Chapter 2
***RYAN***
By the time Ryan made it back to the cabin, Marcus had Thomas well in hand and finally convinced him to make the shift so that he could heal.
He should have been relieved like the rest of his friends, but the woman in the woods was firmly planted in his mind.
There was no doubt at all that she’d seen Marcus flying above their heads; the way she’d thrown herself under the tree made that obvious.
He knew that the clan would expect him to tell someone that she’d been there, but he had a bad feeling about what might happen to her if he exposed her.
He'd heard stories about what happened to humans who found out about shifters; they were never pretty and didn’t end well.
Even though he didn’t know the woman, he wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.
It wasn’t her fault that she’d seen Marcus; it was a reckless choice to be flying around in his dragon form.
She shouldn’t be punished for his mistakes.
Deciding right then that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her, he walked over to Aaron, already working on the lie he would tell in his head.
“What took you so long?” Aaron demanded. “You’ve been gone forever, and it’s freezing out here.”
“I spotted a woman coming up the road on my way back,” he said. “Her car ran out of gas and she saw the cabin light and came looking for help.”
“Shit, did she see anything?” Aaron asked, looking down the road. “I knew it was a mistake when I saw Marcus flying in here.”
“He was already here when I ran into her,” he lied. “We’re in the clear, but I promised her that I’d bring her some gas when I sent her back to her car. I thought that was the quickest way to get rid of her.”
Aaron sighed with relief. “That was smart, I hate to think what might happen if she saw Marcus and he found out,” he said with a shiver. “I’ve heard stories…”
“Yeah, me too, so I’d better get going,” he said, cutting his friend off. “She might decide to come looking for me if I take too long.”
“Right, we just have to find you some gas,” Aaron said, then pointed to a small building behind the cabin. “Maybe there’s some in that shed.”
“Good idea,” he said, already heading that way. “I’ll go take a look.”
There was a gas can sitting on a shelf right where he could see it, and even better, it was completely full when he picked it up.
If he was lucky, he’d get the woman out of there before anyone else found out about her.
Sticking to the shadows, he quickly made his way back to Aaron, hoping no one spotted him, then set the can down behind a rock to hide it.
“I found one, I’m going to run back to the main road and get that woman’s car going,” he said, then hesitated, looking back over where Marcus and the others were tending to Thomas.
“Can we just keep this between us? She didn’t see anything, and I don’t see any reason to get everyone worked up over nothing. ”
“If you’re sure she didn’t see anything, I don’t see why not,” Aaron said, shrugging his shoulders. “But you’d better hurry, someone is going to notice that you’re gone before too long.”
He didn’t bother to reply, just grabbed the gas can and took off down the road at a quick walk, then broke into a run when he was sure no one could see him.
It took longer than he would have liked to make it the two miles back down the road, but he finally came out on the main road and spotted the stalled car right away.
Remembering the frightened look in the woman’s eyes, he approached the vehicle slowly, not wanting to scare her, but when he got up to the window, she was either asleep or passed out; he couldn’t tell which.
Trying not to panic, he tapped softly on the glass, hoping to wake her, but she didn’t stir. “Hey, are you okay in there?” he called, tapping a little harder. “I brought you some gas just like I promised.”
A frown appeared on the woman’s face, but she didn’t open her eyes, so he rapped on the glass even harder, using his knuckle this time.
“Hey, I think you’d better wake up,” he called, still knocking.
“I think we need to get you warmed up; you might be experiencing some hypothermia. Come on, wake up now.”
The woman finally opened her eyes and rolled her head toward him, a look of confusion on her face at first, but then she let out an ear-piercing scream that made him jump back from the car.
He held up the gas can, hoping she’d understand he wasn’t there to hurt her, then waited as she put it all together and began to relax.
After mimicking dumping the gas into her car, she pointed to the back passenger side, but clearly wasn’t going to open the door or roll down the window.
It stung a little that she didn’t trust him, but he tried to see the situation from her perspective and decided he’d do the same thing.
He just wished he could talk to her, make her understand that she had to keep silent about what she’d seen.
He couldn’t just let her leave without warning her; if she started talking and spreading stories, bad things could happen, and he wouldn’t be able to stop them.
Hoping she’d be willing to listen after he put the gas in, he went around to the other side and poured the entire can into her tank, then closed the little door and walked back around to the driver’s window.
After mimicking starting the car, she turned the key, a look of disappointment on her face when it only sputtered, but she tried again, and the car fired right up.
She looked over at him, a look of relief on her face, then rolled the window down a couple of inches.
“Thank you,” she said. “I thought I was going to freeze waiting for help.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, then hesitated. “I know you saw some…strange things tonight…I was hoping that you’d…well…keep it between us.”
***Paula***
Paula didn’t answer right away. She didn’t want to admit what she’d seen even to herself, and although he’d brought her gas, she wasn’t sure she could trust the man, especially since he didn’t seem the least bit freaked out by the creature.
The car was already beginning to warm up, making her realize just how cold she’d been, and it popped into her head that she could have just imagined the bird or whatever it was, a side effect of hypothermia or something.
“It looked like your friend was really hurt, but it’s really none of my business,” she finally said, not wanting to look like a fool if the creature had been her imagination.
“Thank you for bringing me the gas. I guess I should head home, it’s late and I have…
never mind, it doesn’t matter, I’m rambling. Thank you again.”
She started to roll up the window, but the man surprised her by stepping closer. “You're welcome, but you didn’t even tell me your name,” he said. “I’m Ryan. I wish we’d met under different circumstances.”
The strange warmth was back, spreading through her body. She made the mistake of looking into his eyes, sending a wave of desire shooting through her. “I think I need to go,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t pick men up on the side of the road.”
“Oh, I’m sorry…I wasn’t…” Ryan said, backing away from her car, shaking his head. “Have a nice night.”
She rolled up the window, put the car in gear and pulled away, leaving him standing in the middle of the road, feeling a little guilty, but hearing her father’s voice in her head telling her to be careful.
By the time she made it back to Elmwood Junction, her car felt like a furnace, but she was still chilled, despite the heat, even after several hours in the car.
Exhausted, she climbed out of the car just as the sun was rising and climbed the stairs to her apartment.
Her only thought was of falling into bed and sleeping for most of the day.
Her roommate was standing in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hand, when she walked in, “Well, look who’s dragging in at the crack of dawn, that must have been some story,” Connie said. “Which one of the players did you hook up with? I hope it was that one with the big blue eyes, he’s…”
“I ran out of gas on the way home,” she interrupted before Connie could really get started. “I got stranded on the top of the mountain and had to walk a couple of miles to find help.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Connie demanded. “I would have come to help you.”
“I didn’t have cell service, not even 911,” she said, dropping her purse and shrugging out of her jacket. “I just want a hot shower and my bed; it’s been an incredibly long night.”
“You should eat something,” Connie said, walking over to the refrigerator. “I’ll make you some eggs while you shower, you’ll sleep better on a full stomach.”
The thought of breakfast made her stomach growl. “Now that you mention food, I am starving,” she said. “Thanks, Connie, that would be great. I don’t suppose you could throw in some toast too?”
“With strawberry jelly,” Connie said, pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator. “I think I’ll join you, now I’m hungry too.”
She let the hot water wash away the dirt and grime from her trek through the woods, used a generous amount of soap to scrub away the stink of her fear, then washed her hair twice just to be sure it was clean.
When she stepped out of the shower, she felt more like herself, but she was still questioning what she’d seen the night before, wondering if she’d imagined the whole thing.
The smell of bacon greeted her when she opened her bedroom door and she followed it down the hallway to the kitchen. “Just in time,” Connie said, sliding two perfectly cooked eggs onto a plate. “Sit down, I just poured you a cup of coffee.”
“You’re too good to me,” she said, sliding gratefully into a chair. “Last night was horrible. I can’t believe I forgot to put gas in my car. I was so excited about getting assigned the story that I completely forgot.”
“I don’t know why you were so excited to cover a stupid basketball game,” Connie said, putting a heaping plate of food down in front of her. “Who cares about sports anyway?”
“Lots of people,” she said, picking up her fork. “I personally couldn’t care less, but doing some sports coverage will look good on my resume.”
“If you say so,” Connie said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Did you really sit in your car all night? It’s freezing out there.”
“No, not all night,” she said, looking down at her food. “I saw some lights at the end of a dirt road, so I walked there looking for help.”
Connie’s fork clattered to her plate. “Paula, you did not,” she said, then groaned. “That was really stupid. You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“Yeah, I know, I didn’t think about that until…” she trailed off, then started eating, not looking at her roommate.
“Until what?” Connie asked, staring at her. “Don’t leave me hanging, Paula. What happened?”
“Nothing really,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “When I got to the cabin, there were a bunch of men there, one of them was hurt and they were all watching him…it was really strange.”
“God, you walked right into the middle of something, I can’t believe you…” Connie took a deep breath. “You’re here and you’re safe, I guess that’s all that matters. You don’t need me lecturing you, but I do worry about you.”
“I know it was stupid, but I was so cold, I guess I didn’t think it through,” she said, setting down her fork and looking over at Connie. “Have you ever had something weird happen to you…something you can’t explain with today’s science?”
“You mean like seeing a ghost?” Connie asked, studying her closer. “Did you see a ghost?”
“No, not exactly…I mean, no, but I saw…” she trailed off, not sure how to explain. “Well, I think I saw…something, but I was really cold and really scared, so I could have just imagined it.”
“You’re going to have to give me more than that,” Connie said, shaking her head. “Are we talking something paranormal?”
“I guess,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. “I’m sure I was just imagining it. I was pretty freaked out.”
“Just spit it out, Paula,” Connie said. “I’m your best friend, I won’t think you’re crazy.”
She took a few more bites of her breakfast, then looked over at Connie, her resistance fading when she saw the concern in the other woman’s eyes.
“Okay, but promise you won’t think I’m crazy,” she said, then let out a long sigh, sure that Connie was going to think exactly that.
“I saw a huge bird. It flew right over my head, but it didn’t look like a normal bird; it had these awful-looking talons and scales instead of feathers. ”
Connie didn’t look at her like she was crazy; instead, she sat back in her chair and studied her for a second. “How big was it?” she finally asked. “It could have been an eagle or something.”
She shook her head. “It was huge, it blocked out the moon for a second,” she said. “Maybe I did imagine it, that’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“I guess so,” Connie said, picking up her fork. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”
“You’re probably right,” she said. “But it was just so strange.”