Wolf Dreams

Chapter 7

Sorely tempted as she might be to try to follow so she could watch the wolves hunt, Erika forced her legs to carry her in the direction of home. Still, she couldn't resist glancing over her shoulder once or twice. Lazlo and the others becoming wolves had been an amazing act of beauty, which surprised her. All the Hollywood werewolf movies portrayed the change from man to werewolf as something both horrific and painful.

But reality proved quite different. Sparkling lights and all.

She remembered her dream and smiled. For once she actually felt in control of her own destiny. She'd be nowhere near Lazlo when he found the little girl; she could not cause his death.

Now she would pray the young girl was found quickly, before the horrible monster who'd taken her did something to irrevocably damage her. Superb hunters that they were, a pack of wolves should have no difficulty in locating her scent.

For the first time since she'd turned twenty-one and dreamed the first dream, she might be able to believe in happy endings.

As long as little Katya was located unharmed. Hopefully her abductor would—despite what she'd dreamed—be taken alive and brought in to stand trial for his crime.

The forest seemed abnormally quiet, as if the single scream had caused all the birds and animals to flee. Under any other circumstances, this might have caused her to worry. But a monster had taken his young victim into these woods, and a pack of shape-shifting humans hunted him in their wolf forms. This strangeness would of course cause the animals to leave the woods quickly, so she continued to hurry on her way home.

Though she knew her own woods and generally had a great sense of direction, she wasn't familiar with the Royal Forest and realized she'd gone too far. She should have reached one of the signs that indicated the forest boundary by now.

Years ago someone had used an ax to cut wide chunks into the trees; they'd painted the chunks a bright blue, one of the royal colors. The palace meticulously kept these freshly painted, and anyone with sense took care not to travel inside their borders.

Until today, she certainly never had.

Stopping, she spun in a slow circle, noting the direction of the setting sun. Since her lands were west, she realized she'd been walking the wrong way.

Easy enough to correct. Relieved, she took a moment to cock her head and listen, bracing herself for the sounds of distant battle.

She heard nothing. But then, what had she expected? The wolves would hunt silently, because they were more deadly that way. And she felt quite certain that the kidnapper would have taken steps to make sure Katya was unable to scream again.

Shuddering at the idea, she said another quick prayer that Lazlo and the others would find her in time.

And then she headed due west toward home.

Then a man jumped out from behind a tree and grabbed her. She opened her mouth to scream, but she was too late. He shoved a damp cloth over her mouth. She inhaled a big gulp of something that smelled sickly sweet.

Chloroform, she thought dizzily, remembering her dream.

Damn her dream.

That was her last conscious thought before blacking out.

Sometime later, she woke up with a sore throat, a splitting headache and a metallic taste in her mouth. She'd been tied and gagged. Rolling her head painfully to the side, she was able to see a small person, similarly bound and apparently unconscious.

Katya Holson.

Staring hard at the small body, she saw the rise and fall of the little girl's chest. Alive. Thank God.

Where were the wolves? Since it now appeared her dream had been accurate after all, she knew they'd arrive in time to save little Katya.

Trying to swallow past the lump in her throat, she grasped desperately for a plan to make sure the rest of her dream wouldn't come true, as well. Lazlo had to survive. She couldn't live with herself if she was responsible for his death.

As she tried to gather her fragmented thoughts and summon her strength, a man loomed over her. Though she couldn't make a sound due to the gag, she recoiled, recognizing the face from her dreams.

She wondered what he'd do if she revealed he was about to die. If he even believed her, would that knowledge be enough to make him reconsider his actions? Somehow she doubted it.

Face impassive, he licked his lips as he studied her, no doubt wondering what to do with her. He raised his hand, something metal glinting in the light.

A gun.

Again she flashed back to her dream, remembering the horrific agony she'd experienced as she'd watched him shoot Lazlo.

Groaning, she squirmed, fighting her bonds, fighting the cruel fate that dictated she relive what had been her worst dreaming moment, fighting everything except what she could not fight. Him.

He raised the gun as if he meant to strike her with it. At that moment, the little girl moaned, distracting him.

Shoving the gun back into his waistband, he turned to face Katya, his face contorting into what he must have believed passed for a reassuring smile. In reality, he appeared more like a figure from a horror movie.

The little girl shrank back, whimpering. Erika wanted to protect her, to use her own body as a shield to block him from touching her. She tried to move, realizing too late that she'd been staked to the ground, each limb individually, like an earthen cross.

Horrified, she watched as the man gently moved Katya's hair away from her dirt-encrusted face.

At exactly that moment, the wolves burst from the trees, their snarls the only warning as they attacked.