Page 29 of Wolf Heart

After a pause, he huffs out a breath. “Stay here until you’ve calmed down.” He checks under the bed and the closet before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

I’m alone and I feel like shit. But how can he be so callous? So uncaring about Aspen and Dex who I’m sure are laying in the forest somewhere bleeding to death. Tonight they could rise as lost ones. My stomach cramps at the thought. Just what have I gotten myself into?

The wolves howl long into the night and I sit on the bed, rocking back and forth, humming a song my father used to sing to try and block out the noise.

Sometime during the night, I fall asleep because I startle awake at a patch of sunlight shining in through a crack in the wood tacked over the window. A voice shouts nearby and I jump, goosebumps dancing along my arms.

“Raven?” I call out, fear clawing up my throat.

There’s no answer. I climb out of the bed and tiptoe to the door, pressing my ear against it. Murmurs sound. But I can’t make out what they’re saying or who is talking. Slowly, I open the door. My heartbeat thumps in my ears as I inch down the hallway.

The skull I had accidentally kicked is gone and fleetingly I wonder if Raven moved it so I wouldn’t have to see it again.

I swallow the lump forming in my throat. Really wish I had a weapon or the branch Raven took from me.

Shadows flicker in the kitchen and my footstep finds a creaking floorboard. It’s too late to run back to the bedroom and lock myself in or search the rooms for something to protect myself with. My heart pounds in my ears and I can’t move, can’t run.

“Is that her?” a male voice asks.

“Your loud mouth probably woke her up,” another answers in a light Irish accent.

Dex and Aspen. It has to be them.

I race around the corner into the kitchen. Raven is in one of the chairs with his leg crossed over his knee. Dex is sitting on the counter with his shirt off, dried blood down his arm and side. While Aspen turns the knob on the kitchen sink and the pipes groan, releasing a trickle of brackish water.

My gasp is swallowed by a cry of surprise.

All three wolves turn and look at me. I stumble forward, then catch myself before I plow into them, and wrap my arms around myself instead.

“Wh-what… how are you both here?”

“Came in late last night.” Aspen flashes me a grin. “Once the wolves left, we were able to sneak past the few stragglers and Raven let us in.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” I ask, looking from them to Raven.

“We’ll hold up here until the rest of them leave.” Raven stands. “I’ll see if we can scrounge up anything to take with us for the road.”

He leaves us alone in the kitchen and I lean against the counter, feeling like I might fall down if I don’t.

“How did you both get away?”

“Easy.” Dex shrugs then winces from the movement. He’s got nasty scratches down his shoulder and back. “When you and Raven took off like lightning, the wolves chased after you both. We killed a few around us. By the time we finished, there was no sign of you or the remaining wolves.”

“We followed your scent until we spotted the cabin. There were so many wolves, we knew we’d never get past them.” Aspen cupped his hands under the spouting water and then rubbed his face, cleaning away the dirt and blood. “Figured we could gather supplies while we waited and brought that back.”

He nodded to a backpack on the other side of Dex.

“Is there food and water in that?” I lick my lips, my stomach letting out a growl.

They laugh.

“Yeah.” Aspen turns off the faucet and walks over to the bag. “Give me twenty minutes and I’ll have breakfast ready. Plus I need to boil some water to wash our injuries.” He frowns, looking at me with an odd look on his face. “You have any wounds that need tending?”

“No. I got lucky,” I lie and take the chair that Raven left vacant. My scratches are already healed and I’d rather not have to answer a bunch of questions on how I can heal faster than most wolves.

Aspen works on the food while Dex takes out some water bottles and hands me one before leaving us alone in the kitchen.

Raven peeks in with a frown before moving past the kitchen to the hallway.

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