The last thing I thought about before slipping into a delirious fever-dream slumber was Brayden and my protector wolf. Their faces kept morphing in and out until they became one.
Alpha, a dreamy voice said in my mind, and then everything went black.
THREE
The next day I was shaken awake by my mother. She was screaming bloody murder and my brain felt like it was going to explode.
“Staaap,” I mumbled, and cracked open an eyelid.
My mom looked down at me frantically, her phone in her hand with the numbers 911 typed in. I sat bolt upright, almost cracking her in the head.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, but as I said it I knew what was wrong.
Me.I was drenched in sweat, hotter than the center of the sun, and famished beyond belief.
“You wouldn’t wake. You’ve slept all day and night. It’s eleven p.m. and you didn’t show for your Saturday shift. Ronan just called.” My mom’s voice was so panicked I immediately felt awful for scaring her.
“I’m sick,” I muttered, and then decided now was a good time to tell my mom about the bite and possible rabies I was carrying.
“I tried to help an injured wolfdog the other night and… it bit me.” I held up my bandaged arm. “I think it’s infected.”
My mom grabbed her chest. “Oh, honey, let’s go to the doctor.” She put her phone down and I was relieved she hadn’t called 911. That would have been super embarrassing.
I could see theSandpoint Reader’s headlines now:Ambulance Wheels Out Girl For Infected Wolf Bite.
Lame.
I nodded. “Can I have some food and water first? I’m starving.”
My mom looked torn between wanting to rush me to Bonner General and the desire to feed me.
“I’ll make a quick sandwich.” She rushed out of the room and I decided that now was a good time to check on my wound.
I had only cleaned the thing one time in the past thirty-six hours. What a shitty vet I was going to make one day! I started to unwrap the gauze and then steeled myself for a gnarly, green, smelly, puss filled wound.
When my gaze fell upon peach scab-free skin, I yelped and flew backward into the wall.
No.
“Averly!” My mom came running in.
I checked both arms to be sure, and then ran my fingers over the clear skin. It wasn’t even scarred. There waszeroevidence I was bitten at all.
“I…” This wasn’t happening. Was it all a dream, a fever dream? Had I dreamed the bite and wrapped my arm?
No.
Leah came over, she saw it. “I don’t understand,” I mumbled to myself.
My mom swam into view and clasped both sides of my face. “Okay, honey, you can eat later, you’re burning up. We’re going to the ER. You’re scaring me.”
I nodded. I couldn’t really argue with that. Either the bite was real and it healed in a day, which made me a superhuman freak, or I’d hallucinated all of it. Either option wasn’t ideal.
* * *
The waitingroom to the hospital was packed. I guess Saturday night was an ideal time to get hurt for some reason. A nice woman with brown hair at the sign-in desk started to hand me a clipboard and paper when a doctor in a white coat intercepted us.
“Averly, are you okay?” a familiar male voice asked.
