I was already in the kitchen and grabbed the entire butcher block of knives off the counter by the stove. How I was going to fight off two men and get a feral wolf out of the house and to safety was weighing heavily on me. There was only so much I was capable of.
"Chad!" Mateo picked up a vase from the credenza table behind the couch and threw it at the wolf as she barreled toward him again, her teeth on display and murder in her eyes. "Chad! Bring a gun!"
I needed to get the wolf and get the hell out before Chad made it to the living room. I could hear the faint sound of feet pounding on the floor upstairs and knew I only had seconds.
Mateo hadn't seemed to even notice me yet, his focus on the wolf that was now chasing him around the couch and not the less threatening human.
I ran to the back door and slid it open, keeping my eyes on the shit show in front of me. She was too weak to catch him with everything he threw at her, but there was only one pillow left on the couch and nothing within arm's reach.
"Don't move!" Chad was standing at the end of the hallway, a gun pointed right at me. "Stop chasing him, or I'll shoot her!"
A knife was already in my hand at my side, and Ithrew it before he could even process what I was doing. The gun went off, and I sprinted out the door.
The wolf was right behind me, and we ran along the windows at the back of the house toward the stairs off the deck. I glanced inside to see Mateo standing over Chad, his hands in his hair. There was no doubt I'd hit him with the knife.
We practically flew down the steps into the yard, if it could even be called that. The house was pretty much in the forest. I had no clue where we were, but eventually, we would get to somewhere I could get us help.
The wolf glanced over at me as we ran, her eyes questioning. I'd already dropped the cumbersome butcher block but held two knives in case I needed them. I was still naked and running like I was out for an evening stroll through the park. I could have gone so much faster in my fox form, but if I could avoid shifting, that was for the best. If Marcos's men saw what I was, he'd see me as a new kind of trophy.
We approached a creek a few minutes later, and I slowed to sniff the air. The area was unfamiliar to me, but the trees led me to believe we were in the mountain area surrounding Crescent Valley.
"Do you know where we are?" I looked at thewolf, who was starting to struggle. "I can carry you. Let's stop and we can get a quick drink."
Splashing into the water, I turned to watch the direction we came. In the distance, I could hear what sounded like motors heading straight for us. We didn't have long until they caught up to us.
"Hurry up." I put the knives on the dirt and scooped water into my hands, splashing my face. The coolness reinvigorated me, and I was ready to fight if needed. "There are two off-roading vehicles headed this way. I must not have injured Chad that bad."
She growled as she lifted her mouth from the water, her eyes darting all around us. If she ran back toward them, I wasn't going to chase her. She probably wanted to kill them, but if she tried to now, they would kill her first.
"Can you run more, or do I need to carry you?" I picked up the knives and then stepped out of the water.
She followed but didn't make any noise as we started running again. Her breaths were panting and her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth. The off-roading vehicles didn't seem to be gaining on us.
My companion started to limp, and I slowed. "I'mgoing to carry you." I dropped one of the knives and put the other one in my mouth. I could run faster with her in my arms, not having to worry about her keeping up.
I moved in front of her, and we both stopped. She eyed me warily but looked so exhausted she didn't put up any fight when I scooped her up. She was shivering and her heart was nearly beating out of her chest.
The vehicles were keeping their distance and weren't visible but were close enough. If someone was a good shot, they would have shot me in the back. As I ran, I zig-zagged to be on the safe side.
My arms, legs, and feet burned as I ran at least another mile, with nothing but forest in front of us. My speed had put the men even farther behind us, the sound of them barely registering in my ears.
There was no way I was going to stop.
After about an hour,I started to regret my decision to stay in my human form. My feet were healing as I ran, but with the exertion of running with a wolf in my arms, they felt like I was walking over hot coals.
I'd lost the noise of our pursuers a while ago and was in a small valley. I had no clue if we were going toward civilization or farther into the wilderness. Eventually, we'd come out the other side, but it could be a long time.
"We need to rest and hope for the best." I put the wolf down and she stretched, her mouth opening in a yawn. She had dozed on and off during our journey.
She sniffed the air and her ears perked up. She took off in the direction we were headed. I groaned and chased her, the sun occasionally peeking through the trees. It wasn't too hot, but we'd gained elevation, so it was cooler anyway.
Not wanting to yell after her in case they were close enough to hear, I jogged as my feet screamed at me to take a break. My throat and mouth were parched, and my stomach twisted from hunger. I was about to shift and find the resources I needed when the wolf cut diagonally toward a break in the mountains. I wasn’t sure what the hell she was doing, so I followed.
A little way farther, she came to a stop in a clearing that had a small cabin. I sniffed, but the only thing I could smell was the fresh air and a water source not too far away.
"Do you smell any humans?" I slowed beside her as we walked out into the bright midday sun. "We need to figure out where we are."
If the cabin was a hunting lodge of some kind, there might be a map or a compass. As we got closer, though, I could see the cabin had been abandoned long ago. The small porch had weeds and grass growing through the planks and the windows were all shattered. It was a place to rest, though, and hopefully, I could find something of use to us.
