Page 21 of Wolf Bitten

I grabbed him and managed to slow him down by placing a hand on each ass cheek.

Lovely.

“You’re at the bottom,” I grunted as I tried to keep my balance and ease him down. When his feet hit the ground, I released him, and he crumpled. I managed to grab an arm and wrap it around my shoulders.

That was when rocks shot through the waterfall and splashed into the pond beside us.

Warin, Glinda, and the others were either out or too damn close for comfort. Slade and I needed to put distance between us and them, especially since the vampires could move faster than us.

“Go. You can run farther without me.” Slade tried to jerk his arm free, but he moaned from the effort.

In hindsight, helping him like this wasn’t good for his ribs, but it wasn’t like he could get on my back. Even if he could, I couldn’t support his weight. “I’m not leaving you. You got me out of there, and we’re in this together.” I refused to sacrifice someone else to save my own ass. I couldn’t live with myself.

“Fine,” he gritted out as we moved.

We started out awkwardly and out of sync. Every time I moved my left foot, he would move his right. But after a few steps and several whimpers, we found a groove.

“They’re right there. See, I told you they wouldn’t get far,” Warin called from the waterfall’s ledge.

My blood jolted. I had to keep it from activating.

“Dammit.” Slade missed a step and grunted. “I can’t use my magic much anymore. I’m too hurt and drained. That little bit I used to save you when you fell was pushing it.”

His words weighed on me. Was that why he was struggling more than he had been? I laughed humorlessly. “And you thought I would leave you.” All the hesitation I’d had about becoming friends with him again vanished. He’d tried to pressure me into a relationship, but maybe he’d thought that was the best way to protect me, and I’d read the situation all wrong. I’d felt like he didn’t care about my wants or needs. I hadn’t thought twice about it due to how Raffe had reacted and the fact the two of us had gotten closer. Regret squeezed my heart. I should’ve been willing to talk to Slade alone.

Howls sounded in the distance, and my heart leaped. Was it Raffe?

But they’d never reach us before the vampires and witches caught us.

We had to delay Glinda and the vampires.

The trickle of a spring caught my attention. Maybe the mud could hide us. I turned right toward the sound.

“That’s not the way out.” Slade tried to continue straight, but I pressed forward.

“There’s shallow water running this way,” I murmured, quiet enough that the vampires couldn’t hear. “Maybe mud will mask our scent. We won’t get far before they catch up.” Animals like white-tailed deer and Tuatara lizards rolled in mud to mask their scent from predators. If it was good enough for the animal kingdom, where there was always a threat, then I’d follow suit in the hope of continuing the survival of the smartest.

Slade stopped fighting me and followed my lead. We passed through fir trees, and the stream came into view. It was a couple of feet wide but not deep enough to swim in.

The two of us plopped onto the embankment and slathered mud over ourselves. Luckily, there weren’t too many rocks, and we made good time, but my wrist and neck stung from caking mud on my wounds. This would probably lower our core temperatures and cause infection in our wounds, but if we didn’t do it, we might not live long enough.

“This way,” the woman vampire said.

The voice was way too close for comfort, close to the end of the pond. I quickly finished covering myself and turned to help Slade, who had only covered his face and hands and was struggling to bend over.

Without hesitation, I worked from the bottom up. The mud stuck to us like oatmeal to a bowl, and chills racked my body.

Once he was covered, a twig snapped close by, and my heart raced.

The vampires were nearly on top of us.

More howls sounded, much closer than before. The odd presence inside me inched forward. We’d bought some time, but if we didn’t move, the wolves would never reach us. I waved for Slade to follow me.

Warin stepped into view fifteen trees away, on the path where Slade and I had come from.

As I feared, they were following our scent.

“They’re this way,” Warin murmured. “What are the four of you doing?”

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