Page 2 of The Wolf Slayer

She’d left the corner store and headed home. Nothing had been out of the ordinary, it had been a night like any other. She’d gotten home and noticed that Jason, her roommate, had left for the evening, so she’d had the apartment to herself. She’d turned up the music, put her dinner in the oven, cleaned up the living room, and had gone on to clean the dirty dishes. She’d washed plates, cups, and pans and then had stuck her hand in the hot, bubbly water to grab the cutlery. That’s when she’d felt a sharp pain radiating straight up her arm. She’d pulled out her hand from the water to see that a sharp knife had lodged itself in her palm.

Without even thinking about it, she’d pulled the knife out, blood pouring all over the sink and countertop. In her panic, she’d grabbed a towel and had wrapped her hand with it, applying pressure to the wound. She’d felt so stupid. The first rule of first aid was to never pull anything out. In shock and with adrenaline rushing through her body she’d run into the bathroom, leaving a trail of blood behind. Not noticing the pain fading, she’d unwrapped the towel from her hand, with a bandage in her mouth, ready to roll it around her hand as fast as possible. To her surprise, there had been no wound, no gushing blood. Her palm had looked as if nothing had happened. All of it had disappeared.

“Did you hear what I said?”

Blake’s deep voice pulled her out of her thoughts. His head popped around the hood with an amused look on his face. She hadn’t heard a word he’d said. She gave him an apologetic smile.

“No, I am sorry.”

He started to explain what was wrong with Berta and went into too much detail for her to know what he was talking about. All she understood was that he couldn’t help with fixing Berta. She sighed. She just wanted to be home already, in her bed and getting back to her normal life.

“Thank you for trying, though.”

“Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?”

She turned and looked at the back seat of her car.

Tilting his head and inspecting Berta’s back seats, he crooked his eyebrow. “That doesn’t look comfortable.”

“It’s only for a few hours. I’ll be fine,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

He didn’t seem thrilled about her sleeping in her car. “Cliff will be closing his shop soon, and you’ll be alone out here.”

She wasn’t afraid of being out here all by herself. After spending a night out in the middle of the woods, spending a night on Berta’s back seat didn’t seem too bad.

Blake closed the hood and looked at her with gorgeous chocolate-brown eyes. He was very handsome, with long, curly, black hair, his features edgy and rough.

“Grab your things. You’ll stay with me for the night.” He wasn’t asking, but rather letting her know what would happen next.

Again, something deep within her urged her to go with him. A feeling she’d never felt before, something she couldn’t explain that made it hard to resist him. She knew following a stranger into the unknown was stupid. At the same time, the tugging within her became stronger, and another thought arose within her. Even if she couldn’t trust him, he wouldn’t be able to hurt her. The worst thing a person could do to another human was to kill them, and she knew he wouldn’t be able to do that to her. On the off chance he did attempt to hurt her, she knew she would survive it.

Feeling his gaze on her, she studied him in return. “What if I said no?”

His face was a mixture of emotions as he tried to discern what she could be thinking. “Do I look like someone who backs down easily?”

Instead of answering, she turned and grabbed her backpack, wallet, and keys. After closing Berta’s door and locking her up, she faced him in anticipation of his next move. He seemed baffled by her response and didn’t move. It seemed as if he’d prepared himself for her to fight him more. Seeing him so perplexed amused her, and she couldn’t help but smirk.

“Are we going or not? Because I can still change my mind if you’d prefer that.”

He grinned back, seemingly pleased, and started to walk toward the gas station. “I prefer not having to fight you on this.”

“Do you live far from here?” she asked, following him.

“Only twenty minutes.”

He turned around the corner, and she could see where he was heading. He was walking toward an older-style red motorcycle. She’d expected something like this but having her suspicions confirmed excited her.

He turned his head toward her. “Ever rode one before?”

She nodded, and yet again, he looked surprised. She’d only ridden a bike a few times when she was in her rebellious teenage phase. Her parents would’ve never approved of it, so she’d taken a few rides with her then crush.

“A few years ago, so it’s been a while.”

He sat on his bike and put the passenger paddles down. She waited until he was all set and swung up behind him. He closed the zipper of his leather jacket and turned the key in the ignition. With a loud roar, the bike awoke, and Niev wrapped her arms around his waist. She couldn’t explain it, but it felt good being so close to him. Without thinking about it, she put her hands in his jacket pockets and rested her head against his broad shoulders.

Blake drove off, and when a nice summer breeze hit her face, she closed her eyes. Somehow sitting there holding on to Blake, a total stranger, cleared her mind. She was able to just enjoy the ride without worrying about anything. She’d never felt anything like it before.

She only opened her eyes when Blake slowed down, turned, and drove off the main road onto a small dirt road that led them through the dark forest. The fear that this was another stupid idea crossed her mind again, this time becoming stronger the further he drove into the woods. If he wanted, he could drive her anywhere, and no one would ever be able to find her.

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