Pack or Prey (Wolfblooded book 1)

Chapter 9, Part 2

I stayed on the ground, paralyzed by fear, confusion, and adrenaline and strained to see what was happening in the shadows of the driveway. Another wolf had intervened. The snarling, the snapping, the sound of teeth and claw and solid muscle hitting the ground echoed as the two animals fought. The lighter-colored wolf kept the darker one at bay, pouncing on it and clenching teeth around its neck.

Slowly, my senses came back to me, and I glanced up to the staircase. The second wolf had given me an opening to get away, and I needed to take it before they both turned on me.

Scrambling to my feet, board in hand, I clamored to my stairs and climbed as quickly as my feet could carry me. When I neared the top, my legs turned to jelly beneath me. My door was within reach; only a couple more steps to safety.

A sharp, sudden, whine sounded from the driveway below, forcing me to turn around. The darker wolf was running away from the apartments towards the line of trees across the road, the other...

I stared down past the railing and watched the second animal limp around the driveway. She was hurt. Hurt from protecting me. I stared down at her, unsure of what to do. It was just another wild animal, right? Just like the first one that had tried to rip my throat out.

Large blue eyes turned up and stared at me, imploring. Pleading. My hand gripped the rail as I tried to convince myself that it would know what to do for itself. It's lasted this long on its own.

Obviously it wouldn't have survived if it didn't know how to take care of itself. No sooner than I moved toward my door, the wolf fell to its side.

There was no more thinking, no more debating. I gripped the board in my hand and fumbled down the stairs, alert for signs of movement. If that other wolf came back, I wanted to be ready this time.

I rushed over to the wounded animal, slowing just out of reach of it. It looked so helpless lying on the ground, its side rising and falling in long breaths. Slowly in, quickly out. It was struggling to breathe. She was much smaller than the other one, about the size of a normal wolf.

Not small, exactly, but not the same as the massive monsters that had been haunting my dreams for months now. Not as big as the one she had saved me from.

Her eyes stared out in front of her, unfocused. Her cream-colored fur looked so soft until it reached her front paw and the side of her neck where light fur became matted in dark crimson tangles. My heart hurt for the animal. All of this pain, all this damage, was because she tried to save me.

I would consider the 'whys' later. Right now, I needed to see if I could help her. I thought about throwing her into my car and driving to the animal shelter off the highway, but Liz popped into my mind. She was completely anti-shelter. The more I thought about it, I knew they would put this wolf down. I couldn't deliver her into the hands of death now.

I glanced upstairs and sighed. Maybe the damage wasn't as bad as it looked. If I cleaned her up, wrapped a bandage around her leg, maybe she could heal on her own in the woods. If anything, she seemed exhausted from the fight, and I could at least keep her safe until she was ready to fight off whatever came after her. Sleeping out there, wounded and fatigued, the other wolf might come back and finish the job.

I was upstairs only five minutes before I came back down with a belt and an old sheet. I laid the sheet out behind her back and walked back around to her head, kneeling slowly with the belt in hand. If I was going to do this I wasn't going to take any chances. I needed all of my fingers after all.

I laced the tip of the belt through the silver buckle. The wolf's eyes moved to me, watching me as I inched the loop towards her muzzle. She locked eyes with me and we stared at each other for what seemed like eternity before she moved her eyes away from mine. It seemed like she was giving me permission. God, I hoped so.