Page 62 of A Wolf's Wound
Which only leaves one option… Does he sense something?I look around, trying to pierce the darkness that hovers just outside this well-lit yard.Is something out there, waiting to attack?I remember the creature that broke down my door.
Could he have returned?Is does Ryder sense?
Chapter 35
Ryder
“Ryder?”Hannahaskssoftly.“Is something wrong?”
I shake my head, willing myself to stop trying to hear that voice again.Much to my disappointment, it faded almost as soon as I realized it was a memory.
“Everything’s okay,” I tell Hannah.I look at the concerned faces of my parents and brothers and say it again.“Everything’s okay.I’m sorry if I alarmed you.”
“You know that’s not true,” Gavin says quietly, placing a hand on my shoulder.“We need to talk.”
I follow him to a quiet part of the lawn, just outside one of the outdoor lights.“What is it?”I ask him.
“What happened to you in the house?”Gavin asks instead.“You looked like you saw a ghost.”
“No, but maybe I heard one.”I sigh.“For just a couple of seconds I heard this voice.I know I recognized it, but I don’t know from where or who it actually was.It’s driving me crazy.”
Gavin studies me for a few long seconds.“This is all taking a huge toll on you,” he says.“I didn’t realize just how big it was.”
“I’m better now that Hannah’s out here,” I say.“Which reminds me, I should get her set up for the night.I know Mom wants Hannah to stay in the main house with her, but I think she and Shadow will be safer in one of the smaller houses.That’ll be easier to secure and guard too.”
“Before you do that, I wanted to let you know that I’m going to send out some feelers about those other bodies.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense.”
“And I also want to remind you that you are not, under any circumstances, going to do anything to provoke this person who’s after you.”
I bristle.“Why not?”
“Because that would be dangerous and stupid,” Gavin says.
“Not if I do it knowingly,” I argue.“Drawing this person out is the only way we’ll stop the killings, Gavin.”
“It’s not the only way,” he shoots back.“You could let the rest of the pack do our jobs, Ryder.Send out feelers, ask around, keep monitoring the areas where he’s attacked before.Those are also ways to stop all this.”
“But that could take days or weeks,” I protest.“Come on.We know that this person—or wolf, or whatever—is after me.Everyone else is just collateral damage.”
“And what do you think will happen if you try to draw him out and fail?Thenyou’redead, Ryder.Or Hannah, or whoever happens to be standing next to you at the time.”
“I won’t let anyone else get hurt,” I spit out between gritted teeth.
“You can’t guarantee that!”Gavin says, his voice rising slightly.
“No, but I’m almost certain that the longer we let this personkeep playing this fucked-up game with me, the more people will die.Do you want their blood on your hands?”
“Cut the dramatics, Ryder,” Gavin hisses back.“Do you really think that going the provocation route is going to be any less dangerous?”
“No, but it will be quicker!”
“Not necessarily,” Gavin says.“As best as I can tell, these deaths and those notes are happening on this person’s timetable, not yours.And certainly not mine.Trying to provoke him could just drive him back underground and make him string us all along for longer.”
Gavin has a point, but I’ll be damned if I tell him that.The idea of just waiting around for someone to come after me or Hannah is so frustrating, I want to punch something.Instead, I settle for digging deeper into this argument.
“If I can provoke him, the pack will know.Right?”I ask.
