Page 114 of Marked

“Ugh, you really are better off without that guy,” Lesley said when I finished. “Are you working today?”

“I took a few sick days. Need to clear head after all the shit with Rick, you know?”

“You should come over. We can comfort each other, binge-watch something trashy, and gorge ourselves on popcorn and ice cream. It’ll be great.”

I glanced at the time on my phone. Ollie would be there in less than an hour.

“I’m actually not home,” I said. “I’m on my way somewhere. Plus, I don’t want to come over to your place. It’s one of the places Rick will look for me. I don’t want him invading your space.”

“Oh, I’m not at my apartment. I’m at my boyfriend’s place.” She sneezed again, and I heard thehonkof a blown nose through the phone. “Sorry about that.Again.”

“If you’re with your boyfriend, then Ireallywouldn’t want to intrude. I’m sure you guys have plans.”

“Trust me, nothing sexy is happening when I feel this bad. I think the poor guy thought I was gonna finally give up the big A this weekend. He’s disappointed.”

“The big A? What?”

“Anal, sweetie. Butt stuff. Follow along.”

“Jeez.” I winced in surprise. “Got it.”

“Yeah. I’ve had a fever for a couple days. I feel like trash. No hanky-panky for a couple days. I’m gonna see if my doctor can call in some antibiotics for me. I’m too worn out to actually go sit in a waiting room.”

Lesley went on talking, but my mind was on something else. Nate was asleep in the cabin, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly the person who would stick by me through thick and thin. Hearing Lesley talk about her boyfriend had me trying to picture Nate in the same capacity. It was difficult. He was such a free spirit and seemed to love the freedom of the road so much. It made me feel a little bad for hoping he’d stick around for the long haul. What if I was the one being selfish in trying to make him give up a life he wanted?

The thought hurt, but it made sense in a way. Could I ask him to give all that up and stay? A strange bitterness settled over me as I came to terms with things. Was this more than a fling? I doubted it. My life had shown me that there were very few people I could actually trust. Standing there at the back of the cabin, staring at the bubbling creek with Lesley’s voice droning in my ear, a hundred new questions filled my mind.

I sniffed the air, my newfound heightened senses picking up something. A sour, sweet musk—the smell of a predator.

My inner wolf yelped in warning a moment before the mangy wolf burst from the forest on the other side of the brook. The feral. I’d never seen him in his wolf form, but Iknewthis was him. The eyes. That’s what I recognized. Wolf or man, the eyes held that same psychotic mania.

Stumbling backward, I dropped my phone. One of my slippers slid off my feet as I backed away. I tripped, falling hard on my ass, knocking the breath from my lungs. I couldn’t cry out for help, couldn’t even get a breath in. Scrambling back on myelbows, I watched as the wolf leapt over the small creek with ease and stalked toward me.

Fear, like burning acid, flooded through my chest as he peeled his lips back and let out a hungry growl. My foot slid as I tried to back up even more, and I collapsed onto my back. As a wolf, I could run faster and fight harder. I tried to call out to my wolf and shift, but it wasn’t natural yet, and the terror and adrenaline made it impossible to function. My mind spun in too many directions to concentrate. I screamed for my inner wolf even as the feral padded forward and straddled me.

When the wolf looked down at me, there was a weird, victorious gleam in its eye as its maw opened wide. I was dead. This was the end. This fucking thing was going to tear my throat out here.

A massive gray wolf slammed into the side of the feral, sending it tumbling away from me. Nate. Sitting up, I finally managed to suck in a breath. Nate and the feral rolled in a mass of chaos. Snapping jaws, kicking feet, claws digging at flesh, yelps of pain, and growls of anger. Scrambling to my feet, I backed farther away from the fight, putting distance between me and the feral wolf that wanted to tear me limb from limb.

I wanted to help, to jump in and fight the feral with Nate, but I knew that wouldn’t go well. All of this was so new. Without more experience and coaching, I’d only get in the way or get Nate hurt.

Nate yelped and stumbled backward, favoring his foreleg. I gasped when I saw the blood oozing through his gray fur. The feral rounded on him and pounced, its jaws snapping and biting at Nate’s chest and throat. Nate’s good paw barely kept the feral from latching on.

“Come on,” I hissed to myself. “Where are you?”

I kept trying to force myself to shift. I needed to get in there and fight with Nate, help protect him. Ihadto save him, but Icouldn’t focus. My fear and panic and worry for Nate made it impossible to shift into my wolf form. All the coaching and help Nate had given me yesterday seemed to mean nothing now that I was faced with danger.

The feral kicked Nate aside, sending him tumbling toward the creek. In a split second, it was lunging at me. I leapt back as teeth clacked together on empty air where my hand had been a moment before.

In the next instant, Nate was on the feral again, sinking his teeth into its hind leg before the beast could come at me again. The feral howled and yanked its leg, but Nate was stronger.

Nate swung the feral around and slammed it into a tree. The smaller wolf was no match for Nate’s massive, hulking form. The spot between the feral’s skull and shoulder crashed into the truck. A thicksnapaccompanied the collision as the wolf’s neck broke, and the feral tumbled to the ground in a heap. A moment later, he shifted back to his human form. The scraggly bearded mouth hung open, eyes staring sightlessly up at the early morning sky.

With shocked eyes, I stared at him. Stepping forward, I reached out, wanting to make sure he was really dead, but Nate grabbed my arm. I flinched in surprise at finding him human again.

“Why didn’t you shift? Why didn’t you run?” Nate looked panicked. “Are you okay?”

He ran his hands over me, checking for injuries. I was fine. No injuries at all, but Nate was hurt. A big gash ran across his forearm, right through one set of tally mark tattoos.

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