Page 6 of Forsaken By Night

Shivering, she attempted to wrap one of the blankets around her shoulders. It took three tries and way too much concentration to make her hands behave like hands and not like paws, but she finally managed to cover herself.

But she was still on the floor.

Awkwardly she reached up with one hand to grab the edge of the counter. Her muscles, stiff and unaccustomed to this new form, seized in protest as she hauled herself to her feet. She swayed violently; thank God for the counter, or she’d have keeled over.

She stood there for a moment, sweating and wheezing, allowing herself time to adjust to standing upright and seeing things from twice the height she was used to. What now? She wasn’t sure what to do besides run in a blind panic around the room.

Just breathe. You’ve been through worse.

Yes, she had. And as her mother used to say, “Panic leads to mistakes. Know your surroundings. Get the lay of the land, and always have a plan to escape.”

Her mother should know, given that she’d been on the run from the government since the day Tehya was conceived.

Tehya willed herself to calm down and look around. There were rows of counters and tables covered with machines, computers, and lab equipment, but not a single window and only one door. She got the uneasy feeling she was underground. But where?

Tentatively she released her death grip on the counter and took a step toward the door. Then another. And another. Her first steps on two feet in more than a decade.

Her feet padded unsteadily on the hard floor as she shuffled across it. If she could just peek outside the room, maybe she’d get a better handle on her situation. But before she was even halfway across the room, the sound of voices drifted through the closed door.

“I’ll tell Riker you’re looking for him,” a female voice called out. “He’s meeting me here in a minute.”

The door whispered open.

With a startled yelp, Tehya hit the floor, taking cover behind a cabinet.

“Oh, shit,” the newcomer gasped. “The wolf.”

Suddenly a strawberry-blond woman came around the corner, stopping short and gasping again when she saw Tehya crouching on the floor. For a few terrifying heartbeats, Tehya stared at the other female, unable to move. More heartbeats. More staring.

“Who... who are you?” the other female asked, and that fast, Tehya snapped out of the grip fear had on her.

She leaped to her feet and darted toward the door, but the woman moved like a snake. Her fingers dug into Tehya’s shoulder and spun her hard into a wall. Terrified and confused, Tehya went on the attack, sinking her teeth into the other woman’s arm and shaking hard. Blood spurted into her mouth, and even as her mind registered disgust, she moaned as the rich, silky nourishment coated her tongue.

The female screamed in pain, and Tehya went into a fresh spin of panic. People were bound to hear this, and then what? What would happen to her?

Who were these people?

Shoving with all her strength, Tehya slammed the female into what looked like an X-ray machine, and then she watched in horror as the woman crumpled to the floor, her mangled arm cradling her swollen belly.

Oh, shit. Pregnant. The female was pregnant.

Torn between wanting to make sure the female was okay and wanting to run, Tehya hesitated. The pounding of feet outside made her decision. She tore out of the room, bounced off a big guy who was heading for the lab at a dead run, and skidded around a corner, belatedly realizing she’d lost the blanket and was as naked as a newborn.

Whatever.

She sped blindly through the maze of hallways, careening off walls and people as she ran. She came to a Y split in the passage and, fighting her instinct to keep running, forced herself to slow down and take a deep breath. A million different scents filtered through her nostrils, from the musky tang of sex and the succulent odor of cooking meat to the crisp, green scent of outside fresh air from the tunnel on the right.

The sound of running footsteps once again spurred her into action. She sprinted down the right tunnel and followed the fresh air until she burst into the welcome sunshine.

She didn’t stop. She didn’t think she’d ever stop. Accompanied by the chirps of birds high in the trees, she bolted into the forest, easing up only when she caught the scent of smoke and roasting meat and realized she was running toward a human campsite.

Okay, chill out. Think. Get your act together.

Her mother hadn’t merely been full of good advice; she used to make Tehya practice using her brain during an emergency, and as Tehya crouched against a fallen tree she took back every complaint she’d ever uttered during those exercises.

Think. Breathe. List your options.

That last thing was easy, because she had very few options, and only one of them made sense. She had to find Lobo.

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