“Your gun won’t help anything, Chief,” Alexander said, doing the exact opposite as he stepped in front of me. As he did, he pulled his hands free, snapping the handcuffs at his wrists as if they were a silly child’s toy.
And then he charged forward.
Toward the creek, and toward the approaching beast.
Chapter Eleven
“Alexander!” I yelled after his retreating figure. “You’re still under arrest!”
“I told you… it’s Alex!” he called back.
But he didn’t stop walking. Instead, he just continued toward the creek, taking off his jacket as he did so and dropping it on the ground behind him which I found odd, to say the least. “Alex!” I yelled after him again.
“We warned you not to trespass!” Alex growled out and I wasn’t sure, but I thought he was addressing whatever was in the water.
“There were clear lines of demarcation between our land and yours,” Alex continued. “Your people agreed to it, just as ours did. You broke the treaty and came after one of our own, so you suffered the consequences!”
He stopped walking once he reached the bank of the creek. Then he tore off his T-shirt and threw it down beside him as if it wasn’t seventeen degrees outside. I couldn’t help but notice his incredibly broad shoulders and his muscular back. The guy worked out and then some.
Oh my God, Elodie, really? I reprimanded myself. This guy is about to get torn to shreds by a wolf and you’re busy gawking over his body?
I shook my head and forced myself to focus on the situation unfolding in front of me. Hot or not, Alexander Johnson was clearly bat-shit crazy, considering he was having a full-blown conversation with a wolf. But, cray-cray or not, that didn’t mean I was just going to stand around and let him become dog food… or wolf food, as the case may be.
“Alex!” I yelled after him again as soon as he strode toward the mouth of the creek. This time, he took off his belt, but before he could get to his pants, I figured I should probably intervene, much though I was dying to see what I imagined would be a very shapely ass.
“Stop walking!” I yelled after him as I lurched forward. My hands were still shaking, but I hadn’t managed to drop my firearm, which was a good thing, considering my mind had gone into shock mode for a few seconds.
“This doesn’t concern you,” he growled at me from the corner of his mouth. “You should make your way back into town and let me handle this.”
“To hell with that!” I yelled at him as I hurried down the icy bank, nearly skidding out of control as I did. I didn’t have another pair of handcuffs for him to break through, so I figured I’d just have to take him back into custody the old-fashioned way, with my gun to his head. “You are still a suspect and you are still very much under arrest,” I said as I forced myself in front of him, wanting to thwart any ideas he had about going swimming. I aimed the butt of the gun directly between his eyes and held it maybe a foot or so away from him. I meant business and I wanted to make sure he understood that.
“You have no idea what you’re playing with,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper. He narrowed his eyes at me for a second or so before returning them to what I imagined was the wolf behind me.
“I’m not interested in your delusional conversations with dogs,” I barked (no pun intended) as I took another step toward him. “What I am interested in is getting you back to the station so we can have a conversation.”
“I’m trying to protect you, you pain in the ass!” he whispered at the same time that I heard the sound of the wolf howling from right behind me. The sound didn’t quite come out as a howl, though, it sounded more garbled than anything else. Almost like the wolf was choking on something.
“I’m not interested in your protection,” I ground out as I reached for him, intending to grab his arm so I could lead him away. “I can protect myself.”
But my hand never made contact with his arm. Instead, he reached over and, placing the palm of his right hand on my chest, he “pushed” me. Somehow, and I had no idea how, I was suddenly airborne. I could see my feet as I sailed through the freezing night sky and a moment later, landed in a mound of snow. The snow broke my fall and ensured I wasn’t hurt, but the fall still knocked the wind right out of me.
I found myself fighting to take a breath as I focused on the canopy of the pine trees above me, covered with snow. Snowflakes danced through the air, catching the moonlight and looking like miniature doilies as they caressed the wind and landed on my face. Still, I couldn’t seem to take a breath.
What I could do, however, was listen to the sounds of heavy breathing, splashing water, growling and gnashing teeth.
Alex…
He was in trouble. I was more than sure of that. But where the hell was my gun? I glanced to my right and then my left. I spotted the butt sticking out of the snow maybe five feet or so from me. I opened my mouth and forced myself to inhale, even though my lungs burned like SOBs. I was dizzy, but I pulled myself into a sitting position, my back against the pine tree behind me. I exhaled and then inhaled again, allowing the oxygen to flood my lungs and reinvigorate me. Once I was able to push away from the tree, I crawled forward and reached out, grasping the gun and yanking it out of the snow.
The sound of assault suddenly met my ears. Even though I couldn’t make out much in the darkness, owing to the coverage of the trees, which didn’t allow for much moonlight to filter through, I was convinced the wolf was attacking Alex. And I had to imagine a human wouldn’t fare well against a wolf.
That is, if Alex is really human. The thought suddenly occurred to me. I mean, he hardly touched you but sent you flying through the air! Then there was that bit about him breaking through metal handcuffs like they were made out of paper. Oh, and he can also read your mind…
So, yeah, probably not human.
So what the hell is he?
Wow, was I really going down this rabbit hole?
Hmm… looked like it.
I blinked a few times, trying to see better in the darkness. I got onto my hands and knees, taking deep, stabilizing breaths. Once I was able to, I attempted to stand but was unsuccessful. Instead, I holstered my gun and crawled toward the bank of the creek. When I looked up, I nearly fell over. There, standing right in front of me, as in maybe a foot or so from my feet, was the wolf that Alex and I had spotted in the middle of the creek. It was drenched, a pool of water forming beneath it.
But I couldn’t say my attention was focused on the water dripping off its mottled fur. Instead, I couldn’t help but notice how its snout appeared to be missing its lips, its canines on gross display. Its eyes seemed much wider and larger than a wolf’s should be, almost like it was missing its eyelids. And I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like part of its cranium was peeking through the blotchy patches of fur atop its head.
I felt my heartbeat thundering against my ribs as I brought my gaze to the wolf’s chest and noticed how jagged and toothed its fur appeared, almost as if it were covering multiple broken ribs. I swallowed hard.
Then I swallowed harder.
Could it be…
I didn’t have a chance to further consider whether this wolf was really my missing John Doe corpse come back to canine life because it leapt at me. I didn’t know how I did it, but I managed to pull my gun free before thrusting it in front of me. Then I fired. The wolf yipped and seemed momentarily stunned, but then it growled at me again, seemingly unfazed by the bullet that had to have hit it square in the chest.