Smell the fear, even this far away.
Think. Think like a man. Not a wolf.
Hard. Slippery thoughts. Not shaped right for this brain.
Muzzle meets lock. Slow. Careful.
Mate is everything.
Slow, careful.
Do not scare. Do not hurt.
Do not hurt mate or pup.
But whatever makes her scream and cry and beg?
Destroy.
ADRENALINE IS AMAZING. I know there are probably bits of glass in my palms and knees, but I don’t care. I can’t feel anything but speed.
“Matt!” I scream. I pick up the closest thing in the bedroom, the diaper bag slung over a chair, and I clobber him when he reaches the crib.
He staggers a second, then laughs and picks up the baby, startling her awake and making her cry, startled again. “It’s okay, Ari. Daddy’s back. Daddy’s taking you for a ride. Say bye-bye, Mommy.” He waves her fist at me, even as it’s balled up tight, her cries intensifying.
I place my body against the door. “You are not leaving this room with her, Matt. Put her down.”
Matt laughs. “Like that’d stop me? I’ll make it easy, though. You move, so Arianna and I can go down the stairs. Or,” he looks at the window, “she and I go out the window.”
My breath freezes in my lungs. “Matt, no.”
“What? Scared I’ll drop her? It could happen, couldn’t it?” he sneers. “All too easy. That’d be her fault! She wriggles and won’t shut up, just like her bitch of a mother.”
“I’ll go with you!” I put my hands up in surrender. “Give her to me, and we’ll go. We’ll go right now.”
“God! See, this is what’s wrong with you! I asked you to come home days ago, but no. Youhadto make me come here, drag you out. Everyone thinks I’m the bad guy, but it’s you! You make things hard!” he shouts, stomping towards me.
Ari screams louder. I can’t tell if he’s squeezing her or not, but I know she’s scared, and she sounds like she’s in pain. “Please. You’re right. I’m... I’m not making this easy. Give me Ari, and we’ll go.”
“I’m not stupid!”
“I know that. I never thought you were,” I say, genuinely believing that. Tears overflow my eyes, and I wipe them with my wrist. “I just think you’re upset, and stressed, and under a lot of pressure. I make it worse. Matt, you could start fresh, without us. When you’re ready—”
“No! You’re not sweet-talking me! You’re going to shut your mouth and come with me.”
“I will, I swear, I will. But please, please,pleasegive me the baby, Matt. You’re hurting her. What if you drop her?” I plead.
“Start walking.” Matt comes over, Ari clumsily held in one arm, and shoves me into the hall. “I’ll decide when you hold her.”
“I’m not going to walk unless you hand her to me,” I declare. I have to be strong. Be brave. Get out of this. Get help. But Ari has to be safe first.
“Fine, I can throw you down the stairs. You’ll be faster that way,” he threatens.
“You hear yourself, right? Threatening to throw me down the stairs? Do you think I’d live? Are you a murderer?” I ask.
Another hard shove in the back. “You don’t talk until I say, Loretta.”
I whirl and kick Matt in the crotch as hard as I can, using all the cheerleading and ballet muscle memory I have stored up.
