with my fingertips once more.

Shock slid up my body and slammed into my arm. I fell back hard into the mud and scrambled away from him. He looked up at me suddenly, blinking, his eyes a dark brown ringed with a bright gold that seemed to shine in the low light the storm allowed.

He huffed out a breath and growled.

An actual growl.

Then I looked at his eyes again. They were no longer brown. They’d turned fully gold.

Just like the wolf I had seen.

That wasn’t right. It couldn’t be. I was seeing things. I had hit my head harder than I thought, and this was all a dream. A delusion. Because I didn’t feel right. Not with something pulsating inside me: the sudden urge to reach out and touch this man, make sure he was real.

Lightning struck so close, it popped my ears. I let out a squeak. The man beneath the tree growled, cursed under his breath, and then slowly made his way out from under the large branches.

“You shouldn’t…you shouldn’t do that. You could be hurt.” I wanted to reach out and touch him again, to help him. Something inside me pushed me forward, made me want to tell him that everything would be okay as I wrapped my arms around him.

I pushed away that strange urge.

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