A Wolf's Heart

Chapter 17

Dani anxiously paced the clearing, nervously running a hand through her hair and making it stick in all directions. She was torn about her current situation, wondering if it was a trap, a setup by her tormentors. Or if this was genuine interest, and those at camp had finally gotten over themselves and wanted to learn what Dani knew.

"This is a bad idea," Dani muttered aloud. "I should've never agreed to this. It's gotta be a trick. There's no way. No way this is legit. Somehow...somehow, they got duped. That has to be it. It has to be."

Dani spun and glared at a bush, pointing her finger at it, "No! I don't think they're stupid. I never said that. They're maybe a little," she cringed, "naïve. Idealistic." She sighed and shook her head, "No, Wells is idealistic. Charlotte's Factory: she knows duplicity. Maybe."

Dani started pacing again, holding her hands on her head, "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. This doesn't make sense. Why now? Why me? Wells and Charlie could teach them if they're for real. Why does it have to be me?"

The brunette threw her hands in the air, "Of course, it matters! I'm the fucking Alpha Mutt. The freak serial killer. No one ever wants anything to do with me. Not unless they're setting me up."

Dani looked at the bush despondently, "It's always been that way. Or I'm used."

She walked to the bush, flopped down, and sadly said, "That's the problem. I can't help but think I'm being used. That I'll be another dirty little secret until it gets too hard, and then I'll be tossed aside. And this time, I'm not getting anything out of it."

A loud huff emerged from the bush, revealing its occupant. Dani sadly smiled, glancing at amber eyes that were like her own.

"Clarke really did a number on me, huh," Dani asked the hidden wolf. "Well, the Ark, in general, did. But she's the one that hurt me the most, I think. I loved her, and when I needed her, Clarke yeeted me to the airlock like I was nothing to her. Like I was some virus she needed to eradicate, or else, I'd infect her."

Dani sighed, smoothing her hair, "I trust Wells and Charlie. I trust their judgment. But I can't help but wonder and worry because one of them is Bellamy's sister. He's been out for me since our first night. And I know the girl warned Wells that he's after me. But it could be a con. Get us to trust her, and then the trap snaps shut."

The brunette groaned, shaking her head in frustration, "Or maybe I'm so damn used to being fucked that is all I fucking see now." She looked at the wolf. "I hate that, you know. I hate that I look for the con, the set-up, the backstab. That I don't believe someone is being sincere or telling me the truth. I hate constantly looking over my shoulder and can't relax around people." She shook her head. "No, they're the exception. John, Wells, and Charlie are my family. They've proven that I can trust them."

Dani sighed, pulling her knees to her chest and laying her chin on them, "The Ark really fucked me up. My fucking father did that. I wish I knew why. Why he hates me so damn much that he wants me dead."

"It's not fair," she whispered.

Dani finally lapsed into silence, willing her mind to calm and look at the opportunity she had been given in a different light. But it wasn't easy, and many times the brunette almost left, yet she never followed through. Only her promise to Charlotte kept her in place.

What seemed like hours later but was no more than half an hour, the sounds of people crashing through the underbrush reached Dani's ears. Her heart rate jumped as anxiety and dread rolled through her. Flashes of her pain-filled past rushed through her mind, and in that instant, Dani nearly caved and headed back to their bunker, but she took a slow breath and resisted the urge. Instead, she slowly got up and melted into the surrounding foliage, keeping her senses tuned toward the approaching people.