Page 24 of Moonmarked

She made a low, breathy sound—half a huff, half a rumble, and her tail flicked to the side once.

Almost like she wassayingyes.

I looked at the squirrel again, then back at her. “Are you…not going to eat me then?”

Again, that same huff, and her tail moved again. Relaxed.Swooshingto the sides with ease.

Fuck me sideways.The werewolf wasn’t going to eat me. She’d brought me a dead squirrel instead.

Closing my eyes, I tried to push back the tears that suddenly came at me from the inside like a wave coming out of the ocean to fucking destroy the shore, swallow it whole. It came crashing onto me and my body was now shaking for an entirely different reason. I drew in shallow breaths as my heart hammered, and told myself that I was okay, that the werewolf wasn’t going to eat me, that I was alive.

Somehow, however this had happened, I was alive.

It took me a moment to gather myself, though, to put my thoughts in order, to stop the tears that had wet my cheeks, too powerful to hold back completely. I wiped my eyes with the backs of my hands, and I forced more air down my lungs before I looked up again, to see the werewolf had lay down all the way, front paws crossed, tongue hanging out as she looked around, peaceful. Not worried in the least.

It made me laugh for whatever reason. Maybe because she looked like a dog still, and maybe because she wasn’t eating me. Maybe because she’d brought me a dead squirrel, and maybe because none of this—I repeat,none of this—made any fucking sense. I laughed until my ribs hurt.

The werewolf only watched me curiously for a moment, then continued to look around.

“Thanks for the squirrel,” I said eventually. “But I would rather not eat it, or I will throw up every organ in my body.”

I was hungry, though. Just as I said the words, I realizedmy stomach was growling with hunger, which made me wonder how long I had been unconscious in this place.

However, I wasnotgoing to eat a dead squirrel, not even if the alternative was death. But I did have nuts in my pockets—and the last piece of dried meat I’d stolen from the sorcerer.

It was there, still in the inside pocket of the jacket, together with all the nuts that hadn’t fallen out. The moment I smelled the salty scent of it, my mouth watered—fuck, I wasstarving!I bit into it like a savage, and I didn’t care. I ate half of it possibly within two minutes.

Meanwhile, the werewolf slowly extended her neck and grabbed the tail of the dead squirrel between her teeth, then pulled it toward herself, secured it between her paws, and dove in.

I couldn’t look—too disgusting. But I didn’t stop eating my meat until my stomach was full. A quarter still remained, and I would save it for later, but I would need water now, too. A lot of water.

If only this river hadn’t dried up, I’d be swimming in water right now.

As I ate, the memories came back to me, and I tried to make sense of them instinctively. Nothing but dry, cracked earth and pieces of rocks around me. This river had been huge once, but it had dried up a very long time ago, by the looks of it. And the trees on the other side looked just as big and as dense as the forest I’d been in.

No sorcerers that I could see anywhere, and it still baffled me that I’d survived the fall without breaking anything.

I looked down at my right arm, the only part of my body that hurt.

“You really did a number on me,” I muttered as the werewolf still ate her squirrel, and I inspected the four deep scratches on my skin, dried blood crusted over them. Maybe it was just me, but they didn’t look as raw as before when the sorcerers had been inspecting me. “How did you know that I would survive the fall, though?” I asked next. “And how did I not break anything? I could have sworn everything hurt the last time…” I looked at the werewolf. “How didyouconvince them you were dead? That was on purpose, right? I saw you and you weren’t breathing.”

A huff and a rumble, followed by a growl that wasn’t threatening at all—that was her answer.

I shook my head, analyzed her face, those wide yellow eyes, her sharp ears, her soft looking fur. Every color on her, every feature, even the soft pink of her tongue was exactly right. “You’re beautiful,” I told her. “How in the world are you not a dog?” I couldn’t get over the fact, but the werewolf only huffed. “And how in the world are youcleanand…and…well?”

That’s when she jumped to her feet, and it was a miracle I didn’t scream from the sudden movement. The werewolf stood up and started to walk ahead down the riverbed, her head turned, her eyes on me.

I could be seeing things, obviously, but I could have sworn that she was telling me to move. To get up. Tofollowher.

Could I even stand on my legs? Because I wasn’t entirely convinced that my bones weren’t broken for real—but I still had to try. I couldn’t sit here in the sun forever. Who knew when those sorcerers might come back?

So, I tried. With my teeth gritted, I moved my legs and pushed myself up, and other than the pain in my right arm, nothing else hurt. My muscles were tight, and my limbs felta bit heavier at first, but I was standing, my legs were perfectly functional, and I most definitely did not have a broken bone in my body.

I smiled. I laughed a little, too. Looked at my hands, at my arms, at my legs. “I’m in one piece.” Which could be the most shocking thing I’d ever said in my entire life.

A whine.

No way she’s not a dog, no way,I thought, but the werewolf was walking in a circle ten feet away, and she was calling for my attention. She wanted me to move, to follow her—and I did.

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