Page 90 of A Wolf's Wound
“I mean it.I shouldn’t have just let you disappear off the face of the earth and not reach out.That was fucked.”
It was probably one of the worst things I’ve done in my life, even though this nagging memory keeps wanting to emerge.That dream, with the blood in my mouth and the liquor in my belly.
I shake myself and meet Brian’s eyes.He’s right to want an apology for that, even if his methods are going to get his ass kicked as soon as I can manage it safely.At the end of the day, this is my fault.I abandoned him, and from the sounds of it, he managed to get himself turned into a shifter.Maybe if I hadn’t treated him like shit, he might have chosen differently.Or at least, he would have felt like he could come to me after he turned.
If he’s the shifter who’s been turning all these humans, it’s my fault.Well, my fault and the fault of whatever asshole bit him.
“You think I blame you for that?”His brows rise up, nearly touching his hairline.Every expression he makes is exaggerated, like he’s acting on a faraway stage.“Nah, man.How could I?Why the hell would you go out of your way for some human?”
“Because we were friends.”
“Friends!”Brian laughs.“You can’t be friends with a human.It’s like being friends with… with a cow.A chicken, more like.They’re prey.You’re a hunter.It’s not natural to want anything more than that.”
“How can you hate humans so much?”Hannah cries, exasperated.“Youarea human!”
Shit.Of course she wouldn’t know.She doesn’t have my sense of smell.All this time, she’s been standing around because she thinks Brian is some sort of human stalker.She has no idea the kind of danger she’s in, and now it’s too late.
Brian’s head swivels toward Hannah, and all the hair on my arms prickles as he slowly shakes his head.There’s no chance of her running, now.Not when she’s the focus of all his renewed attention.
A deranged smile twists his lips.“Not anymore.”
Chapter 52
Hannah
“Can’tyoutell?Lookat you, sweating and disgusting after our little jog together.And look at me.”He sweeps a hand, gesturing to his relaxed form.“I’m stronger, faster,better, in every way.And if you interrupt me again, human, you’ll wish you’d never been born with a tongue.”
I’m too morbidly fascinated to even be bothered by his insults.Now that he spells it out, it makes sense.I should have been able to outrun him, or at least disappear into the woods.But he’d been inhumanly fast with a keen sense for tracking.
Now I know why.
“I could tell you were a shifter,” Ryder says.“As soon as I got out of the car.”
Brian turns to him, and Ryder glares at me again.He’s trying to build a rapport with Brian, but I can tell it’s all a lie even if Brian can’t.He’s not impressed with Brian’s status as a shifter, even though he’s trying to sound like he is.He wants me to run.
He’s wanted me to run away this entire time, but I just can’t make myself.Brian is obsessed with him.What if I run off for help and I’m too late?I have no doubt that Brian’s seemingly friendly mood will flip if a human appears to have bested him.I can’t leave him alone with Ryder.Especially not when Ryder looks like he’s just been gut-punched.He’ll have a better chance taking Brian down with my help than without it.If I can manage to distract him at the right time…
Ryder seems to follow my train of thought and shakes his head, warning me off.I stand back for now but keep watching for an opportunity.I might not have shifter strength, but I don’t need it.I have Ryder.And as long as Ryder has me, we can tip the scales on this son of a bitch.
“I could smell you,” Ryder says, and Brian preens like it’s some sort of compliment.“But I don’t understandhow.There’s been a shifter biting people out here, and I’ve seen some of them turn.It doesn’t usually end pretty.How are you still alive?Do you have a mate?”
At that, Brian roars with laughter so loudly he nearly falls.He mimes wiping a tear away from his eye.
“Oh, that would be rich.No, no mate.Just a lot of research.A lot of planning.Shifters keep to themselves, but you haven’t hidden yourselves away entirely.That would be impossible.There are whispers online, if you know where to look.”
Ryder looks troubled that anything is written about shifters online.They work so hard at keeping a low profile, but from my time at the university, I know that entire professions are dedicated to eradicating the evidence of supernaturals.
It’s not an easy job.The best they can do is muddy the waters, submit enough false stories to overwhelm the few true ones that make it through.And with everything being on camera these days, there’s an increasing number of true stories making it through.
“There’s a lot of bullshit online,” Ryder says.
Brian nods.“Sure.It took some wading through, but I was patient.I tried a few methods—drinking from the same cup you used, drinking potions with your hair.Eventually, I realized that I needed to be bitten.Most people don’t survive it, even in the bullshit stories online, but I found one guy who did.”
“And how did you even know he was real?”
“Oh, I tracked down all the storytellers.”Brian’s face darkens.“Believe me, I have plans for the liars.They’ll pay for their audacity soon enough.But eventually I found a guy not too far from here.He didn’t want to meet with me, told me it was all a story, but I knew better.”
“How?How did you know for sure he was a shifter?”
