Page 43 of Wolf's Fate

“See something you like?” I asked him when he got back in.

“I’m out of touch with some things,” he admitted. “I saw a necklace that an old friend would have liked.” He didn’t hide his wistfulness as he spoke.

“You’re no longer friends?” I guessed that’s what he meant by “out of touch.”

“No, I’m very much off the grid now.”

“Oh.” The atmosphere had changed slightly. “I’m sorry.” Curiosity pushed me to ask the next question. “What was it?”

“An amethyst silver necklace.” Doc pulled away from the sidewalk.

“Pretty,” I murmured. Tugging at my thin gold chain, I looked at the store as we passed. “I don’t wear silver,” I told him, wanting to lighten the mood to before. “I’m a gold girl myself.”

“Expensive,” he joked.

“Yeah, I know, I’m so high maintenance.” I laughed. “Plus, I prefer not to have the red itchy skin and blisters, you know.” I caught him staring at me. “I’m allergic to silver jewelry,” I explained. “Makes my skin break out.” He was still paying more attention to me and not the road. “Why are you staring? Are you trying to crash the truck?”

“Nothing,” Doc told me hastily, looking away.

Weird.

Back at the motel, we kept the door open again, and Doc asked me if I was comfortable with it open during the night, to which I said yes. I didn’t go on to tell him I felt safer like that, and I didn’t think I needed to. He was a pretty intuitive guy.

I was in bed, jammies on, sketchbook on my lap, when I heard Doc’s door open. The low murmuring of voices was still loud enough to identify Ned. When the interconnecting doorgot pulled closed with no explanation other than the unspoken message of them wanting privacy, I put my sketchbook aside and, like any other person would, went over to the door to listen.

I couldn’t hear anything, which annoyed me, and then I remembered they would hearme, and I hurried back to the bed. I sat and waited for one of them to come to me, but neither of them did, and the unmistakable sound of the main door closing had me hurrying out of bed again to go to the window and peer outside into the night.

“Go to bed, Willow.”

I yelped in surprise, turning to face Doc. “What happened? Why did he come back?”

Doc was at my bed, my sketchbook in his hands. “What’s this?” he asked me instead.

I flushed guiltily. “It’s just a doodle.”

Looking at me with raised eyebrows, he held the pad up. “This full-blown scene of a pack gathering isjusta doodle?”

“I got carried away,” I told him, crossing the distance and taking the artist pad off him. “You gave me the idea earlier with the whole social gatherings. I was bored,” I added defensively. “I doodle when I’m bored.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, and then with a shake of his head, he went to the adjoining door. “Remind me never to show you mydoodles.” He looked at me over his shoulder. “Get some sleep.”

It took a lot longer to sleep after Ned had left, but I did drift off eventually.

Waking up with a hand over my mouth, struggling to breathe was terrifying. My heart was racing as panic took over,and I fought for breath. It took me a moment to register where I was. The shadows of the unfamiliar room merged, adding to the sudden suffocating darkness. The weight of the hand against my mouth was too heavy, too constricting, and as I started to struggle, I felt another hand press into my shoulder.

“Shh, it’s me,” Ned whispered urgently. I instantly stopped fighting, but he kept his hand over my mouth. “You need to do everything I say,” he spoke into my ear. “No questions, no hesitation. Okay?” I nodded, and I felt the answering squeeze of my shoulder. “There’s no time to dress,” he added.

He removed his hand, and I felt him move away. Quickly I pushed back the covers, getting to my feet and stumbling over my sneakers, which he had placed as close as possible to the bed. I felt his hand grab me and steady me, the unspoken warning to be more careful communicated by the tight squeeze of my elbow. Slipping my sneakers on, I felt something soft being pushed into my hands. Recognizing it for my sweater, I pulled it hastily over my head.

I took a brief moment to take a deep inhale, pushing the last vestiges of sleep from me. Ned reached for me—I assumed it was him—and he led me away from the main door, keeping a firm hold of me.

I recognized the smell of the bathroom, and a thin sliver of moonlight seeped through the high window. A high window Ned was now pushing wide open. When I realized his intent, I was backing away, but he yanked me closer.

“I lift you up, you go through, you drop, land in a crouch. Brace yourself for impact, and try not to scream.”

Wait…what? Try not to scream? Brace myself? What the fuck?

I had no chance to ask, because I was picked up and soon, I was grabbing for the thin window ledge. I wanted to scream at him that I was never going to fit through this, and how far wasdownon the other side, but he said to do what he asked, and I was too scared of whatever was out there to stop now.