“Do you live around here?” I heard Liam ask and a throbbing started behind my eye.
“I live a few miles away. On the other side of town,” Leah answered kindly as I pressed my thumb against my throbbing eye, and wished for sudden deafness so I didn’t have to listen to their painful flirtation. “I go to Banks High. Where do you go?”
I paused as Liam answered, “I don’t go to school.”
“You graduated already? Like Jess?’
He shot me a curious glance but shook his head, his bravado suddenly disappearing as he admitted, “I don’t go to school.”
Leah turned, her back to the forest, as she gazed at him questioningly. “At all? You homeschool?” Her curiosity wasn’t wholly unexpected and I had to admit I wanted to know the answer too. My attention was partially distracted though as I saw Monster standing next to Trent with an empty cookie container. I was about to call out to them when Liam answered her.
“We weren’t allowed to go to school,” Liam said, ducking his head as he shifted uncomfortably awaiting our reactions.
“Oh,” Leah said softly, clearly uncertain how to reply to that information as my gaze shot back to him. I hadn’t known that little nugget about the Hanleys, but what better way to control them than to keep them uneducated. “You can go now though,” she said encouragingly. “Plenty of the Pack go to our school. You could too.”
Liam gazed at her, his expression enigmatic, as he considered her words. “I might have to,” he finally answered, a smile curling the corner of his lip up. “Since you go there.”
I was about to interrupt when a howl pierced the air, the sound sending an abrupt chill through my bones at the sheer urgency behind it. Liam’s expression sharpened as his gaze honed in on the forest. “Move,” he shouted, the bag dropping from his shoulder as he shoved Leah toward the motel wall, his body covering hers protectively. He reached for me, but I jerked my arm away, running toward Monster and Trent. “No, Jess!” I heard Liam curse behind me but my attention was focused on the two in front of me. My heart hammered as I ran, determined to reach Monster before whatever was coming got there first.
Trent lifted Monster up in his arms, running away from the forest and angling back toward the motel, his long strides and shifter strength making short work of the distance.
I slowed as I realized he was carrying my brother to safety and it wasn’t until his head jerked back toward me that I noticed I was standing in the open, completely exposed to whatever they were running from. Trent veered, his eyes desperate, and I knew he was about to place himself in the path of whatever was coming, with my brother still in his arms. I shook my head, yelling, “No,” as I turned and ran in the opposite direction, making myself a target as something enormous lunged from the woods.
I spared a glance over my shoulder, quickly realizing what it was, a wolf that rivaled Dom in size, and it was headed straight at me. My foot slipped and I went down hard. It took a stunned second to realize I wasn’t going to make it to safety and rolled into a ball, tucking my head against my chest as I covered my arms protectively around myself.
I heard the pounding of its feet as Monster wailed, “Dylan, no,” and I curled myself into an even smaller ball, praying my brother wasn’t about to see me mauled to death by his new best friend.
Hot breath gusted over me as the massive wolf lunged close, and I squeezed my eyes shut, positive this was about to be my end, when suddenly he was knocked back as another larger wolf lunged over my head. I held still, my world reduced to a loud cacophony of snarling, snapping growls until one sharp bark ended it and silence rang around me.
I lifted my head slightly, risking a peek between my fingers, ready to shut my eyes in an instant at the sight of blood or guts covering the ground. When I didn’t see anything, I risked raising my head completely. I quickly regretted my decision when I saw a naked Dylan sitting across and slightly behind me, munching on a cookie he’d picked up from the ground. The sight was almost immediately blocked as a huge black wolf paced protectively between us.
A shaky sigh flowed from me as I fell backwards onto the dirt, my heart threatening to escape my chest as relief coursed through me.
“Jesus Christ,” Trent shouted, coming closer to us, “That was fucking close.” I felt myself nod, unable to speak as my breathing slowed. Dom sent a continuous stream of incoherent thoughts and emotions through the link, inarticulate as he continued to guard me. Trent must have sensed his volatility because he gave him a wide berth as he came toward me, the little boy crying in his arms the only reason he even attempted it.