Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
R uby wasn’t going to stay out of trouble. He knew that, and it was making him crawl out of his skin with anxious energy. He knew she was still walking through the woods at night and that she wouldn’t accept a ride from him, especially not now after he’d assured her that he wasn’t a good guy.
It had been the truth, but maybe he should have let her believe in him for a little bit longer. So he could keep her safe.
He growled to himself as he paced the small clearing he called a backyard. Pine needles were dense under his feet, and his walking stirred up their scent. It would have been pleasant if he wasn’t going out of his mind.
He couldn’t stop thinking about that guy at the bar.
Other than the fact that he’d put his hand up Ruby’s skirt which, if you asked him, was reason enough for justifiable homicide, there was something off about him.
Something wrong and out of place. He and his friends shouldn’t have been here at all.
Rafe knew plenty of guys like him from his old life. But this guy wasn’t County; he was Highlands. Rafe knew that straight away. And nothing good could come from a Highlander sniffing around here.
Maple Hollow wasn’t in their territory, and they should have known better than to show up here. What Rafe couldn’t figure out was why they would. For the first time in a long time, he wished he could talk to his brothers about it.
But his brothers weren’t here. None of his people were.
He would have to protect Ruby on his own.
Whether she wanted him to or not.
It had been a week since Rafe had nearly murdered a man on her behalf, and she hadn’t seen him since. She was currently pretending she didn’t care.
Ruby peered into the darkness between the trees.
If she hadn’t lived here nearly her entire life she wouldn’t have even known there was a trail here.
It didn’t have a Trailhead sign or a map or one of those little notebooks in which hikers recorded that they had been there.
Those notebooks had always freaked Ruby out.
She knew they were only used in the worst situations.
When hikers hadn’t returned. She shivered at the thought.
How long would she have to be missing before anyone thought to look here?
This trail was known only to the locals. It wasn’t a hike. It was simply a walk home. It just happened to be through the trees instead of the streets.
And it had been another long night, and she was eager to get home.
The bar had been empty except for Sal and a few other regulars. The hours had dragged on, tedious and dull. Just putting one foot in front of the other now seemed to take an inhuman amount of energy. And focus to not crash into a tree. Her cell had died hours ago, depriving her of a flashlight.
She wondered what Rafe would have to say if he knew she was taking this shortcut again. She laughed to herself. At least she?wasn’t talking to strange men. Here, she only had to worry about wild animals.
A stick cracked somewhere off the trail and Ruby’s heart lurched.
“Hello?”
The only answer was the hoot of an owl. What was she expecting? A squirrel to respond? She was obviously tired to the verge of delirium. Another point in favor of taking this route. The?sooner she got home, the sooner she could be tucked into bed.
Unfortunately, the moon was covered by clouds and the darkness was thick around her. She could barely see a few steps in front of her face, but she slowly made her way down the trail.
A rustle in the leaves to her left and she swiveled just in time to see silver eyes flash in the dark.
What the hell?—
A breathy sound stopped her in her tracks. She could make out a shape in the shadows now, and it didn’t belong to a human. Her heart rammed against her rib cage, and some primitive part of her brain kicked into overdrive.
Danger.
Danger.
Run.
Run, Ruby, you are going to die!!
Nothing.
Her feet were glued to the spot. She was worse than a deer in headlights. She was a quivering rabbit in the sights of a predator.
“Holy shit,” she breathed. Less than a few feet away stood the biggest wolf she had ever seen in her life, not that she had seen many, thank God.
How do you survive a wolf attack? Her panicked brain scrambled for an answer. Play dead? Run? Try to look bigger than you are? Every whispered story told around town evaporated from her memory. Not a single survival tale remained.
Where the hell was the large man who so badly wanted to protect her when she really needed him?!
The wolf hadn’t moved since she’d spotted him. He just watched her with those silver eyes. Ruby put up both hands and backed away slowly.
“I’m just going to go now,” she whispered. “No need to eat me. I’m sure I taste terrible anyway.”
The wolf gave a low growl. Ruby took another step backward. Her heel snagged on a root and she tumbled, landing on her ass. She hit the ground hard, knocking whatever shaky breath she had from her lungs, pain shooting up her tailbone.
Everything stopped. Her heart, her breath, her swirling thoughts. She had been wrong that first night when she met Rafe. This, here, now, was how she died.
But instead of teeth tearing the flesh from her bones, she felt soft fur beneath her fingers. She looked up to find the wolf nudging her hand with his big head. He blew a warm breath over the skin of her wrist, and the sensation skittered up her arm. Holy shit.
Ruby sat up. She was vaguely aware of being covered in dirt and of the dull ache in her back, but the looming animal in front of her robbed her of all coherent thought. The wolf cocked his head, and the movement was so dog-like, the fear constricting Ruby’s lungs loosened. Maybe he was tame? A pet?
Ruby’s gaze took in the dark shadowy animal. Pet or not, he was huge.
How in God’s name had the craziest townsfolk actually been right about this? How was this creature in front of her not fictional? She could almost hear Sal cackling in vindication.
The wolf leaned down again and nuzzled Ruby’s hand. She lifted it from the dirt and ran her fingers through his thick fur. He made that breathy sound again like he was pleased. He certainly felt real.
“Good dog,” she whispered. The wolf seemed to narrow his eyes at that, in a look that was almost human.
“Uh?… good wolf.” He huffed again. Ruby got slowly to her feet, dusting the dirt from her butt and legs.
She moved cautiously, afraid any sudden moves would upset the beast beside her.
But the wolf sat patiently on the edge of the trail while she gathered her things.
“Okay, well?… I’m going to go home now.” Ruby straightened, glancing at the wolf, not quite believing she was still talking to it.
She took a few tentative steps along the path, and the animal fell into step beside her.
His head reached her upper arm and every few steps she could feel his fur tickle her skin.
She couldn’t help but reach out and sink her fingers into the thick fur at his neck.
It was coarse on the surface but delightfully fluffy underneath.
She gave him a scratch, and the wolf let out a low growl of contentment.
Or she assumed he was content anyway when he didn’t try to kill her.
As they reached the end of the path, the light from her windows illuminated the creature beside her.
He was beautiful. Gray and black fur with white around his face.
He cocked his head again, and she scratched between his ears the same way she did with Lucifer.
He pushed his head against her hand, and a disbelieving laugh escaped her lips.
“Oh, you like that, huh?”
Was it possible for wolves to smile? She didn’t know, but she was pretty sure this one just did. If this was the wolf her neighbors claimed to have run-ins with, it was no wonder they survived. This big bad wolf was actually just a very good boy from what she could tell.
But maybe Rafe was right and she was bad at assessing these things, because seemingly out of nowhere the wolf’s ears flattened against his head and a low growl emanated from his throat.
“What—” Ruby backed away, but the wolf was staring at the trees behind her. He wasn’t growling at her.
He was growling at another shape in the woods. One she could have sworn was a man, tall and leaning against the closest pine.
The wolf beside her continued growling while Ruby tried to piece together what she was seeing.
Definitely a man.
“If that’s how you want it,” the man said, and Ruby didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. That voice, though, sounded so familiar.
Who was out there? Had he followed her here from work?
She didn’t have time to figure it out before the man was no longer there.
In his place was another wolf, emerging from the shadows.
And this wolf lunged right toward her.
The wolves met in a clash of fangs and claws.
The big gray wolf, the one Ruby had already started to think of as a friend.
or at the very least friendly , pounced on the other wolf and managed to roll him onto his back in the long grass of Ruby’s backyard.
The white wolf beneath him growled, exposing his huge fangs.
Ruby’s wolf’s claws dug deeper into the white wolf’s flesh, pinning him to the earth.
Ruby had to admit he looked much less friendly this way.
The other wolf struggled to get up, but Ruby’s wolf grabbed his neck with his teeth and thrashed his head.
Ruby must have whimpered out loud because her wolf turned to look at her. He let his guard down for a moment too long, and the other wolf reared up and latched on tight to his shoulder, tearing through fur, skin, muscle.
Her wolf howled in pain.
Ruby felt it in her own flesh.
They twisted and snarled, lashing at each other. The other wolf was still bleeding profusely from the neck, but now her wolf was wounded too.
What the hell was she supposed to do?
She should probably go inside, away from the deadly animals in her yard.
She should call Animal Control.
Or the police.
Or…
Or…
How would she ever explain to them that one of the wolves was a problem, but the other had kindly escorted her home?
She would sound just as crazy as every other wolf-tale-telling person in this town.
And while those stories were a big hit over a pint, she was sure local law enforcement wouldn’t find it as amusing.
Ruby knew what happened to animals that were deemed a threat to humans.
They were neutralized.
Euthanized.
Killed.
How could Ruby let that happen?
The wolves stirred up grass and dirt, their fur and blood flying as well as Ruby stood in anguished silence. Eventually, her wolf tore at the other wolf, leaving another gaping wound on his front leg. The wolf yelped and backed off, limping. Blood streaked his mostly white fur, staining it red.
Her wolf growled a low warning, placing his body between the white wolf and Ruby. The other wolf’s eyes narrowed, as if assessing if she was worth the trouble. Apparently deciding she wasn’t, the other wolf backed down. Tail between his legs, he slunk off into the woods.
With the distinct feeling that she was hallucinating and that nothing about this evening had been real, Ruby turned to the remaining wolf. His fur was matted with blood, and he clearly couldn’t put weight on his front leg, but he was sniffing her as though searching for damage.
He took a step and stumbled.
“You’re hurt.” Ruby’s voice was shaky. It sounded far away. The wolf tried to back up like he was emerging from the same dream Ruby had been trapped in, but stumbled again, his front leg giving out beneath him. His face hit the dirt.
Ruby dropped to the ground beside him. “Oh no, no, no,” she whispered, stroking between his ears.
“I’m going to help you. It’s going to be all right.
” She couldn’t just leave him here like this, injured and alone.
She still couldn’t make sense of what had just happened, but she knew for certain this wolf had been protecting her.
He nudged her hand with his head, and his breath skated across the delicate skin of her wrist. She smiled a little at the sensation.
“You saved me,” she whispered. “But don’t tell anyone. You’ll ruin my reputation.”
The wolf peered up at her pitifully, his silver eyes dim with pain. There was something about them that was so familiar.
“And now I’m going to save you,” she said with much more determination than she felt. The wolf nuzzled her hand.
Somehow, she would help him.
But first she needed backup.