I picked up my flashlight and began to jog down the road, despite the fact that I knew you were never supposed to run from a predator.
Where were all the fucking cars?
When nothing attacked me from behind, my confidence grew and I started to run faster, despite the fact that my legs were screaming in protest.
I came to a halt when a road that diverted from the main one I’d been running on appeared in front of me just a ways off. I hesitated and tried to squint farther down the main road. I should just stay on this road, right?
The sound of something running down the main road seemingly straight towards me made the decision for me, and I darted down the roadway and quickly realized that it was going downhill rather than uphill as the highway had headed. That was a good sign I thought.
I sighed again as I slowed down to a quick walk, the effects of the crash and my extremely poor diet over the last few weeks doing me in. If I had to run again because something was after me, I was probably going to have to accept it.
Damn those Cool Ranch Doritos.
The air was freezing here. I had on a stained I Love New Mexico shirt I’d found in one of my convenience store runs. It was pink, so I knew I had to have it. Alistair had hated pink, banned it from my wardrobe in fact…
Was it going to last forever, this way that my heart would squeeze every time I thought of him? How was it possible to hate someone with every fiber of your being but still feel like you couldn’t breathe without them?
I stifled a sob, determined not to cry for him.
“Never again,” I whispered to myself, even as his face appeared in my mind as I remembered the way he’d been looking at me right before he ripped my world into a million pieces that had no hope of ever being put back together.
I was so lost in my four hundred and twentieth pity party that it took me a while to notice the lights beginning to pop up in the distance and the enormous wooden sign with the symbol of what looked like a wolf carved above a scrawled ‘Welcome to Amarok.’
Amarok? What kind of name was that? And why hadn’t I seen this on the map I’d poured over before setting off today?
I pushed myself to go faster, the lights giving me hope, even if I was wary of getting so close to civilization. The places I’d picked had been out in the middle of nowhere. Small inns and motels where drifters and vagabonds passed through, perfect for a girl on the run. Alistair was a big fan of the Four Seasons, so the places I’d picked were, again, perfect for avoiding detection.
Another howl sounded through the night, and I decided that going near people, and hopefully getting help for my car, was a much better outcome than the possibility of getting eaten alive.
I already knew what a wolf’s bite felt like, and it wasn’t an experience I wanted to repeat…
2
Rune
The buildings loomed larger as I got closer, and I wondered again how a town this size hadn’t been on my map. I was pretty sure the map was up to date. A GPS on a phone would obviously have been more useful, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
I tried to look for a building where I could find help, but everything looked shut down for the night. Finally, I spotted a sign advertising a place called The Lair Inn. The walls were made of cobblestone, like something you’d find in a Brother’s Grimm tale. For an inn, it seemed pretty deserted. I couldn’t see anyone else around. Only the splash of water from a river nearby and the rustle of leaves filled the night. For moments, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d stumbled into a ghost town. But ghost towns didn’t have pristine roads and building lights, so I guessed I could strike that possibility off the list, right?
The faint sound of a scream caught on the breeze from the woods behind me. Had I really heard that, or was it an animal cry?
I twisted around, my heart in my throat, and I stared into the unbelievable darkness, seeing nothing. It didn’t stop my imagination from picturing wolves looming in the shadows, about to lunge and kill me. The fact that I was a wolf shifter didn’t stop wild wolves from attacking.
Today had been a terrible day, and I’d had my fair share of crap in my life. I’d come too far though to add death to my list of how much my situation currently sucked.
I whipped back around and sprinted the last few steps towards the inn, the hairs on my nape standing at attention. Panic flared in my chest as I got the distinct feeling that someone was watching me right at that moment. I plunged into the light hanging over the arched, wooden door and turned my back to the building. Part of me half expected something to be right on my heels, but there was nothing there. Just a lawn with wooden benches and tables. Still, my heart beat furiously fast.
Keep your shit together, I ordered myself.
It was bad enough I crashed my car, and now I was stuck in the middle of nowhere. But I couldn’t let panic get the better of me.
Where the heck am I, anyway?
Wherever I’d arrived, I doubted Alistair would track me down right away, and I craved a warm bed desperately. Anything to be away from the dark woods and the feeling of being watched.
Not waiting another moment, I turned and pushed open the inn’s door. The hinges creaked, announcing my entrance. Not that there was an audience to welcome me. The main bar area stood empty.
No music.
No fire burning.
Just an eerie silence at first.
I took a deep breath, inhaling a strong lemon scent like the entire room had been plunged in Lysol. Not for the first time, I longed for the abilities that should have been mine. I could have scented the whole room, gotten a clear lay of the place. For a wolf, emotions had clear scents. It was just too bad I would never get to experience that firsthand.
Someone cleared their throat just then, and I jumped, realizing I wasn’t alone in the room. I looked over and saw a middle-aged man now standing behind a long wooden counter. We stared at each other, and he cocked his head as he studied me. I saw his nostrils flare a few times, almost like he was trying to smell me.
That was odd.
My thoughts flew in a dozen directions all within the span of a microsecond. Would he hurt me? Even as the thought cycled through my mind, I knew it was crazy. Not every person of the male variety was a psychopath. But I couldn’t help it.
I backed up a few steps, my first instinct to find an escape route, even though I had nowhere to escape to. My skin chilled with the notion I’d just made a terrible mistake coming here.
“Um…I-I better go. Sorry—”
“You look like you could do with a warm drink, maybe something to eat,” the man said, a hint of uncertainty lacing his voice. His gaze skipped over my shoulder to the night outside, as if he feared what lingered in the woods too. His attention swept over my arms, seeing the blushing redness of the burns from the airbags.
I didn’t move at first as the breeze from outside swished through my hair, curling around my body. I shivered with a sudden cold.
“You just arrived in town?”
When I looked closer, I saw there was softness in his eyes, similar to how I’d remembered my mother’s looking. That didn’t bode well for my trust issues with this man.
“It’s best not to wander through these woods late at night. It can be a dangerous place.”
He turned to collect a tall glass from the shelves behind him, acting purposely nonchalant, as if he knew how close to the edge I was in completely losing it.