A high-pitched yip sounded behind me followed by silence then the sound of paws thrumming against the dirt. Once again, I was brought down from behind. Only this time, the thing dove for my neck. I grunted as its teeth pierced my skin. I thought of my mom and dad as tears stung my eyes.
The teeth released me, and a tongue swiped the bite. It took me a moment to realize I could move. Why had the creature stopped? With a shaking hand, I touched my neck. It felt tender and bruised. There were four small holes. My fingers came away bloody. My hand shook.
Numbly, I lifted my head and found a wolf sitting on its haunches, watching me. Beyond it, the defeated wolf watched me as well. Their focus and complete stillness terrified me.
Slowly, I lifted myself off the ground into a sitting position. Neither moved. Blood tickled my skin as it trailed down my neck. I ignored the sensation and warily got to my feet. They both studied me.
“It’s okay,” I whispered in a soothing voice. I wasn’t sure if I was talking to them or myself. Tears continued to trickle from my eyes. My heart raced.
“Please don’t attack me again.” My voice caught on the last word.
The second wolf tilted its head. The first one stood, and I choked on air as I jumped back in fear. It stalked forward, crowding close to me. Without a thought, I kicked out. My foot connected solidly with its face. Its teeth clacked together, and the second wolf started to make a chuffing noise as the first one shook its head.
I spun, intending to run. However, I landed face first in the dirt as something hit me from behind again. This time, desperation made me angry. Using my elbow, I hit it in the danglies. The wolf yipped, yowled, and struggled to stay on its feet as it backed off. I sprang up, breathing hard.
The second wolf stood and ran toward me. In a flash, I was on the ground again with another set of teeth piercing my skin.
“Damn it, Jack. She’s mine. I already Claimed her,” a male voice said.
The teeth left my skin, and I twisted in time to see the wolf beside me stand on its hind legs. Its fur retracted into its pale skin, and its legs lengthened. Hands replaced paws, and long ears shortened.
“She didn’t smell Claimed.”
I watched the abnormal mouth form the words yet didn’t believe what I witnessed. I wheezed as I struggled to my feet. Both men watched me.
The world tilted. I stumbled and pressed a hand against my neck. Everything seemed fuzzy. I didn’t think it was due to blood loss, though. It was the two very naked men standing in front of me. Moments ago, they’d been wolves. I was sure of it… wasn’t I?
“She still doesn’t smell Claimed,” the first one said.
“Why is she bleeding so much?” Jack asked, tilting his head at me.
I couldn’t believe he actually asked. “Because you bit me,” I said. “Twice.”
“Roy… I don’t think she’s one of us.” Worry clouded Jack’s features.
One of us. The phrase pinged around in my mind.
Roy lifted his head. His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply.
“But she smells so—”
“I know,” Jack said.
I blinked slowly. “This isn’t real.”
“Call an Elder,” Jack said, stepping toward me.
“Don’t touch her,” Roy snarled at Jack.
Jack stopped moving, turned toward Roy, and growled. “She is not yours.”
“I Claimed her first.”
Jack snorted. “There’s no first or second. Either you Claim her or you don’t. And you, my friend, didn’t.”
“Neither did you.”
“I know that!”
Their arguing was making my head hurt as badly as my neck. Before I could tell them to stop, a long howl filled the air. On the far side of the clearing, six wolves stepped through the trees.
More? I couldn’t take more.
“If one more of you tries to bite me…” My words came out slurred.
The lead wolf looked back at his followers then at me. He trotted forward, gave the two men a cursory growl, and stopped in front of me.
My vision tunneled, and I caught a glimpse of the sky before nothing obliterated everything.
****
I woke to the sound of my own breathing and something squeezing my neck. When I opened my eyes, darkness surrounded me. I coughed and reached to pull away whatever was at my throat. My fingers touched cloth, and I remembered everything. I sat up, beginning to panic.
My world, which I’d already thought insane, was crazier than I realized. Wolves were actually men, and they argued over who had a right to bite me.
Nearby, I heard the rasp of the lighter. An instant later, I squinted against the radiance of the tiny flame and looked away for a moment. I was once again in the room with the whole window.
Glancing back, I saw the glow illuminating a girl’s face. She didn’t look scary; yet, despite her open expression, my heart beat harder once I saw her. Within the tangled mass of her brown hair, her large brown eyes reflected green light back at me. She was one of them.
“My name’s Mary. What’s yours?”
I stared at her, waiting for her to make some kind of move toward me. But she didn’t. She just studied me with open curiosity. I studied her in return. She didn’t look dangerous, just dirty. And she wore one of my shirts. I frowned, remembering how the two men had been naked after they’d changed from wolves. How could any of this be real?
I licked my dry lips and answered her question. “Charlene.”
A storm of growling and snarling broke out in the hall just beyond the door. I shrank away from it. How many were out there?
“Don’t worry. My dad will protect us until the Elder gets here. She is on her way.”
I stared at her as what she said penetrated my stunned mind. Her father was out there. Guarding the door? And someone was coming to help. What was an Elder?
Mary’s eyes continued to reflect at me. It wasn’t the bright reflection of an animal. It was rather dull, and I might have easily overlooked it if not for the flame she held so close to her face.
“What are you?” I finally asked.
She smiled, showing perfectly normal looking teeth, to my relief, lifted her thumb from the lighter, and plunged us back into the black.
“A friend, I hope. Sleep, Charlene. The rest can wait for tomorrow.”
The rest? Of what? And how did she think I could sleep with the racket still going on in the hall? Anger laced the already intimidating growls, punctuated by thumps against the wall. It sounded as if a pack of them were trying to fight their way to the door. Were they really still trying to get to me? I trembled in the dark.
“Why did they attack me?” I asked.
The noise quieted.
“They attacked you?”
“Yes. Didn’t you see my throat?” Perhaps she had arrived after they’d bandaged me.
“Oh. That wasn’t an attack. They were just trying to Claim you.”
“I don’t know what Claiming is, but it sure felt like an attack. Why did they do it?”
“Well…” Her tone conveyed her sudden and extreme discomfort. “It would be better if we waited for the Elder to explain.”
In the dark, I heard her shift her position, but she didn’t say anything more. Her silence annoyed me.
“Fine. They’re going to try again, aren’t they.”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
The fighting in the hall started back up.
I closed my eyes and sighed. “I have to go to the bathroom,” I said, mostly to myself.
“I brought a bucket. Dad doesn’t want us to leave the room.”
A very heavy something hit against the door just then, and I agreed with her father. I didn’t want to leave the room, either.