Chapter 6
Chapter Six
"No! I just told you; I'm not a wolf shifter anymore and no one is ever going to bite me again.
" Shoving past Leo, she jerked open the door and ran.
She headed right, back into the main workout room.
What the hell had she been thinking? She shouldn't have gotten off the train.
If she had just toughed it out until the train stopped in Barstow, she would have been safer there than in Winterbourne.
She would have had a better shot of getting money and supplies without running into wolf shifters.
"Wait!"
No way she was going to stop now. She'd been caged once, she wasn't going back, even to an open one surrounded by wolf shifters.
Sprinting past the workout crowd, including the green-haired woman, Samara ran around the half-wall, and yanked open the front doors.
She started to run across the street but stopped.
Where was she going to go? The restaurant belonged to Kellen.
As nice as Carlie was, her loyalty was to Kellen.
There's no way she would help hide Samara, even if such a thing were possible.
Turning left would lead her into town, a town where Kellen knew everyone and everyone knew him.
Going right would lead her back into the woods, the same woods Kellen and his brothers hunted in every night.
Kellen approached from behind, so Samara pulled out her knife for one final time and jammed the tip into her neck ready to end it all because she promised herself she would never go back. Damn all of the wolf shifters and their cages.
“Stay away,” she cried, even as surge of
adrenaline blocked the sharp twinge from the knife.
"Damn it, Maria! I told you I wouldn't hurt you."
Before she could slide the knife across her skin, Kellen surged forward.
One large hand wrapped around hers and jerked the knife tip out of her neck.
Warm blood started to trickle out of the hole she had made, but it wasn't enough to end her life.
Pulling her whole body backward, she tried to twist herself under his arm to break his hold.
It should have worked, except Stephen stopped her from twisting all the way and now she was stuck between them.
The cage closed, and all she could do was scream. Kellen squeezed her hand until it opened, and the knife dropped to the ground.
"Leo!" Kellen yelled. "Get a towel or..."
Before Kellen finished, the blond wolf yelled "On it!"
In the meantime, Stephen pinched closed the hole she had created, following her body as Kellen supported her back as she fell to the ground.
"Maria, look at me."
She shut her eyes. No way. He'd hypnotize her with those beautiful brown eyes of his.
No, wait. That was what vampires did. Oh, hell, are vampires real as well?
Why hadn't she considered that before she got off the train?
She should have thought about it the second she escaped.
Her grandfather would have. He'd be so disappointed in her.
The world was filled with supernatural creatures, and no one knew except her. No one human, that was.
A soft cloth replaced Stephen's fingers. The rush of blood in her ears couldn't drown out her harsh breath as her pulse pounded.
"Maria, open your eyes."
Nope. Nope. Nope. Not even in response to his frustrated sigh.
Something else was happening to her. Her eyes opened and not because she wanted them to.
Kellen had somehow managed to mesmerize her without even using his eyes.
Was it his voice? What if he was part vampire?
It didn't matter because she couldn't close her ears.
"Relax," Kellen said, his warm breath tickling her nose.
"We're not going to hurt you, but we can only protect you if you stay with us.
We can show you how to better evade the Riverstone Pack.
I promise, this isn't forever if you don't want it to be.
You will not lose your freedom, but we can't keep you safe if you fight us. "
She managed to squeeze out a few harsh words so she wouldn't fall victim to Kellen's calm, rational words. "Need money, need supplies. Don't need help."
The pressure on her neck continued, and waiting for Kellen's response felt like hours. "I'm so sorry. I truly am sorry. The last thing I want you to think is that we're like the Riverstone Pack.”
He made a frustrated noise that made her wonder again about his connection with them.
“We need to find a new town where there are no clues for Josiah to follow.
We're good at disappearing, but we cannot leave you behind or let you continue as a rogue.
Josiah will find you. I swear to you, I will do whatever is necessary to keep you out of his hands, and away from the Riverstone Pack.
In order to do that, I need you to trust me.
Will you do that? Just for a little while? "
His soft words slowed her fight or flight response. She couldn't find the energy to talk, so instead she just nodded. Stay with him for a little while? That she could do, and she would hold him to his promise.
"How bad is it?" Kellen asked Stephen, she assumed.
The cloth on her neck lifted, the cool mountain breeze soothing on her damaged skin.
"It's still bleeding."
"Give it another minute."
There were voices in the background. Other pedestrians had noticed her on the ground.
"No, no, no." She heard Leo's emphatic voice. "We don't need 911. She tripped. She'll be fine. Hey, Richie, no pictures."
"We're in public. I'm allowed. Hey, give that—no, don't throw it—you son of a bitch. My father gave me that phone. I'll call the sheriff."
"Go ahead and then tell your father and Sheriff Durning we'll all be having a long conversation about your after-school activities. It would suck if you had to mop the floors of the restaurant and gym every single day until you graduate."
The exchange broke through her adrenaline rush. Her thoughts slowed; her panic subsided.
"She's still bleeding," Stephen said. "Even a wound this deep should have clotted by now and started healing. What if she did kill her wolf and she's just a regular human?"
"Maria." Kellen breath breezed past her again. "We have a first aid station in the gym. I'm going to pick you up and bring you around the building toward the back entrance. We can take care of you there without creating another scene inside."
Again, she nodded, the rest of her limp and helpless. "Samara," she whispered. "My real name is Samara."
With ease, Kellen lifted her off the ground, tucking her head into his shoulder.
Stephen shoved a clean cloth between Kellen's chest and her neck.
She curled into his security, finding comfort in his scent.
The uneven ground around the building made the journey bumpy, but Kellen never loosened his grip.
Judging by the clomping of sneakers on soft dirt behind them, she assumed Stephen and Leo followed.
A moment and a squeak of a door later, the air conditioning hit her again. Damn, and she had finally managed to warm up during her escape attempt. A shiver rattled her bones. Kellen lay her down on what felt like a hospital bed.
"Leo, grab one of the—"
"Got it."
A light but warm blanket settled over her as her body relaxed then turned limp.
"Stephen, get the lidocaine out of the top drawer. The needle driver is behind the—"
"Right here."
How often had they stitched someone's wounds closed? Kellen didn't even have to finish his sentences because Leo and Stephen were one step ahead of him.
Stephen placed his warm hands on the sides of her face and gently turned her head so the bloody cloth faced the ceiling.
Kellen pulled the cloth away and tossed it into the trash.
Warm water and soap cleaned the wound, followed by cool lidocaine which didn't help much when the first jab of the suture needle pierced her skin.
Her sharp intake of breath didn't stop Kellen, but Stephen's hands tightened, holding her still.
"One more, just one more and then it'll be over with."
Those words were the same ones she used when she had to stitch up someone. Even knowing what to expect, she still couldn't stop her hiss when the needle jabbed her again. After some tugging, Kellen washed the wound again, then stepped back from the table. They all stared at her like a lab rat.
"Now what?" Leo asked.
Kellen snapped off the surgical gloves and tossed them into the bin.
"There's nothing more the two of you can do here.
Stephen, you may as well return to the gym if you want to.
There's going to be gossip. See if you can lessen the damage.
Leo, would you please run across the street?
Talk to George. Tell him that Samara had an accident and I would appreciate it if he would bring dinner to her apartment tonight instead of making her carry it up the stairs herself. "
"If he doesn't kill me first." Leo said, already half out the door, with Stephen right behind him.
"Are we running tonight?" Stephen asked, stopping before he closed the door.
"No. I think Samara and I have a lot more talking to do. You two can go without me."
Stephen closed the door.
Kellen held out a hand to help her sit up. Even that small movement stretched the skin around the sutures, causing her to wince.
"I have some pain killers if you want."
Her grandfather would have told her to refuse, but after six weeks of endless pain, it was time to stop treating it like a punishment for not protecting herself better. "Sure. If you have the ones in the red box, that would be great."
Once she swallowed the pills they were back to staring at one another.
"I'm sorry I drove you to this. My intention was to bring you into our group for mutual protection, not to scare the daylights out of you. I should have been more careful with my words."
He looked so contrite it was hard not to forgive him.