Page 44 of Wolf Fated
Okay good.I felt like we were on some temporary truce or something. That neither one of us would hurt the other... I hoped. But we couldn't stay here forever. There was a possible grizzly waiting down below or hiding a short distance away and that thought terrified me. Also, Nathan, even as a wolf, needed emergency care and we didn't even have a freaking bandage in this stand.Whenever we get out of this mess, I'm stocking this small room with First Aid supplies and bottled water. Oh, and some canned food and jerky too.
My stomach rumbled and Nathan's attention went to the sound, and I nearly laughed.
"Don't worry," I said. "I won't eat you, unlike the wolf in the Little Red Riding Hood story." Then my face heated because my mind instantly snapped to all those werewolf romances that I used to read. And of course, the memory of Nathan's fingers touching me returned too. I was getting turned on and not a good idea when a real-life werewolf was staring at me.
Wait. The cellphone.I could call Drake or Axel and find out what the hell to do. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t want me to call animal control on their friend. I snickered but it was from my growing hysteria rather than humor.
I glanced around the small enclosure, frowning. Where was the phone? It had been in my hand with Drake on speaker phone when the bear had charged again, then I'd scrambled away when Nathan had tried to snatch me up. I must have dropped it then and forgotten it after he grabbed me and the bear was chasing us. So, the ability to call anyone for help was gone.
The urgency to get out of here increased ten-fold. I licked my lips, not taking my gaze off Nathan as I inched forward. If I could get to the panel, I could lift it to see if the bear was gone and make a run for Nathan's truck.
I reached out to the edge of the panel. My fingers brushed along the path and Nathan snarled. His teeth barred; he didn't stop snapping at me until I moved away from the panel.
Tears filled my eyes because if we stayed here, we were going to die. Probably me first because I seriously doubted Nathan the wolf was going to fast with just me here to eat.
“Look, we can’t stay locked in here forever, we have to get out and get help.” I squared my shoulders, and he lowered his head like was going to attack.
This wasn’t getting us anywhere.
I added an edge of annoyance and determination to my voice. “Enough, Nathan.”
His head tilted to the side like he was confused. I could work with that. Better him off-guard than focusing on chomping into me.Oh God, if he did bite me, would I turn into a werewolf too?I mean that’s how it was in a lot of books, but what was the truth?
“If you bite me, I’m going to totally bite you back, okay? Fair warning.”
I made shooing motions with my hand. Nathan barred his teeth and my heart race.
A crack sounded underneath us. I froze. Was it the bear?
Nathan growled low in his throat as though in a warning. His hackles were raised again. And he stood over the panel, blocking the opening from whatever was coming, and my breaths froze. What could a wolf do against a huge bear?
I couldn't let Nathan, even if he was a werewolf, get hurt. All this was my fault. If I had stayed in the stand with him to begin with, then we wouldn't be in this mess. I'd probably be joking with Nathan and laughing or even kissing him instead of wondering which animal was going to attack me first.
Something thumped against the panel. I hiccupped a shocked cry.Oh God, the grizzly is trying to get inside.Nathan stayed in position over the middle of the panel, glaring at the edges, as though daring one of them to pop up.
"Get out of the fucking way, Nathan," Drake's voice came from down below.
Drake is here!My entire body relaxed, and I sank to the floor.
Instead of moving or calming down even, Nathan leapt off the panel and straight at me. His mouth clamped onto my leg. I screamed as pain shot up my leg like he had injected me with liquid fire.
"Brook!" Drake yelled.
Nathan shook his head with my leg still in his jaws. The muscles tore and I beat at his muzzle with my fist, trying anything I could to get him off me.
The panel burst outward, and Drake jumped into the deer stand. I cried and screamed.
"No!" Drake yelled.
Nathan dropped my leg like it was a piece of meat he was scolded about touching. Blood soaked my pants. I scooted back from both of them, despite my leg feeling like it was lit on fire. My breathing ragged.
"Shit." Drake sat across from me and raked a hand through his golden hair. "It's too soon."
"Wha—this was your plan all along? T-turn me into a werewolf. Are you one too?" Why was I even asking? Of course, he was one too. I saw the glimmer in Drake's sapphire eyes. In the way he watched me.
Instead of admitting what I already knew, he paled. "This isn't the way the bonding is supposed to happen. You're not ready yet."
"Bonding?" Did he mean like me merging with a wolf or something? Why was it getting hard to think? My brain felt fuzzy, and my next breath came out in a wheeze.
