Chapter 26
NELLY
Silence fell again, stretching for seconds that felt like hours. Had I imagined it?
Was my mind making monsters? I exhaled slowly, preparing to move again.
I lifted my boot, mere centimeters from the dusty road.
The growl came again, deeper this time, unmistakably real and terrifyingly close. My mouth went dry, heart slamming against my ribs hard enough to hurt.
The Alphas’ warnings rang in my ears.
Wyoming wilderness isn’t Seattle.
Grizzlies.
Mountain lions.
Wolves.
I’d talked a good game, saying I could handle anything this rural land threw at me, but I knew nothing about the predators here. I had no idea what to do if faced with a wild animal bent on wounding me.
A strange whistling chirp followed a third growl; the sound so alien it momentarily confused my fear. Not an owl. Not a bird. What chirping, winged thing would make that kind of sound in the pitch blackness of night?
It was something else…
Something hunting…
A strange whistling now.
The low, thrumming warning of approach.
My blood seemed to crystallize in my veins, turning to ice that spread from my core to my fingertips. The chill of the air around me felt warm in comparison. I should have found a weapon in Cooper’s room. I should have risked it. If I screamed right now, would they hear me back at the ranch?
The irony hit me with nauseating force. I'd escaped five Alphas only to offer myself as an easy meal to whatever lurked under the cloak of night.
Not only that, now I wanted the Alphas to hear my screams and come running to save me.
All my bluster about being strong and capable, and I turned into the cliché damsel in distress at the first signs of danger.
The unseen threat released another snarl.
This time closer. I turned, choking on panic.
Was it in the cluster of bushes to my right?
Was it on the other side of the fence? Was it just beyond the tree line?
My muscles tensed, fight-or-flight response shouting at me to run, but my mind paralyzed with indecision.
Run where? Back toward the ranch? Into the unknown darkness of the dirt road?
One. More. Vicious. Growl. Broke my paralysis.
I started running back towards the gravel driveway as fast as I could in the flopping boots as the blisters and raw skin stung.
The first trickles of wetness began, blood pooling below my feet, making the worn inner leather slick.
My chest heaved, lungs aching, as I raced below the sign.
My brain was a frenzy, buzzing like a beehive, as I desperately moved back to the house.
I gasped when something hit the other side of the fence.
Another growl.
But… different pitch. Not as high.
Don’t look! Just run! Don’t try to see it!
It took all my willpower not to glance over when I heard a thud and the soft sounds of pursuit. Behind me? No… in front of me. Or, God, both? Were there two predators stalking me under the stars?
A large, hulking shadow began to materialize, heading straight for me. Four legs. Terrifying eyes catching starlight and glowing like floating orbs. Jesus, it was big.
Terror exploded through my system, forcing a scream from my throat before I could swallow it. It tore through the night, seeming to echo off the surrounding world, startling even me with its volume.
I stumbled away from the approaching shadow, and my heel caught on an embedded stone sticking up through the gravel.
The too-large boots betrayed me. Balance lost, I felt myself falling backward in horrible slow motion, arms flailing uselessly.
I hit the ground hard, the impact driving air from my lungs in a painful whoosh.
Tiny bits of rock embedded themselves in the bare flesh of my arms. The thin shirt and borrowed sweatpants offered minimal protection against the rough surface.
Sharp angles and dull edges dug into my spine and ass and calves.
Scrambling to sit up, wincing at the pain, I stared down the driveway that led to the rambler. I should have stayed there. If I had, I’d be safe instead of about to die. My ability to move was gone. My resolve to runaway evaporated. For the first time in my life, I gave up.
Just close your eyes.
Hopefully you’ll die before whatever it is starts eating your liver.
Clamping my lids together, I tried to think of something happy.
Chess with Grandpa.
Grandmother’s birds.
The first solo at Imperial.
Just kill me already.
The creature was closer.
Quick, soft footsteps shifting gravel.
Warm breath was suddenly pulsing against my face, faintly gamey and metallic.
I waited for the death blow.
Instead, something licked my face.
Confused, I opened my eyes. I blinked oh-so-slowly, trying to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing.
Not the massive bear or mountain lion my terrified brain had conjured, but a dog.
Medium sized, with patches of light and dark fur.
Even in the night I could see his alert ears and intelligent eyes.
He padded around me, stocky body tense as he positioned between me and the darkness beyond the property line.
Relief hit me with such force that laughter bubbled up in my chest, half-hysterical.
Just a dog. Not a wild beast about to tear me apart.
The animal maintained his protective stance, a continuous low growl rumbling from his chest as he stared into the darkness beyond the bushes.
I’d never been around dogs much, but I found myself instantly trusting this one.
"What is it?" I whispered, my voice sounding strange in the vast silence of the night. "What's out there?"
His ears twitched at my voice, but he didn't relax his vigilant posture.
His hackles remained raised, body coiled with tension as he guarded against whatever lurked beyond my sight.
The realization sank in slowly, cutting through my relief—he wasn't the source of the threatening sounds.
He was responding to them, just as I had.
Whatever had made that strange whistling chirp was still out there.
My momentary relief evaporated. I pushed myself up onto my knees, wincing as fresh pain shot through my body.
The boots felt soaked inside, and my back ached fiercely.
A sudden gust sent cold air kissing the back of my thighs.
I reached back, realizing I’d torn Cooper’s sweatpants. Holes, right below both ass cheeks.
“Can you take me back?” I asked the dog, as if he could speak English.
To my surprise, his head whipped up, both ears falling a fraction, then raising again.
He pushed into my body, as if saying, ‘yes’.
I pushed fingers into the fur of his neck, finding a thick leather collar.
Taking hold of it, I let the animal guide me back down the driveway.
I was relieved to have the dog’s protection, but retracing the path of my failed escape flooded my system with overwhelming defeat.
What had I expected to happen? I was a city-bred ballerina.
I wasn’t Rambo. There was no running away on my own, here in the middle of nowhere. I’d have to come up with a better plan.
"Okay," I murmured, as much to myself as to the dog. "Okay. You’ll find another way."
The admission of defeat tasted bitter on my tongue.
Stubbornness prodded me to turn back around and try again, but the night suddenly seemed filled with unseen threats.
Even the gorgeous stars above felt cold and distant instead of breathtaking.
I tightened my grip on the dog’s collar, as if it could save me from more than just the terrors of the darkness.
Behind us, that strange whistling chirp sounded once more, farther away now but no less unsettling. The dog’s growling response rumbled against my hand as the hackles on his back rose. I found myself slowing, but the dog didn’t match my pace. Instead, he moved a little faster, urging me onward.
"I'm going, I'm going," I muttered, trying not to lose myself to new panic.
A hundred yards to the front door.
God, I’d barely made it past the property line.
What a fucking useless dancing doll I was…
Tears pricked my eyes.
I wasn’t good for anything anymore.
Broken.
Kicked out of Imperial.
No family I could turn to.
Pathetic, and jobless again.
I can’t even control what happens to me.
I can’t even runaway properly.
A massive shape materialized from around the road bend ahead, freezing me mid-step.
The dog beside me kept moving, but this time I held my ground, refusing to budge.
My heart launched into my throat as the enormous shadow cut through the night, closing the distance.
I realized now that the dog’s shape in the darkness had been nothing compared to this new one.
The new threat’s outline blurred with the darkness.
For one paralyzing second, I was certain the chirping, snarling predator had somehow circled around, cutting off our retreat to the house.
But the dog leading me relaxed, his hair lowering and gait slowing to a stop.
As the shadowy creature closed the distance, the dog’s tail wagged once, then twice.
A casual greeting to the approaching behemoth.
Finally, the moon and stars revealed another dog, this one nearly twice the first one’s size. A mountain of fur and muscle.
"Jesus Christ," I whispered, instinctively stepping back.
The animal’s shoulder reached my hip, his massive head level with my ribcage.
For a heartbeat, I wondered if I’d left the frying pan for the fire, but the new dog just moved to my other side, gave me a brief sniff, and started loping forward. The dog whose collar I still gripped, followed suit.
After an eternity of laborious, limping steps, the ranch house came into view around a final curve. We were still a good two hundred feet from the front door, but almost there.
Back to my cage.