Chapter 10 #2
Then it was over and three bloodied gray wolves stalked over to her and sat on their haunches, not even panting with exertion.
One of them—Kellen—judging by the dark eyes, nudged her right hand that still held the knife.
She dropped it onto the mess of leaves before she bolted behind the tree and puked up her sandwich.
Her water bottle was still there, so she rinsed out her mouth and spat.
By the time she returned, the wolves were gone.
Well, not gone, exactly. Kellen, Stephen, and Leo had shifted back and stood there, completely naked and comfortable as if ripping apart human beings was something they did on a daily basis.
Maybe it was. They had all been assassins at one point, paratroopers at Normandy, and God knew what else over their long lives.
"Feeling better?" Kellen asked, taking a small step forward.
Samara took a small step back. "Yes. No. I don't know."
"Take a deep breath and let's get you settled on the ground."
"Not here. There's too much blood and I don't want to sit next to the bodies."
Before she could move, Kellen stood next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. He guided her deeper into the woods. There was another tree not too far from the carnage where he lowered her onto the ground and then sat next to her, his arm still around her shoulders.
She couldn't talk for a long while and he didn't force her too. The light grew even dimmer, and the sounds of birds and insects grew louder.
"They were bounty hunters." She remembered their words, letting their greed pierce through the horror of their deaths. "One of them said that I'd better be worth the fifty grand they were going to get for me. I think Josiah put out a bounty."
Without moving a muscle, Kellen's whole attitude changed. Samara could sense the cold waves of concern pouring off him. Concern for her.
"What do we do now?" she asked, though she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
Kellen shifted closer, his warm skin holding the cool breeze tickling her hair at bay. "Stephen and Leo will bury the bodies near the river. They’ll decompose faster in damp soil.”
"What about you?"
"I'm going to sift through the leaves and dirt, cover the blood and make sure there's no fur or fabric for anyone to find."
She nodded for lack of anything else to do. "What about my clothes? I'm covered in blood. I assume you left yours somewhere before you shifted."
Kellen pulled her even closer, rubbing his chin on her forehead. What an oddly intimate gesture, she managed to think even as her thoughts turned sluggish, the adrenaline dribbling away.
"We heard the gunshot, and we knew you were in trouble. Around here, hunters aren't unusual, and they use shotguns and rifles. No one is going to hunt with a handgun."
"You could hear the difference?"
Kellen nodded, but didn't elaborate. "We ran out of the back door at the end of the hallway and shifted the second we crossed the tree line. Didn’t even stop to take off our clothes.
There was no time." He paused for a long time.
Then, he said, "You scared us, Samara. Me and my wolf.
We don't want to lose you. My wolf has chosen your wolf and I have strong feelings for you as well.
If your wolf is alive and is an omega, we would appreciate the opportunity to show you how much we could care about you. "
"But only if my wolf is alive and an omega." She looked up to his face, but in the dying light she could only see the shadow of his face.
"Let's wait and see what happens when we get to Riverstone. There has to be something there that will explain why you're so different from the rest of us. If it turns out that your wolf shadow is dead and all I can smell is the remnants, then we can try anyway."
Could she live her life based on a maybe? She'd figure out what she wanted later, no matter if her wolf shadow was alive or dead, alpha or omega.
"In the meantime, I'm going to clean up the scene. No one hunts this close to the restaurant as a safety precaution, but I want to get rid of the blood regardless."
She waited quietly, looking up to watch the last light in the sky disappear. If there was any moonlight, she couldn't see it. After what felt like forever, Kellen returned to get her.
"Let's go." He held her hand out to pull her to standing, then slipped her knife into her hand, mostly cleaned of Seth's blood.
"We're all going to sneak in through the back door to the restaurant.
Once we're upstairs, you can wash up and change in your own room.
The three of us will do the same in mine. "
Samara followed Kellen as he led her out of the woods, with Leo and Stephen behind her.
Of course, they could see easily enough because of their stronger eyesight.
She could barely make out the shape of Kellen's backside.
Even if she could, though, she was still in shock and the idea of getting her hands on said backside was the last thing she wanted at the moment.
Once through the back door and up the stairs, Kellen opened the door to her room.
"Keep the door locked for now. Leo will find out where those two were staying in town.
Once we know who they were, we can figure out how they knew who you were.
We can also see if they have a criminal background.
We can't tell the sheriff that they're dead, but we can at least make sure there aren't any others that will try and make a grab for you. "
"Do you think they were wolf shifters? Rogues?" she asked.
Kellen shook his head. "We would have been able to tell by their scent. They were just humans. Josiah wouldn't care if human bounty hunters die taking on a wolf shifter. What he's looking for is a trail to follow."
"Okay." Not really, but more than anything she wanted to be alone.
"I'd hoped to wait a day or two before leaving, but now we can't." He turned her and gently pushed her into the room. "We need to leave tomorrow before the restaurant opens. Remember to lock your door. I'll have a backpack with supplies ready for you in the morning."
The last thing Samara saw before she closed the door and turned the dead bolt as instructed was Kellen's face. He wasn't going to leave the hallway until he was sure she was safe.
After the deadbolt clicked, she leaned her forehead against the door. Damn the Riverside Pack and damn Josiah. Alpha wolf shifter or not, she'd kill him if it was the last thing she did.