And I really, really didn’t want to become a monster. Not when I had two kids who needed me human, normal, safe. Not when Pine Valley was already terrified of beasts in the woods. I couldn’t become the thing everyone feared. I wouldn’t.
Thea returned with a glass of water filled so high it sloshed with each step. I managed to drink some without spilling, though my hands shook badly enough that Rowan had to help steady the glass.
“All better soon?” Thea asked hopefully, climbing back onto the bed with the careful movements of someone who’d been told repeatedly not to jostle Mama’s shoulder.
“All better soon,” I lied through teeth that had started chattering despite the sweat soaking through my shirt. At this rate, “soon” meant “when pigs flew” or “when hell froze over” or “when my body finished whatever supernatural transformation was clearly happening.”
A knock at the door made all three of us freeze.
“Mama, a man is here,” Rowan announced, his little nose wrinkling as he sniffed the air. How he could smell someone through a closed door was another question for the “shit I can’t explain” pile.
“Okay, babies, go to your room for a minute,” I managed, forcing myself upright through sheer maternal willpower. “Let Mama see who it is.”
They went reluctantly, Thea dragging Mr. Unicorn behind her as backup. I stumbled to the door, using furniture as support, trying to look less like death warmed over. Through thepeephole, I saw a man with black hair and green eyes. He looked familiar in that nagging way where you’ve definitely seen someone but can’t place them. My fever-addled brain struggled to make connections.
I opened the door cautiously, keeping most of my weight against the frame. “Can I help you?”
He smiled, all friendly charm and boy-next-door energy. “Hi, I’m Noah. I work with wildlife control. We’ve had reports of a wolf attack in this area a few days ago. Just checking on residents, making sure everyone’s okay.”
Wildlife control? Since when did Pine Valley have wildlife control? And who could have reported my attack? The only witnesses had been the wolves themselves, unless someone had seen us running from the forest. My paranoia, already at a healthy level, skyrocketed.
“That’s... very thorough of you,” I managed, trying for normal human conversation while my brain screamed stranger danger.
His casual demeanor shifted as he got a good look at me. His eyes tracked over my sweat-soaked appearance, the way I death-gripped the doorframe, the subtle tremor in my limbs. “Ma’am, are you alright? You look...”
He trailed off, and I caught the way his nostrils flared slightly. What was with everyone suddenly having bloodhound abilities?
“I’m fine. Just flu.” The lie came out breathless, unconvincing even to my own ears.
But his attention had already shifted. His eyes locked onto my collar where the edge of the bandage peeked out. I’d tried to keep it covered, but fever sweats and restless sleep had shifted my shirt.
“Is that... were you injured?” His voice had lost all pretense of casual concern.
“It’s nothing,” I started to close the door but swayed dangerously. The world tilted sideways, and suddenly he was there, catching my arm with reflexes too fast to be normal.
“Ma’am - sorry, what’s your name?”
“Lina,” I said weakly, too sick to maintain proper stranger danger protocols.
“Lina, that’s not nothing.” His grip on my arm was gentle but firm, keeping me upright. “I’ve seen bites before. The infection pattern, the fever - this is from one of the ferals. You know, the beasts your town warns about?”
Your town? The phrasing struck me as odd. Pine Valley locals wouldn’t refer to it that way. Which meant he was an outsider, despite his casual claim of working for wildlife control.
I laughed, the sound coming out slightly hysterical. “Beasts aren’t real. I’m fine. Just need to sleep it off.”
“The one that bit you was very real,” he said urgently. “And if untreated, these bites... Listen, I know someone who can help. A specialist. But we need to go now.”
Before I could protest that I didn’t make a habit of going places with strange men who showed up at my door claiming to be wildlife control, a small voice carried from the hallway.
“Mama, I’m hungry!”
Thea appeared, still in the clothes she’d been wearing all day, Rowan shadowing her as always. They both stopped when they saw the stranger, but Thea had never met a person she couldn’t befriend.
“Hi! I’m Thea. This is Rowan. Are you here to make Mama better?”
Noah’s expression went through a series of rapid changes. Shock flickered across his features, followed by what looked like understanding, then anger. His gaze bounced between the twins and me, and I could practically see him doing math in his head.
That’s when the pieces clicked together with nauseating clarity. I’d seen him before, but not in Pine Valley. Not in any normal context. He’d been in that hotel room, the one who’d opened the door first. He’d been the one who’d dragged me inside and covered my mouth. He’d been there when Matthias had rejected me, dismissed me, humiliated me.
