Chapter Two #2
She could say the same about herself. She’d been woken up by her lunatic ex-boyfriend and had gotten lost in the woods in her bid to escape from him. And now, here she was, tending to some sort of werewolf’s injuries like it was a perfectly normal thing to do.
A wave of fear ripped through her. Why was she even helping him? By now, she should’ve run for her life. What were the odds that he wouldn’t hurt her?
“You’re some kind of werewolf, aren’t you?” she blurted.
The man’s brown eyes glinted with something she couldn’t quite read. Miranda saw his jaw tighten. She immediately dropped her gaze, then felt her cheeks burn as it landed on his crotch. Swallowing, she looked away again.
“I told you; I’m not going to hurt you,” came his gruff reply.
“Pretty sure that’s what the Big Bad Wolf said.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Miranda returned her focus to his injury, pulling out the sash of her bathrobe and wrapping it around his foot before the bleeding could worsen.
Blood soaked through the cloth, and she winced at the sight.
She’d managed to slow the bleeding, but right now, that was all she could do.
He had to get his foot looked at before it could get infected, and they were deep in the woods.
“Thank you,” the man said, his face still tight with pain. “What’s your name?”
She stared at him for a few seconds. “I’m Miranda. Miranda McHarris.”
“Bryon Sanders. Wish we’d met under better circumstances. You’re not from Sylva, are you? I’ve never seen you around town.”
Miranda shook her head. “I’m from Everland.” A part of her found it strange, conversing with this man like the past couple of minutes hadn’t occurred.
Bryon’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. His gaze dropped momentarily from her face. “What are you doing in the woods dressed like that and so early in the morning?”
“Says the naked guy,” she retorted.
“Touché.”
“I got lost.”
She wasn’t sure whether it was wise to divulge that information to a complete stranger, especially one she’d seen transform from a wolf.
But this wasn’t exactly a Red Riding Hood situation, was it?
This man was injured. From the look of things, she doubted he’d be able to make it out of here without some help. “There’s someone after me.”
His brows rose then. “Who?”
“My ex-boyfriend.” She decided to spin his question on him. “How come you’re in the woods? Hunting a snack?”
To her surprise, he looked offended by her remark. He pulled his foot off her lap, his whole body seeming to tense up. “I came in here to rescue an animal. There’s an injured foal in the woods, most likely injured.” He shook his head, staring at his foot. “Guess that makes two of us now.”
The idea of a wolf rescuing an injured animal didn’t quite make sense to Miranda, but she decided not to point that out, at least, for now.
“Think you could lend me your bathrobe?” Bryon asked suddenly, “unless you’d rather I remain on display.”
Miranda’s entire face went red, even more so as her gaze drifted to his well-sculpted torso.
Clearing her throat, she nodded, tugged off her bathrobe, and handed it to him.
He pulled it on immediately, wrapping it around himself.
Without the sash, there wasn’t much keeping the robe from opening and revealing his goods to her eyes.
She dismissed that particular thought from her mind.
“Thanks,” he said. “Now, we’ve got a bigger problem.”
“You think? I saw you transform! How’s that even possible? I’m surprised I’m not totally freaking out right now. Oh, wait—I am.” She was sitting almost perfectly still, taking deep, steady breaths, but her heart jackhammered against her ribcage, her mind racing like an Olympic gold medalist.
“Well, thanks for sticking around, instead of taking off, screaming in terror.”
“It’s not like I would’ve gotten far, anyway. I’m completely lost.”
“And I’m injured.” He gave a crooked smile that sent a tiny shiver through her body.
“Looks like we both need help getting out of the woods. I’ve known these woods for more than a decade, so I pretty much know my way around.
But I don’t think I’m getting very far on my own with my foot like this. I could help you if you help me.”
She regarded him for a long moment. It was one thing, coming to this stranger’s aid and bandaging his injury, but actually helping him get him out was another.
Injured or not, he was still a potential threat.
But so far, he was the only human she’d come across in these woods—if she could even call him that, not to mention he wasn’t Jerry.
If she hoped to make it out of these woods in one piece, she’d need all the help she could get.
“If you show me how to get out of here,” she said, “who’s to say I won’t just take off and tell everyone I saw a wolf turn into a man?”
He seemed to stiffen at her words. “Because you don’t really want to. Besides, who’d believe you?”
Miranda ground her teeth without meaning to. He had a point, but Jerry had said those words to her before, when she walked in on him naked and in bed with that redhead two months ago. Who’d believe you over me?
What the hell was she getting herself into?
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll help each other.”
He nodded. “Smart choice. Now, help me up, will you? If we get a move on now, we should be able to make it out of here before my foot gets any worse.”