One Bite

Chapter 4-3

The rain pelted down so hard that each droplet stung my skin upon contact. Out of the corner of my peripheral vision, a dark figure circled around me. Blurring with blazing speed and an ease that suggested familiarity of the territory, it encircled me and the car in clockwise rotations.

My feet stumbled to the light beams from the car's headlines, projecting like two yellow fog lights through the thick downpour of heavy rain. I didn't get further than a couple of clumsy steps over the uneven clumps of saturated grass when a hard force struck me from behind. I hit the ground face-down, flat on my stomach.

Darkness fell over me as the smell of wet animal fur and mud filled my nose. Pain pierced my shoulders as a heaviness pinned my chest down into the muddy, unkempt grass mounds.

A low growl rumbled sound waves over my body. My back stiffened as a large wolf straddled me. Two thick, coarse brown-haired paws pushed my shoulder blades. A set of white, sharp fangs bared down on me.

As I flinched my shoulders up to my ears, I rolled my head away. A low growl rang out ahead of us. My neck arched up and the outline of Sable's large and familiar reddish brown fur came into view. Matted in soaked clumps, his eyes flashed bright blue and his lip curled back. Stepping closer, he didn't attack, staring down the wolf who pinned me.

Another growl rumbled through my bones but the weighted paws lifted off me.

'Car, Zara!' Cole's tone suggested I move my butt as fast as I could.

Palming my hands into thick, goopy mud, I scrambled up onto my elbows. Pushing up to my knees, I jumped up to standing. By the time I reached the passenger's side, the rain washed away the muddy clumps, leaving goosebumps raised on my skin.

My breath didn't catch up until after I slammed the door shut. With shaky fingers, I brushed away the wet strands on my forehead. My heart rammed so hard in my chest that I shook with the vibrations.

Sable's blue eyes burned as he stared down the other wolf. Nose to nose, both with teeth bared and ears flattened, their bulky forms blurred from rain running down my window. I shivered from more than the cold, tucking my knees up to my chest. Reaching around them, I hand fumbled for any option to clean up with. In our spare clothes bag, I found an extra set of clothes for each of us and a sweatshirt that would have to work as a makeshift towel.

As I slipped my dry shirt over my wet, matted strands of hair, the driver's door opened. To my relief, Cole flung himself onto the seat with a wet squelch. I cringed when his breath broke the silence in short, sharp pants.

"Southern patrol," he muttered as he slammed the door beside me.

His hair dripped trails of water down his cheeks and his eyes glared at me. With trembling fingers, I handed him sweatpants and a T-shirt, which he snatched from my grasp. My eyes averted down to the clothes bag, where I grabbed a pair of socks and dry shoes. As I took his wet belongings and tossed them back into the bag with mine, I reached over and locked the car doors.

"That wouldn't have helped." Cole snorted at my action.

After he slipped my offered socks and shoes on, I reached down into the snacks bag and held out a shaky protein bar like an olive branch.

"I don't want a fucking protein bar!" With a jerk of his hand, he started the car and drove off. "What the hell were you thinking? What did you stop for?"

Oh crud.

Heat burned my chilled cheeks. "Umm... I..."

I set the protein bar down in Cole's cupholder and shifted my eyes forward. "I told you, I saw something... didn't want to hit it, so I stopped." Hesitation rose my chest, which I held expanded because my reason for stopping was stupid.