Page 105 of Spark

I shrugged. “What’s the matter? Didn’t expect that from a pipsqueak shortcake like me?”

Romero stood, his hand still clutching his side as he glared at me.

“I’ll have your outdoor privileges removed,” he threatened, his finger pointing at me.

I shook my head at him. “Try it, and I’ll have your breathing privileges removed. Go ahead and tell Darren you let me get the drop on you… literally.” I smirked.

He snickered, shaking his head and stalked forward toward the door, opening it just enough for him to step through.

“Enjoy the rest of your afternoon. I understand staring out the window is a pastime of yours.” And then he slammed the door shut behind him.

Motherfucker!!!

I was not spending the rest of the day locked in this room because of that asshole. He wanted to play games with me? Well, game on, motherfucker.

He was fucking dead.

I charged for the closet to change my clothes and placed my coat, hat, gloves, and Camaro’s little coat in a duffel bag and headed into the bathroom, leaving the bag on the counter. Heading back into the bedroom, I calmly ate my lunch, finishing about ninety percent of it and calling it a good effort. Walking back into the bathroom with Camaro in tow, I closed the door and turned on the faucet to the bathtub and began putting on Camaro’s coat while it filled.

Once the tub was full, I turned off the faucet and put on my coat, hat, and gloves. Grabbing Camaro, I walked over to the bay window, slid it open and climbed out, jumping a few feet onto the soft padding of the snow. Luckily, no one was around as I placed Camaro on the ground and attached her leash.

Strolling off toward the trees, I wanted to put as much distance between me and that house as possible. I’d probably get in trouble for sneaking off, but I had a feeling those idiots would have it worse, so that made it worth it. Darren said I could go outside after I finished my lunch, and I did that. So as far as I was concerned, I had Darren’s permission to go outside. My guards didn’t trump him, and it wasn’t fair that they thought they could take away something Darren had given me. So fuck them. I wanted them as dead as my freedom was. Besides, it seemed like Darren was trying to sweeten me over a bit, considering this whole trip. He’d ruin it if he brought hell down on me for sneaking away because my guards were assholes. They should have the same standard as a prison if that was going to be the case. Guards were not encouraged to taunt prisoners; it makes them want to do all kinds of bad shit, but if you treat them nicely and with respect, you’ll have a much more compliant prisoner.

As we strolled, I kept a good grip on Camaro’s leash. We walked for a good half hour before we finally came close to the trees. I’d adhere to some of Darren’s rules and stay within my boundaries. I’d have that to barter over later, if it even mattered. A few minutes later, Camaro started barking at something moving around in the snow. And the moment I turned to look at what it was, I slipped on some hidden ice beneath me and crashed to the ground. My hand instantly loosened around the leash, and that was when Camaro took off running into the trees.

“Shit! Camaro, no!” I shouted, clutching my side and running after her. The snow was deep and thick, but Camaro was light enough to run through it while my footsteps sunk deep in the snow, making it difficult to keep up. “Camaro, stop!”

We were deep in the trees now as I tried to catch up to her, running as fast and as hard as I could. If I lost her out here, I didn’t know what I would do, but I didn’t want to find out. Eventually, she finally stopped at a random tree to bark at the damn critter as it climbed up the tree.

“Camaro!” I yelled, gripping her leash and pulling her to me. “No! Bad!” I yelled as I clutched her to my chest, attempting to catch my breath. She squirmed in my arms for a moment before she finally relaxed and licked my face. I sighed. “Please don’t cause any more problems for me. You’ve done enough already.”

I turned my back and headed toward the house, but the sound of a low deep growl had me stopping right in my tracks. I felt my blood freeze in my veins, and my senses went wild as a second growl reverberated through my entire body.

Slowly as possible, I turned my head to the side, and my knees nearly buckled. Behind me was a very large, very angry looking pack of wolves. There were six of them in total, most of them a mixture of gray fur while the alpha displayed a heavy coat blacker than night. Teeth bared, ears back, and eyes directly on me, the alpha of the pack gave every indication it was officially on the hunt. It snarled as Camaro cowered in my arms, and I felt myself stumble back.

“Oh. Fuck.”

The alpha wolf approached slowly, that same dark approach I recognized in another predator I knew so well. I could actually smell the death on its hot breath as it came closer. I backed away as slowly as I could, barely able to breathe myself as I kept Camaro tightly in my arms. The remaining wolves snarled and dug their paws into the snow as they advanced with their alpha, reminding me of how outnumbered I was.

Suddenly, I felt more stupid than I ever had in my life. I had no weapon, nothing I could use to fight them off other than my bare hands, and zero backup that usually came equipped with fire power. And here I was, about to die a very horrible, painful death by my favorite animal, all because I wanted to see my asshole guards six feet under. And now, I was about to take their place.

I was such a fucking idiot.

Staying out of the trees as Darren had said suddenly made sense now, but I would have actually heeded his warning better if I had known there were fucking wolves out here! I probably wouldn’t have gone outside in the first place! Fuck!

I took another step back, and the growl that left the alpha’s mouth had me shaking in fear. I’d never regretted sneaking out more in my life. Taking several steps toward me, its big paws pressing into the frozen ground, my eyes made the mistake of noticing the giant claws that cut through the snow. My heart was ready to beat right out of my chest, right onto a silver platter for the pack to feast on. I wanted to run, but for once, running was definitely not an option. They would rip Camaro and me to shreds. On the bright side, I’d finally be rid of Darren, but I’d also be dead as fuck, so that didn’t really help the situation.

For the first time ever, I actually wished Darren were here to help me. And wasn’t that the all-consuming thought before I died?

Deciding I wasn’t just going to stand here and die, I gently placed Camaro on the ground and loosely tied her leash to one of the belt loops of my coat. If she took off, the other wolves would definitely chase her and then she’d be done for. I kept the tie loose enough so she could get away if I wasn’t able to fight them off. Considering it was six against one, I doubted I’d last very long.

Expanding my arms to make myself look bigger, I leaned forward and snarled back at the wolf, hoping my aggression would hinder theirs, but it just made them jump and snarl more. Camaro barked and whined behind my legs, and it only made the pack bark back. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, making my body shake with terror as I strategized internally on how to survive this. I came up with shit.

On its last snarl, the alpha wolf finally took off in a run and leaped into the air, teeth and claws headed straight for my face. Instinctively bringing my arm up, the wolf’s teeth latched onto my arm, its jaws clamping down with enough pressure to make my scream cause an avalanche. Pain electrocuted through my forearm as its teeth sunk into my skin, even through the thick barriers of my coat, and no matter how many times I bashed my fist into its head and neck, it never let go. It was going to kill me. I was going to die by a pack of fucking wolves. Fuck.

But the piercing sound of a bullet ripping through the air suddenly silenced everything. The weight of the wolf fell over my body, and the sounds of more shots echoed through the trees quickly followed by the sounds of yelps and crunching snow. Immediately shoving the now dead wolf off me, I watched as blood drained from its side, a bullet wound the size of a golf ball burst from its thick black fur. Its belly rose and deflated several times before it stopped, and a final breath of hot air left its snout.

I clutched my bleeding arm to my chest, hearing the sound of footsteps quickly crunching through the snow, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the dead wolf. My name echoed in the background, but I couldn’t focus on where it was coming from or whose voice it was. All I could do was stare at the dead wolf that had taken my place.

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